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I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that is fantasizing about when I am finally able to puree some food! I had surgery on Oct 2, so I'm still only on full liquids, including cream based soups made with milk, cream of wheat and plain yogurt. Yesterday was my husband & my 10th wedding anniversary, and normally we would have went out for a nice dinner together. I was having a really hard time figuring out what to do, so we went to Target, and walked around for a while, came home and that was it. How sad is that?? lol I know eventually we'll be able to go out to dinner again, and this stage is only temporary. But you're right, I too am finding out just what a mental battle this really is. I knew it would be tough ,but didn't quite envision it being quite this difficult. I'm just trying to take it day by day, sometimes hour by hour, constantly reminding myself why I chose this way to go, and what life will be like once I really start noticing the weight loss, and how much better off I'll be. For anyone who likes to judge WLS and think it's taking the "Easy way out", I would beg to differ! This is such a battle, but I know it will get better. Good luck to you!!

I ate ice cream week 2 and 3 after surgery. I was only getting about 300 calories and really couldn't get much else in. Now that I'm eating more regular food, if I need something its either SF Popsicle or FF frozen yogurt. It has the same numbers as regular non-fat yogurt.

Difficult choice. It depends on the type of carb or fat as well. All fats have the same cal but certain types of fat are supposedly bad - saturated fats,trans fats whilst others are good. Also low fat products are often as high or higher in calories as the fat that has been removed has been replaced with sugar. One example of this is yogurt.Often the low fat has as many cal as the standard variety. I would far rather eat full fat greek yogurt than the low fat varieties. The greek stuff is thick and satisfying whereas the low fat stuff is watery and leaves you still hungry. Then there is the debate about how foods that have been artificially sweetened can actually make you fatter. I can't remember the science behind this but it has something to do with the insulin response. The best way to go is probably to eat a balanced diet consisting of foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Choosing lean cuts of meat, removing excess fat and satisfying your sweet tooth with fruit rather than manufactured products. And if it comes down to a choice between butter or marg then eat whichever you prefer the taste of!

I've been having PBs quite a bit since my third fill. Lettuce will cause it for me as well as eating on the go and not concentrating. I haven't had extreme pain but I feel like I'm gagging. My mouth gets watery and slimy. I sort of burp up what's stuck. The other night I drank water without thinking and it was a BIG mistake! Everything flew out of my mouth, right in a restaurant. Sometimes it's only one expulsion and other times it "spit up" several times. I have had no lasting pain after these episodes and I can eat again shortly after. It's definitely a learning period for me--- it's like aversion therapy. I have become super aware of what and how I'm eating. It now takes me 20 minutes to eat a container of yogurt, especially in the morning.

I'm getting sleeved in exactly 2 weeks from today so of course I had to start my diet. To say the least it's not that bad. Started off breakfast with a Premier Vanilla protein shake. Lunch soup, snack sugar free chocolate pudding.. For dinner I'll have another protein shake and late snack fat free yogurt... I can do this!

hey, thanks for the advice , I haven't eaten anything solid just yogurt and protein shakes , but my neighbor said he had the pain for about a week and a half. He thinks my problem is that I not really expelling any gas. Talked to the RN she to take smaller sips and a little less, she thinks I'm still swollen and irritated today is just day 4 but I have no incision pain at all and still no upset stomach so I'm greatful for that. bjt:mellow:

You will feel normal again! I remember that was the question I asked myself most in those early days. I'm pretty sure I even posted it on here a few times. "Will I ever feel normal again!??!?!" But I eventually did and you will too! It's hard to believe right now, I know, but you really really will. As for the pureed stage, I never once ate any actual pureed food. I had my Protein shakes, yogurt, and recipes from this page: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html The Baked Ricotta saved me!

I am good at taking my multi w iron (chewable) and my B12 (liquid, sublingual). I also take fish oil b/c I was having dry skin. I take that as needed aka when I need it. Where I really fall down is calcium b/c I can't take it with the multi. I have petite calcium citrate from drug store but my favorite is a blueberry flavored liquid calcium. Tastes like yogurt, you might find liquid more agreeable.

Hi folks. Hope everyone had a happy, successful holiday. I just had a couple slices of turkey and a spoonful of au-gratin potatoes. I was completely satisfied and full. Simply amazing! October 3 surgery date and 64 lbs gone! Here's the tip: I was having difficulty taking all my medicine crushed. I used both yogurt and applesauce to mask the flavor of the different BP meds, the Ursodiol, the Iron pill, etc. The medicine would always leave a terrible taste in my mouth & it would last for an hour or more. Then I discovered Popsicle pops again (loved 'em as a kid). Only diffence is, I'm buying them sugar-free now. These really do the trick to get rid of the medicine aftertaste. Try it. No calories, no sodium, no fat, and of course, no carbs. They also are an easy, awesome way to help keep you hydrated. You can have as many as you want, as often as you want. Enjoy!

