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Well before surgery It was Food, Food, got to find my food, got to eat quick before someone else finds it and takes it away! I am an "only,child" but I acted like I hadv6 starving little brothers. Could eat an entire Family-sized bag of Lays Barbeque Chips at one sitting, watching TV, and not even feel like I had eaten. Now, if I feel hungry and that seldom happens, I heat,up,a 1/4 cup,of something, maybe I finish it, but usually don't. Very cautious what I eat, had too much emesis time. I still rely,on soups , broths, protein shakes, stir protein powder, beneficent or Miralax into everything I can for enrichment, Precious pouch, my bossy co-pilot,,, now through. my life, does not trust,protein sources, refuses to consider,meat, cottage cheese, Greek Yogurt, although,i,may try that again, been a month since last attempt. And what she doesn't care for just spews forth. And I dont,vomit like I did when I was "intact", now it sounds more like a cat with a large hairball. Some people say, that their full signal is hiccups, not me, for me it's Emesis coming within 15-20 minutes. Often you can find me curled into a semi-fetal ball over a wastebasket or Washburn. The blessing, if there is one? Good stays down such a short time, it is undigested and has no objectionable odor. Oh,i do manage to,ingest my vitamins, minerals and Zofran still,drink,out of my 2 ounce cuppies, a couple times when I tried to free-style with a normal juice glass? Up she comes because even fluid can choke me . And I was not a habitual vomiter prior to surgery, oh,if I bent at the waist, I could reflexively urp up but I thought my cardiac valve between my esophagus and stomach was weak from GERD. v So I am praying my blood vitamin levels are good, haven't been checked since late Feb/early March, had to,have an Iron INFUSION then. Should be about due for a repeat, but,nobody has ordered one, not my,PCP , not my Bariatric clinic, if the last N.P . is any indication, they are not overly worried or caring for me. Now I had always had an excellent relationship but the last time I spoke to one, she accused me of being a malingerer or Munchausen syndrome, I called only because I had been sick for 18 hours, having trouble even keeping fluids down. And my personality is not bulimic or even similar. Not scheduled for a clinic visit until August, having feeling this person just don't care. Meanwhile I am still losing 3-5 pounds a week,rare for 9 months out, but I guess I can accept,it. Do I grieve food? Not a bit, few times I come close, I just say That Was A Past Life, nothing significant now!. But perhaps I am an outlier, an exception to the Average person. I don't read the threads with pictures of "Look What I Just made and Ate", part of me,just can't relate to,it, the rest a little jealous that they can handle all that! My emotions were pretty settled, resigned to That's the Way,its got to be. Even close to happy, until that little bundle of Nurse-flesh unloaded on me, oh I do remember her name, if she crosses my,path in August, she will regret it, it will be Her Turn to Cry! I might try to forgive, but I do not forget and I am a natural red-head, and the Celtic were warriors, something she may not have taken,into account! But anything I can help with, I will be honored to do so.

Chicken broth and various cream soups - just don't get the soup to boiling or it will turn into a gooey thick mess. Also with Crystal light, milk and juices. I've even added it to my yogurt and apple sauce. Unfortunately, I've got a full six weeks of full liquid diet so I've not been able to experiment much. The sky is the limit though and the powder is really quite easy to work with and mixes well with almost zero taste added.

I was very lactose intollerant at first. It probably lasted 2 years. I could eat cheese and yogurt but not milk or ice cream. Now, I am not nearly as bad. I can have a small amount of milk without getting gas pains and diarrhea.

I'm about 11 weeks out. I get that stuck feeling, particularly if I eat too fast, usually during the evening meal when I haven't eaten since noon. I guess I'm hungry those times, but I don't experience hunger like I did before surgery, so I don't recognize the new feeling of hunger. I tried a one inch piece of a pita bread and I felt the stuck feeling then too, only more misery; I stay away from bready things now. I can eat about 1/4 cup of dense things (meat), 1/2 cup of yogurt consistency or soup consistency foods before I feel the stuck feeling. I have to have one protein shake a day yet in order to make my goals--I can drink about 8 oz of a thin shake fairly easily. A thicker shake is a smaller portion limit.

