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I need some help here! :eek: I am not looking for sympathy, coddling, lectures or criticism, only serious ideas/suggestions that I can apply to my life to get me back on track. I've seen from reading the boards that a lot of ladies on here are nurses so they can probably best understand my situation and give me solid feedback because I'm sure they've been there, but I'm open to all ideas, from everyone. This may be somewhat scattered, so please bear with me... I'm having several problems adjusting the band to fit my lifestyle right now due to my schedule/job. So I guess a little background first would be good... I work in a busy ER. I work 12 hour night shifts 7pm-7am. I work a stretch of 7 days on, 7 days off. Which equals out to roughly 84 hours in one week, give or take. I am not a nurse (yet...working on that part now) but the Unit Secretary (or HUC depending on where you work). Which means I'm pretty much chained to my desk my entire shift, save for the times I volunteer to run errands in an attempt to get in some movement :biggrin: and my ten minutes sometime between midnight and 3 am where I grab my dinner out of them fridge, heat it up and use the restroom while I'm waiting. I'm probably making this sound horrible, but in reality, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job. :sneaky: My weeks off are fine. I've got a good routine going and feel like a normal human. Most my weightloss happens during this time. :biggrin: My weeks on are a completely different story...:biggrin: Working out is a challenge. When I work out in the morning, it amps me up and I have a horrible time winding back down to be able to go to sleep...which is already hard enough during the day. Trying to wake up to work out in the afternoon and get to work on time is craziness because I'm exhausted from poor sleep quality/fried nerves/stress/etc (especially towards the end of my week), my mornings are everyone else's evenings so the gym is packed, traffic is horrible, etc. (Sounds like a lot of empty excuses, even as I'm typing it, but please bear with me here, because it's my reality). :biggrin: As I've stated before, I try to get up and move around as much as possible...answering call lights, running errands ( getting ffp from lab, running paper work to registration, getting the charts from our fast track instead of waiting for them to be dropped off, etc.), asking to go on walks on the rare occasions we're not busy or I'm not needed, etc. but a lot of times we're too busy and I simply don't have time or am not able to leave the desk because everyone else is busy and I'm the only one at the nurse's station. I'm also wondering how people manage to chew properly that have jobs such as mine. :blushing: My phone rings constantly and my desk is always covered in charts, so if I don't make quick work of getting my food in my belly and out of my mouth/off my desk, it becomes a problem rather quickly. As a result, I'm inhaling food and getting overfull. I spend the majority of the last few hours of my night feel nauseous and have come dangerously close to PBing several times. This isn't a huge problem now as I haven't had a fill yet, but I know it will be once I do and I'd rather just get things figured out and form good habits now. Maybe sticking to soft foods such as yogurt/soup? Or just having a Protein shake for my work meal? I'm just worried about relying too heavily on slider foods because as those of you who work in these enviroments know, there's a constant supply of candy/snacks/other unhealthy garbage available for grazing to keep energy up and keep you awake since no one knows when/if they may get the chance to stop and eat and I don't want to not feel full enough and fall back into that bad, bad habit. :biggrin: Also, since I pretty much do nothing but work and sleep during my week on, I basically have 12 hours to get in all my protein and Water...which are all spent at work. Water is not as hard. I don't always manage to get it all in, but I bring 2 1 liter bottles with me everyday and sip constantly; the protein is much tougher. The way I have been structuring my day goes something like this: 5pm-6pm (depending on when I feel awake enough to get up) Breakfast 12am-3am (depending on when I get time to eat at work) lunch 7:45am-8:30am (depending on when I get home for the day) Dinner Then immediately after that, bed. Repeat x7 days...well 6 because on my last day I stay up until roughly 7pm (or whenever I pass out from sheer exhaustion, but it's usually about 24 hours) to reset myself so I can be awake during the day and function like a normal person on my week off. :cursing: I'm pretty sure this is not the greatest approach.:biggrin: (The eating right before bed thing, not the staying up...that, I can live with. lol) So that's where I am. Have to say I'm not loving it. Love my job, my life is great, just a little (ok, incredibly) frustrated when I don't see the scale move for 2 weeks out of the month because of my schedule. Would greatly appreciate useful feedback on how to make this band work for me amidst the chaos.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for your replies and give a little update. You all had great suggestions and I've been trying them over the past couple weeks to see what works and what doesn't. I am now taking more slider/convenience foods with me to work and taking sort of a grazing approach to eating my work meals. A lot of yogurt, crackers and cheese, Protein shakes, etc instead of actual meals. I do still keep a couple lean cuisines in the work freezer or run to the cafeteria for a salad if we're slow and I have time for dinner. Thank God summer is over so we seem to be slowing down some now that motorcycles, ATV's, boats, etc are being put away for the year! My hospital also has a contract with WW and nearly everyone I work with signed up at some point over the past year and has been following the plan. I resisted for as long as possible thinking my band would be enough, but maybe it's not. I still have to learn to eat healthy and stick to a proper diet, right? So I signed up for that yeterday and will actually start next week after I see my doc for my apt on Monday. I talked it over with her beforehand and she wants to take some points away and tailor the program a bit to fit my band. Hopefully I can also talk her into a fill because I'm in desperate need of some restriction!!! As far as excercising goes...special thanks to Lori Ann for understanding where I'm coming from since it seems we live a similar lifestyle. I too have decided to stop the insanity and just accept my limitations. No more trying to work out on my weeks on, then being stressed if it doesn't work out right, then beating myself up about it. ENOUGH! In a perfect world, I'd be working out everyday for an hour or so reguardless of what else was going on. Turns out we don't live in a perfect world, and understanding that has made my life so much easier and less stressful! That being said, I have teamed up with some people I work with and am doing the couch to 5k program...as time and my schedule permits...and am shooting for our local Icebreaker 5k at the end of April. It'll be my first one and I'm super excited...if not a little terrified...about it! Also, another coworker and I have gotten into the Zumba craze and ordered the dvd's online. That starts next week when she gets back from Portland. Hopefully the combination of all these things will help. I've been super frustrated lately with the fact that although people keep noticing and commenting on my weightloss, my scale is still stalled and I haven't been able to move down a clothes size yet. (in jeans anyway) Soon though, hopefully very soon!

