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For the very first early stage---you will want Protein, yes, but likely clear protein. You can find options at GNC. They have bullets they are called, they are test tubes with high protein shots in them. They also have what I used, which is Zero Carb Isopure. It comes in glass bottles similar to the Sobe drinks on the market--size and shape I mean. It comes in several flavors. To be 100% honest, if I had my choice of anything to drink, they would not have been my choice! BUT when I got to feeling fatigued, and weary, they perked me right up! Then the next stage you can usually go on to the full Protein shake, as well as the Carnation. You can buy whey protein in GNC, even in Walmart. You can buy it online like from unjury. If you use unflavored, you can use the sugar free DaVinci (or similar other brands like Torani) Syrups in tons of flavors to make you all kinds of shakes! You can also use a couple spoons full of Sugar Free pudding mix to add flavor---just don't use too much or you end up with pudding not a shake!!! As you progress, you can blend in a spoon or 2 of Peanut Butter for the added protein, and flavor. Keep your blender handy. It is not of much use the first clear liquid stage--but after that, you can blend lots of things---just be sure to keep it thin for awhile, allow your band to set and heal in a correct position. Crystal Light freezes into a nice slushie drink that is a bit different from more liquid, and yet when it hits your pouch it is thawed into total liquid. If there is anything else, feel free to ask. The liquid stages are not easy, there is not a lot of variety. Often times you go from feeling like you don't want anything, and it is a chore to get in the Water, to the next day starving to death! It is not always easy, but it was always worth it!! Keeping busy, being prepared to walk a LOT!! Keeps you going! Hope you have an easy uneventful surgery and recovery!!! Welcome! Kat

60 days baby, 60 days until I'm sailing across the ocean, with an umbrella drink in my hand! Oh I can't wait! Todays menu Bfast 1 scrambled egg with sausage/ham/veggies in it Lunch out to lunch with friends, going to go to a bar-b-que joint, planning on getting the smoked chicken with green beans - no potatoes. Dinner - hmmm - not sure yet, we will have leftovers tonight since we have our bible/book study tonight at our house - don't want to stink up the house with cooking - I probably will just drink a protein shake with added strawberries & maybe a little oatmeal. yum. Exercise 10 am - 20 min elliptical 3:00 pm - 15 min elliptical Planning on hitting the gym tonight after the book study and working my upper and lower body, also going to do 30 min of elliptical- I plan on being at the gym for a good 1 1/2 hours tonight. Wt - 180.6 - grrrrrrrr - Tom will be here next week, not sure if that is why the scale is bouncing, but I'm staying focused. Will not weigh again until Monday. Well, at least I'm going to try not to weigh until then. :rolleyes2:

60 days baby, 60 days until I'm sailing across the ocean, with an umbrella drink in my hand! Oh I can't wait! Todays menu Bfast 1 scrambled egg with sausage/ham/veggies in it Lunch out to lunch with friends, going to go to a bar-b-que joint, planning on getting the smoked chicken with green beans - no potatoes. Dinner - hmmm - not sure yet, we will have leftovers tonight since we have our bible/book study tonight at our house - don't want to stink up the house with cooking - I probably will just drink a protein shake with added strawberries & maybe a little oatmeal. yum. Exercise 10 am - 20 min elliptical 3:00 pm - 15 min elliptical Planning on hitting the gym tonight after the book study and working my upper and lower body, also going to do 30 min of elliptical- I plan on being at the gym for a good 1 1/2 hours tonight. Wt - 180.6 - grrrrrrrr - Tom will be here next week, not sure if that is why the scale is bouncing, but I'm staying focused. Will not weigh again until Monday. Well, at least I'm going to try not to weigh until then. :crying:

I had no idea that this feature was available on this site. I really love BariatricPal.com. It's given me an outlet for all these thoughts circulating around in my head and how to deal with them all as I get adjusted to this new life. A little background about me - I'll be turning 40 this year. I've been struggling with my weight for the better part of 20 years now but have always struggled with my image. I look back at pictures of me when I was thin and healthy and fit and remember thinking how fat I thought I was. I now have a 3 year old and doctors were beginning to use words like diabetes, hypertension and "morbidly" obese around me. The biggest I ever got was 240 and that was quite enough for me. My mom died when she was 65 from all the aforementioned conditions and their complications. I already started late out of the gate having my daughter late in life. The least I can do is try to extend this here life a little longer. That's not really possible / an option if diabetes and hypertension are eating away at my ability to exist. So I banded! My surgery date was 7/11 and it's been pretty smooth so far. Just getting adjusted to it all. Today's challenge is gas, feeling tightness in my esophagus (which I think is my body just now taking inventory of the band install) and I can't wait for these incisions to heal so that I can pick up and hug up on my daughter. The journey continues!

