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Thanks for sharing that! I'll have to check it out. Also, the tip of putting protein powder in the yogurt is another good idea.

Thanks for sharing about the yogurt! I have bought the Greek yogurt, and I like it, but it is PRICEY...even at Sam's! We don't have Kroger in New Mexico, but we do have Smith's. I will check it out :thumbup:

Yes we have all felt the need to "eat/chew" something. Totally normal. As mentioned previously however just because you can does not mean should. I recommend spacing out your allowed foods. When I was on mushies I was allowed 8 oz of tomato soup (or sweet red pepper whatever but vegetable, smooth and low fat/cal); I'd wait an hour and then have the yogurt of cottage cheese. If I ate everything in one setting I would be both head and body hungry in an hour. If you are hungry eat more of the foods you are allowed. Don't eat pizza or fries. A bit of a lecture. If pizza, fries and chicken fingers are bad for you they are bad for your children. Feed your kids versions of what you are eating. They literally won't starve. If they are hungry enough they will eat it.

EDIT - The subject should read 12 g Protein NOT 20 g protein...so so very sorry!!! I had to share my new discovery... Kroger Carbmaster yogurt, full 8 oz cup.... 80 calories, 4 carbs & 1 Fiber (so 3 NET CARBS!!) and 12 grams of protein...and it only cost 40 CENTS. And it's NOT CHALKY or gritty like Greek Yogurt can be, smooth and creamy and less calories and carbs than greek yogurt. It's delicious, I'm eating the cherry flavor right now. :ohmy: It's Kroger brand and I got it at Smith's but Fred Meyer carries Kroger brand too. I love yogurt for Breakfast and now I can have my yogurt and eat it too

try chobani! Greek yogurt! 18 g of protein. I get plain...so very low in carbs....and I had stevia...yum!

Yoplait Greek 100 yogurts, are the best. Discovered the apple pie flavor, it tastes just like apple pie, try some

yes, at one point I simply went and ate extra spoonful or two of yogurt because I was completley wiped a little freaky feeling like that to much, but post surgery diet gone I don't have these troubles at all, 3 months out now.

At a week out, we were allowed to eat cream of wheat, oatmeal, yogurt and strained cream soup. I have a feeling when you get to the next stage, you'll feel better. Hang in there! PS...if you cheat again...and you shouldn't! But if you do? Don't eat something bizarre like cheetos....eat something you're allowed to eat on the next phase of your diet.

you are doing great smiles!! i personally didn't eat tuna until my solids but when you do eat tuna you can mix with lowfat/notfat mayo, lemon, yogurt, etc. i just wouldn't make it too wet. also, do you like scrambled eggs? they are higher in fat but good protein and satisfying. also, not fage greek yogurt (with a little splenda mixed in) is amazingly high in protein. keep up the good work and keep smiling!!

Also i have been back on a certin diet yogurt in the morning and a small salad for lunch with just oil and ving.

I don't diet. I do portion control. So as you say I eat what I want within reason. I try to eat from as wide a range of foods as possible and I also try to eat fresh rather than processed.Sometimes I eat icecream but no not 3 times a day. LOL I also mix my foods up when I eat so would find it hard to eat Protein first then veg then carbs. I prefer to have a bite of this a bite of that etc. For me this has been one of the best things about the band. I now eat like a skinny person.That is I eat what I want and am satisfied with much smaller amounts. I also don't feel hungry the whole time in between meals.Sometimes my food choices might be strange but if that is what my body wants then that is what I am going to give it.e.g I just ate abowl of natural muesli with greek yogurt for lunch! Normally I would have tuna and salad or a sandwich or something but today I felt like Cereal. Everyone is different and each person does need to work out what works for them as there is no "one size fits all rule". Good luck

Right now I am on day 3 of my "mushy" phase of the diet. I can eat scrambled eggs, yogurt, Beans, tuna & chicken (mushed) with some fat free mayo, I can have some mashed cauliflower fat free ricotta. That's all I can think of off my list right now lol.