I'm only on mushies but I tend to do yogurt for Breakfast around 8 Morning snack of string cheese around 10 and lunch at 12 usually left over dinner. I do an afternoon snack at 3 or dinner at 4 and an evening snack at 8. Sent from my SCH-I545 using the BariatricPal App

I went back to work 5 days post op. I still struggle to get Water in, mostly because i get distracted and forget. I usually have a fairlife "shake" for Breakfast, oikos yogurt or cheese/meat or leftovers for lunch, cheese/protein shake for snack. HW 385 SW 359 CW 338 Sleeved 10/5/16

I wish I had discovered this website before my surgery. I've been wanting a way to document this process . . .journey if you will and now I have it. So, here goes. I had my surgery on february 13th, 2009. I weighed 372 lbs and had a BMI over 50. I'm 5'11 so my height tempers some of my weight. I'm 29 years old and felt that I needed to do something before I turned 30. Weightloss surgery had been on my mind for the last 6 or 7 years. Though heavy - I've always felt good. It wasn't until I was about 25. I had lost 65 lbs on the low carb diet. Within a year and a half I had gained it all back plus some. After experiencing what it was like to be smaller and have more energy made it very hard. I felt every pound now. Saw how more difficult it was to get around. I've been miserable for the last 2 years or so as the weight has packed on even more. I knew I had to do something. So, fast forward the whole first visit to the doctor, approval process, preop appointments, etc. etc. THE SURGERY Of course I was nervous about the surgery. My biggest fear was that I would fail. The surgery that was to take 1hr ended up taking 3 due to some scar tissue I had. My doctor told me he had to place the band a little deeper than usual due to the scar tissue. I was in recovery for about an hour and whisked home. I live about 2 hrs from the surgery center - I slept all the way home. All I remember was that it had snowed earlier in the day so as we were going through the mountains I would wake up and see how beautiful it all looked but need to immediately close my eyes because I was so nauseous. POST OP The first day I slept. All I ate that evening was a popsicle and some water with my meds. I didn't have an appetite. By the second day I was in a little pain but decided to go off of my meds so that I wouldn't be so loopy. Took some alleve instead. My stomach hurt all the time that first 3 days and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out it was gas. One day I let out a big burp and felt relief. That same day I picked up some gas x, and stopped eating the sugar free pudding and popsicles and haven't had a problem since. The first 3-5 days were the hardest. I lived off of broth, soup at hand, pudding, and yogurt (mostly yogurt). I didn't really have an appetite. The first 3 days was clear liquids - I tended to be hungry all the time and questions whether this was working because I thought the point was this would make you feel full - I later realized this was because my band was open and all liquids just went straight through. I was so scared to take a big gulp of water because I thought it would instantly fill and stretch my pouch. I moved on to full liquids for 1 week. I had a protien shake that contains about 35 grams per serving that I drank with milik. I made it through the liquid phase by living on yogurt whick I would slowly eat for 30 mins. I often didn't even get through 1/2 of the 6oz container. After the first week I moved on to the soft diet phase. Srambled eggs were my saving grace. I could also eat pureed foods - I pureed some chicken soup that had noodles and chicken. I ate a couple of bites but just couldn't do it. I decided to forego the pureed foods and just stuck to yogurt, cream of wheat, and soup.Occasionally I threw in things like cottage cheese, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes - which went down very well. When I got to to 4th week I was ready to do solid foods. For 4 days in a row atleast one of my meals was Broiled Salmon, brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, and a salad. I ate it all on a small plate and had a lot left on my plate. I was however surprise at how much I could eat. I've felt like this is what a normal person would eat. Another thing I was surprised about was how consumed with food I was. Every activity in my life revolved around FOOD. "We're going over Mom's house tonight - Let's pick up something to eat", "Let's pick up a movie - And order a pizza too", Let's stay in - grab some snacks". I would open my mouth to say these things and realize I can't do that anymore. I physically can't. I didn't make the experience any less though. My first real "come to Jesus" moment was when at a work conference I was confronted by a buffet about 5 weeks after being banded. As I stood in line I found it amusing because usually when present with a buffet my thoughts would be "how do I put as much food as possible on my plate without people noticing how high my plate is stacked". I would look at other people's plates to see if anyone else was eating a lot. As I would eat I would think about seconds, or dessert, or thirds, or what I couldn't fit on my plate. This time I had to think about how do I get to enjoy the BEST things in the buffet in the little amount of food I could actually eat. It was a sandwich bar - so I opted for HALF a sandwich instead of a whole. Didn't SAMPLE all the salads there but just took a small spoonful of what I thought I'd enjoy most. For dessest - 1 cookie - not a handful. I ended up splitting the cookie with a friend. It was that moment that I knew the lap band and I were gonna be good friends. It wasn't just a physical change - its was changing the way I thought mentally and my approach to food. WEIGHT LOSS At my first post op appt 2 wks after my surgery I had lost 10 lbs. 4 weeks - I had lost 20 (Was supposed to get banded but couldn't - see my next post) 6 weeks still at 20 (My doctor said it was because my band was still open - got filled this week)

Every doctor has a different requirement. I was just sleeved last Thursday. My doc kept me on clear/very thin liquids for one week. This included Protein drinks, broth, Jell-O, crystal light, etc. I progressed to mushy foods Thursday evening and had mashed sweet potatoes (about 1/2 a cup and it took me 45 minutes to eat). I ate a scrambled egg with a very little amount of mozzarella cheese yesterday for Breakfast and again, it took me about 45 minutes to eat. I am able to eat about 1/2 cup of pretty much anything mushy and be fine including cottage cheese, fat-free greek yogurt, oatmeal, etc. I will stay on mushy foods until next Friday and will be able to progress to canned tuna, shredded chicken, etc. at that time IF my stomach can handle it. I haven't had any problem with nausea and foods yet but I do get "bubbly" if I eat to fast. I haven't had a problem with hunger pangs but I do get head hunger if I am watching cooking shows or my husband brings home fast food for himself. My doc doesn't recommend any carbonated beverages ever because the carbonated gas can expand the stomach. I have found that if I am not thinking about food, I just don't get the urge to eat. I have to remind myself to eat something every couple of hours. I am only able to get in around 650 calories a day but I do make sure I get in at least 90 grams of protein per day and try to keep the carbs below 40. Like I said, every doctor will have a different requirement. Your body will also tell you when it is ready to advance. Best of luck to you and I hope your surgery goes well. Dawn

