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I eat 3-4oz of lean protien, 1/2 cup of veggies and 1 serving of starch if I still have room which typically I don't. If I do it's typically like a 1/2 slice of toasted wheat bread or 1/4 c brown rice etc. If I'm hungry in between meals which some times I am I eat a healthy snack like a greek yogurt or 1-2 oz of cheese or something around 100 calories. Hope this helps! You're doing a great job! Congrats on your success!

Dr. Benavides has put me on Myocel two weeks prior to surgery. He is located in Richardson. Or you can buy it from Dr. Garwood in College Station. He had something to do with inventing it. It mixes pretty well with alot of things. I have tried orange juice an skim milk. You can add ice cubes and hit it with a blender to make smoothies. I know it can be added to yogurt also if you like. It comes in 3 flavors. Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla. I have the vanilla. Just make sure it is blended REALLY well or you get powder chunks. Remember Orange Julius? try mixing the vanilla with OJ...yummy! oh yeah, runs $35 for 3.3 pounds of this stuff. Dr Garwood's number is 979-485-0395

You bet there's protein in peanut butter cups. And in the yogurt too! Your treats don't sound exactly extreme, and I'm getting a whiff of diet mind wafting from the East Coast... When you pick up two dozen at the Dunkin Donuts drive-through and devour them in one sitting, then we'll start to worry.

Aubrie: My doctor recommended that I have FF yogurt, or a piece of fruit, or something like that at about 4 o'clock because I told him I was so hungry by the time I got home I'd eat the butt off a dog. He said that it's not good to wait too many hours between eating. Try having a healthy snack and it should help you stay on plan. Congratulations on your loss and exercise habits. Sue

I am not sure what to do. My last fill was a little less than a year ago. My weight has remained stable for about 8 months but i am still about 40 pounds from my goal. This is my problem - i am having trouble eating healthy food since my last fill. I can't eat salads, most chicken (except most, processed chicken),yogurt, eggs, hardly anything for breakfast. I am thinking that i might be better off having a little un-fill which will enable me to eat the salads, veggies, healthy meats. I do worry that maybe I won't eat so healthy if the band is loosened but i don't think that is a big concern. Sometimes I go almost all day without any protein. This has been going on for awhile but i am starting to feel sluggish. Anyone have a situation similar to mine? What do you suggest? Thanks in advance.

Did your doc specify what calcium sources he wanted you to use? I do have yogurt sometimes, but usually mixed with Cereal so it doesn't slide right through. It's a mushy, so it's not going to give you the satiated feeling that solid food will. My center says no liquid or mushy calories except 2 dairy servings per day. Which sounds more sensible to me than excluding dairy. I still don't get enough calcium, so I take a Viactiv chew these days.

I do that too lynn, cut them into tiny pieces but not powder... some things can't or shouldn't be cut though. Some meds are made to dissolve at a specific dose rate and cutting them up means they either dissolve in a bad place and can cause irritation, or you can get too big a dose at once. Ask if you can get a liquid antibiotic, or if it's safe to cut it up. Be sure and up your yogurt consumption or get some acidophyllus chewables to prevent a yeast infection!

Is there any good Proteins that you do like that your nutritionist has recommended? Clean out your cabinets of the bad stuff. I know if it's in my house I will eat it. If you make it harder to find, you won't bother. If you are constantly getting stuck, tell your doc - that is not normal. Go back to mushy stage.. try yogurts, cottage cheese, hummus, Soups, etc. I know fries were not tolerable for me the first time I was banded. Good luck and hang in there!

I'm still on mushies and 20 days post-op. I've been eating soup with a little more substance, added a cracker yesterday, cottage cheese, yogurt, fudgecycles, pudding, soft boiled egg smashed up with a little mayo & mustard is really good. I tried tuna salad today with mayo and mixed it really good. YUM I was told to gradually add things to my diet. By the end of 3 weeks the Dr. wants me to have tried bread and meat. I did "cheat" Friday. I had three french fries from McDonalds, but in my defense, I smashed them with a fork first and mixed them with ketchup! I keep telling myself this is the time to heal. If my head hunger gets too bad I go grab a SF popcycle and that can usually distract me. Good luck

Had my first fill last night at 8:30 pm.. Doctor told me liquids in the am and you can have lunch at 12 or 1..Had coffee this morning that went fine, had a spoonfull of yogurt like 20 minutes ago and im having the worst shoulder pain EVER...Im freaking out the pain is sharp and intense...How long should i wait for it to go away?? I know it was the yogurt I can feel it sitting there...Please help..Thanks

Today makes day 2 of my liquid diet. I stayed over night in the hospital last night after the surgery. Today I am home and I am starving.. I think. Im still sore and gassy but I question is when do you start stage 2? I tell myself I am going to wait a few more days and just stay on the clear liquid diet but the hungry side of me wants yogurt, or sf pudding, or a Protein shake..lol I go Thursday to my post op Dr. visit. Any suggestions?