Liquids will pass through your sleeve quickly, so you'll definitely be able to go through those quickly and likely feel almost no restriction. As for food, I also don't measure. I go by feel, and it certainly changes from one day to the next. Sometimes I can finish a whole greek yogurt with granola, sometimes I can only finish half. Based on all the posts I've seen here, ab's research I've done, it doesn't appear that you can really stretch the stomach that much.

Type "week 3 stall" into the search box in the top right-hand corner. You will have a better idea of why you're not losing right now........ As for milk, there are many different opinions. For myself, I prefer not to have the carbs from milk in my diet as a beverage. I drink coconut milk and almond milk (both unsweeneted). There's not much taste to them, but it does a good job of substituting for milk, and they are both low calorie and low carb. Protein powders mixed well for me with both coconut and almond milk when I was using powders (I drink ready to drink (RTD) shakes now, or eat protein bars). I still eat many dairy products (yum.....cheese and yogurt), so it's not milk that I'm avoiding, as much as the carbs in regular milk (whether it's skim, 1%, 2% or whole).

No yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, or Protein shakes? Hmm, that eliminates pretty much any idea I'd have for you (almost every breakfast I do has one if not a couple of those). Hopefully your tastes develop and your stomach settles. Look into the alternative forms of protein. You're kind of limited with your soft stage, but even more limiting is what you don't like. Tofu is a good source or protein that is soft. Check out Paleo diets that are low carbs and high protein.

refried Beans and cheese? Also have you tried eggs cooked in different ways? I still have issues with scrambled, for example, but I can easily eat sunny side up. I, too, despise yogurt of all kinds. ICK. refried beans and cheese? Also have you tried eggs cooked in different ways? I still have issues with scrambled, for example, but I can easily eat sunny side up. I, too, despise yogurt of all kinds. ICK.

I user the Unjury unflavored protein powder. I added it to homemade ice cream, soups, and gravy. It took me awhile to get up to 90g of protein and 48 ounces of water. Once you get used to sipping on water and protein shakes it'll be easier. Vary your menu too. Make fruit smoothies with frozen fruit, protein powder and yogurt. Use ice or milk.

Hi..I was band on Oct 19th. Good luck. It's really hard to find the support you need but I'm here if you ever need to talk. How are you doing with weight loss? I've lost 26 lbs in the very 1st Dr. appt How are you emotionally? Good days and bad days. Are you exercising? No not really. A little walking but pain at the port site. What is your daily routine? Up at 3:30 eat around 8:00 egg or shake, lunch around 11:00 some type of meat, dinner around 5:00 meat and veggies. I snack on cheese sticks and yogurt. What has been the easiest thing so far? Eating small amounts What has been the most difficult? Port pain... burning and tearing

I bought that tub at costco in vanilla shake for $49.99 last month. I have not tried it straight, but use it as a base. I have liked it just fine. Best shake I've made with it so far - 1 scoop vanilla ON whey Protein isolate + 2 TBSP PB2 + .75 cup nonfat greek yogurt + 1/2 cup Water + 5 ice cubes + blend = yum!

Bandster hell is a very real thing, trust me I know! I had my surgery 12/21/12 and I go for my first fill this Friday. I feel like I'm hungry all the time. I try to reach for Protein first: string cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, Protein shake. At lunch, I eat deli turkey and a veggie or fruit. Protein first! And lots of Water. At 3 weeks post op you should be able to eat soft cheeses or yogurts. Personally, I count calories and protein, not carbs. I know if I eat enough protein first, I won't have room for any more carbs. I do eat carbs, but I count every calorie. It must work, because I'm down 25 lbs. Best of luck to you. Hang in there, it does get better.