At five weeks, I was just a few days into eating cooked regular foods as tolerated. But, since your doctor has you on a slower transition, you should just roll with it. I am surprised that you seem to be eating mostly carbs. Even at the mushy stage, you can eat regular food, just cook it to softness and then run it through the blender a bit to break it down. On soft mushy foods, I was eating yogurt (protein), scrambled eggs (protein), refried Beans with cheese and a little sour cream (protein), beef stew run through the blender (protein), moist chicken meat (protein), moist ground beef or turkey (protein) and steamed fish (protein). Let the blender be your friend. For every 1/2 cup of Protein, I was to eat two tablespoons of veggies. One of my biggest issues with food was changing my habits developed around food. I loved sweet rolls, muffins, pancakes, etc. for Breakfast as soon as I opened my eyes - sweets with a cup of sweet tea. Now I have eggs for breakfast, but one day it's a fried egg, one day it is boiled, maybe another day it is a small cheese omelet with sauteed peppers, onions, mushrooms and ham, and today I am eating deviled eggs. lunch was frequently an hour after breakfast. Now I make a point to drink at least two bottles of Water before I eat anything else, and then it is a snack. Today I had a gherkin and an ounce of cheese. Some days the snack is 1/2 an apple with a tablespoon of Peanut Butter. A couple of days a week, my snack is 1/3 cup yogurt with some berries. See, it is not the same every day. lunch is now early afternoon, and I am starting to eat more tuna salad and other cold salads and vary the ingredients. My late afternoon snack might be a little dark chocolate with a handful of almonds. In my soft phase, yogurt was my go-to. I could put a little sugar-free jam in it to give it a little flavor. Supper was any soft meat I wanted plus a couple of spoonfuls of mashed veggies. My favorite was/is green beans because they are not starchy. My bedtime snack, if I have to have one, is usually oatmeal with stewed apples, or 1/2 banana and peanut butter....there are so many things you can do. Meals cannot be the highlight of my day anymore. I have to be creative and find interesting things to do that don't involve mindless munching on popcorn or chips. Bariatric surgery changes your life. You need to think differently to feel differently and get healthy. This gets better as you graduate through the various phases because your options open up. No, I do not eat Pasta anymore. Last night for dinner, I had two meatballs with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese, and a few green beans. I have had pizza a couple of times and just use a fork to pull the goodies off the crust. There is no flavor in regular crust anyway. It's just a plate you can eat. Dessert will be a peach, not peach pie. Put on your thinking cap and get creative. Drink water, sip, sip, sip until your eyeballs float. You can do this!

I had my surgery 4/22 and am not 4 days post opp. My NUT said I can have yogurt, cream soups, pudding, cottage cheese and shakes. So....they also say not to drink 30 minutes before and after a meal. But I'm drinking all day. Does that apply to this liquid phase too?

Bad carbs is highly processed white carbs - sugar in other words. Donuts, white breads, white Pasta, too much starchy foods like potatoes and white rice. Basically low GI foods (glycaemic index) meaning they give you that sugar rush, are digested quickly and lead to an insulin rush. Good carbs are low glycaemic index ones, brown foods - wholegrains, certain fruits, vegetables, etc. There's no real consensus, proponents of the GI diet believe that eating only low GI foods has a similar effect to a high Protein diet in terms of fat loss and balancing blood sugar levels. I tend to believe it too - and it does have the major effect of weight loss, blood chemistry improvements AND its good for your bowels becuase its high fibre. Anyway, I eat plenty of carbs and I"ve still lost weight, I just avoid high GI ones. I tend to try to stay moderate on fat but I dont hold back on good fats like fish oils and avocado. I dont purposely buy low fat products becuase with things like yogurt and cheese, your body doesnt absorb the Calcium, Vitamin A and D as well without the fat, your body does need small amoutns of it. I drink skim milk because i prefer it but eat full fat yogurt and cheese (in small amounts).

I was banded the 18th too. As for the hunger, I don't think that is what I am feeling. I think I am actually getting full when I drink a little because the feeling gets worse. As for the dizziness, make sure you are getting some calories and, if you have a history of high blood pressure and take medicine, make sure your blood pressure is not low. I have not been able to take my blood pressure medicine since the surgery because I am eating so little and getting so little sodium. My doc is a little different with diet, I am not on a "clear" liquid diet but a "full" liquid diet that includes protein drinks, skim milk, pudding, yogurt and even very runny oatmeal. I can only eat a couple ounces of any of these before I feel stuffed. As for the adhesive, I know this is wrong but I actually sit and "scratch" it off. There is commercial adhesive remover for skin, it is kind of oily. If you have someone who can go to a pharmacy and ask for it, it might work. I am much more sore than I would like to be but a lot of my pain is in the shoulder. I was told that I have gas trapped in my shoulder from the surgery and OMG it hurts. The stomach gets a LITTLE better every day. I am hoping to go to work for 4 hours tomorrow and full day on Monday. Good luck to all!

