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NB: I do the bistro boxes sometimes, but right now I'm actually filled up by a chobani nonfat greek yogurt. So I'll bring a premier protein for midmorning and then have a greek yogurt at lunch and I'm good to go!

I'm 10 months out. And I can literally get every ounce of protein I need at each of 2-3 meals to make my daily protein goal. I also have a mature pouch. So I can get at least 3oz of veg in at the same meal. As for fiber and pre and probiotics, I concentrate on dark leafy greens and low glycemic veggies + fermented veggies (kim chi and sauerkraut) + some seeds/nuts/legumes + a bit of low glycemic berries and/or a green apple with peel for the pectin a couple times a week and a bit of Greek yogurt. I'm experimenting with adding inulin into the mix of prebiotic fiber. I also drink/use whole psyllium husks here and there in iced tea, green smoothies, and I make psylli wraps (psyllium + egg whites to make tortillas). I also am down to taking 10g of Miralax (down from 17-20g) per day and also take 2 Colace). I drink 120+oz of liquid per day with 80+ of those from pure unflavored water. If I skimp on any of those things, then the train schedule gets totally whacked. If I eat a crap ton of cheese, the scheduled is off-kilter.

First things first.... take a deep breath. You seem very overwhelmed, I can't give you answers but can ask questions and offer suggestions that might help. Have you tried changing consistencies? There are lots of soft foods like yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, that all have different consistency and can trigger your gag reflex or create that sensation. Have you tried chewing ice and using that to numb your throat and help prevent the choking sensation? Weight loss amount really does vary from person to person. Depending on what your start weight was, 30 pounds isn't too much. To compare: my surgery was on the 17th and I've lost 25 pounds with a surgery weight of 230. You know your body. If YOU are concerned about the rate of loss, call your surgeons office and they should have an RN available to talk to you and can check in with your dr if they are concerned. As far as poo goes... Milk of Magnesium mixed with prune juice, also known as a brown cow, is what we use here at the hospital to get even our most difficult patients to "release the kraken". Just be able to stay home all day and drink Gatorade! Lol. Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

To piggyback on this...anyone have any parental advice? My boys get a little of everything that is cooked for dinner (for example; chicken, broccoli, and rice) on their plate however I don’t force them to eat. We always have fruit and yogurt as an alternative “meal”. I do this because I refuse to make a separate Meal and also because the more I expose them to the foods we eat, the more often they actually try them (honestly, they really do!) Any other moms or dads have different ideas/advice?

I understand where you are coming from. I actually started my liquid diet (only) on the 16th of November. I cooked Thanksgiving for my family and I sat there and watched them all eat while I drank a sugar free-fat free pumpkin cheesecake protein shake. It was hard but my surgery is just around the corner. Jello helps and I just picked up the appropriate yogurt today. Push through, it's worth it.

I am a non-meat eating dairy free coeliac - so no exactly the same as vegan, but close. I used vegan protein shakes and bars for my pre-surgery diet, and still use them for post-surgery easy meals now that I am on solids. I used the shakes three-four times a day, sometimes with fruit or with powdered peanut butter to boost the protein. Soy yogurt watered down isn't as bad as it sounds when you are hungry! Good luck.

