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Doesn't the frozen yogurt have a ton of sugar in it? You probably were reacting to the sugar.

Hi there! I was put on mushies on Day 11 after my surgery and it was a welcome relief. I could eat things that were really soft and mushy and didn't really require much in the way of chewing. . .like refried Beans, soft scrambled egg, Peanut Butter, cottage cheese, yogurt etc. I went home from the hospital (after 3 days) on pureed foods so was only on Clear Liquids just in the hospital. So I was pureeing lots of Soups etc just to get some decent tastes going. It gets so much easier as time goes on. Alot of people told me that but when I was in my first two weeks I thought I would never make it through! But I promise, it really does get better. The most important thing now is to get your liquids in and maybe use some non-flavored Protein powder with everything that you consume to get in the extra protein. One of my favorites now is the Kellogg's K2O drink mix that has 5 grams of protein. I drink 2 of those every day so that takes care of part of my Water intake and also 10 grams of protein. What was the date of your surgery and what diet plan do they have you on? (it seems like every surgeon is a little different with the diet plans)

I am allowed but honestly my taste buds have changed so I can only eat the plain greek yogurt

A few replies to this topic made me wrinkle my brow a little so I'll just quickly touch on them and voice my opinion. 1. Yes, losing the weight is the desired result of any WLS procedure. "What's the problem?" the problem is starvation isn't going to result in healthy long term weight loss and at only 300-600 cals a day, the body will begin to starve. Fat will be stored, not lost. 2. Calories in = calories out is an archaic way of thinking when it comes to weight loss. It seems that easy, right? Well if it were we wouldn't need to put any other nutrition facts on food labels and doctors and nutritionists would need to set guidelines for fat/protein/etc.They'd just say "Eat this many calories a day and burn at least this many a day and you'll lose this much weight." It doesn't work that way. 100 calories worth of skinless chicken breast will do a different thing to my body than 100 calories of full fat ice cream. All calories are not created equal. 3. The first few weeks after surgery I couldn't manage to get down much more than about a half a yogurt and a Protein shake once or twice a day. It was stressful. I was frustrated. I was tired. Walking my dog down the front path of my apartment complex wiped me out. That was temporary. I'm now running 4-6 miles 3x a week, and exercising for 90 minutes or so in the gym lifting relatively heavy weights on days in between. I very rarely break 1000 cals a day in food, but I've worked out 1100 calories in a run. My Fitness Pal diary entires are skewed because I track my food as it's served to me, and 99% of the time, I don't finish ANYTHING. I dont try to increase my calories if I'm not hungry. That's why I had surgery; to stop me from cleaning my plate and the two next to me. If you're not hungry, it will be harder to increase your calories. Mass gainer will defeat the purpose of what you're trying to achieve from surgery. 4. You will eventually begin to tolerate more food. Your eating frequency may increase due to exercise and your capacity for eating at one sitting will increase. A month post op 2 tbs of Beans and an egg would be all I could tolerate at once. Now I can eat a hamburger patty and apple slices for lunch without much trouble (kids' meal size but still LOL). I agree with some of the suggestions above such as adding yogurt, avocado, cottage cheese etc to smoothies/shakes. Use greek yogurt on foods where you would normally use sour cream; it tastes the same but you're getting protein and less fat. Make your shakes with milk. Try Fairlife; it's filtered milk that has a lot more protein than regular milk. A tad more expensive for a jug but definitely worth it. Add banana slices to your yogurt if you can tolerate banana and if you're allowed fruit. Bananas are naturally a bit fattier than other fruits and have a few more calories, but are still soft for someone who's still pretty new out from surgery. I know exactly what you're going through; I didn't workout to my own satisfaction for over a month after surgery because I was too tired and low on food intake and my body was still very busy healing. You'll get there, i promise.

To clarify my standard day is two protein shakes and a yogurt. After that it's what I can tolerate. I get around 70 of protein a day. Sometimes more.