I am 3 months post op and have been keeping a detailed food diary. i thought it might be helpful to some if i made a list of all the foods and liquids i was consuming in the fulll liquid phase. hope it helps someone. Here it is in no particular order: Protein shakes (of course), cream of wheat, greek yogurt, yogurt, strained Soups (even egg drop soup), sf popsicles, sf Jello, sf pudding, frozen greek yogurt, milk

Yes. I had the same kind of thing happen to me. My surgery was October 21 of this year, and up until then I had been planning to get this surgery for about two years now. I had friends and family who were totally supportive until the last minute, and then some people who were supportive the whole time. I found that the people most argumentative about the procedure were the ones that were very ignorant on the surgery itself, the statistics, the success stories, and just information in general. My sister, who is in the medical field told my mom to tell me a few days before to warn me that my stomach could stretch and that I could also experience a stomach rupture. I had people at work, saying, "Well, do you know that you have to eat healthy afterwards? Can you do that?" It infuriated me! What?! I have to eat healthy afterwards? Why don't they tell you that? (sarcasm) Now, two weeks out, back to work after one week, and 15 lbs lost, I get the last laugh because they are all like, "Wow! You were right! It's amazing how fast you recover and how well it's working!" Don't get discouraged. I even doubted myself a few days after surgery, laying in bed thinking, "Why didn't I listen to the people that warned me? Why did I do it?" But, that went away VERY quickly after all the pain meds wore off, and I was up and about and feeling great! I'm still getting used to what and how I can eat, but I've stuck with soups, yogurt, protein shakes, and oatmeal for the most part. I get full very quickly and I can actually go a whole day at work, with just a protein shake and some oatmeal, without feeling starved! Everyday, it becomes more natural to me, almost like I never even got surgery. The pain is NOTHING! And, with each pound lost, and each extra inch of loose clothing, the motivation and resolve that you've made the right decision really sinks in! Your mom will be supportive. Some people just have to see it to believe it! You'll make her a believer. You can do it, and you'll be SO glad you did!

Nothing much to report back on solids again, had a chobani for b/fast with some granola (1 T) and yogurt covered raisins (1 T), was feeling fine until an hour before I could eat again and my stomach is growling, I know that's not "real" hunger but it's annoying. Wooo talking about "real" hunger, um let's see what have I learned this week: headaches and fatigue for me = hunger. On Tuesday, I had a huge headache, I was still on liquids per mds orders so I thought "well maybe I'm hungry" made myself a protein shake and sure enough voila! Problem solved! Yesterday, I was so tired that I ordered a cup of coffee (something I don't usually do after 4pm) and a packet of veggie cream cheese (since I was still on mushies) at D & D and I don't know if it was the coffee or the cream cheese, but once I got home, I was ready to go kick some @$$ at the gym! So, I think I figured when my stomach is growling, that's just my body being pissed off. When I have headaches or am about to fall asleep standing up, that's hunger. Also I ordered a Keurig for my office, I really do think I need a pep in my step in the afternoon. It's 1:30pm here and I'm yawning! Have a good weekend! I'll be back on Monday!!!