It might be worth charting every bit you put in your mouth for a week. I know I have been a victim of "Eating Amnesia" in the past. It can really railroad you.<br /><br />These days I am being very consious about my protein intake. For breakfast my options are Kashi GoLean cereal, eggs with hot sauce, or a protein shake.<br /><br />I eat every three hours like clockwork. Snacks are cheese, yogurt, nuts, or Protein To Go drink.<br /><br />Lunch is either a protein shake or soup with atleast 15 grams of protein and not over 300 calories.<br /><br />Dinner is meat and veggies.<br /><br />I don't know where I read this, I'll have to find my book, but for every gram of carbs you take in, you will hold four grams of fluid to aid in it's digestion. When you reduce your carbs you lower water weight and force your body to start using the Glycogen stored in your liver causing more weight loss.<br /><br />So I would suggest really looking at your carb intake and promoting more protein as it feeds the muscle.<br /><br /><br /><br />

My surgeon only restricted me to Clear Liquids while in the hospital but once discharged, he had me on phase 3 which includes full liquids, purees/mushy/soft foods like cottage cheese, yogurt, tuna. I was sleeved just over a week ago and stuck with full liquids, pureed soups, and yogurt the first week but I recently had some pureed tuna w/mayo, pureed rotisserie chicken with gravy and everything has been fine.

I don't see why not. If we're able to have regular yogurt why not the frozen kind, right?

I would say frozen yogurt is a good option especially if its the lowfat version. Its also a source of calcium which (according to the TV commercials) helps with losing weight. We picked up some low fat low calorie yogurt bars from Costco which I love (unusual for me since I am not a fan of yogurt, particularly after the pre-op diet.)

Hi Newbek and Stratcat! I just wanted to say how great this thread has been to read. I'm not much of a journaler but have had to sometimes just to have somewhere to stow all my craziness as I go through this journey. I too feel the loss of a friend. Really I think food is more of a "frenemy", it's comforting to your face and then backstabs you when it adds the pounds on. I've been a big girl since I was a child, so giving up my longest lasting "friendship" has been hard. I know we get to eat again so that's helpful, I'm 5 days banded now so still working on broth and light Soups for the most part. I have such an addiction to food that everytime I see a food commercial on tv I want to run right out and get it and shove it in my mouth. My 2 week liquid diet was Hell on earth but I will have an appreciation for the taste of things now. I have always been a fast food addict so eating different soups and having to sit around others eating has also given me an appreciation for how good food can smell. I think the biggest change I've made is that food can't always be my entertainment now. When I'm bored I can't grab the hubby and ask which restaurant we are heading too. China buffet can't be the norm for Saturday lunch anymore. I thank God that I have such a supportive husband but we are really going to have to find new things to do with ourselves. We actually did venture out to Cracker Barrel today and that turned out to be really nice. He began Atkins when I started my 2 week liquid diet and Cracker Barrel has a whole part on their menu devoted to Low Carb. So he got his low carb meal and I got some yogurt. lol It's kind of fun being the cheap date now with my $2.99 meal. Of course I barely ate much at all but having the social part of eating out was still really nice. Anyhow, Newbek I saw you have a fever and don't feel well. I hope they call you back and everything's all right. If it takes them awhile to get back with you, the back of your insurance card (assuming you have it) usually has a nurse advice line # to call.