Re: too tight Quote: Originally Posted by christa94 donna, you mentioned that you were losing before the fill. why did you have the fill? did you feel you were losing restriction? you mentioned that the fill is too tight. what makes you say that? are you still losing? Hi Christa, I got the fill because I had lost and regained the same pound four times over a two week period, which my doctor said is a sign you may need a fill. Additionally, I was at twelve weeks post op, by which time most bandsters are already on their 2nd or 3rd fill. LOL, I was afraid I was going to be left behind. Let this be a lesson, listen to what your body says, not what other people are doing or saying. What I needed to do was reexamine my caloric intake and increase my activity level. The other thing I did wrong was to try to be accomodating. I had my surgery in Mexico so I'm using a local surgeon's facilities for fills. I had already scheduled a fill and even though I had recently had a bad PB (my first) which caused swelling, I didn't want to cancel my appointment because I didn't want them to change their mind and not accept me as a patient - so I went for the fill. Big mistake. Having a too tight fill is miserable. After the PB swelling and the fill (1.4cc) I had constant pressure/pain at my sternum front and back. In the morning it hurt even worse and it even hurt to breathe deeply when I first got out of bed. I couldn't eat anything until 1:00 in the afternoon usually. To complicate matters, by the time I got in to the Dr.'s office for an unfill, my PB swelling was finally going away and I was almost comfortable with my fill level, so I wasn't sure if I wanted/needed an unfill. This was my first fill, I wasn't sure what it was SUPPOSED to feel like. I was already at the Dr.'s office so I decided I'd just have them check my band to be absolutely sure it was still in the right place - of course it was, but you hear so many nightmare stories here on LBT . . . . The surgeon was doing fills on that Saturday (!?!) and insisted on checking the band by removing all the fill and putting it back in - I still don't know why he didn't just look at the band on the fluoroscope. I didn't really feel like I had any choice, so I went along. He was terrible at giving fills - I've only ever had one and even I could tell he wasn't good at it! - the Lydocaine shot HURT. My first fill Lydocaine shot didn't hurt at all. He pulled the fill out, checked it, and then SLAMMED it back in! I had excruciating pain in my sternum till he pulled back on the syringe a bit. I was laying on that F'ing table gasping it hurt so bad. I don't know what he was playing at, but when he put my original fill back in - HE ADDED .5cc's! I went for a possible unfill and he added .5cc's! WTF? To make it worse, he didn't tell me he added .5cc's, in fact, he told me there was only 1cc in the band. Since we've all heard that it's very common to lose some or all of a first fill, I wasn't alarmed by that and was actually grateful because I was finally getting comfortable again. When I left his office I felt tight but was able to swallow easily - I just thought the tightness was because of disturbing the stomach area again. That was on a Saturday and by Saturday night I could barely swallow my own spit. I could only take in water in sips amounting to the size of a pea. I tried to have LITTLE TINY slivers of sugar free, fat free, frozen yogurt which sounded soothing to my swollen, hungry belly - it caused me to slime for about 40 minutes before I was able to swallow my own spit again! Forget about eating. Not even soup! Not even clear broth! Because that visit was on a Saturday, I had to wait until Monday when the doctor's office reopened before I could get in for an unfill - which irritated my stomach more. Fortunately, the surgeons fill nurse was there on Monday. She's awesome. When she pulled the fill out, sure enough there were 1.9cc's of fill in there. My original 1.4cc's PLUS the .5cc's that idiot of a surgeon added at the time of my SUPPOSED unfill! I was furious. I went the whole weekend in MISERY because this jerk-off thought he knew what was best for me - and didn't even inform me of what he was doing. I'm furious about it still. The fill nurse took my fill down to my current 1.2cc's and I'm beginning to feel better today but I'm still on liquids and will stay on them until this Sunday - 7 days of liquids just to be sure I don't cause another PB re-irritating my already irritated stomach! This has been a horrible experience and I don't plan to have another fill until I can't lose another ounce no matter how much I restrict calories and increase my activity! I will never again compare my fills with anyone elses, nor will I agree to have fills on any kind of schedule. Needless to say, I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, let that surgeon touch my body ever again. If the fill nurse isn't there, I'll leave. Even if I have to pay for an office visit he'll never touch me again. I'd never use his facility again except that his fill nurse is wonderful (compassionate, careful, HONEST - pick whichever one you like, she's all of that and more), and, because I didn't have surgery in the U.S., I don't want to go around looking for another local who'll see me. Here is my advise for anyone wanting to know about getting fills: 1) If/when you get a fill, do it in slow increments - more is not better, or even cheaper. It will cost you in the long run to need unfills and refills when you could have got to the same place COMFORTABLY by sneaking up on your sweet spot. 2) If you think you might be too tight, GO GET AN UNFILL! It's not worth the misery or the irritation and possible damage to your stomach to try to keep your fill in an attempt to lose weight faster. That's not what I was doing, but I see that on LBT frequently. 3) Make sure YOU call the shots - not some numb-nuts doctor who thinks he knows everything. Once again I must learn to trust my own instincts (a lesson I thought I had learned long ago) and listen to what MY body is telling ME! Sorry to go on and on, but this is the first time I've written it all down and I'm still pretty steamed about it. LOL - Um, what makes you ask? Good luck with your band and weight loss journey. __________________ DonnaB Adversity introduces you to yourself. - Anonymous