Ohhhh I was such a bad bandster this weekend I'm not going to even get into it, started with margaritas (4 of them) Friday night and went sort of downhill from there. I realized that I cannot take a vacation from eating right, but I also realize on the weekends I don't eat like I normally do (three meals a day 5 hours apart) and that's where the trouble starts. New goal for this weekend: FREAKING EAT MAN! Saturday was quite busy. I went to my local day spa and got my first Brazilian, not for anything special but because it was time for Andrea to put her big girl pants on and stop cutting myself in my lady bits, and it does not hurt! Everyone told me it was the most painful thing, oh come on, getting my eyebrows waxed hurt! After that I went to Aldi's, which I used to not shop at because I only liked high quality foods (ie Trader Joe's Whole Foods) now to be honest with you I don't give a crap what I eat in regards to the quality, I'm so not into food anymore. I just make sure it's dense protein and my daily calories are around 1000/day and 60-80 grams protein/day. For two weeks worth of groceries, I only spent 57 bucks at Aldi's (which is dirt cheap in Connecticut) after that I went to Big Y and got my cat food, and whatever I couldn't find at Aldi's for another 40 bucks worth, so I have to say for grocery shopping for two weeks of food for me and my cat under 100 bucks is awesome! On the way to my dbf house, I forgot to get a V-day gift, so I stopped at Gamestop to pick up a gift card, well while walking to the store (this is what I get for parking so far away) my bra strap breaks! So I have to walk in there with one perky boob and one droopy boob and I'm just like "hurry up, I got to get a bra!" so I go next door to Dots (which is like a hoochie mama clothing store, honestly though I buy clothes from there that aren't hoochie mama, but you know) and get a bra, which the boyfriend loved, and I'm like "this is not sexy this is out of necessity lol". What a day That night dbf and I went for sushi for a belated V-day dinner, I was so worried that I was going to get sushi stuck, but alas I did not (I really don't want to eat sushi, I love it so much, that I want to be restricted enough just to eat sashimi because I could eat those darn rolls all day!). At the restaurant they had this crab salad that I devoured and I think that was the most I ate, also shrimp tempura ::hides:: I'm hoping by my next fill I will only be able to eat sashimi, fingers crossed! Sunday morning, dbf brought breakfast in bed, mmmm those eggs were salty lol. Didn't finish eating those. Went home later, and made my dinner for the week (beefy tortilla soup with an extra can of kidney beans for protein) in my crock pot. Then I was so un motivated from cooking that I had a lean cuisine for dinner ::hides again:: I also tried to figure out what a 4 mile run would be from my house to wherever (my previous post, if you didn't read, was my goal to run a 5k next year) my friend who runs them told me once I get the endurance to run 4 miles since it's a little more than a 5k, so the 5k will be easy. So I drove two miles and holy crap that's a long distance, but I'm going to do it!!!! OH OH OH! One more thing, I bought two big things of plain Chobani yogurt and a ton of mix ins, so today's Chobani flavor goes as such: 1 cup of 0% Chobani with 1 T sugar free white chocolate instant pudding mix 1 T Torani white chocolate syrup (sugar free duh) and 1 T sugar free rasberry preserves.....YUM! Tomorrow I'm going to mix in Coconut Torani and some canned pineapple for a pina colada. Sounds good, no? Well time to get to work, thanks so much for reading, everyone stay motivated, and if you had a bad weekend like me, remember today is a new day, be accountable, get moving and DON'T GIVE UP! XOXO, Andrea