first time poster here-- I wanted to start writing a bit about my journey, not just to help other people by sharing my experience but also to help myself express my feelings. Warning, this is going to be a long post! Also I originally wrote this on another forum where there doesnt seem to be a lot of traffic, so I'm copying it here in hopes of more conversation. It's been just about a month since I had the Reshape balloon inserted (October 22). This is one of the various gastric balloons on the market, with the theory being that the balloon will take up some space in your stomach and force you into better portion control. The Reshape is actually two balloons tethered together so if one deflates and tries to exit the stomach, it will be stopped by its still-intact partner. I have been varying degrees of overweight for most of my adult life but after a knee injury 2.5 years ago and a multi-year tendency to poor diet and low activity, I found myself at 367 lb. I've developed osteoarthritis in both knees and one foot, and have been in more or less constant pain since my injury. I've been married for 6 years to a lovely man who shares all of my same bad habits-- we lost a combined 150 lb for our wedding, and without the looming deadline to keep us honest, we put it back on and then some. The Reshape balloon was actually my husband's idea; he did the research, compared the products (including traditional gastric bypass), and then spent about 2 months talking me into it. One of my goals is to lose enough to shut up the orthopedist long enough for him to give me another cortisone shot in my knee (because I would prefer that shot without the side of lecture, thankyouverymuch, and if I can say "well I've already lost X pounds" then maybe he'll just shush up and give me the shot). We enrolled in a program at a major medical university in our area. Each of us got the insertion (and eventual removal) plus an aftercare program (more about that later). My husband's program cost $8000 and his insertion was performed under "twilight" sedation at a hospital-affiliated medical professional building. My program cost around $9400; my weight dictated a different type of anesthesia and also carried higher risks, so I had to go to a proper hospital. Insurance will not cover this procedure, although it looks like insurance might be covering our anesthesia. Possibly. It would be nice to have some of that money back. The day before the insertion, you are required to have a primarily liquid diet, with yogurt being the closest to solid food you're allowed. The day of, you're not allowed even drinking water, and they do turn you away if you've not followed these rules (it happened to a man who was being prepped while my husband was in the recovery area). Once you're checked into the hospital, they give you and IV and take you to the surgical room, and once you get the gas mask on, you're pretty much gone. I have no idea how long I was out, but I was so thirsty when I woke up! You go home after the procedure; no overnight stay. That day isn't too bad, because you're mostly still stoned on the anesthesia. I had no interest in food but forced myself to drink some flat ginger ale and half of a protein shake. I slept a lot. It wasn't awful. The next day, though... ugh... so bad... you're given anti-cramping medicine (and good lord it is expensive) that helps, but your poor stomach is still trying to figure out what's shoved in it, and I spent the next 3 days or so with super angry, violent cramps. I also had bad acid reflux despite a daily Pepcid, and for about a week I had midnight hiccups that woke me up. I was pretty miserable and had even set a deadline "if it's not better by friday, I have to have it taken out." This mirrors my husband's experience (he's ahead of me by one week). I think I had stomach acid come out my nose once. It was really kind of terrible and I don't think I was prepared for just how terrible it was going to be. Those first few days, you're really not feeling like you want a lot of food, and you're supposed to stick to a liquid diet anyway. After about 4 days of this, I was feeling exhausted, run down, nauseous, head-achey and sick. My husband made me a mashed potato-- just one boiled potato, mashed, with no butter and the tiniest bit of milk in it, and it was the most delicious thing I'd ever eaten. It also fixed most of what was wrong with me. My headaches went away, I still felt drained but not bone-tired as I had been, and the cramping stopped, at least temporarily. It would come back when my stomach would get empty but I was getting more interested in food so I made it a point to always have a little something in my stomach. I have a new love of eggs. From there, the meal plan involves slowly introducing more semi-solid and soft foods, with heavy emphasis on proteins, and gradually working towards an unrestricted (although healthy) diet. My husband and I both progressed through these phases faster than the official plan-- we were eating plain boiled chicken breast by the end of Week 1 and salad by the middle of Week 3, when officially you're not supposed to be ready for salad till Week 5. Rice and pasta are not officially banned but they're not favored; popcorn is banned for the whole time you've got the balloon. Menus are built around lean protein, more lean protein, and veggies that are cooked till they're pretty soft. Carbs are part of the plan too, either carby veggies or unprocessed/whole grains like oats or the occasional slice of bread. So how does it feel now? Well, for me, usually it feels like nothing, but sometimes it bothers me, and it's hard to describe it. If I eat something that my body doesn't like-- which tends to be dark, leafy greens, whole beans (like edamame) or tough/fibrous veggies)-- my whole stomach feels heavy and "grabby" for the lack of a better word. It's like a cramp but not quite. And I get the most ferocious after-taste of those veggies. I had some sauteed kale which did not agree with me, and for 2 days I just kept belching up lawn mower bag flavors. Bleurgh. Sometimes I can feel some bit of food that's caught between the balloon and the inside of my stomach, but it's annoying rather than painful. You have to chew chew chew your food to bits while you're eating but sometimes it's hard to be perfect, and your balloon will let you know when you've had one of those times. I have random hiccups a LOT. My nurse says this is usually from eating too fast but sometimes it's first thing in the morning, so who knows. My husband is not as comfortable. He has moderate cramps after almost every meal. The nurse and the dietitian both say that's because he's eating too fast, and he's trying to get better at that. We did get another anti-cramping medicine (not the super expensive one) but he won't take it because it knocks him out. I've never felt the uncomfortably full feeling I'm told will happen when you overeat, but I've not really over-eaten since getting the balloon. But that kale, man, I am not touching that stuff till after the balloon is out. And I think edamame is going to end up on that list too. What's the rest of the program? Our expenses included 12 office visits, to cover a full year post insertion (aka 6 months after removal). We can see the dietitian, a behaviorist, a medical doctor or an exercise specialist (or we can see two in a visit and they count it as two visits, that's fine). We can also email questions to the dietitian or our nurse anytime, as long as they're not long research projects. Apparently participants in their program lose an average of 12lb more than non-participants, or so they tell me. But the nurse was a godsend during those awful days-- she was able to help us get a little relief where possible, and encouraged us to stick with it when we wanted to give up. So how are we doing now? We are both drinking oceans of water, which you must do because it's very easy to become dehydrated. We are currently consuming about 900-1000 calories each per day, spread over 3 meals and sometimes a snack. We tried going for the 5-6 tiny meals a day approach but it's just not for us. The dietitian says it's ok and we should do whatever works for us. We are also exercising 30 minutes a day (every day for him, 5-6 days a week for me) on a recumbent elliptical in our house. Progress so far: I've lost about 19 lb which I think is kind of awesome. My husband has had his balloon for a week more than I have. He's lost about 23 lb. He has 19 weeks to go and I have 20. I don't believe we will keep up this rate of weight loss but I sure would be tickled if we did. Feel free to ask me anything and I'll try to answer!