I made this last night and it was big hit! I'm eating it again today for lunch and it really is good. Enjoy! Ingredients: 4 Talapia filets (or any type of fish you like) 1/4 c. salad dressing, ranch, nonfat or lowfat 3 T. yogurt, plain, nonfat or lowfat 1 1/2 T. mustard 1/2 lb. spinach, fresh (I used a big bag of baby spinach) galic salt and various other spices to your liking (I used a little garlic and Emrils fish rub) Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse fish, pat dry with paper towels and arrange in glass baking dish. Mix dressing, yogurt and mustard; spoon evenly over fish. Spice the fish up, use your favorite seasonings, doesn't take much as the salad dressing and mustard have some spice in them. I like to sprinkle a little of Emeril's fish rub on mine, then maybe a shake or two of the garlic salt. Bake until fish is no longer translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. (I cooked mine more like 15 - 20 min) Remove tough stems from spinach; rinse thoroughly and drain. (I didn't have to do this as I bought the baby spinach in a bag) Heat nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add spinach and stir-fry just to wilt the leaves, about 30 seconds. (I also added a little pam butter flavored to the skilley to give it a little more flavor and seasoned the spinach with a squeeze of lemon and garlic salt) Arrange spinach single layer on serving plates; top with baked fish. Nutrition at a glance Each Serving Provides: amount per serving Calories 130 Total Fat 2 g Saturated Fat 0 g Cholesterol 53 mg Sodium 337 mg Carbohydrates 8 g Protein 20 g

Congrats to you all!!! It sounds like we are all moving in the right direction. I was told not to lose too fast also. It is disappointing sometimes, but I am trying to follow the doctors instructions. After all, if my way was working I wouldn't be this big. I have a lap band consultant at my doctors office. When his patients visit him they also visit her. She helps with the lifestyle changes that go along with the lap band. She gives us tips on eating and cooking. She recommends no more than 1200 calories, 60 carbs, and 60 grams of Protein or more. The more protein you eat the better. With every meal I try for 20+ protein and as little carbs as I can. I do not eat anything unless their is protein included. If I eat a sugar free pudding I eat a piece of cheese also. I eat a lot of plain Greek yogurt. (I add Protein powder or vanilla splenda flavors to it) I eat a lot of fat free cottage cheese with no sugar added peaches that come in a snack size cup. Being on the go all the time is the hard part of dieting and eating right. I found the Atkins frozen meals that are delicious and low carb high in protein. After a long day and not wanting to cook pop one of those in the microwave. Easy breezy!! I also take one to work now and then for lunch when I forget to make my lunch the night before. I might eat out once a week. Usually when my husband comes home on the weekend and we go out to dinner. I used to eat out for lunch with the girls at the office and a lot of times at night on my way home I would grab something to take home. This is the biggest change that is helping me lose. I want us to give each other new ideas and tips. I by no means claim my ways are right or the best, and I am open for more suggestions. After all we will be doing this for a long time and you get burned out on the same things very fast. Keep up the great work ladies!!!

Move to liquids 2 days then mushies. You are swollen. If your stomach is growling you are hungry. I would have soft diet. Maybe some yogurt. Try and stay away from scrambled eggs. They may come back up. Good luck. Your band didn't slip. This sounds like a normal PB.

Natalie, I use unflavored unjury powder in my oatmeal, soups, yogurt and make shakes with it. You can even add it to your veggies.

So excited that all of a sudden this week I am tolerating more food. Still not getting in necessary calories, but I can now tolerate yogurt and cottage cheese. Protein drinks are good too and I can finally eat 1/4-1/3 cup of food per meal for at least 2 meals a day. Adding a third tomorrow. I'm even getting more and more fluids in everyday. But here's the best part: My daughter gave me a hug yesterday and backed up and said, " What's that?" I looked at her funny and she lifted my shirt and pressed on my rib. Then she said "I've never felt that before. I'm so proud of you mommy."

Hey Jess, I found them at Price chopper...I think they are pretty new. I also love the Siggi's plain yogurt..

I get up at 4:45 am and I usually leave for work around 5:45 and once there I eat some yogurt mixed with cottage cheese and then 40 minutes later I begin drinking Water. Around 9:30am I have a Protein shake and then again drink more water or I may have some V-8 juice. I have lunch at 11:30am and then around 2:30 or 3 I have my Protein Shake and then at 5 or 5:30 I eat supper. I drink in between as much as I can. I have had no hunger since my surgery. I have an occasional rumble of my stomach not my pouch. But it is normally time to eat when that happens. It seems so easy now, compared to when I wanted to stuff myself with chips late at night while watching tv or something like that.

