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The question could be any of these: How soon? how much? and how fast? My doctor and nutritionist cautioned about taking protein shakes and even any other supplements before all the nausea fully subsides. The thing they mentioned is that when having any problems with any new intake that doesn't go well wait a week before trying that one again. I sleeved 3/28 and as to protein I had a half scoop last night mixed with thinned greek blended yogurt and again protein mixed with baby oatmeal and both went down just fine. Just had a protein shake made with water that went down just fine, but only 4 oz and sipped slowly. But everyone is different. Good luck!

Now that I am on pureed, I notice that my tastes have changed. For example, I really like Greek Yogurt now, whereas before surgery, I couldn't stand it. I bought some shaved pepperoni and ended up throwing it out. I hated the way it tasted and I used to love pepperoni. It's really interesting how things have changed. Even eating is still mechanical and brings me no feeling of joy. It's just eating to live now and I am grateful for it. I wonder if this surgery could be a cure for an eating disorder?

I feel like I know all of the information, I started the process 10 months ago but due to my insurance being so strict I had to attend many classes, seminars, appointments, clearances, over the phone courses, etc. So I feel like the knowledge is there, however from joining this site I am learning new things every day, especially when looking at the post op forums. I know unexpected things will pop up and am prepared for the stalls including the famous 3 week stall and some initial weight gain from water immediately after surgery. Vitamins are something I definitely need to work on. My vitamin D was previously low but I am working on that. Iron is also another issue that I need to be prepared for as I am borderline anemic. I've heard of many post ops being hospitalized and having health issues from not keeping up with their Iron. Working in healthcare I have access to the providers and their knowledge on the subject. One thing with multivitamins is if you overdose on Iron that can be an issue too that can cause issues with your can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and in extreme cases liver failure. Therefore, I am going to be in constant contact with my provider and request routine blood work on all of my levels. Since we have surgery in April, most of us will be meeting our deductibles and out of pocket max so aside from any copay's we can get as much work done that our insurance deems as medically necessary. This includes blood work and labs on nutrition and vitamin levels. For instance, my deductible is $750 and out of pocket max is $3000. Since my surgery is around $30,000 I met my out of pocket max of $3000 and can get as much work done as I need to for the remainder of the year. Again, copay's still need to be paid for each visit. If I get blood work done by my primary care provider my copay is only $10 compared to the $50 to go to a specialist who will do the same thing. So in general I feel like I am pretty prepared when it comes to the aftercare and communication with my provider's and insurance policies to make sure I can keep in touch with my body to know where I am deficient and what vitamins I will need to increase during the weight loss. I still have a lot to learn about the vitamins. I just cannot get past the taste of chewable vitamins. I tried the Flinstone Chewables my surgeon's office recommended and they are absolutely disgusting with an aftertaste that returns all day. Therefore, I think crushing my pills and putting them in yogurt might be my best option. One tablespoon I do not think will be too hard to get down. I have to take anxiety medication anyways so this won't be too hard I think. In regards to protein, I am currently doing Premier Protein and I am in LOVE!! They recently came out with new flavors such as Oreo & Cream, Peaches & Cream, Caramel, Banana & Cream, along with their traditional of Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberries & Cream. The reason I chose this was it has 30 grams of protein in 11oz so even if I cannot consume much in a day, 2 shakes meets my minimum protein for the day and can also double as liquids so will at least give me 22 oz of that. It has 1 gram of sugar per shake, 160 calories, 24 vitamins and nutrients, 5 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of fat, so it works perfect for the traditional Keto Diet. Along with this I will buy myself a rotisserie chicken and slowly pick through that throughout the week. Seems like a pretty cheap diet and I can treat myself to steak every once in a while. My nutritionist wants me to get my protein intake for the day before I move to vegetables, and then carbs which I will rarely be able to ever meet during the weight loss period. After surgery I am prepared for the possibility of not being able to consume Premier Protein anymore. A lot of people say dairy becomes hard to consume after surgery, in which case I think the clear, non dairy Isopure would be a great substitute. Popsicles made from protein drinks also sounds like a fabulous idea. I'd love any other suggestions anyone else may have, and am SUPER excited to get to meet some fellow April Sleever's. I'd love to keep in touch so we can all help each other on our journey!!