Source: food. The trick: Eat just a little less. Scientists at Harvard and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge found that people who lowered their calorie intake lost an average of 13 pounds in six months no matter what kind of diet they were on. "This is the best weight-loss news in a long time," says Frank Sacks, MD, nutrition professor at Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "If you don't like what you're eating, you're not going to stick with it. These findings give you flexibility to trim a bit here and there and still enjoy your favorites." In fact, by nixing just 100 calories a day, you'll lose more than 10 pounds a year. Up your cuts to 250 and you're down 26 pounds. Want to lose faster? Ditch 500 calories daily and you'll drop those pounds in half the time. We found 50 so-easy ways for you to trim a little but save a lot. Cut 100 Calories at Breakfast * Use skim milk in place of flavored Coffee-mate in your two morning mugs. * Eat a bowl of high-fiber Cereal and you'll consume fewer calories all day. * Order bacon, not sausage, with your eggs. * Choose a yeast doughnut instead of a denser cake one. Cut 100 Calories at lunch * Use 1 tablespoon of mayo and 1 tablespoon of low-fat cottage cheese to make tuna salad. * Put barbecue sauce, not honey mustard, on your chicken sandwich at Wendy's. * Top your burger with onions, lettuce, and tomato and skip the cheese. * Ask for the 12-ounce child-size soda instead of the 21-ounce medium at the drive-through. * Slim down your sandwich by using Arnold Select 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins instead of whole wheat bread. * Toss your salad with 1 tablespoon of dressing until every lettuce leaf is coated. You'll get away with using half the usual serving size. Try this trick at dinner too. * Skip the crackers and shredded cheese on your chili. Cut 100 Calories at Dinner * Trade butter for a flavorful spread made with garlic, fresh rosemary, and light, trans fat-free margarine. * Making meatballs? Mix half the amount of ground beef the recipe calls for with half as much cooked brown rice. * Instead of two slices of medium pepperoni pan pizza, choose thin-crust. * When munching on chicken wings, don't toss the bones midway through. Seeing the evidence of your feast may help you eat less, studies show. Cut 100 Calories from a Snack * Trade 1/2 cup of premium vanilla ice cream for 1/2 cup of Breyers chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. * Ordering a cone? Make it the sugar, not the waffle, kind. * Munch on Pirate's Booty. In a study, switching to an air-puffed cheesy snack twice a day saved about 70 calories a pop. * Grab a Dannon Light & Fit yogurt, not a low-fat fruit blend. * Replace half the butter in cake, muffin, and brownie recipes with an equal amount of applesauce or mashed bananas. You'll save about 100 calories for every tablespoon you swap. * Indulge in a slice of angel food cake drizzled with chocolate syrup rather than three Cookies. ------------------- Cut 250 Calories at Breakfast * Trade a reduced-fat blueberry muffin for instant oatmeal topped with 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries. Bonus: You'll stay satisfied all morning. * Measure out your breakfast cereal; overestimating by just 1/3 cup can add 100 calories. * Enjoy it with a 16-ounce chai latte with skim milk rather than a green tea latte with 2 percent. Cut 250 Calories at Lunch * Pick turkey over tuna in your 6-inch sub. * At the salad bar, reach for shredded Parmesan instead of cheddar and skip the bread. * Nuke a Lean Cuisine chicken parm instead of having one delivered. Cut 250 Calories at Dinner * Make your own salad dressing using low-sodium, fat-free broth in place of 2 tablespoons of oil. * Having fajitas? Fill up one tortilla rather than three, then eat the rest of your fixings with a fork. * Sub black Beans for refried and hold the side of Mexican rice. * Order filet mignon instead of a New York strip steak. * Opt for broccoli chicken over sweet-and-sour, and for steamed brown rice, not fried. Cut 250 Calories from a Snack * Bite into a chocolate-covered strawberry rather than a chocolate chip cookie. * Skip the small movie-theater popcorn and bring your own 1-ounce bag of Lay's. * Switch from juice to Crystal Light twice a day. * At the mall, curb a craving for a soft pretzel with a 100-calorie pretzel pack. ------------------- Cut 500 Calories * Eat fruit before every meal. In a Pennsylvania State University study, people who munched apples 15 minutes before lunch ate about 187 fewer calories. * Order one brunch entree to share. Who can finish that giant omelet, anyway? * When making mac and cheese, resist temptation and prep just half the box. Save the rest in a zip-top bag for next time. * Use your grandmother's Joy of Cooking and you'll save an average of 506 calories over three meals, according to a recent Cornell University study. The secret: Smaller portion sizes and lower-calorie ingredients were called for back then. * Instead of a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha for your afternoon pick-me-up, order coffee with a little milk and a dusting of chocolate. * At happy hour, drink two rum and diet colas and back away from the bowl of stale snack mix. ----------------- Turn Up the Burn The more active you are, the fewer calories you'll need to cut. Try these food-fitness combos to reach your target number. Goal: 100 calories Burn 50: Get up from your desk and take a 20-minute walk at lunch. Cut 50: Skip the oyster crackers in your Soup. Goal: 250 calories Burn 125: Shovel the driveway for 20 minutes. Cut 125: Hold the cinnamon bun. Eat two slices of cinnamon toast. Goal: 500 calories Burn 250: Spend two hours making dinner for the entire week. Cut 250: Mist a pan with cooking spray instead of pouring in oil. Sources: Sari Greaves, RD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association; Jayne Hurley, RD, senior nutritionist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan; Brian Wansink, PhD, FITNESS advisory board member and author of Mindless Eating; and Hope Warshaw, RD, author of Eat Out, Eat Right, third edition, and What to Eat When You're Eating Out Originally published in FITNESS magazine, February 2010.