This is my first blog here but i needed to start because my surgery is tuesday at 7:45am!!! I have been on the water and protein shakes for 2 weeks now. The scale has gone down 30lbs but the thing that i am so proud of with myself, is that i did not cheat. That is a huge accomplishment since i have a husband and 2 little boys!!! trust me i wanted to have some of that pizza, cheeseburger, and cake!!! sometimes i thought maybe if i just could have a lick:rolleyes2:!!! but anyways i started this journey at 266lbs at 5'5". that is the hightest i have ever been. the reason i chose the lap-band is first of all i am an ICU nurse and i know the effects of being fat and unhealthy:sad:!!! then i have two little boys 7 and 3 that i love more than life itself!!! since i have started i am down about 30lbs and people already see the difference, which is nice to hear. another reason i got on this site is i need more support because there is a lot of people who are just against having surgery!!! i understand their worries and concerns but very soon i am going to have some health issues that will be way worse than having a surgery that is a tool to help me. If food just wouldn't taste so dang good!!! i would probably be okay. but anyways if anyone has some good ideas on different things you can eat and drink post-op i am all ears!!! I will probably have pics soon i am going to have my husband take the dreaded before pic, than i will try to post new ones as much as i can.

On October 1, 2009, I met with Dr. Kuldeep Singh and Arlene Swantko - who were to become my Bariatric Surgeon and my Nutritionist as of that day. Dr. Singh is a fan of the liquid diet. He wants his patients to be on it for 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after surgery. He also made the suggestion that I try it. I looked at him as though he had 3 heads and responded "NOW???" Well, his answer was yes and his rationale was that I could sample some of the protein drinks before I HAD to drink them and that it's always a good idea to lose weight prior to having surgery. At this point I had no idea when I was having surgery, so the idea of the full liquid diet was extremely premature for this brain! I didn't see Dr. Singh again until January 2010. After being excited about collecting everything the doctor's office requested so that they could submit a clean package to the insurance company we realized that if we waited until January 1, 2010, then we wouldn't have to file an appeal and get into a big hassle because my husband's company had finally wised up and added the bariatric coverage to their insurance plan! YAY!!!! More waiting...and waiting...and waiting...it seemed that January 1st would never get here. It arrived, and along with it came a very nasty case of double pneumonia, pleurisy and a sinus infection that landed me in the hospital on New Years' Day 2010. Wow! I'd never had pneumonia before and this was nothing to mess with! I was in a lot of pain and I couldn't catch my breath. I was coughing like crazy and feeling as though someone was stabbing me in the side and back. Yet all I could think about was that this would delay my LapBand surgery and that even I got approved for the surgery I would have to wait to be cleared of this disgusting illness! The approval came on January 14, 2010. Just as I was starting to feel semi-human again and was making plans to have follow-up pulmonary, primary care and CT-Scan appointments. I wanted to do a happy dance! Problem was, I didn't feel well enough to do a happy dance! LOL So, I waited some more and even though I wasn't yet released from the pneumonia, I scheduled my surgery date for March 12, 2010. Surely that would be enough time! It was and I started the dreaded liquid diet on March 1. I decided that I was going to start on a Monday and didn't care that I was actually going to be on the diet for more than 2 weeks. Nothing really mattered anymore except that this was REAL! I was following the liquid diet perfectly, doing pretty well, losing weight and feeling a little bit better with each day. Until that fateful Wednesday night a week and a half into the diet. Looking back - WTF was I thinking??? I offered to make dinner for my husband while I was on the liquid diet - even though he had been perfectly supportive and wonderful with taking care of his own meal needs. Nope - I was going to make him a meat loaf! Was I kidding? Well - NO, I wasn't kidding, and he only wound up with about 2/3 of the meatloaf left because I couldn't help - one small piece with ketchup - ummmm - it was SO good...but not quite enough - one more small piece with mustard this time! Oh, YUMMMM...I hadn't had meatloaf in SO long! You get the picture! Before I knew it I had about 1/3 of a small loaf and was feeling full, bloated and disgusted with myself. The good news was - it was the only slip in the 2-1/2 week process. The better news was - it was a protein at least - it could have been a whole lot worse! So, I dealt with it, refused to feel guilty about it and went on with the liquid diet - finishing up the night before surgery with no more interruptions of the spirit or the brain! I'm 4 days post-op and I'm starting to get some of my strength back, starting to feel pretty good. SO - I look forward to the support and the friendships that I will develop here - those that have gone before are a wealth of knowledge and information that I intend to use to the fullest! Thanks for being here and I am viewing my future with hope and excitement for the first time in many years!