Your taste buds will recover eventually. I wish they wouldn't! You are at an uncomfortable stage -- I remember it and felt the same way as you but looking back, I wish I had taken advantage of all that and just relaxed a bit. But that's hard. So, yes, start trying different foods. Some will work and some won't work right away. Eggs were always my go-to. Yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, etc. really helped me through it. I used to hate cottage cheese and now love it! But, I had to start out by adding jello to it. In fact, at the beginning I would add jello to plain yogurt as well. For the yogurt, I added the completed jello but for the cottage cheese, I added the jello powder into it along with a little bit of sugar free coolwhip. Mmmm. Still my favorite dessert. You can also add jello pudding powder into cottage cheese with a bit of coolwhip. When you can have it, I also add some crushed pineapple into it. Best of luck. You will get through this and do great!

Hi all - I am 1 week and 1 day post-op. It's Thanksgiving and as my son and hubby are enjoying dinner with family, I sit here wondering what is going on. Like seriously WTF?!?... I am doing everything right food-wise... only the best proteins and, sugar free puddings with whey powder, bariatric branded soups, and drinks with powder - absolutely no sugars & no fats. But I am having what I feel like must be dumping syndrome after anything with whey protein in it. The only thing my tummy has not rejected is fat free cottage cheese with pepper and a little salt. I was doing great meeting my protein and water goals in my first week, I tried some greek yogurt and whey powder 2 days ago and it didn't sit well. Now, I have been having a tough time getting my meals and water intake back to where it was. Maybe this is all normal and I just need to chill out... my surgeon and dietitian made sure to scare me good about dehydration so I am concerned lol. I will put a call in to the office tomorrow but thought perhaps someone has experienced this and can share some insight. Peace, love and smaller pants, Cooper's Mum

I could fart on demand pre-surgery, always had a full tank. But now it is extremely rare. I'm 3.5 months post-op. I still stick mostly to yogurt and protein shakes... Other foods still give me a stomach ache. I may try a Brussel sprout or two at Thanksgiving tomorrow, wish me luck! (now burps, those are still frequent if I eat too quickly)

I spend more time in airports than I do at home some weeks, so I might be a resident expert here! At 5 months out, there will be tons of options available for you. It's harder on liquids and purees but not impossible. As mentioned, nuts, cheese crisps, protein bars are available in the news stand type shops. Also jerky, protein bars, protein packs with dried meat and dried cheese together. Lots of restaurants have a to go section with yogurt, fruit cups, hummus etc.. There are also premade salads readily available, and sandwiches you can just eat the meat out of. Even fast food, you can get a chicken sandwich and just eat the meat, or burger and just eat the patty. Sit down restaurants are just like any other restaurant, so always some kind of good choice on there. When I'm at DET, I often eat at Sora, the sushi restaurant. There is a Vino Volo, which has meat and cheese plates. PF Changs has good options. I usually get chicken lettuce wraps or the hot and sour soup. Vino Volo and PF Changs are in many airports, not just DET, so I eat at those pretty often. Finally as mentioned above Plum Market has good options, I've also eaten at Adiamo and been happy.

Hi - I had gastric sleeve surgery approximately 2 weeks ago. I did very well after surgery, no complications, no pain. I have been tolerating clear fluids well; however, the past several days I have been very nauseated to the point that I can't really stand to drink protein shakes or anything else. I can tolerate the shakes and even some yogurt, but the thought of food repulses and nauseates me. I have not experienced vomiting, just nausea. Did anyone else experience this? All I read is how everyone else is doing great...is this just my experience?? Zofran is not helping with the nausea.

