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Do you like tuna? I love the tuna albacore packs and you can take them where ever u go at 3 weeks out it was my only way to get the protein in for me. My sleeve didnt do well with chicken. Also depending if you know what foods give u chest pain to stay away from them for a few days and try again or if its all foods your surgeon can give u prilosec u may have Gerd and that has helped me soo much with the chest pain. They have over the counter prilosec as well its just less expensive for me with insurance getting it from my docter. Oh and have you tryed the high protein yogurts that are like 12 to 15grams of protein per yogurt and only 2g of sugar those help me get my protein in as well sence i wont drink protein drinks ever again anyways hope things get better for you.

Candy is the one thing I haven’t been able to totally give up. I don’t eat a ton but do have a little each day. I did switch from anything sweet n low to truvia. It’s pretty good. I put it in my coffee, my plain yogurt.

Candy is the one thing I haven’t been able to totally give up. I don’t eat a ton but do have a little each day. I did switch from anything sweet n low to truvia. It’s pretty good. I put it in my coffee, my plain yogurt.

Olive oil, avocado, nuts, 2% or 4% yogurt or cottage cheese

Can you call the doctor and ask about yogurt? Every doctor has their own protocol but I was able to have yogurt after a few days. I got the high protein Greek ones with low sugar.

Isopure ready-made blue raspberry or punch over ice, it is clear and more tart than most protein drinks. Or try thinned Greek yogurt with fairlife milk. And yes, sorry - hair loss, but it happens to the best of us.... It does grow back.

I’m 8 weeks post surgery (sleeve) and all has been going great until about a week ago. My weight loss has hit a wall! I only eating meal replacement shakes or soup and a no fat yogurt for an afternoon snack. My caloric intake is below 800 calories and I am exercising 2 times per day, morning is cardio for an hour and evening is weight training for about 30 to 45 minutes and then 30 minutes of cardio again. Any ideas to help break through this stall in my weight loss? Thank you for any suggestions you may have.

Yogurt or cottage cheese blended finely

I’m in the same boat. Was told to increase to 1200 and I can barely handle 1000 most days. I too suffer from constipation. I drink Miralax in hot tea several times a week and take Colace once a week. Nuts are a great way to increase. Full of fat and calories. Also, add some fruit and Fiber One cereal to yogurt. Helps with calories and constipation. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I was a pescatarian before surgery (and after), so I can't relate to the change in taste, but below are some things I eat for protein (note, I likely eat far too much cheese). I can't have protein shakes either, but am able to get my protein with food now (EDITED because noticed you can't have shakes) Meals fish/shrimp Eggs - mostly scrambled (I add some cheese and salsa and eat with a touch of guac) or hard boiled greek yogurt Quark (its a cheese that is yogurt consistency - but thinner than greek yogurt) I almost always have quark with frozen blueberries for Breakfast - by the time i get to work, the bb are still a little frozen, but not hard) cottage cheese (there is one that is higher protein called good culture) My favorite lunch is ricotta bake (google "Eggface ricotta bake") - I always add some sauteed spinach. I make a double batch and cook them in a mini loaf pan (makes 8 mini loaves) - freeze half of them. beans/lentils (although not a lot of Protein here) tofu - I either buy extra firm, drain it, and bake it or buy the baked tofu from places like trader joe's Veggie sausage (I like morninstar farms) egg salad (2 eggs, 1 TBL greek yog, 1 TBL may) Veggie burgers (look at the protein content, some are low protein/high carb) Snacks almonds Sargento nut snack packs cheese (I buy the cracker cuts of various cheeses and will have about 4 pieces - a bit over an oz) fairlife milk parm chips with either hummus or guac (this can also be a meal for me) A very typical day for me: B: quark (or greek yog) w/frozen blueberries, latte (8 oz milk) - NOT at the same time - drink the latte at home, then eat the quark 30mn later when I get to work) (160cal/27g protein) L: Ricotta bake (228 cal/19g protein) S: nut snack pack (180 cal/7g protein) S2: Decaf latte (120 cal/13g protein) D : Options (1) fish/shrimp of some sort, (2) Tofu of some sort. (Varies - usually 150-300 cal, 8-15g protein)

My surgeon does things a bit differently and allows you to go home on pureed foods if you are able to keep 2 meals down in the hosptial. Doing good today overall. My BP and HR were low inpatient and I did not re start one of my meds until today when my bp popped up. I am an NP and have been following it quite closely. Had pureed cottage cheese 1/4 c at breakfast and nonfat yogurt 1/4 cup at lunch, went down well. Taking in 1/4 c of protein shake in between my meals and water is working well too.