Sleeved 3/28 and starting my first full day of Full Liquids. Just had breakfast: Decaf coffee followed by Baby Oatmeal, 4oz of the oatmeal and 4oz of fat free milk to make it well thinned. Added 1/2 scoop of vanilla protein powder for protein and flavor. It was great to have something warm with a tiny spoon besides broth. Had some Oikos 000 greek yogurt thinned with fat free milk last night for dinner. So far everything I have tried has gone down well and getting plenty of liquids down. Today I'll have my first protein shake and work on getting protein intake up to where it belongs. While I resumed my prescribed meds yesterday I am holding off on my diabetes med (glipizide xl) because my blood sugar has been in the low 90's the last two days.

I was sleeved on 03/26 and I’m so impressed by how much protein you are getting in! Well done! I can get a protein shake in over the course of 45 minutes to an hour, just under 32 oz of water (sipping all day), and roughly 2 oz’s of nonfat yogurt. I’m really struggling with that pressure sensation after I drink water, so I’m relieved to hear you have that too. Thanks for sharing and well done!! HW: 420 SW:320 CW: 286 GW: 185 Sleeve: 03/26/18

I would love some fruit or meat, I think I just want something to chew. I can have cottage cheese or Jell-O but the cottage cheese only up to 3 times a day and Greek lowfat yogurt up to 3 times a day. So far I haven't noticed any hair loss and I don't start taking vitamins until a week after surgery. I also have dreads so I only wash my hair about 1-2 times a week and don't brush it. Sent from my Z983 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm not sure about you but shake never make me feel full or satisfied. Your restriction sounds like its doing it's job. Some things to try for hunger: Eat all the veggies you want. The bulk and fiber will give you the sensation of full also keeps your calories low to keep you in weight loss mode. Eat five to six meals. ( I eat about every two to three hours) Logging and staying within your calories/macros for the day. Raise your protein goal. keep healthy snack in the house to curb cravings - Example Salty and sweet - Beef/turkey jerky for salty. Dannon light n fit yogurt for sweet. Its work getting back the old discipline that you had in the beginning. It can be done. Wishing you the best, Jenn

3 Weeks out as of yesterday. On Puree stage now. Started work again on Monday and everything is good minus feeling dead tired by the end of the work day. 2 shakes plus a little protein like yogurt, cottage cheese. My goal is about 90g of protein and my 64oz of water. Besides that, all is good and getting in about 2 miles of walking in the late evening.

I'm April 10th as well, I am on day 4 of Liquid diet and feeling pretty rough. I had my endoscopy last week, I am not sure if it is the endoscopy or the diet, but dealing with a good bit of heart burn. I am prone to anxiety/panic attacks which haven't been too bad. Very light headed, at the end of the day I am super tired. Definitely feeling this right now, pretty grumpy and not very sharp mentally. I am on a Premier Protein/Greek Yogurt diet, no solids. (About 800 Calories, 120g of protein and less than 50g of carbs, sugar free, caffiene free, etc) I add some bone broth or broth just to have something hot every now and then, just tried that yesterday and was nice. Grabbed some sugar free jello, but not really craving sweet as the Premiers are pretty sweet themselves. I can say I am just hungry, not really craving anything in particular. I watch the clock like a hawk for when I can intake next amount of calories. I was pretty nervous about the surgery, but now that it is getting closer, focusing on soldiering through this diet, which on day 4 seems monumental to have 10 more days of it, especially with Easter weekend coming up. I sit and have my shake with my family for dinner, that hasn't been too bad as far as craving. But definitely struggling during the work day and by the end of the day pretty wiped out. I really hadn't joined any of the support groups or this forum until today, I thought I could just power through on my own. But reading things here has been very helpful.

Are you losing or gaining at 1300 cals? I had the same issue. My RD put me on 1500 cals; 75g protein; fat to fill in the numbers; average 60g carbs per day, eating 3 small meals + 2-3 snacks daily. I did lose at around 2-3lbs per month but it was excrutiatingly slow. She wanted to retrain me to eat at regular intervals and to not fear the carbs. LOL. Also, if you eat too low now, then you may not have as much big spring right after surgery. This happened to me too. But meh. Oh well, it is what it is. But it made my withdrawals on the pre-op diet negligible. And made post-op dieting easier so that's a huge consideration. I ate a ton of veg and volume too! The ways to harmless up from 1300 to 1500 or 1600 is to add in some healthy fats: add an extra 1/2tsp of evoo per meal, add 1/2-1oz of avocado per meal, add 2tbsp of nut butter into a snack, add a little butter on your veggies (1/2tsp). OR you can also move to full fat products rather than fat free or reduced fat things like in dairy. Eat full fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Use real eggs rather than egg whites. Eat full fat cheese. Use full fat dressing (vinaigrettes). But I'd only do that if you are not gaining at 1300cals. I also added the extra cals in 100-200 cals intervals every couple of weeks. That kept me from having a big up-tick weight bounce. Hope that helps!!