I've heard a few people mention adding Protein powder to their food, yougurt, etc..... Does anyone do this,like during the mushies stage or even at any time? If you add Protein Powder to yogurt, does it make it taste better? I'm not a big fan of yogurt, but if adding the protein powder to it will make the yogurt taste better AND give me the protein I need then I can try it?? I know there will come a time that I won't be allowed or encouraged to drink Protein shakes, so I'm trying to find out now what people have done to use the protein powder.... Thanks! kristi

Well, before I had my first fill I could almost eat anything...breads, pizza, chicken...ect but 3 weeks ago I got my first fill. ever since I am having a hard time finding things that my band can tollerate. Chicken always gets stuck no matter how much I chew it and then I start sliming. I have almost been living on a thick soup for lunch and dinner and skipping breakfast unless I have a protein shake. Most times I get hungry I try little chicken or somethng and about the second bit im in agony and then cant eat for several hours and just have something like soup or yogurt. on my first fill they only put 1.5cc in my band so I dont have much in there (i do have a 4cc band though) I cant just go back to the dr because it is done at a hospital 2 hours away and costs $250 each time I go there. I'm not really complaining because other then only eating mushies I do feel great. Just wondering if anyone else has problems with chicken?

I also eat 2 egg whites with 2 to 3 turkey sausage links for breakfast. I eat greek yogurt if i dont feel like making breakfast. I have discovered morningstar veggie patties which taste amazing and they are only 150 calories! I make shrimp and broccoli all the time. It's less than 100 calories for a cup! I'm still in between surgery and my first fill but have a pretty good restriction already! I have tried to eat everything except carbs like rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, cereals, I've had none of that stuff yet. Someone suggested to me that when I feel I want to "cheat" to have a weight watchers or lean cuisine meal...... I'm dying for pizza!!!! Lol

How scary for you. First of all, I would like to say that at your age, you shouldn't make a dnr decision while you are depressed. I can completely empathize with you and hate this for you. It sounds like a terrible ordeal to endure. But, please consider that aside from how hard this is, making a death decision while depressed is not ideal. I feel confident to tell you that I have faith that you will somehow overcome this. I know that there may seem like not even a flicker of light to look forward to, but that is usually the case when we are facing extremely horrible and depressing things...but, they almost always improve and I'm praying now that this will for you. It is unfortunate that some people have such horrific side effects, but we all go through with this decision anyways in hope of a better quality of life. I know it makes it worse to look forward to only to end up in misery. Please call your doctor's office every day that this is not improving in order to make them fully aware of the seriousness. Don't wait for things to change, call them everytime you have a problem so they can assist you before you become so dehydrated, etc. again. I feel so bad and wish there was more I could do or say. As for food, have you tried nibbling on mashed potatoes? I know they are carbs, which is not ideal after surgery, but this seems to be more about survival at this point and getting over this hump. When I have been sick at my stomach in the past and struggling to eat, these are a few things I have tried: Gatorade, mixed with water in order to dilute. It is full of electrolytes which can help plus you will be mixing with water which can aid in fighting the dehydration, but you don't want to get too much sugar. I'd probably try G2 mixed with water now that it is an option and there are several flavors so maybe you can find one that is tolerable. Mashed potatoes. I was able to nibble on these a little easier than almost anything else when I was severely sick. Another thing you may try is a light yogurt (this may be hard bc it is thicker, but it is full of protein so it's worth a shot.) There are some meal replacement drinks I use bc I can't drink anything thick (as it grosses me out). It is called Advocare meal replacement shake. It mixes with water and doesn't have the after taste or smell of most meal replacements and it's loaded with protein. What I love most is that you can mix it with less water than required so that it isn't so much to drink and it's still relatively thin. It may be worth a shot. It is a little pricey so I had to sign up as a distributor bc I need the discount as I am drinkinig this every day for my protein, but it is well worth it for me. Here's the site: www.AdvoCare.com/120531202 You can just go to shop and type in meal replacement shake in the search bar. I always use the chocolate bc I like that flavor in general, but I have heard the other flavors are good as well. I am so sorry for what you are going through and I am happy to lend an ear to help get you through this. I just have a strong feeling that you can and will get through this. Hang in there sweet girl. Rach

Mashed Potatoes with a couple of spoons of cream of chicken Soup on top. oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon and stevia or other sweetener. Dannon's light and fit greek yogurt ... vanilla. the individual containers not the large containers has no sugar in it and is low carb. My dr. won't let me have the chicken salad or tuna, refriend Beans or any of that stuff yet. My favorite meal is southwestern style egg beaters I add a little almond milk in it to make the eggs soft as I had problems eating them at first , The milk makes them soft and then I eat it with a wedge of laughing cow cheese.... Also you can take the egg beaters. Measure 1/4 cup and pour into a muffin or mini cupcake pan after you spray it with non stick cooking spray. Bake in toaster oven at 350 until egg rises and is firm and a little brown on top.... it's like a frittata.... and it's yummy. you can either mix the laughing cow cheese in the egg mix or spread it on top of the baked egg when done. It's very yummy but be careful if you bake the egg like a frittata that you eat it slowly.... I can't wait until my five week check up when I'll get to add some real Protein foods like ground turkey, soft chicken...or ground beef, low fat cheese and a few more things..... I am tired of yoghurt and all that but i make the best of it..... I can't have all the foods that some of the others here are allowed on athis stage. I wonder why each doctor has different foods in the phases.... I guess it's good to be careful. I don't think I could tolerate any salsa at this time. I'm afraid to try fat free refried beans.... I think it would make me more gassy than i already am...