Some of my favorites are well known on this site but I'll share them anyway: Oikos Triple Zero yogurt Quest Bars Premier Protein shakes Slim Fast Advanced Energy shakes P3 - turkey/almonds/cheese or chicken/cashews/cheese Starkist tuna packets - plain, Thai chili, sweet n spicy, bbq Ezekiel Sprouted Grain bread Mission Carb Balance tortillas Quaker rice cakes - plain and chocolate PB2 plain and chocolate (to put on the rice cakes!) Halo Top ice cream

Well still a “newbie” at only a month since VGS I just started soft foods. I can easily eat a cup (8oz) of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, but I can barely get down 4 oz other proteins like meatloaf, tuna, etc.

Oatmeal, grits, cream of chicken soup, yogurt

I know i know, they all said its not possible to do that, but I feel like maybe I did. July 21 will be 6 months from my surgery and coincidentally, my birthday! - Maybe when I went from working out at night to working out in the morning before work (up around 330/4am, workout 415-515am, home by 6am), my system went out of whack? its like after work and after a sensible protein packed dinner of mainly chicken breast or something prepared healthily, i still feel like I can eat and eat and eat. I have a protein shake with spinach for breakfast, my millions vitamins, water, decaf coffee, then a great lunch of half cup of chicken breast or a protein shake with more spinach and then dinner at home. I try to stay on my water and an 11am and 3pm snack of string cheese or peanut butter or a hardboiled egg white. Has anyone else felt like they could just keep eating? The last couple nights I ate a half container of reduced fat jif! I never even ate pb before surgery. Maybe im craving sweets? Is that im not drinking enough water? I add sugar free packets to flavor my water b/c i dont like mio’s aftertaste and dont always want a sweet powerade zero. I was having greek yogurts but stopped because i was getting burned out on dairy. Just wondering if anyone else feels this way about their pouch. Maybe its all in my head! Im 25 lbs from my goal weight!

Only you could ever need that much yogurt!

So I got this tub of yogurt at my local Indian market. It was the same price as a Chobani. I haven't tried it yet but its huge! (Brita pitcher for context)

I signed up for the gym yesterday - comes with a free PT session, so I got that out of the way yesterday evening. Wore both an underwire bra and a sports bra over the top to keep the girls in order, but I've lost so much from around the chest that they planned a grand escape anyway *sigh*. All the loose skin really makes 'em difficult to tame! I'd love to get a breast reduction, but I'd have to pay out of pocket... and because I'm doing all this in the hopes of getting pregnant, it might make sense to save my pennies and hope to reduce when we've finished adding to our family. Lol. After a couple days of getting a few bites shy of half a cup of mince and riced cauliflower in at meals, my pouch is like 'nope!' and I've struggled to eat over a bite or two of anything over the past couple days. It's so draining to go from doing well to, like, crashing and burning! Back to liquidy foods -- milky coffees, protein shakes and yogurt -- for me, until my restriction starts to lift again. Doing my best to get fluids in... gotta keep the determination up because otherwise I'd just flop into bed and never get out again. Lol. Lovely to see so much activity in here and a few new faces! I swear, without you lot I'd feel completely on my own. No one I know has had surgery like this, so hearing about your journeys is an absolute anxiety buster for me 🙂 Oh, yeah -- and I haven't lost a darn thing over the past few days! Expecting a pretty stagnant week or two after so much movement in the past 2 weeks. Reeeally want to get under that 90kg/200Lbs mark, but life's just going to torture me for a little while. Heh XD