I have the sleeve too. They have us eating 6 mini-meals a day (couple of ounces) so I'm rarely hungry. If I am, I just eat a couple bites of yogurt or drink a couple ounces of protein shake. It's totally normal to be hungry. Some people are, some people aren't with the sleeve.

My nutritionist sadly isn’t very good, shame really. Nothing about calories hydration, so reading these sites really help me. They did give me a packet I’ve sifted thru. So what’s the caloric intake per day.? I’m drinking 48 oz so far a day on day 6. I’m on strained soups and yogurt. Any help will be appreciative

4 months out Breakfast is a protein shake Lunch is soup/yogurt/salad/sandwich on lettuce Snack is almonds and a cheese stick Dinner varies but always contains a protein and veggie

Happy Thanksgiving as well. Tomorrow will be one week for me. I don’t have any pain but definitely weak I couldn’t imagine doing ball room dancing lol. I’m on liquids strained soups yogurt until day 16 then cottage cheese tuna etc. so far so good. 15,000 well spent! I’ll save that first 3 months of not eating lol

Hi honey... gosh, I sure wish the two of you a speedy recovery. You’re both in my thoughts and prayers! So ideas for extra protein: Fairfield milk, yogurt, powdered milk, ricotta, bone broth.. I also YouTubed some ideas and there are several recipes for the full liquid diet, I can only imagine there will be tons for the purée diet. ( I’m just not there, yet) You’re doing great and keep up the amazing work!

First off, congrats on your surgeries! Ok, next...both of you, stop. And breathe. Take deep breaths and step away from the ledge. It's going to be ok...if you tread carefully. OK? About 2 weeks ago, you had surgery. They SERIOUSLY jacked with your nerves, and your tummy is NOT fully communicating with your brain right now. So even if you "could" feel the same sensation of fullness--you really "can't". And sadly, most of us will never experience "fullness" feelings like we did pre-op. The fullness feelings manifest in different and much less satisfying ways now post-surg. The sadness that comes from missing that is a head thing we have to work on in dealing with food relationships. So what you're doing now, is you are chasing a feeling that you cannot have. Not now anyway. It's called "Chasing Fullness" and it "can" be a pouch killer! Cuz it will cause you to overeat--once in a while/no prob--people screw up. But do it often enough or chronically and you will stretch out your stoma and possibly stretch out your new anatomy--not to mention that you will undo your hard work of conditioning your brain and habits to expect less food. The feeling of fullness may come back with time--in some derivation. Mine did. But it was several months (like month 4) before I started feeling satiety. And also, it came with eating very dense, solid foods. Very. DENSE. Solid. Proteins. Al Dente Veggies. SOLID. LOL. Ok? I still don't feel any restriction with things like salads, and snack foods, or soft foods like yogurt and stuff. So here is what you are eating right now in your current stages: Yogurt: Counts as liquid on my post op plan and is a slider food. It causes very little feelings of fullness for a lot of people. The Cheese--could be an issue -- so don't overdo it. It could constipate you. Some feel fullness from it, others don't. But it's easy to overeat it and the calories rack up QUICKLY. In the early weight loss months, calories are king. Seriously! Eggs, depending on how hard you cook them, could either be slidery or might be just fine! Some have issues/some have satiety from them. Some don't. For me it depends on HOW you cook them. Scramble, fry, soft fry, soft boil--slider. Hard boil, eat by themselves--very filling. And so the moral of this story is, "Just because you CAN eat more, doesn't mean you SHOULD eat more." LOL. Especially right now in your present stage. Eat ONLY what your doc prescribes for quantities. Eat ONLY the meals he tells you to eat. Do not eat anything else. There WILL be hunger--even starvin' marvin' days. When that happens, drink a glass of water and get busy doing something else. Seriously. We will still experience hunger. But hunger doesn't constitute an emergency any more. And I've learned that most of my inappropriate hunger is caused by dehydration. Good luck. You'll figure things out. Just always remember to breathe! ((hugs))

With a microwave and refrigerator your option are endless! Easy Cold foods: cheese and fruit, boiled eggs, greek yogurt parfait, cottage cheese bowls, hummus and vegetable sticks, tuna salad, chicken salad, protein chips and guacamole, nut butters on crispbreads Easy Warm Foods: chili, quiche, kinda creamy chicken and spinach, sorta teriyaki grilled tofu, chickpea stew, zoodle lasagna, ricotta bake, meatballs, various soups and stews Meal prepping really helps especially if you can freeze meals individually and take with you as needed Safe Journey!