My dr.'s off ice gave me 4: www.vistavitamins.com www.bbvitamins.com www.vitalady.com www.bariatricadvantage.com I get mine from www.dpsnutrition.com on the left side go down the IDS then look for IDS New Whey Liquid Protein! I love the Blue Raspberry (only 25 g. protein and both the Orange and Grape 42 g protein. I have usually add them to a bottle of propel water but have just drank them by themselves. __________________

Yes, I try to. They make me nauseous lately too. Gotta get a better non-meat protein diet going!

I am 5 1/2 months post op. Before this week, I only threw up once. I had anesthesia earlier in the day and I just assumed that it was why I threw up. In the past couple of days I have thrown up twice. Both times after eating Chicken (and I believe that is what I had eaten on anesthesia day). I wasn't sick before I ate the chicken, was sick within 15 minutes of eating it, and then was fine after throwing up for less than 5 minutes. This does NOT seem like a stomach bug. The first time I assumed it was anesthesia. The 2nd time I assumed it was because it was KFC Chicken Tenders, which are fried. The third time I had a much healthier piece of chicken (not fried). Now I am wondering if I am developing a sensitivity to chicken. It is weird, I have been eating chicken all along, but I threw up both times I ate it this week. I really hope this doesn't become a trend! I prefer chicken as my main form of protein.

Vitamins is another huge thing for me. The liquid multivitamin i am taking is gross. My best to date liquid concoction is strawberry whey protein, liquid calcium, and vanilla almond milk. It's delicious and really satisfying since it incorporates both protein and calcium. Unfortunately, I don't have super thick hair to start with, so I'm already considering chopping it off so I won't have to witness its thinning.

Well I can truly only drink an ounce or two of the protein shake. I make 8 ounces every morning and try to finish it by the time I go to bed. But as for vitamin pills, no. I am only doing liquid vitamins or dissolvable. They are not great, but that's probably a given.

You should definitely not be wasting room on carbs at this early stage. You should be focusing on getting all your Protein in. Also, if you are only a month out, are you cleared to go back to the gym already? I wasn't cleared for any activity more intense than "brisk walking" until 60 days post-op. 20 pounds in the first month is not slow. It's critical not to compare yourself to others. Everyone's body responds differently to surgery, especially in the first month or two. You should focus on sticking to your plan, getting your protein in, getting your Water in, taking your Vitamins, and walking as much as possible.

Monday I can start introducing solids into my meals. I was told to try one new thing then wait a day before trying another. I thought eggs would be a good protein source and a good place to start but a friend of mine said to be careful with eggs. Any tips or suggestions out there? I do know that we are all different and can react differently but I'd sure appreciate your advice.

I've never bought any bariatric foods from here or any other place. Doing just fine and my grocery bill is tiny even feeding two adults. I don't eat much any pre-packaged/prepared foods after I realized they were part of the problem (most are crammed with fat/carbs/sodium). I cook from scratch with whole food sources about 75% of the time. Things like marinara sauce or turkey pepperoni I do buy prepared, but I get the lowest carb/highest Fiber versions, and avoid high sodium, and other questionable things. I read nutrition labels of everything. It also works to help me put things back if I'm suddenly craving them and want to buy - one look at a package containing 50 grams of carbs per serving and I can't stick that sucker back on the shelf fast enough! I buy lots of chicken and fish. We eat on a chicken drumsticks or thighs at least once a week, and I usually do them in the slow cooker so I can create broth from the fat/bones and then make a lovely Soup with it later in the week. We eat lots of veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, turnip greens and spinach, okra, brussel sprouts, (not so much of the carby veggies like carrots, potatoes, peas). eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, Beans (kidney, black beans, pintos, great Northern), and brown rice. High fiber wheat bread on occasion. Pork rinds are a great snack substitute when I'm desperate for the crunch of chips (but eaten sparingly since they are so high in sodium). I have a very large variety of awesome recipes that are low carb, high Protein and moderate fat.

My daughter and son in law and their baby and 3 yr old are here for 11 days. I am on a new lifestyle, no mention of surgery. I am not eating enough, going to find some ways to get extra protein in. More meal planning.

Cottage cheese has been helping me get my protein in... I do it for breakfast... I always do a protein shake between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. I also recently started using canned chicken to put on salad. I I do lettuce some chickpeas and some canned chicken and it's very high in protein. It is hard, how far post op are you?