I track all my food on MyFitnessPal.com. I still mostly only eat 3-4 oz. at a time but lately I've been able to eat more at lunch. Unlike most people, I start out the day wide-open and get tighter as the day progresses. My schedule has recently changed and I haven't worked out a new routine. But meals such as lunch or dinner tend to be meat and veggies. I sometimes have a few bites of potato. Once in a while I'll do Soup or a salad... I put a lot of cottage cheese and egg on the salad if it's from a salad bar and I get salad with grilled chicken if I'm at a restaurant. Snacks tend to be yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, nuts or trail mix, Protein hot chocolate or a Protein Bar. Sometimes I do fruit or beef Jerky. Breakfast is almost always a Protein shake. Sometimes I put fruit in it and sometimes I do not. When I work out, I do trail mix, gels, sports drinks (I mix in a compatible Protein Drink to up the protein), Protein Bars and bananas. I'm still experimenting with that as well. At this point, I still don't really eat bread or Pasta. I do sometimes have pizza and will eat the crust. But I've never been a big bread person and pasta now sits too heavy in my sleeve. I exercise 7-8x a week on 5 different days but I'm trying to get up to 9-10x a week. I'm training for a Half-Ironman and I need to do more than I've been doing. I just started working out with a personal trainer and I run 3-4 times a week, bike 2-3 and swim 1 time. I need to get another swim and another strength session in there!

Now I can have salads again I had a chicken Caesar salad. I had some pre cooked diced chicken , toss with some romaine and shaved Parmesan. I like Marzettis yogurt based light Caesar dressing. I can’t eat what I used to, but I’m enjoying eating real food instead of shakes and such for sure! I made turkey chili last week and froze half of it for next week maybe.

guacamole. applesauce. Refried black beans with fat free sour cream. Egg drop soup. Fish (tilapia) poached in seasoned chicken broth with summer squash. (YUM) whipped sweet potatoes. Baked butternut squash. mashed banana. Cauliflower cooked in broth and mashed. yogurt. creamed spinach. cheese souffle. egg custard. cream of wheat. red beans and rice mashed. smooth peanut butter. These were my favorites during "mushies". May not be your preferences, but they're suggestions.

1. As far as pills- I was on Zoloft myself along with prescription stomach meds (much larger) and it was not a problem at all. The good news is that I am no longer on anything! Feels so great!!! 2. soda- both myself and my husband have tried soda. It isn't a problem; however, since the pre-op diet and surgery, it tastes TERRIBLE!! I never thought I would give up my Dr Pepper, but once you are away from it for awhile, your tastes changes. they taste like medicine to me. So, soda cravings are no longer a problem. 3.surgeon's experience- the main thing I wanted to know was how many procedures, any deaths due to complications and how accessible would he be after surgery 4. sugar free- not sure about the reason, however, it does help in kicking the sugar addiction. For me, it is like the soda, it just doesn't have the same appeal anymore. Instead of ice cream, I crave frozen grapes now. LOL! 5. yogurt- I won't be much help here. I guess you could dilute it with skim milk to make it more drinkable. However, you will be able to eat yogurt, so I don't see why you would have to make it drinkable. 6. Insurance- For my insurance I had to maintain above a 40 BMI since I had no comorbidities ( insurance accepted ones). They went back three years for BMI. I actually had to redo my 6 month supervised diet. In 2009, my BMI had dropped to 39. My doctor was great about the 6 month diet. I could not drop below the 40 or else the insurance would deny my claim for the reason " you are successful without WLS". AS IF!!!! Anyways, I would lose a couple of pounds, then have a "set back' and gain a pound. I know it sounds awful, but it showed that I was "trying" to lose but not being particularly successful. It is like a game of jumping through hoops. From my experience, don't let your BMI fall below the required min for your insurance.