I thought I would have a much harder time with the no drinking while eating than I really did. I was a bit lucky in that my surgeon only requires I stop 5 minutes before eating and wait 20 minutes after eating. I've heard of some surgeons saying an hour before and an hour after! How could you possibly get all your Water in if you can't drink for like 80% of the day??!?! Anyway, when I first started eating solid foods post-op, it was a little challenging, because I was used to being able to "wash down" dry foods. So, that took a little getting used to. I found it was best just to not have water within reach while I was eating, otherwise I would drink without even thinking about it. I had to re-train my brain. One fascinating thing I learned was that I had CLEARLY been using drinking while eating as a means of eating more food pre-op, without even realizing it. The first time I got a "full" sensation while eating solids post-op, my instinct was to reach for the water to wash down the food so I could eat more! I never realized that about myself until I was post-op. I will say that, while I am cleared by my surgeon to drink 20 minutes after eating, I often find that after a full meal, I need to wait about 40-45 minutes anyway. Otherwise I feel overfull and uncomfortable. If I am just having a small snack, like a cheese stick or some yogurt, then it is easier for me to drink sooner after eating.

I mix a very small amount of beans with a protein like morningstar patties or soy protein crumbles. Top with cheese and plain yogurt. Lots of protein and minimal carbs. Plus it's good to get some fiber.

Alexandra I've been following your posts and have a question. If I remember correctly, you had your surgery on 8/20. I'm right behind you - on 8/26. So, you're just 1 1/2 weeks post-op. Correct? And you're on mushy food already??? I'm amazed. I am just 4 days post-op and am on Clear liquids until next Tuesday, then I have a week of full liquids (Protein drinks and yogurt, etc.), before I am allowed to go to mushy foods in week three. I'm surprised that you are able to be on mushy (and soft?) already. Nice to hear though. What are the guidelines your doctor gives you? Your words of wisdom about protein are helpful. Actually, I'm pretty amazed I'm not starving right now. I've been having basically clear broth, Jello, fruit juice popsicles - AND a clear liquid Protein, which I think really helps. But I must say, I'm ready for the next phase. I'm sick of the clear liquids. Thanks for all your helpful posts. Mary

Well... I'm supposed to eat high protein, low carb and no sodas or sugar up until I start my pre-op diet, which is 10 days long. I'm doing well but I had a food funeral. I went to cherry berry and had fat free frozen yogurt with fruit and granola. It wasn't sugar free though. I knew it my diet was gonna be hard and that there is the possibility that I mayslip, but I didn't realize the self-loathing and guilt I'd feel after. I keep thinking how I always tend to self-sabotage myself and wonder if I'm the only person who feels something like this if I veer off the straight and narrow

I'm still fairly new at 6 or so weeks, but I like edamame, Ostrim, salmon, pb2, low fat cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, split pea soup (11g protein per .5 cup), boiled egg whites.

There are several yogurt brands out there. there are Light, nonfat, and sugar free versions. I think Dannon and/or Activia has a smoothie drink. Whatever you choose it should be w/o chunks- No "fruit on the bottom". Weight Watchers has some you may like and don't seem to have fruit pieces; they are lo fat and sugar. I try to check the amt. of protein grams / serving in the container. Some are as low as 3 while others are 7-8.. Some use gelatin and others do not. Yoplait has several Whips. Lights., and regular versions without fruit pieces.

my doc said I could have yogurt I'm on full liquids now and it's part of the full liquids (: Popsicles are good

Im not really sure about the yogurt but I think that might still be considered a mushie and a bit too much for your stomach right now. But what about sugar free popcicles. They taste good and help with hydration. I almost lived on them my 1st few days post op.