I use whey 52 g protein 160 cal I use choc and vanilla I use non fat yogurt make smoothies for breakfast

I still drink 1 or 2 protein shakes daily, so maybe you can add that into your diet.

it will be 2 weeks tomorrow since i was banded. i am so ready to eat food with substance. hopefully my dr. will let me. i get my first fill on thursday so we will see. it was very hard over the holiday weekend and also my husbands birthday. can you say bbq, cake, and ice cream. and boy did that bbq smell good:tt2:. but i was good i stuck with the protein shakes and clear and full liquids. so i was a good girl. if anyone has any ideas for full liquid that would be great. and also i am not losing as much weight as i would like. i would think i haven't eaten so i should lose more. plus i am going to the gym. well hope everyone had a good and safe holiday weekend!!!:thumbup::thumbup:

Blood clots and pneumonia are very real risks for any surgery. The good thing is that your surgeon is aware of this. That is why you have to follow your surgeon's instructions to the letter. His or her's primary goal is to get you through surgery alive and well. Even if you think something you are asked to do is silly or that you can't do it, do it anyway. Everything from your preop diet, getting up and walking, following your food phases, avoiding NSAIDs, taking blood thinners, drinking water/staying hydrated, getting enough Protein, to breathing with your spirometer, etc. is for your benefit and to minimize risks. If you have carefully chosen a skilled and experienced surgeon and follow directions you should be fine.

I'm 17 days post-op. Just started pureed foods. Go to YouTube-great videos of people at same phase with grocery items and recipes. Also check out 'No Chew Foods' and 'Protein Treats' videos. Hope you find it as helpful as I did. Sent from my LGLS740 using the BariatricPal App

Thank you Candace! My flight will be about 6 hours total. It's a couple of flights from California to Virginia. I really like your idea of moving around. I was concerned about not having access to any Protein drinks during this time. In fact, it will be several hours by the time I get in and am able to have anything really. (Can't really bring any shakes/drinks on plane). But it sounds like eating before hand and then when I get in should be okay! I really like your idea of moving around as soon as I can to keep the circulation going. Good thinking Candace! Thanks again!!!

The water thing is a super goal to pursue! I do drink loads of water every day, at least two liters. But I can't drink it plain, it just won't go down well, so I add Mio or Crystal Lite or any kind of SF flavouring to it, always. And a bit more diluted than it calls for, as it is sometimes too sweet. But yeah, drink a ton of water, it is great for you and it keeps your tummy full as well. I have been on full food (except raw fruit and veg) from four days post-op, they do things a bit differently at my clinic. So I've been eating food all along. AND I never lost my hunger at all. For me that is a very good thing. It makes it like pre-op: I get hungry, I eat till I'm full, I stop. And my plan calls for three meals and three Snacks per day, so that makes it easy to get protein in every few hours, since I've never used Protein shakes and had to get all my protein from food. The other thing I do is really keep my diet quite varied. It would be easy to get in a real rut with this surgery and always eat X for Breakfast, Y for lunch and Z for dinner. But I eat all sorts of different things, so my stomach doesn't make the decisions for me (if that makes sense). There are very few things I can't eat well (aside from things I already didn't like pre-op LOL). But as far as advice, my three favorite are: drink more (you're already on this one), cut out white carbs (bread, Pasta, garlic bread lol, etc.) and keep your meals/snacks to planned times and contents. ETA two more haha: Don't drink calories (ie, sodas or drinks with sugar/calories in) and always track everything you eat -- I use myfitnesspal for this. Keeps you well-informed about what you're eating, where your calories are coming from, etc. Good luck, you can do this!!

Thanks. You have a great ideas. This is why I made it back to the site. But I have a question. How are you getting in that many calories a day? What does your meal(s) consists of. I normally have a Protein shake or Cereal in the morning, lunch is meat, salad or veggies; at times garlic bread and dinner probably the same as lunch or I'm badly snacking. I love Lipton peach tea and lately I have been making lemonade with fresh lemons; craving this everyday. Water is truly not a friend of mine. But I read a site today at www.bariatricchoice.com on water and it really helped me to understand the meaning of and why it is needed. Sooooo, lol, beginning tomorrow I am going to try and a bottle (16oz) every one 1/2hours. This will surely help in the snack area that is driving my weight not to go down.

I got home today surgery was 4/4 not much pain I was able to ger down a protein shake premier shakes 30 grams at costco or sans pretty good had about 24 ounces of water but nothing else. I will try to do more water its that ok. I do not want any food. I still can't believe I did it. I don't regret it just a meltdown,yesterday about how final this surgery is. feel better today. I have to lose about 70pounds and I guess most people in the hospital have more so some of the nurses told. me I was not that big I hide it well:-) which made me second guess myself. all in all I feel ok better them I anticipated