What and how much are you eating now? I'm in the middle of the puree stage and I have no idea if I'm under/overeating. Today I had a greek yogurt for Breakfast, an 8oz Protein shake with PB powder for lunch, and maybe 4oz of a refried bean/cheese/milk/cottage cheese concoction my husband whizzed together for me in the food processor. I just had a frozen greek yogurt pop for dessert. Are you in a similar place?

I would suggest getting a thermal cup that you can put a protein shake in and it will stay cold for hours. Then if you can get a few sips in here and there hopefully you could drink at least half if not the whole shake over your shift. Then you don't feel you have to push yourself to eat a lot at lunch. I would choose a slider food like high protein yogurt or cottage cheese for lunch. Make sure you can easily eat chicken, tuna etc on your own before trying those at work. If you sit during your lunch maybe have your phone out playing a game or watching a video to help pace yourself. Then you can take a bite of your lunch after every game, 2 min clip etc.

Mine goes from 3 weeks to 6 weeks I scramble eggs with cottage cheese to make it soft and it's either that or you have to have soft boiled eggs I can have refried Beans Soups with low carbohydrates and no more than 10 grams of sugar I can have pureed cauliflower carrots stuff like that. I also could have thin deli meat. But it has to be real deli meat not the processed stuff. I can have applesauce with no sugar. And skinless fruit. No grapes. He doesn't want us to mashed potatoes or hot Cereal because there's a lot of carbs after 6 weeks we can add that what you have to to fill yourself up on Protein first. I can also have soy. I bought some soy chorizo and used it as a meat in a homade chili I made for the whole family they loved it. And of course Greek yogurt under 10 grams of sugar. Same with yogurt. And a half of a banana and only string cheese. Hope I helped my doctor gave me a menu. But remember every doctor is different. Good luck on your journey ♡ Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using the BariatricPal App

@@Express09 - stuffing is too risky IMO as it could form a ball in your new tummy. That is why the soupy type mashed potatoes are allowed at this point, although there is no Protein (unless you add unflavored) value. I have added flavored powdered protein to unflavored plain greek yogurt for a pudding type snack. I use 1 scoop (25 or so grams of protein, depending on what you are using) and added the flavored protein to a consistency I would call like pudding.

Ok maybe it's not a stall but given that I was losing a point or so a day the first to weeks, to not have the scale move for 6 days is unsettling. Surgery 5/2. Lost 21lbs in the preop diet and 16lbs post op so far. I'm eating between 600-800cals per day. On on purees. My meals are like this: Breakfast: premier protein shake Snack: Greek yogurt Lunch: soup- like a chicken broth with veg Dinner: 1/3 cup puréed meat, 1/4 cup each of puréed veg and potatoes I'm getting about 80 oz of water. Protein is about 60g so yesterday I also added another shake to get to 90. I'm nervous to go on regular foods soon and gain if I'm not losing now. Any other suggestions? Or just calm the F down[emoji52]

I like GNC Pro Performace whey protein natural flavour. It has no flavour and 40 grams of protein in just 2 scoops!! I add pb2 powder for extra protein and to give it a nice taste. Sometimes I add Greek yogurt and fruit for a smoothie but only occasionally because of the carbs.

I've been struggling too. .. It's when my children have their snacks that I tend to cheat. .. At work I'm fine at night for dinner I'm fine. For snacks my nut told me I could have sugar free jello and Popsicle. Also boiled eggs and yogurt. Maybe you could all of you could ask about those... That's what I did! Good luck!!