~ how big of pills can you take or have you switched over everything to liquids? (I'm on Zoloft, a tiny pill) I am currently on what seems like horse-pill sized antibiotics, and I am getting them down without issue, 4 times a day. In the first 3 weeks after surgery, I had everything in liquid form, but I started out with quick dissolve tylenol when I ran out of the expensive liquid stuff, and I haven't looked back. I have 6ccs in a 10cc band, and I think I'm reasonably close to the green zone. ~ Do you ever drink soda? I'm worried I will miss the bubbles of my diet Dr. Pepper. How does drinking carbonated drinks feel with a lapband? I have the odd diet coke now (sometimes even mixed with vanilla vodka!) and as long as I'm not eating at the same time, I'm fine. I burp a lot, but I haven't exploded yet It makes me feel full, but only for about half an hour. And I'm not having more than one can, spread out over an hour. However, I waited until one month after surgery, before I even tried it. You really need to master burping again, as silly as it sounds, before you try anything carbonated again. ~ what specific questions about my surgeon's experience should I ask? I asked how many lap bands he had put in, and what his rates of complication where, for infection, band slippage, and erosion. ~ Why is it so critical that everything be sugar free? It seems many of the sf foods are higher in carbs to fill in flavor. I think it's all about limiting our overall calories. Carbs aren't the end-all, be all. But if you are talking about things like sugar-free yoghurt/chocolate, where they've filled it with something else full of calories, it might be best to avoid it all together, or really limit the portion and how often you eat it. ~ my go-to yogurt is Dannon Light and fit toasted coconut. Is there something I can add to it to make it "drinkable"? Can you mix it up with milk? We don't get coconut yoghurt here in these parts (Canada) so I'm not sure if you mean that it's just flavoured like coconut, or if it actually has chunks in it. I wouldn't be eating anything with chunks until you are at the approved stage in your doctor's post-op diet. But, I can't see why you couldn't thin out any yoghurt you wanted, and drink it, provided that it's within your doctor's recommended diet. I can't answer the insurance questions at all though, since I'm in Canada, and I was self-pay.

Barbara, Congratulations on having your surgery date and I'll keep you in my prayers this week. I am 10 days post op and these are the things I can tell you from my experience. First of all, know that everyone's experiences seem to be a bit different as you can see from the posts. So it could be different for you. I did have on hand and made up prior to surgery a Jell O buffet (lots of different kinds) and lots of different caffeine free teas - loved the Almond vanilla and it made me feel better to think I could have more of a choice - after all how much choice is there with clear liquids. I also thought no problem eating this way for a couple of weeks, but it is taking its toll no matter how different kinds of Jello and tea I have - it's boring. I can hardly wait for some texture. I heard about the gas pains after surgery, but had no idea what to expect. Found it is not a good idea to be in a public place because of the screams they would cause me. They don't give a lot of warning either. My pains were mainly in my left shoulder area. Took a box of Gas X (not at one time) and it didn't seem to give me that much relief, but would recommend having one on hand. Walk around and getting your fluids is a great tip! I did go back to work the Monday after my surgery on Thursday. Take it easy - don't think you are Super Woman you will pay for it - one way or another. It's funny how your body will "scream" at you when you don't take care of it. I learned this by Tuesday evening I was on the couch by 4 pm in tears, exhausted, and wiped out. I rested a while and felt so much better, so rest when you can so your body can heal. I felt really pretty much back to normal by the 7th day. The port incision is still tender however. I also tried to get by without the pain meds when I got home, there is a reason they give you the pain meds so feel free to use them and not try to be a hero for the first couple of days. I hated the fact that they would make me fall asleep - but in hind sight, that's not a bad thing -helps in that healing process. I also found that using a straw helps me take a sip and drinking hot tea is another way to change any "gulping" habits. The other thing I wanted to share with you is that you may feel a tightness in your chest - right between your breasts - I couldn't tell if that was I was hungry, full, surgery, etc. But I guess it is normal from the posts I have found now, so check those out. It is crazy because there are times it seems I can't get full and other times I eat a half of a yogurt and feel full. So just start looking for the "full" feeling, you'll know it and I am practicing now not to push the bar for when the fill comes, I am not wanting to practice the PBing. I find it hard to also get in enough Protein and eat all that the nutritionist wants me to - so I would encourage you to get some high Protein shake or I got some Protein powder that I can add to my Instant Breakfast or pudding or yogurt - it's flavorless and not bad and gets me lots of protein, with no fat or sugar. Bottom line always follow your doctor's orders and you'll be on your way to a new way of life. The posts here are also very helpful and looking forward to using this resource to its full potential. Best wishes, Lisa Banded 12/9/04 13 pounds down

Hi everyone.. I was sleeved on the 24th as well.. Im down 27 pounds.. That includes 2 weeks pre-op.. I have been on puréed foods since Thursday and will stay on that for two weeks.. I kinda think I am having a stall.. I haven't lost in two days infact, I gained 1.5.. So, trying not to get discouraged.. However, I'm not getting all of my protein in.. So I'm working harder on that and hopefully it will send me back to losing.. As for what I'm eating.... Soups, pudding, yogurt and Popsicles.. Ready for the next phase.. Some days are soooo hard!!!!