1. Latinos or anyone strongly influenced by your culture: HOW did you cope with losing this part of you? You don't loose this part. It sits on the back burner for a bit. 2. What do you all do at family gatherings, parties, and on holidays while everyone is eating? Early on I would bring my own food to events. It is hard to see everyone eat while you are limited but the more you do it the easier it gets. I see people avoid the situations, but lets be realistic, you cannot hide this way for the rest of your days. learn to deal with it and move on. I like to sit with family and friends while we eat. I used to eat more , but now I talk more. 3. What do you eat? recipes are welcomed! I’ve been told to eat yogurt, chicken meatballs, canned Soup, and all kinds of food I'm not use to... Have you found a way to make your Latin food healthy? I stuck to my teams meal plan for the first 8 months and then started to make it my own. I focus on protein and veggies, many Latin foods are both. 4. Peruvians or Peruvian food lovers: Can you still eat things like ceviche, aji de gallina, lomo saltado, and anticucho, just minus the rice? Can your stomach handle the spice and seasonings? I am Guatemalan, with 2 best friends who are Peruvian. I can handle most spicy things again, (can no longer deal with straight habanaro anymore). By 10 months out I was fine eating spicy. As for the foods above all are easy except the anticucho and lomo saltado. Beef has been real hard for me unless its ground, but I know people who have no issue, and yes rice I can no longer handle, but to me that's a good thing. 👍

Hi all, I survived my 2 weeks of optifast, managing to get in at least 3 and sometimes 4 shakes each day. Those two weeks included a business trip out of town (flights, hotel, conference, etc), 2 birthday parties (one of them was mine!) and Father’s Day. I was really proud of myself for sticking to the plan. Then came the two water and sf jello days. Then June 21 was surgery day. Was at the hospital at 6 am and gastric bypass was on schedule at 8 am. I vaguely recall waking up in the PACU, asking for more pain meds, and that was it. Then I was in my semi-private room in the hospital for two nights. I got myself a Fitbit for my bday and made it my goal to get 250 steps every hour in the hospital, so I was that patient wheeling my IV pole around the hospital halls, starting at 1 pm on the day of my surgery and going every hour until 11 pm and starting again in the mornings. That first day was the most uncomfortable in terms of gas pains and very dry mouth. I wasn’t allowed to drink anything that first day. I could just swish water around and spit it out. Saturday I was allowed water, sf jello, sickly sweet juices, and tea and had to record every tablespoon I drank every hour. Sunday, I started passing gas (apparently a big milestone!!), was taken off IV, and was discharged. The pain was very manageable and I was told this is because I was so determined to walk a little bit so frequently. I’ve been home now for a week and a half. I’ve been on ‘full liquids’ (protein shakes, milk, sf yogurt, sf pudding, cream soups, broth soups, and runny oatmeal), and been doing great. I’ve been getting all my protein and my water in without any issues. I’ve also been getting out for walks and getting 8000+ steps in each day. I’m planning on going back to work tomorrow. My plan has me starting soft solids on Saturday so we’ll see how that goes! I have to say that my recovery has gone very smoothly so far. I’m sending all my June surgery siblings positive vibes and wishing you all the smoothest recovery possible.