Thank you so much, I’ll try the non fat Greek yogurt... I’m feeling way better today, thank you all for your support[emoji4][emoji120]

Finally had my post op Dr. Appt. and nutritionist visit. Everything is going great. I’ve lost 22 pounds from my official surgery weight (but I know 9 was pre surgery). They said I can expect about a pound a day average loss at first. I had my first puréed meal, chili. I also had some yogurt. I’m going to eat more chili for dinner and I puréed some cottage cheese and peaches for a snack later (when I puréed it , it got warm so I had to refrigerate 😉). They want me to up my water to 100oz. I also have to double my multivitamin. Also I am ok to start exercise routine. One week purée ,1 week soft, then start adding back other solid food. One thing that I was surprised about was they want you to stop drinking protein shakes and work towards all protein from food after one month mark. I find the shakes an easy way to get in protein but they said it’s importanr for healing and eating to progress...kinda like a baby moves from liquids to solids.

I’m having a bit of a time judging how much I can eat. I typically try for 1/4 -1/2 of a cup. Even then it really just depends on what I’m eating. I haven’t had any issues with the types of food thank goodness. I’ve tried Soups, ricotta bake, meatballs (chicken), mashed cauliflower, yogurts. Today I had my first experience overeating by mistake. I tried some mushed avocado with tzatziki sauce. It was delicious and I didn’t even eat half of the avocado but I got the bloated can’t burp and wanna vomit feeling for about an hour! 🤢 it was awful. This really is a learning experience. Trying to get in calories and Protein from actual food when you can barely eat.

Yeast infections do have a rather sweetish smell. Make sure your yogurt has active cultures in it and it should help. If not then bring El Medico into the picture.[emoji12]l Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello---so I'm 5 weeks out. For the last two days everything I eat or drink gives me cramps. Even the smallest portion of yogurt or a protein drink makes me feel sick. The pain is in my lower torso area so I know it's not my stomach. Anyone have any past experiences or know what's up. thanks

I’m struggling trying to drink enough water. I’m also starting to get worn out on these soft foods. Any idea of other soft foods I can have besides yogurt and mashed potatoes? What do you guys eat during the soft food/purée stage?

Yes- the PB powder has been and still is a huge winner for me! Mix with yogurt add a tiny bit of powdered cocoa and sweetener of your choice is really good!

Oh sweetie. ((hugs)) and hang in there!! Do you have any peanut butter powder? It helps the yogurt and cottage cheese be more filling. And I absolutely think the Walden Farms Blueberry Pancake Syrup was a life saver. I added that to both the y/cc after mixing in peanut butter powder and adding about 1/2-1oz of PP shakes to them.

I've brought in 2 oz. of cottage cheese or yogurt for 2 meals. Breakfast is still an iced coffee protein shake, and dinner is still a Premier Protein. So. Boring. Over the next three weeks I can bring in other soft foods for those two meals.

Eggs can feel pretty bulky during puree, they were tasty but did not great in my stomach after I'd swallowed. Tuna was pretty good (I put greek yogurt and milk in mine to thin it down). I also ate blended lentil soup, and you can also try a small amount of cream of wheat.

I can't have no fruits veggies grains beans nothing but meat yogurt popsicles and a little bit of cheese

I’ve been exactly the same. Just can’t do the purée. I’ve been sticking with yogurt, cottage cheese and popsicles. I’m almost one month post op. Wednesday is 4 weeks and I’m hoping I’ll be more motivated during soft stage.