Our recommended diets vary quite a bit......at 9 days out I was still on full liquids (shakes, yogurt)......at 14 days out I was allowed to have pureed foods, 21 days out I should have been on soft foods, but nothing sat well unless it was pureed with a stick blender......a month out I was able to switch over to real foods, but sometimes that didn't sit well, and I pureed a few items. I think somewhere between 2 & 3 months things got much easier......if it doesn't feel good, try pureeing them.........they should be moist. I now use my crock pot weekly, and the moist Protein from there is so much easier to digest...... Hope this helps! Good luck. (PS my tummy stopped grumbling for the most part recently--around 3 months)

July 11 was my date. Until today I felt fine. No nausea and very little pain. Doing well with the protein bullets. I started protein shakes today and they just taste weird so I went back to the bullets. I feel like I need to eat some real food, not hungry, just weak. Not until day 15 can I have "half a egg"a day and not until day 21 can I start yogurt, soup, etc! I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow and ask about moving up the timeline. There is no way I can go back to work feeling so weak.

I'm on the 11 as well. I am up to soft foods, but right now the only soft foods I can tolerate really are cheese and deli meats, LOL. I've been having a weird "full signal" - pain in my right shoulder. Anyone else have something like that? I'm eating a lot of yogurt.

Today is an official blizzard..it is made of snow and not of ICECREAM. I woke up very early this morning, felt achy and like I had slept all wrong! Took a little liquid pain med slept a few more hours and walaa..I felt so much better! I start my day with sips of H2O, I find that if I start my protein too early I burp way too much! This is day 5 post op. My pain level is very low, seems to be just at the button site and no where else. My incision sites look really good, a few steri strips came off today too. TMI I'm sure.lol I'm going to try and post a new recipe every day from my lap band "bible", they are SO good and a nice change.. Just tried an awesome one today.. Strawberry pie: In a blender add: 4 ounces fat free milk 6 ounces light yogurt * I used strawberry 1 graham cracker 1 scoop strawberry protein mix Blend This provided 26 grams of protein! I will try and add a new one each day..I am now down to my pre surgical weight,plus a pound, so that feels good, I have an Ipod, added a free app that tracks my footsteps with music that I choose, so I go round and round to my faves!! Happy snow day to you all!

I will be spending the next week in London at the Holiday Inn Mayfair. I am 10 weeks post-op so I can eat almost anything, but I have managed to become a bit lactose intolerant so I have had to give up on most Protein shakes and rely upon real food. (Protein shakes were difficult to travel with anyway). I could use some tips on local sources of Protein that I can pick up while I am in town. Are there any brands of Jerky, greek yogurt, or other foods I should look for? I am also interested in restaurants and such as sushi bars, tapas, and such where I can get some good protein without too much fuss. Finally I would appreciate ny tips you might have about eating local fare (pubs, curries, etc). Thanks in advance....