I have 7 days full liquids, then 7 of soft foods, then 14 of puree, then regular. So far with liquids I've been having : Yogurt, Jello, broth, strained creamy Soups, homemade pudding Soft foods I'm looking forward to definitely includes scrambled eggs. I think I could eat eggs for Breakfast, lunch, and dinner =p

Hey everyone, I'm nine days post op and feeling well, no pain from my surgery, I'm mobile and doing my Wiifit exercises 30 mins to an hour everyday with no soreness or stiffness, and I've lost a total of 24 lbs since my surgery on the 21st. I'm very pleased with my surgeon, Dr. Alehy Tohamy (hope that's spelled correctly) his nurses and staff at weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery, 8815 Germantown Ave. Phladelphia, PA 19118, you guys here at bariatricpal.com, and most importantly, my hubby for all of his love and support. I've been following my doctor and nutritionist's orders word for word, making sure to get in all of my fluids and Protein everyday as best as I can. I've never hit the 75 grams of protein per day however, since my surgery. Prior to surgery it was a piece of cake. I drank my shakes everyday, added protein to my Water and sipped on it as long as it took me to get it in, which sometimes ended up being a daylong event but nonetheless I got it all in. However, after surgery this has proven to be an arduous task. My taste buds have been altered because everything that i loved prior to surgery (sf popscicles, decaf coffee, unflavored whey protein, broth, etc.) now tastes horrible and really makes my stomach go flip flopping all over the place for hours, which I just found out after crying to my dr. that I am experiencng "dumping syndrome." I prayed yesterday after I tried mixing the Protein powder with some pureed banana, Lactaid milk, and ice cubes in my blender till it was shake consistency and drinking it that either I was allergic to some ingredient in the protein powder or my new stomach just simply does not like protein. Today I spoke to Dr. Tahomey and explained all the I've been experiencing in detail over the last four days and he explained to me that yes. this is the dreaded "dumping sydrome" that I've been trying to avoid, and yes, it is possible that my new stomach does not like to texture, taste, or consistency of the protein powder. I feel so relieved but this does nothing to help me with my need to get in enough protein to meet my quota for the day. Dr. Tahome suggested that I experiment with new ways of getting my protein in like adding it to plain yogurt with some fresh fruit that has been pureed, adding protein to my oatmeal in the morning. If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them. This is only day nine for me and I'm sure I will be posting for more help as I enter stage three of my post surgery diet. Have a great day everyone!!!