I have been a restricter for so long that it is hard for me to let that go -- but what a relief. I don't "diet" now but I am still very mindful. I make good choices, try to focus on Protein, etc. Today is Easter and we had a big brunch. I let myself nibble on cheeses and olives and have a few Mimosas. I had a custom made teeny tiny omelet, skipped everything else not because I wasn't letting myself have it but because I didn't want it. I wanted that cheese! My surgeon's rule of thumb is full for 4-5 hours and I am experiencing that. I am not a Breakfast eater so my midday meal is my first of the day. If I'm hungry later I grab almonds -- four of them. Or I might have one of those 100 calorie Greek yogurts with some chia seeds and a little bit of gluten free Cereal in it. This might be a meal or it might be a snack, depending on whether I'm hungry. Likewise with dinner I might have a real dinner (small, high protein) or just do something like that yogurt. Once in a while I do a shakes day -- will do that tomorrow to tone up my band and brain after a weekend of socializing. I look forward to the shake days -- but that's because of that old restrictive behavior which I'm still shaking off.

Can you have souls too? Or change protein powders? I'm on Day 10 with 4 to go. The first week was the hardest. Now that I'm in the home stretch, I feel better about it. Helps to see the scale go down as the days pass too. For soups, we can have anything relatively low in sodium & either creamy or broth. Trader Joe's black bean soup & roasted red pepper soup are my favorites. Something warm makes me feel like I'm actually eating. Oh, & we can have SF jello, yogurt (with no fruity chunks, and SF pudding. Hope it gets easier for you!

I am now 5 days op with a few questions. I have gone from "I think I'm gonna die and this decision wasn't so hot" to "I'm uncomfortable but it is manageable and I will be fine in a few days. I'm glad I did this.". here are my questions: how much should I be able to drink at a time? In the morning when I get up I can drink a 10 ounce Protein shake in just at an hour. Is that too much? Should I still have pain on incision sites? I still have a pretty significant pain on my left side by one of my incision sites. How much solids should I be able to eat? I am cleared for yogurt and I was able to get down 3 ounces in about 30 minutes. Is that too much? I guess I was under the assumption i wouldn't be able to eat but a teaspoon of food at a time. I was shocked I could eat the yogurt. when I stopped at 3 ounces i didn't even feel really "full" or uncomfortable. I just stopped since it was the first time I'd eaten anything. I guess I am ultimately worried I have a leak in my stomach and I'm able to get so much food down because it is leaking into my abdomen! The doc did a leak test on me and it was fine at hospital. I just didn't think I'd be able to get this much down! Is this normal?

Hopefully she meant yogurt without bits in it. Since it caused you discomfort, you could dilute it with milk and strain it.

I love raspberries. I wonder if you could puree and then freeze them for a lovely Italian Ice type treat. Or (I have seen this when blueberries, not sure if it will work with raspberries) but coat them in yogurt and then freeze them and they are lovely little yogurt covered berry treats? Can't wait to see what ideas people come up with. I need to go find a farmers market..

Being dehydrated can make you nauseated. Up your Fluid intake pronto. Are you taking an acid reducer? Early post-op I had a very picky tummy. No dairy except Fat Free Greek Yougurt, no acidic foods, and no spice. No bread, Pasta, or grain. I ate lunch meat, moist chicken, greek yogurt, soy milk, anderson split pea Soup (most other cream Soups bothered me) and GNC Gold Standard whey Protein in vanilla, unjury Chicken Soup protein. I had the occasional saltine cracker. For veggies, I ate a bite of mild veggies, such as zucchini or carrots. Only fruit I could eat was applesauce, bananna, and watermelon. I recommend calling your doc ASAP if you can't up your fluid intake. Lynda

I've been having to have snacks in the afternoons and before bed depends, but I haven't been choosing too wisely. So, I went to the store today and stocked up on 100 calorie packs, 60 calorie pudding (can easily add protein powder to), as well as yogurt and other things to have on hand. I hope this will help. I have also made a weekly menu to stick with. Lots of grilled things on it. I would love to be able to eat refried beans or soup and feel full but not there yet. I had hoped to get another fill next week but my doctor is on vacation and the next week I'll be on vacation so I have to wait another two weeks!!! I am going to push myself to do my best, even when on vacation. Atleast then I'll be busy at the pool and such and food won't be as accessable. Have you ever heard of having too few calories when excercising and your body not losing? I am wondering if that has been my problem. I jumped back into excercising along with cutting my calories and maybe my body is in shock. What do you think?