I work 7a-7p now as a travel nurse. But I've worked 7p-7a before also. I would wake up at 5pm and get ready and head to work by 5:30....drink a protein shake on the way. I like premier protein, it has 30grams and comes in handy pre made boxes. I then eat about every 3 hours. A Greek yogurt, cheese stick, protein shake. I drink a protein shake on my way home from work. It ends up being around 500-600 calories. Then sleep. But I'm one of those weird people who has no hunger ever. I keep a water bottle wherever I'm chatting and can get two-three down in a shift. I'll drink another before I fall asleep once I get home. Hope this helps

I had a rough time with the band. I wasn't banded in Mexico. I was banded at a Bariatric Center of Excellence in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was told, 3 bites of Protein to every bite of vegetable. I was told, avoid beef and pork. Eat what walks on two legs or swims. Don't use sauces, gravies or dressings because you're adding unwanted calories. I'd eat chicken/turkey and it would get "stuck" and I'd have to get an unfill. And there I would be told, "Yeah, chicken is hard for a lot of people to eat. It gets stuck. You should probably avoid it." I'd eat fish (salmon usually) and sometimes it would get "stuck" and I'd have to get an unfill. And there I would be told, "Yeah, fish can be a problem because it's flaky and gets stuck. You should probably avoid it." I was told yogurt can be okay but it's easy to eat too much because it's a "slider" food so I should avoid it (even when I said I was eating plain greek-style stuff that was 24 grams of protein per serving! "When you eat yogurt, you won't feel full because it goes past the band. And the band is there to make you feel full.") But I was continually told, "3 bites of protein to every bite of vegetable." So...avoid beef and pork. Check. Chicken/turkey can be a problem, avoid it. Check. Fish can be a problem, avoid it. Check. Avoid yogurt. Check. BE SURE TO EAT PROTEIN! check!!! I got to the point where everything was getting stuck (except the "bad" stuff - sure I could eat pudding and Cookies and usually cake!). I could eat runny eggs (not scrambled and certainly not hard boiled). I could eat yogurt. I could eat cheese. And I could drink protein. Basically, the only Proteins I could eat had to be soft or liquid. And that was what I was supposed to eat most? How can anyone live that way? Yes, I lost a bunch of weight - because I wasn't eating much! I couldn't! I couldn't eat healthy foods! I was miserable! My surgeon had left that Bariatric Center of Excellence where I was banded/maintained. In October last year, I had a big problem (couldn't sleep, couldn't drink, let alone eat) and the Bariatric Center of Excellence in Scottsdale had no one available to do an emergency unfill. No NP or PA, the surgeon was out of town but I could go to the ER (not covered by my insurance because they weren't contracted with that hospital) and a non-bariatric surgeon who wasn't really familiar with fills/unfills, on call with the Bariatric Center of Excellence, could help me. No thank you. I found my original surgeon practicing elsewhere (finally! he wasn't for a while), he was able to get me in. He had me do an upper GI at the hospital right then - my band was prolapsed quite a bit. I was only at maybe 3.5 cc in a 10 cc band. He was aggravated when I told him about my fill/unfill/fill stuff with the other office - especially when the fills were very, very small. He said they should've known there was a problem because I was barely filled. He deflated the band completely (relief! I could drink Water again!) and told me I needed it removed. It wasn't an urgent thing unless I couldn't eat or drink, so I went home. He told me he wouldn't reposition it because if it happened like that with me, it would happen again. Starting sometime in Spring 2011, I started having "stuck" issues again. More bringing up the food. One night in July, I had cooked a burger patty (after deflation, I was able to eat most everything again). Ate it plain, no bread (of course), no veggies. I had eaten too much. I didn't know I had until it was too late. Unknown to me, my band had prolapsed again. It was allowing me to eat much more than I had before. This night was just too much. I tried to wait it out and I went to sleep after a while. I woke in the middle of the night and I vomited. I didn't bring it up, I vomited. Retching, stomach acid, etc. After that, I couldn't really drink. I "slept" upright. All day the next day (thankfully a Saturday), I didn't eat. I just tried to sip water. I had no improvement. After the next night of waking, coughing up water over and over again, I drove myself to the ER. Unfortunately, my surgeon was out of town. His partner in the practice was on call. He wasn't very nice to me but...I had the band removal surgery and that was that. (I'll say healing was much better with this than when I had it originally - no port/muscle wall stuff to deal with) Was it the worst decision I've ever made? No, because I needed to do something. And I did lose weight. But I was miserable most of the time. So very miserable... I'm still over 100 lbs overweight and gaining. I have PCOS and I don't know what to do. But weight loss surgery is no longer an option for me. And I'm really worried about my future. To the OP - find a local surgeon. Fork out the money. You need an upper GI. You could have a prolapse and you are risking erosion. This is your health and your quality of life at stake - be proactive.