Hi everyone! So I've been doing LOTs of lurking through the forums, and I noticed there were tons of recipes and food encourangements for POST-Op, but was wondering what you are all doing PRE-Op? I know many of us are required to lose a little bit of weight prior to the big Surg day, so was hoping to stir up some converation on how you are starting your life-changing diets. Not so much the 2 week pre-op liquid, because @FluffyChixhas a fabulous recipe selection for that, but more the diet you enact from your first day up until then! (I must admit guiltily that my surgeon doesn't require a 2 week liquid diet... only a 48 hour one) So some of the drastic changes I have made over the last month: Gave up caffeinated coffee. DAMN did this hurt. I am fairly certain my blood is 60% coffee. Many people mention that food is their go-to comfort source, coffee is mine. I switched to decaf cold turkey, and lord do I NOT recommend that. The headaches were a real PITA. Started focusing my food intake on protein: So my thought process behind this was to start learning what types of foods I would incorporate into my new life and start experimenting. I LOVE cooking, and the thought of challenging myself to find healthier versions of my favorite foods was exhilarating. For example: I am Italian, pasta is a major major (and did I say major?) part of my genetic makeup. I make homemade pasta with my kids once a month that we use for the rest of the month and its literally one of my favorite things to do. However, apparently I have a gluten sensitivity so I was pretty devastated. And it's like solid carbs so it'd have to go anyways. So I sought out ways to keep a pasta substitute, but bring on the health benefits. That's where my new spiralizer comes in! I made a zucchini pesto "pasta" yesterday that was pretty orgasmic (you know, for a veggie that is). AND super super healthy. If you cook the zucchini a bit longer than you ought to, it does become slightly mushy, making it a GREAT post-op meal too. (Nutritionist approved! Or at least mine did and she's pretty fabulous). I made butternut squash spaghetti for today's lunch to mix with a low-sodium beef soup punched up with super tender beef and a half scoop of Isopure unflavored protein powder that you can't taste which is a serious win in my book Gave up carbonated beverages. So in all honesty, this was easy peasy. Mainly because I haven't really drank them in a YEAR in hopes of losing a bit of weight. Because you know the hubby gave up soda for 6 weeks and lost 18lbs. Bastard. I gave it up for a year and lost... nothing. NOTHING! But anyways I gave up seltzer water too, which I did drink more often. Switched out high fat/high calorie things for substitutes. So this one sounds easy, but it kind of isn't. It required a ton of research. Some of them are a bit easier, like say for chicken salad swapping out the mayo (yikes I NEVER realized how fattening it was but damn it makes amazing chicken salad) and replacing with Greek Yogurt. This was difficult for me since I am kind of awkwardly texture sensitive. I also up the quality of meat I buy. With a family of 4, it was just more economic to purchase say 85/15 meat and simply strain the grease. But I've splurged on the super lean 93/7 much to my hubby's dismay (he can be a bit of a cheapo) and it has made a difference. To my wallet but more importantly to my intake counts! Non-Food Stuff My Fitness Pal. This app is amazeballs. Honestly. I realized that prior to implementing said changes, I was eating an average of 800-1000 calories a day. I would love to say this is because I was super health conscious, but that would be a total lie. It's because I didn't make myself a priority. I work in an extremely fast paced job and would end up not eating ANYTHING except for a banana here and there (they are free at my work), an obscene amount of coffee, and then go home and stuff my ever loving face with dinner. Now I am consuming anywhere between 1500-1800 calories a day, and f me sideways I've lost 9lbs! Fitbit. I totally thought I walked a bajillion miles a day because I am literally always on the go go go. But my bajillion miles is actually like 8-12k steps a day depending on how busy it is. Which to some people is GREAT. But my body is just apparently used to it and it doesn't really do anything for me. So I bought a fitbit (totally wanted an apple watch, but then I wouldn't be able to lie and say I didn't see that text message...) Not going to lie, the fitbit kind of turns it into a competition. My goal: Start walking before it beeps at me. Some days I win, some days I don't. But I like being able to see. If I notice I am say 1k shy of my goal, I will take the long way to my next meeting instead of the easy way. I know its not MUCH, but it has made a difference. I am down 9lbs since March 15th, and feeling really excited without feeling like I'm giving up the world. My next task: Find a protein shake that I can drink without all of the fancy crap I put in them now because that's not allowed. THAT will be a difficult challenge... HOW can you possibly hide that chalky taste? I tried the PBFit, but even that doesn't hide it! Anyways, I hope you all will share your pre-op diet and recipes!

Plain yogurt with any torani syrup and some berries. I am going to do a 5 I'm for the first time ever and I am concerned too about my stomach and closest washroom [emoji14] Good luck on your marathon. Sent from my Nexus 5 using BariatricPal mobile app

Have you tried adding protein powder to food or other liquids? I would think unflavored powder would work in Apple sauce and yogurt. Their is also protein water. I drink premier protein water, mango/orange, raspberry, and fruit punch. I also added some “unflavored” protein powder (you can still taste and smell it) to water and added some sugar free flavored water drops and it was good. Has anyone found a truly unflavored protein powder? The stuff at the hospital was horrible! I have (GNC whey protein) is Better but still has taste. I am still on full liquids so I haven’t tried yet in anything else. I can have soup, but it’s such a treat right now I don’t want to mess it up with the protein powder! I jazz up my premier protein shakes with sugar free hazelnut and salted Carmel syrup but my favorite is PBFit peanut butter powder!!