I did my weekly weigh-in today and I've gained 2 lbs. Not real, stuck on the hips pounds because in order to gain 2 real pounds in a week I'd have to have eaten 1000 calories a day, every day, over my calorie expenditure, which I didn't do. What I did do is eat a lot of Asian recipes this week. All are high in sodium, so I suspect I'm holding on to some water weight, but I wanted some strong flavors after yogurt, egg salad, and cottage cheese these past weeks. So I broke out the fish sauce, soy sauce, and made some quick cucumber pickles. Everything was delicious. I tried half a toasted English muffin, seemed to sit well. I haven't vomited at all, or dumped. Maybe I'll escape that. I am walking 5000+ steps a day and I will add some yoga and squats I think. I still feel like I'm wearing a corset, a tightness under the skin. It's odd but not painful. My incisions have all healed and the scab from the hole where the drain exited has finally fallen off. I still get some odd pains here and there, mostly around my belly button. I am taking a 750mg psyllium capsule each morning and have not had a problem with constipation despite falling short of my 64 oz fluid goal a couple of days this week. And best of all, still no GERD, no regurgitation, and I started swallowing full size pills without a problem this week. I have a telephone appt with the surgeon's office on Friday and I hope I can stop taking omeprazole then.

So I just wanna know that it's normal to just have a bad day with the sleeve. I don't mean feeling wise but I mean rules wise. Today, I got busy and didn't plan and looked up and it was 3pm and all I had for the day was 5oz Greek yogurt and 12oz of water that morning. Then I actually got hungry which hasn't happened since my surgery 8 days ago. So as soon as I got home I ate cream of chicken soup with some milk mixed in. I ate it way too fast and too much (like the old days). Now I'm here and in pain(stuffed), knowing full and well I didn't follow the rules and I'm mad and frustrated. I'm upset I didn't take the time to plan better, I question my choice to have this done. What if I seriously hurt myself the next time I don't plan. I'm frustrated that I can't just gulp down water to catch back up. I know that I choose this I just need to know having bad days (aka "learning days") are normal. So when was your first bad day??

I see a lot of people struggle with the protein shakes post-op, even me, but it's importanrt to take them because it can cause loss of hair, and more importantly from what I read your body can actually start feeding off of your vital organs. I do whey, 1 scoop is 30gms of protein , so I try to get 2 scoops in the am, and just keep taking sips throughout the am. Then I buy high protein yogurt and do 2-3 in the course of a day. My surgeon told me in early stages you should get 100 gms of protein, but if I get close enough, I'm proud of myself. You should also ask your surgeon for a script for Iron, and B-12 shots, in which you can get from your MD, and this should help your energy levels. School's almost over, and then you will be able to concentrate more on you. Good luck,and blessings!

I am almost 4 weeks out, and knock on wood have not had anything related to dumping!! As far as Protein, I know I need to get some more in, but like someone else on here said, there is only so much sweet, artificially made protein a person can consume!!! I have found that the Pure Protein drinks sit best with me. 23 g protein, and they come in an aluminum bottle in a 4 pack. I get them at my grocery store. As far as yogurt, I started off with the Yoplait light, and they have some good flavors that sat really well with me. Then I noticed that the Chobani Greek yogurts have almost the same sugars and carbs with NO artificial anything, so I switched to them. So nice to not taste that sickly aftertaste that everything sugar free seems to have! The activia greek is also good and goes down well with me. I am on mushies right now (refried Beans, yogurt, grits, mashed potatoes, pureed casseroles, ets.) but can progress to soft foods tomorrow. I'm a little worried that I won't be able to get down anything new. I think I'll start with unflavored oatmeal and see how that sits! Blessings to you all on this journey!

I started with myoplex original. Like most low sugar the taste isn't wonderful but they're passable at least and I didn't actually mind the taste. And best part is each one has 42g of protein so that's half way to daily requirement. Luckily I haven't had dumping yet but if my Greek yogurt has too high sugar(over about 10 for me) I get a little queasy. And if you find something that works, get a lot of them lol. Best of luck!