Hi! First off, I'm fairly new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, I apologize in advance. Also, VENT WARNING: I'm scheduled to have surgery August 5th and I'm extremely excited! The only thing is, I've been thinking a lot about how much my life is going to change after surgery, especially when it comes to my relationship with food and family. I know mostly everyone here has their own battles with food, but mines start with my culture. To give you a better picture, I grew up in a Peruvian household and still live in one. I also grew up with a lot of other Latinos and Latin food has always been a part of my life. It’s all I know. If I'm not eating Peruvian food, I'm eating Puerto Rican, or some other Latin dish. Food is important to Peruvians... EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, and I can’t stress that enough. Our portions are hugeeeeeee (which is what got me in this mess in the first place) and the food is irresistible. We have a couple hundred different types of dishes (not exaggerating) with such a wide range of ingredients coming from the Andes, the coast (sea), and the jungle. Anyways, I'm getting ready for surgery and I have a regimen to follow. I've been shown examples of portions I will eat after surgery, I've been given ideas to try, and I've been told what I can and cannot eat. A lot of change is on its way. I'm happy I'm taking the steps to a better quality of life, but I feel like I'm getting piece of my heart ripped out my chest!!! When I talk about my food requirements after surgery with my parents, they start crying out of sadness for me! On one hand they are happy for me but on the other they feel bad that I will never be able to eat the same again. It feels like there's a funeral happening in my house. It feels like a part of me is dying, and it feels like a part of my culture is getting stripped away from me . I'm the only overweight person in my family so I can’t relate to anyone. I'm not backing out of my decision or doubting it and my family is very supportive and believe I should still do it. Here are my questions though: 1. Latinos or anyone strongly influenced by your culture: HOW did you cope with losing this part of you? 2. What do you all do at family gatherings, parties, and on holidays while everyone is eating? 3. What do you eat? Recipes are welcomed! I’ve been told to eat yogurt, chicken meatballs, canned soup, and all kinds of food I'm not use to... Have you found a way to make your Latin food healthy? 4. Peruvians or Peruvian food lovers: Can you still eat things like ceviche, aji de gallina, lomo saltado, and anticucho, just minus the rice? Can your stomach handle the spice and seasonings?

My new/old journey begins today and I'm quite anxious. One of the things I'm anxious about is MFP. Some things I dont get. How much protein, fiber, good carbs, good fat, etc am I to try to shoot for? Also, I'm noticing the daily menu. I want to: Add foods, portions, barcode info to a general database to return to with just a click. How? Like decaf, yogurt, cheese, etc are daily mainstays, I would like to just find it in my database and click each day instead of manually entering it each time!. Again, How? I'm scared to jump back on the wagon, and I'm keeping a food journal daily yet I'm still very nervous. Knowing how to use MFP will help ease and organize my mind. Can anyone help me? "I'm baaaak in the saddle again, I'm baaaack!"

OMG! That is horrible care to send someone home two hours after surgery. How would they know if you can even hydrate, or get to the toilet!!! Plus my doctor does the barium swallow leak test just to be safe and see how it flows. Make sure you hydrate, sip all day. Do you at least have guidelines to follow? Do you know the food stages to progress through - when was your surgery? I saw where you drank regular Gatorade? No! Too much sugar, you should be on protein shakes - getting 60-80 grams of protein daily and no less than 64oz of water/broth. Then when you can tolerate it, pureed food - ricotta chesse, Greek yogurt, sugar free pudding, sugar free applesauce. It will take about 9 weeks to get to the texture of steak.

Think in terms of textures. 1.water, clear liquids,etc. 2. Mushy, pureed - applesauce, pudding, smoothie, yogurt. 3. Flaky fish - soft cooked vegetables, eggs, saute greens, soft fruit 4. Shrimp, lobster, scallops, AL dented vegetables. 5.Chicken, turkey, duck, etc - dark meat or white with sauce. 6. Steak, swordfish, - raw vegetables, apples, raw cabbage Stages are not weeks, but tolerating textures. Progress when you can don't rush it. If you are chewing and chewing and thinking - I don't know if this feels right or will go down - spit it out! Spit it out!

Take advantage of this time. ^^^This is the best advice!!! It is supposed to be hard to eat. It is supposed to be "no" interest in food. I swear it all comes back in the end. Then you have to fight it. So spend the time learning how to build brand new healthy relationships and eating habits. Spend the time reading, walking, taking up a creative outlet that keeps your mind, and senses engaged and activated. You do need to get your minimum protein each day. You do. You have to figure out a way to do it. That's part of the process. For me, it was easy to get my 50-70g of protein per day. I did protein lattes, protein ice teas, protein broths/soups, yogurt with protein in it, cottage cheese with protein in it. And I love tuna salads and chicken salads so it was easy for me... Embrace the food aversion period. Get the minimum and be done.