Sophiespo, don't beat yourself up. You are not bteaking up w food, just changing the abusive co-dependent relationship w it. There are plenty of healthy softer foods that can go down too. Greek yogurt, soft cooked veggies, veggie soup, boiled meat(like the meat in mexican restaurants), stews, tuna fish...etc.. I cannot eat any of my favorites any more since my last fill. And I am a food lover, my whole family is. You will mourn but when your britches feel loose and you start to feel a collar bone, or like me, when I sit on the back of my bike and I'm not squished all over my husband, and he notices, then that starts to taste really good, alot better than my pizza & porkchops. Oh yeah, baked, mater sauce, mozzarella, boiled ground sausage tastes really good, and is easily swallowed too.

Did anyone not loose any weight on their pre op diet even tho they followed it to the T? My band is scheduled for the 23rd and I've been on my diet since Saturday. I hate being a slave to the scale but 4 days later of veggies, plain oatmeal, yogurt, and Protein Drinks u would thnk I'd have lost some weight...even an ounce? Def not gonna let this bring me down in anyway but was just curious.

Hi all, I am 5 months out and have lost 88lbs which is AWESOME. The whole time though I have been constipated, trying EVERYTHING just to be able to "go" every other day or so but nothing has worked. So I have been using laxatives every weekend to "clean myself out" as I work Monday thru Friday and can''t take them during the week.So unfortunately I can go like 6 days without a BM which is not good. An issue I'm having is the past few weeks, I am not losing like I was the first 5 months and I'm going out of my mind! Example: I weigh myself in the morning when I get up and say my weight is 177.4lb.s. OKay, fine. So I eat a 6oz. yogurt and a few mini rice cakes.And weigh myself say a half hour later (just for this purpose) and my weight goes up to 178.2lb.s!!! This is NOT normal for me! Usually after eating that, my weight wouldn't move at all, or go up maybe an ounce. But now it goes way up, even if I drink a protein shake or water! What's the deal??? Is it because of the constipation and being "FOS" literally?? (I also walk 2 miles a day on top of a very active 8 hour job.) Another example is yesterday, I weighed 177.6lbs in the morning. I had 2 protein shakes,water and 8oz. oatmeal throughout the whole day. I weighed myself that night around 10pm and my weight was 179.2lbs! Now I know weight fluctuates during the day and that's fine, but this is NOT NORMAL for me. Can someone PLEASE help me figure this out?? I'm losing faith in myself and having any more weight loss and I have 47lbs still to lose! PLEASE HELP! DESPERATE! thank you Source: 5 months and HOPELESS! Please help!

First... make sure you're eating your meals regularly throughout the day. That's the most important thing to avoid being hungry late in the evening. Second, set a time to stop eating that is 4 hours before you go to sleep. I generally go to sleep at 11:30 pm so I don't eat anything after 7:30 pm Lastly, allow yourself something small to tide you over if you really can't stand it. Choose a calorie dense, healthy food. I like a spoonful of nut butter or greek yogurt. Something that might help... BariWise makes some awesome hot cocoa mixed that are under 100 calories and give you 15 grams of Protein. I like to sip these in the evening if I'm hungry You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/BariWise-15g-High-Protein-Chocolate/dp/B00NTBC276/