These are great suggestions! Thank You!! I will cut the carbs and eat more Protein. I just got off the mushy stage and began the solid foods. I get hungry every 2 hours or so and have been eating crackers to ease the hunger. That is probably too many carbs. I tried Greek yogurt and didn't care for it, but with the fruit jelly it might be good, I will try it. I like cottage cheese and smoothies. Again - thanks so much - I have new hope. If you think of anything else, I am always ready for new ideas.

Hi Maddie, A three week stall is a long time. I know you're frustrated! You're just now six weeks out, so you are starting on 'everything'. Carbs can bring you to a halt fast depending on what you are eating. To kick start a plateau, I'd always up my Protein and Water, do a little exercise and it worked like a charm every time. Protein for me was normally 60 - 65 and I'd go to 70 - 80. My calories when I was where you are were between 500 and 650 per day...and I did good to get that much in. During my losing period I averaged 675 per day. I had great restriction, I still do. I call cottage cheese, the Breakfast of champions, I love it. 1% of course. Eggs; steamed shrimp (i keep a bag on hand for lunch), tuna, I measure 2 TB of lite mayo for a can; whatever meat you want at night; stay away from bread, rice, Pasta, all sweets, nothing until you reach goal; chips; if it's in a bag or a box....chances are, you shouldn't have it!!! The exception, Special K Crackers, a few with tuna rather than bread are ok - recommended by my dietitian. They even have a little Fiber. I have two glasses of skim milk per day. I get liquid and 16 grams of protein, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak!! Greek yogurt, the plain, has TONS of protein in it, add Stivia or some other artificial sweetener to it, or sugar free jelly....a little fruit, be creative, just nothing you shouldn't. Great source of protein. I hope these suggestions help!!! Three weeks is a long time, you can overcome this, I promise you!!! Good luck, this tool works, just work with it!!! Also, I still weight and measure EVERYTHING....and keep an on line food log, it's good to know exactly how much you are eating and to keep track of your protein and calories!!! Just a suggestion!!

I definitely meal-plan, shop and cook more than I did pre-op. (I've lost all my excess weight and maintained my weight loss for over 15 months.) Breakfast is high Protein / high Fiber. lunch is something easy, e.g., dinner leftovers, a high-protein/high-veggie salad or sandwich, etc. Planned Snacks (not grazing!) are fruit, cheese. We do a sit-down dinner every night -- either home-cooked or healthy takeout. We eat in restaurants 4-5 times a month. I'm such a fan of My Fitness Pal. Using it for the last 2+ years, I've learned so much about the basic nutrients of specific foods. I now eat more fibrous veggies and fruits; yesterday I had carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and blueberries. Yesterday's protein came from a Protein Drink, Greek yogurt, skim milk, cheese, roast beef, chicken. Whole grains were high-protein/high-fiber bread (2 slices), all-bran Cereal. I have treats daily. Yesterday's were 1 salted caramel biscotti, 1.5 ounces of scotch, and 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate. It's all so delicious and satisfying. I couldn't be happier about how I'm eating.

I feel really good this morning!!!! I woke up with tight restriction, had my coffee with soymilk and am catching up on my band family. I have had some really nice emails and PM's of people thanking me for the encouragement I have given and it makes what I have done even more worth it to me. Can this be a new ministry for me??? I love to help others and encourage them. That makes me VERY happy!:clap2: It makes me feel like God has really blessed my decision and is using me to help others. God bless my band, keep it in place and healthy for the rest of my natural life!!!! Breakfast: Gano Mocha Coffee with 1 cup Vanilla soy milk; 200 calories, 6 grms protein Lunch: Campbells' Cream of Chicken and Mushroom (1 can); 190 cal, 7 grms protein, 15 grms fat Snack: Activia yogurt; 110 calories, 2 g fat, 5 grms protein 1 cup Campbells' soup Chicken mushroom; 80 cal, 6 g fat, 3 g protein Dinner: 1 cup of homemade tortilla soup with sprinkled cheese; 250 calories, protein: unknown Total calories: 830 Total Protein: 21 plus Water: I am sipping on a 32 ounce sipper,which I am keeping near me at all times; 20 ounce crystal light Supplements: Liquid Vitamins; Glacial Milk; 1 tbsp. Mood: HAPPY, at peace, calm, I have hope for my future to be the person I really am without limits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My weight won't hold me back from all I have wanted to do!!! YIIIIPPPEEEE:clap2: