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I'm almost 7 weeks out. I'm on pureeds & can start doing some "soft" meats & veggies & such now. My doctor only wants me to do 3 meals & Water or Protein drinks between meals. Therefore, my schedule the last few weeks has been something like this..... 6:30 AM - 1/4 cup Egg Beaters w/ a little shredded cheese - usually takes me 30 minutes to eat it. Between Breakfast & lunch - I fill a water bottle with a Protein Drink & dilute it with more water to make it last longer & have my Protein & fluids together. It usually takes me a couple hours to drink it. 11:30 AM - 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup of marinara sauce & a tablespoon of parmesan - heated in the microwave for 1 minute - usually takes 30 minutes to eat. Between lunch & dinner - I fill a water bottle with a protein drink & dilute it with more water to make it last longer & have my protein & fluids together. It usually takes me a couple hours to drink it. - sometimes I just do a water bottle with crystal light instead of a protein drink in it. Just kinda depends on my mood and my protein intake for the day. 5:00 PM - 1 can of tuna (4 ounces) with 1 tablespoon of mayo - usually takes about 30-45 minutes to eat it. Between dinner & bed (around 9 PM), I usually have part of a water bottle with crystal light. Other things I eat instead sometimes are - refried black Beans, greek yogurt, string cheese. Earlier this week when I had to go to orientation at college & it was full of meetings & not many breaks, I took reduced-sodium beef Jerky and I found some travel cups of tuna that were already drained (but they didn't have mayo in them) & I took them in my backpack. There are also travel packs of tuna with crackers & mayo that are pretty easy to take in a purse or bag places. So far I haven't had to leave home too much because I'm not taking classes this summer & I work from home. I'll have to find some different things for the fall when I'm at school all day - either that or get really used to jerky & tuna! I know some doctors suggest more meals & not using protein drinks & I've seen others use string cheese & such as high-protein "snacks" between meals. I think it might be harder to get in fluids that way since we're not supposed to drink around meals/snacks, but I'm not sure since I don't do it that way. Hope that helps some. I'm not too creative with my foods at this point. Last night, we were out of the house & hadn't had dinner yet & my family stopped at Taco Cabana. I ended up ordering one chicken fajita taco, which is just chicken strips with seasoning in a taco without other toppings. I opened it & dumped the chicken of the tortilla & gave the tortilla to my daughters & I just ate the small chicken strips. Just remember "protein first" as you're progressing your diet. :-)

I had sweet potato tonight and was fine. I had chicken from Tyson that is pre marinade Italian. I chopped up extremely small and made a Greek yogurt mayo dip for it from egg face website. So each piece of chicken was dipped. Yum. DOS 12/17/12

I too have had numerous addictions, ice cream, cookies and the dreaded candy bars. I now have a new favorite "sweet snack" that I LOVE. Greek Yogurt with Honey is the best. It is like candy to me. 120 calories/0 fat/16 grams of protein for 6 oz. It's around $1.85 per container, but just think how much $ I've spent on all that other crap. I've feel as if I've been busting my butt with the exercise the last month, and have totally eliminated the snack foods, but the scale hasn't budged. I really should see the Dr. I haven't been back in 2 years, I wanted to lose a few pounds before I did, but can't seem to make it happen. Kinda disappointed with this whole situation. Taking it one day at a time. I'm gonna do this!

Current Mood: Slender :thumbup: Ok, so I don't really feel slender, just less fat than I used to feel. It's a good thing. I just came back from my second fill. After asking what I ate yesterday, my doctor said I really need a fill if I can eat 8 ounces of sirloin and 3 vegetable dumplings at a time! (Hey, at least it was protein, well..mostly) I got 1.5ccs added for a total of 7.5ccs in my 12cc band. I must say that I went into the appointment in a good mood but still feeling just a little bit disappointed that I hadn't lost more weight since my first fill on 12/3/09. Here's what I found out: It's your fault! Yes, you! You people who lose 40 lbs in one month. You're making the rest of us feel bad! LOL. Seriously, my doctor thought my 17 lbs was a great number and that I was ahead of the curve for lap band patients in general, especially considering my holiday season indulgences extended from 12/3 to 1/3!! He reiterated that lap band is slower loss than other WLS and I am right on track for me. I really like my doctor. Fill effect: The cup of water in the doctor's office went straight down, no problem. Since I'm on liquids until tomorrow, I picked up a small corn soup on the way back to the office and when I got here, I looked at it and realized it seemed to be pretty heavy on the cream. I decided to eat it anyway. Well, I got about halfway through and then it happened....the moment I've been waiting for....my eureka moment. I felt the restriction with a liquid for the first time! I thought about taking one more mouthful but already had a gurgly burp brewing so I put the lid on the soup and dropped it in the trash. I put my yogurt in the fridge for tomorrow and called it lunch! I am so pleased right now and looking forward to losing more weight and maybe....just a little bit quicker. Oh, and I was only kidding above. Everyone loses at a different pace and thought I might be a bit envious of those who drop it more quickly than I, I don't begrudge anyone his/her victories. You're doing spectacularly - keep up the good work. B

1/2 cup 0% fat greek yogurt, splenda or stevia and a tsp of honey. 87cals and about 12g protein

I'm not sure there is one. My doctor allows both immediately following surgery--and he is super strict about things (ie, no yogurt or pudding allowed during full liquid, strict rules about drinking calories, had to strain (not just puree) soups during full liquids--etc). I would always follow what your own surgeon says, but this was my experience. Before surgery, I only drank coffee on weekends bc sometimes it would give me diarrhea (TMI?) but now I am soooo grateful for it bc it helps keep me regular.

The taste of the Fage Greek yogurt varies (at least for me) between the 0%, 2% and full fat versions. I just can't eat the 0% Fage, but love the 2% and given that I only eat 1/3 C. at a time, I have no qualms about eating that. Plus my doctor said it was fine. The Chobani w/fruit is okay for "taking with me" snacks but at home I only eat the Fage from the tub.

My program is no fluids 10 minutes before meals and 30 minutes after and I can definitely tell if I drink too soon. It hurts and backs up on me. However, during the liquid stage I didn't have "meals" per se but fluid goals to meet, so I drank whatever went down that got me to my goals. Within 6 hours of surgery I could drink 1 ounce of protein fluid and 1 ounce of water, at the same time, every 15 minutes. I always took my meds with protein fluids to "coat" my stomach. Now in purees (started 2 weeks out), I follow 3 meals and 2 snacks with water all day between. Protein shake for breakfast and a lot of cottage cheese, greek yogurt, hummus, eggs, and pureed meats and pureed steamed veggies. I can eat way more volume than predicted in a sitting, though, and can drink 20 ounces of water in 45 minutes. I drink 70 to 90 ounces of water a day and get around 80 grams of protein. I have atypical GERD where it only flares with my asthma, but also mild gastritis so I'm on omeprazole for 3 months. I feel "hungry" a lot but often find that I am actually thirsty (or its head hunger and habit/boredom). I also bought some antacid chews and find 1-2 of those a day really cut down on the sharp feeling in my stomach. My doc says that the hunger and larger volume per meal will steadily decrease the more I move away from puree to soft to regular as solid food is more filling per volume. I've had a breakfast shake for years, so I will keep that to help with my protein goal but really hope to stop wanting to eat because I feel hungry soon. Plus it will be easier to make fewer separate meals when cooking for the family.

Well I can say the Fiber one in the yogurt did make it not slide on me... and I felt fuller... I am trying to drink more... I will keep this up and see... the hunger is better today..! You folks know your stuff...

I am 1 week out before having the lap band. The statistics that I was given is 40-45% of weight loss of your total ideal weight over 2 years. Are you being too hard on yourself? Don't give up. It's only been 6 months. So if you are 300lbs you will loose about 120lbs over 2 years which translates to 5 lbs a month-which is what you are at now. I have no idea what your starting weight is but this is just an example. You are not a failure, keep trying. quote name='Ninababy' timestamp='1294677423' post='1557873'] I am 6 months out from being banded.. and I have only lost around 30 pounds. I feel like a huge failure! I am doing what I thought was right.. but I still get very very hungry at times and I know eat more than I should but I keep it to Protein if I can... I am working much harder than I thought! I have had 5 fills!! I have about 8.5CC in a 14 CC band... I thought I would be down so much more! the scale does not budge. I have yogurt ( greek) for breakfast... some greens with Tuna or chicken for lunch with lemon juice... and then protein ( chicken, turkey or fish) and vegs for dinner.. and very tiny amount of Carbs... like a spoon full. I get really hungry after dinner!! I have a little high fiber cereal and skim milk... I drink tea..decafe... with splenda.. I just have not dropped in a couple months. Not a pound... I am starting to think this band is not working for me... Anyone ever have success after a very long plateau? What jump started you....? give me some hope... or otherwise advise...

I started on puree but only ate yogurt with protein powder and chocolate pudding with protein powder. I am going to try tuna with fat free mayonnaise tomorrow. So far everything going down fine!

I am 17 days post op and I deal with hunger. Although, I must say that 3 or 4 bites of something and I am full. I want to move a little quicker with the things that I eat and I do. I just see how some of the other people on here were able to have mushies on their 3rd day post op. I am on the mushy stage and I struggle with what to eat. I can not have meat yet. I made a cauiflower Soup and mashed cauiflower (like potatoes...less carbs). It was good, by 2 days of eatng that and I am bored. I also made 15 bean soup in my crock pot and cooked it all day so it's mushy. Then I added alittle bit of greek yogurt to it and that was good. I get about 40 grams of Protein a day, but I need to get more in. I HATE protein shakes! They all taste yucky.....but I have to get them down. I get about 2 down a day....not enough. What are you eating in a day? Fluids, Protein shakes, Soups??? I am struggling with some heart burn and that sucks too. Good luck! We will be eating more foods each week. I do too cheat. I've had some hersey kisses...maybe 4 since surgery...bad I know, but I'm getting sick of pudding

The only machine I've read a recommendation for is this one: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004SUHY/ref=ase_heidiswanson-20/102-8022975-1520903?v=glance&s=kitchen]Amazon.com: Salton YM9 1-Quart Yogurt Maker: Kitchen & Dining[/ame] it seems to have good reviews on the amazon site as well. And it says for frozen yogurt, just freeze the yogurt (duh), lol

I didn't start eating greek yogurt until after I was banded and I now love it! Whole foods market has a great variety. It's also becoming pretty popular ... I was at a grocery store the other day and saw that Yoplait and Dannon now make greek yogurt. The yoplait was around 110 calories with 12g of protien I think.

I love Greek Yogurt. I buy plain 0% and add in either fresh fruit, low fat granola or surger free spread. I cannot eat it plain but it is a great source of protein.

I eat b'fast maybe 2 times a week. It consists of a yoplait key lime whips yogurt (num num).. or about 8 grapes mixed in 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese & a dash of brown sugar. The rest of the time it's either coffee or a Slimfast Optima royal fudge if I remember to grab one out of the fridge. Normally don't eat lunch, but if I do, I get a soup or pick at DH's appetizers at a restaurant (Chili's, O' Charleys, TGIF's etc.). Too tight and still not majorly hungry yet, so very little. For dinner, I make something for me & DH and I work around what I can eat. For example I made pot roast last week.. couldn't eat the meat, but I made mashed potatos with it.. so I put a small scoop of potatos in a bowl and ladeled the pot roast juice on top. Made it very soupy and it filled me up. Or if I cook something with chicken, I eat mushy veggies with a sauce from the chicken. Sometimes I heat up 1/2 can of a campbell's soup for me if DH is going to order pizza. Sometimes I'll pick some veggies off of the pizza (pizza mushrooms are the best some reason). I have a hard time with solids for the most part right now, and I know there's something to eating solid foods because they keep you full longer.. but I've found with the restriction I'm at, liquids fill me up just as much as solids did before I had this restriction. So it works for me!

Betty, you don't make a very good plus size gal by saying yuck to food. It's food! How can you not like ricotta when that's what's in lasagna? I missed my morning yogurt so anything sounds good right now.

This is long and boring so nobody has to read it but I have to write it for my own therapy. I've had TWO good days! And I couldn't do it without all you guys, that's for sure. I learned a valuable lesson that we've all heard over and over again regarding sugar crashes and carb highs 'n lows. I told you that I started this Coke (a Cola) habit a couple months ago? Addictions are tricky cause I never drank the crap pre-bad but became quickly hooked recently. Not having a Coke in the morning was really hard the other day. Somehow I managed to get through the whole day without one. I was my own living science experiment as I quickly recognized that one Coke isn't doable if you have it in the morn. As soon as you crash, you have to drink another. Not an option, the body craves it. I'd have one in the morn and would fight the noon craving, but there was no way to fight the 3:00 p.m. craving. The day I gave up Coke (couple days ago) was the day I was able to avoid binge eating at night, and to have fruit instead of crap. I said in another post that I'd never have Splenda, but I realize I need something sweet and am taking the risk of eating poison since I don't have Splenda crashes. I bougth 1/2 gallon sugar free lowfat ice cream, and that's what I have at night before bed, otherwise I go insane wanting something worse. The crazy thing about SF ice cream is that one bowl satisfies me, whereas I'd need the whole carton of regular. Point is - Sugar is more powerful than Cocaine when it comes to addictions; in my book anyway. I've been doing the dairy thing, too. Karen H (band removed due to erosion and looking fabulous and tiny) drinks latte every day, so that's what I do now. 1% milk mixed with some strong coffee, I add cinammon and a pinch of fake sugar. I eat a yogurt when I get to work, then a fruit based lunch. dinner is whatever hubby is having, back to a small bowl or plate. Fruit at 7pm, then SF ice cream later. I noticed that fruit and yogurt for lunch doesn't fill me up, so that's probably not a smart choice for me since I'm hungry too fast. Today I brought some cheese and chicken salad with flat crackers and a bunch of grapes. I was up 9 pounds. Now I'm up only 4 pounds. This morning I felt like eating and almost gave in to it, but I keep having to tell myself that "this is the way I eat for life." I can't go back or I'll hate living.

For those that like yogurt, I found out you can buy yogurt makers. The 'starter' is just a cup of whatever yogurt you can buy at the store that has live bacteria in it. I'm going on vacation next wee, but then I think I am going to order a yogurt maker. It'll be something fun to do maybe, and a good way to get the dairy in.

Count me in girls! I just went to a Project Fresh class 2 nights ago and got a Calcium brochure. I was shocked to learn how easy it would be for me to add in somemore calcium in my diet each day. (I'm probably in dire need of it!) I was also in shock to read this on the brochure: Too much salt (sodium) and Protein can spell trouble for bones, too. Both cause calcium loss, which is a problem when your diet is low in calcium. Caffeine also causes a small amount of calcium loss. (Salt, protein, and caffeine are only a problem when calcium intakes are very low, another great reason to get enough calcium everyday!) So that settles it for me ladies! I'm totally there! We go shopping tomorrow, and I will be sure to pick up some yogurt, ice cream, cheese, sour cream (great for making snack dip out of), and baked Beans (beans have 150mg of calcium in a 1 cup serving!). I will post the list on this brochure here too, and that may help everyone figure out which products pack the most punch. Good luck everyone!!!!

I am seriously thinking about steak. I want some steak. I also want to eat some rice. What did you do? Did you give in? Will it hurt my band? I am getting so tired of the same ole food choices. I am a picky eater for a fat person and some of this stuff I get tired of really fast. I mean MOnday I will be 4 weeks post op. My nutritionist has me going to solids on week 6. I am beginning to think that it is not for the band but to optimize the weight loss or jumpstart it. I am so sick of yogurt and sf jello and I don't like mashed potatos I want some mac n cheese. I really got this band so that it would help me with portion control I don't want to have to diet with it. Certain foods are restricted everything has to be low fat and sugar free. This is the pits!

Mmmmmm, soft foods: Tuna and light mayo with relish on club crackers Crab cakes Black beans, egg, salsa Cottage cheese mixed with yogurt Sushi Avocado Laughing Cow light wedges!!! Egg salad Spoonful of peanut butter

Well, I guess it depends on your perspective and idea of food priorities when banded. If you're always trying to eat Protein and fill up on that, then you'd find it quite difficult to consume much fruit. Its very filling and I find it quite hard to eat, its one food that causes me quite a deal of discomfort, although I can get it down. Sometimes I have a glass of juice. But whole fruit is better. I personally try to get at least one piece of fruit in per day - usually I'll slice up a banana to have on Cereal for Breakfast or I'll have a fruit smoothie, or I find I can get it down with yogurt too. I focus more heavily on vegies as I find it much easier to eat a wider variety and greater quantity - and I figure fruit and vegetables as one food group, so I dont worry if I havent had "fruit" as long as a large portion of my daily intake is fresh produce. But I dont focus on protein or do protein first so its a lot easier. I dont tend to eat fruit as a snack. I dont find a piece of fruit that appetising and never have. I like the look of a healthy, full fruit bowl on my kitchen bench and I'm very prone to buying fruit and not eating it, its something about the texture/crispness/coldness that I dont enjoy and never have.

I'm also one who can hardly stand regular yogurt. It's a texture/consistency thing. I can do a few bites but then start having trouble with it (nothing to do with band, I have food issues!). I can't eat cottage cheese either, unless it's in something like tuna or lasagna! I have discovered that I really LIKE greek yogurt! It's thicker and you need to stir well but it's tangy and just really good! You can buy it at any grocery store. Raley's, where I shop most of the time (in my little town), only has a small variety of one brand but I just bought some flavored ones at Trader Joe's today when I was in the city (an hour from home). I went ahead and bought one of each flavor. I have to go back to the city next week for more appts. so I'll buy more of what I like next week. Try it, you might like it! And Sue, if we lived closer I'd have taken those off your hands for you! LOL!!

I had recently posted a recipe for chicken salad, with greek yogurt and it is really delicious - I agree, it is a good substitute!