This is what works for me and were all different so I'm by no means telling you to do this just sharing my journey. I really don't think i do anything special and there's some areas such as exercise that I still need to get into a better routine of but here is what a typical day looks like for me: 80 oz of fluid- Water, tea, crystal light 60-80g of Protein Approx. 1200 cal. per day Each meal consists of 3-4oz of lean protein, 1/2 c veggies, and 1 starch serving I ALWAYS eat my meals in the following order, protein first, then veggies, and lastly the starch (if I have room) I never drink anything while eating or for one hour after. NO CARBINATION NO ALCOHOL I NEVER DRINK MY CALORIES Below is where I may be different in some areas than others: Limitation of Carbs- Not Elimination but Limitation:-) I told myself when I had this surgery that bread was a no no (the doughy kind), so, the only bread I've had has been whole wheat toast for a sandwich. I've had Pasta twice and while I did fine with it, I chose not to eat it because it really didn't fill me up and I decided I would rather spend my calories on food that keeps me fuller longer with better nutrition (with less calories and all the other stuff). Same with rice. So basically I limit the type of carbs I allow in my diet. They either come from Veggies, or when I cook sometimes I will roll my chicken breast in bread crumbs or if I have a sweet tooth craving I buy the skinny cow chocolates or ice creams which of course are heavier on the carbs (15g or so), or I will have a 1/2 of a flour tortilla for a wrap or 2 corn taco shells, but typically I limit my actual Starch servings to once a day. I've also never been a real big fruit person, so I rarely eat it. My surgeon told me about the sugar and carbs found in fruit and while they encouraged eating them in moderation they did warn me not to overdue it so if I have a fruit with a meal or as a snack I will not have a starch etc. There are some things I knew I wanted to eliminate all together because there's no nutritional value and it's a trigger for me so I made a mental list of all of those foods and I'm not going to try it not because I think the band will have issues with it but that my head will have issues with it. For instance pizza, I haven't had a slice of pizza in over a year and I don't miss it a bit, If/when I do get an urge for it I know theres a healtier version; I have a recipie that uses cauliflouer crust when that urge arises I will op to make the healthier version. Don't get me wrong I don't deprive myself, I made this a lifestyle change so I made it to include the things I CAN AND CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT. Like if I want a cookie, once in a while I will eat a cookie, I just take it off of my calorie intake for the day, you just can't make this an every day occurance so if you know this food is a trigger for you to binge then learn to live without it or make a healthier version. If I want chips I get the individual bags of Special K Sour Cream and Onion. 1 package has 110 cal and I get by with just 1/2 now:-) so for 55 cal, 1 g sugar and 11 carbs I feel like I've had a cheat:-) There's a tradeoff for everything and for me it's all about balance. If I can find a healthy alternative for something I love and it's good then I'm all for it, if there's not then eat the real thing in moderation (as long as it's not harmful to your band), count it off your daily calories and move on:-) Some examples of food are: Breakfast Dannon light greek yogurt with 3tlb hy vee trail mix- 212 cal 16g protein 2 eggs with 1 piece of farmland low sodium bacon crumbled with some onions and mushrooms sprinkled with 2% shredded cheese and salsa. Approx 250 cal 16g protein. lunch 4oz deli turkey 100 cal 18g protein 2slices slim cut kraft cheese colby jack slices. 70 cal. 6 protein 1 tlb okios greek yogurt dip 13 cal, 1p 2 Romaine lettuce leafs 8 cal Total approx 226 cal 25 g p Detour low sugar protein caramel nut bar. 340 cal, 5 net carbs 2g sugar and 30 p (Only eat maybe once a week in a pinch) dinner Parmasean crusted tilapia (can send you recipie if interested) with green giant just for1 cauiflouer with cheese sauce. Approx 300 cal 35 p Smothered chicken with cheese oniins & mushrooms with salad with homeafe ranch dressing. Apprix 369 cal 30 p I have a couple of Snacks throyghout the day, some options: Okios yogurt dip with veggies or 1-2 oz of colby jack or pepperjack cheese with 5 townhouse reduced fat crakers 70 cal 180 cal - 280 cal 7- 14 g p ( if I eat this 2 oz I will do one if the lower cal snacks later) SF fudge ice cream bar 35 cal 60 cal sf pudding Skinny cow choc. 3pcs 130 cal Skinnk cow drumstick 160 cal I always make sure that I have quick and easy things laying in the fridge for those days when I don't feel like cooking or am in a hurry so for me that means deli turkey meat, and kraft sliced cheese (love the slim slices 35c each) so I weigh out the meat throw it in a baggie and eat it on the go. I love it;) As far as motivation goes these are the things thst keep me going: I have a strong faith in God, my family, I have a great support system, I love being able to do things I haven't done in years, LOVE walking into a store and seeing something i love and not worrying about if it comes in my size. Oh yeah and all those peple who thought i was crazy, doubted me or waited for me to fail, being able to prove them wrong:) Any time someone thinks I can't do something or discourages me you better watch out because I fight like hell to prove them wrong!!! So I guessI should thank them;) I hope this helps and if anyone has any recommendations please share I'm always open to better options. Thanks!