Have you had meat yet? The first couple of weeks after surgery I thought I had no restriction. I could eat yogurt, cottage cheese, etc with no problem. But once I tried chicken (small bite - with fat free gravy - chewed well) I realized I DO have restriction - and quite a bit to be honest! It may not be the same for you - but just a thought! Good luck!!

You can also make you own sugar free jello. After they have child use a blender and add sugar free cool whip and sugar free jam with a 1/4 cup non fat plain Greek yogurt. Ups the protein in a big way. If you live chocolates Hershey dark unsweetened cocoa powder to you Greek yogurt with a little stevia and PBFIT. Yummy too

Hi friends, I know we're all on our own "journey" (ugh hate that word) and that everyone's body is different etcetc. I'm lucky that so far, two weeks out, I've had no issues, no rejection of food or liquid, easily getting in my protein and liquid goals. My complaint is that I'm jealous of everyone who gets full after like three bites. I see all these photos of people like "here's what's left after I finished!" [cut to picture of full plate of food] and I'm jealous and a bit concerned because at two weeks out, I can easily eat a 5oz greek yogurt with a side of an ounce of cheese or two large eggs with cheese and not be uncomfortable. As in, I could probably eat more. So basically I just had surgery and I feel like I don't even have any restriction. Again, yes, I know solids may be a bit different, or that my reaction to food may adjust, or that perhaps I'm even lucky because I can tolerate everything so well. But I've tried some semi-solid foods and it's no different thus far. But also, this is a huge surgery of which a major component is supposed to be that it physically stops you from eating regular portions. I feel like I got robbed on that front. At my checkup, my surgeon was all "yeah, well, you still have to watch portions." Yeah ok, but it seems unfair that I have to watch them in the first year, let alone in the first month. Also yes I'm losing weight and no I'm not starving. I'm just whiny. That's what this section is for, right?

I can only eat creamed cereal, fat free yogurt and creamed soup for 1 more week. Plus protein shakes. In 1 week I can add blended foods like tuna. No supplements for 30 days. I have put a call in to my Bariatric nurse. Thanks for the advice!

Sneaking Extra Protein into Cream Soups and Pureed Soups: It's easy to add small amounts of extra protein into everything from cream soups, to pureed soups/stews/chilis, yogurts, kefirs. 1. Use Isopure or Unjury Unflavored Protein Powder, Fairlife FF Milk, Plain Greek Yogurt, or even powdered peanut butter and use as much as you can tolerate without changing the taste to up the protein content of a meal/snack. If you are smell sensitive, breath through your mouth while adding the protein so you don't have to be turned off by the smell. Here are some common unflavored protein powders and yogurt and Fairlife FF Milk macros. It's easy to see you can up the protein content of a liquid substantially by adding small amounts into each drink or meal! Even an extra tablespoon will add up in protein over the course of a day! 2. Make protein enriched milk to up the protein count of the milk. The World According to Eggface has instructions about this, but this is an old low carb trick that existed long before that. Mix it well, seal, and refrigerate over night. Best is consumed ice cold. You can also sweeten or flavor it. Hershey's Sugar Free Chocolate Syrup works great for Chocolate Milk!!! You can make this high protein milk and use it in soups, gravies, stews and any place that calls for regular milk, or drink it plain (ice cold). Or make hot cocoa out of it! 1/4 cup Dry Non-Fat Instant Milk 8fl oz Fairlife Fat Free Milk Optional: 2tbsp (16g) Hershey's Sugar Free Chocolate Milk Shake or whisk until combined. Seal and chill!

Favorite REAL FOOD ways to get protein down when in Stage 1 and Stage 2, for those who don't want to press the "easy button" and can't tolerate the taste of artificially sweetened protein drinks and powders: Real Food Smoothie: 6-8oz Fairlife Milk Fat Free 2oz Yogurt (Greek, plain, unsweetened) 1-2oz frozen fruit (frozen blueberries, peaches, bananas--any fruit that is low glycemic without seeds. You can use strawberries, but you would have to thaw them and push the pulp through a fine strainer to remove seeds or use Walden Farm Strawberry Pancake Syrup (zero cal)) Ice Cubes to desired consistency Bottled Water to desired consistency Optional Ingredients: 6-12g Peanut Butter Powder (PB2 or Vitacost Peanut Butter Slim, or Peanut Flour) Frozen or Fresh Baby Spinach or Kale