Okay, first let me say, please don't lecture me because I am already SCARED TO DEATH and have learned my lesson. Here's what I did: I made a crustless pumpkin pie with just pumpkin pie mix/puree and nonfat evaporated milk. All of the sudden, my pre-surgery monster came out. I ate at least a 1.5 cups of the pumpkin mix (15 oz?) all at one time. I feel HORRIBLE right now - not just mentally, but physically. Unfortunately, I don't feel like throwing up. I just feel really full and I am sweaty. Does anyone have experience with this. Am I at risk for a leak right now? Did I screw something up permanently? I am SO scared. Do I need to make an emergency call - I HATE the thought of doing that.... (I should have said.... I am 3.5 weeks out and so far haven't had any trouble with eating and drinking - more of an OPPOSITE problem - like I can eat a 5.5 oz yogurt with no problem whatsoever and still be hungry an hour or so later. Again, I am so afraid right now. And just all together miserable and scared.

Is it bad to add raw spinach or fresh fruit in my smoothie (protein drink/yogurt blend). I am about 6 weeks out.

In the evening I sometimes feel "hungry" but generally if I think about it I realize it's reflux. Once I take Prevacid it goes away. If I do take the PPI regularly, the only thing I get to tell me to eat is kind of an "empty" feeling. It's not "hunger" like I used to get, it's just a "my tank is empty" thing. Sometimes I eat all day from boredom still eg. weekends sitting around - but I track the intake and just eat a yogurt or something with protein and not too many calories.

I will be a month out on the 23rd and I still can't finish one full triple zero yogurt. I start feeling full towards the end of it. Same when I eat 3-4oz of cottage cheese or some Jello. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

2 yogurts in about 45 min to an hour. Sent from my LG-H901 using the BariatricPal App

Protein shots and greek yogurt are about your best alternatives when it gets to that point. Good luck to you...I've been there. If you can't stomach the protein shot straight, add it to Water and make it into a juice beverage.

I had my band done the day before yesterday and I am home feeling good. Little sore and the gas pains are kind of icky but other than that feel like a million bucks. I did the liver reduction diet or the milk diet as someone else called it too but the night before my surgery I did have on last bad for me meal just as a send off. I havent felt much hunger since getting home but am supposed to eat jello and yogurt and that stuff every two hours so Ive been doing that along with alot of fluids as they say to do. Its really not bad and I know it will all be worth it the first time I can walk into an ambercrombie ot hilfiger or some store like that and not have the little twig sales person look at me like Im lost! the best advice I can give you is use your pain meds in the hospital take the time to relax and when you get home just go easy and at your own pace Good luck to everyone :smile2:

I'm doing great, the pain is normal for someone who had such extensive adhesions and hernia and the complication. I am not stuck on Full Liquids because of the pain or complications, this is what my doctor's office has for all his patients. The do not want to risk a leak and err on the side of caution. On Monday I go. I can only get down at the most 1/4 cup of soup and often times not even that much. I can get down 1/2 of a small dannon light & fit or healthy & whatever yogurt. I just keep craving pickles and Tuna. I cannot wait for Purees and on Monday they better advance me lol.

Jaime “Pandora” Williams has not had anything handed to her. She has worked hard for everything she has, including every pound of her 250-lb weight loss. From weight loss surgery and overcoming food addiction to figuring out how to deal with her father’s death to paying for training for a new career, Pandora has kept moving forward and earned her spot as one of our weight loss surgery heroes. Throughout it all, she has kept her determination to help others. She has shared every step of her journey on her Desperately Seeking Slender blog, and has made a career as a weight loss and wellness coach. Find out how Pandora Williams, who was “Desperately Seeking Slender,” turned her life around and is helping others do the same! Struggling with Weight from Childhood to Early Adulthood Pandora comes from a family that did not eat healthy. They ate fast food often, and home cooked meals were likely to be tacos, pot roast and potatoes, and other high-calorie foods. She remembers father loving his sweets, and her mother struggled with weight gain and obesity after quitting smoking. With a diet of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets, not surprisingly, Pandora had been overweight since childhood. She hit the 400-lb. mark 4 years after graduating high school, and also had chronic depression, diabetes, and sleep apnea. Atkins and intense exercise helped her get down to 225 lbs. before getting married, but the weight came back after marriage. Weight Loss Surgery and a New Lifestyle Pandora wanted weight loss surgery, but put it off for a few years because she couldn’t afford it. She got serious when her health insurance began to cover it, and got the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in 2010. She chronicled her entire weight loss journey on her blog. She lost 100 pounds by December of 2010, 200 pounds six months later in June of 2011, and entered “Onederland” (under 200 pounds) in October of 2011. Now, she maintains a weight of 165 lb. – quite a difference from her highest BMI of 69.9! Needless to say, she threw away the old habits of eating a half-gallon of ice cream or a dozen tacos. She worked hard to overcome her food addiction. Portion control and measuring were new behaviors she had to follow. Now, five years post-op, she is able to get away without writing down every bite when things are going right. Still, she keeps herself on track by food journaling and calorie counting the second she is unsure of herself, whether because of a jump on the scale or a high-sodium day. Pandora follows a carb cycling plan where she eats higher and lower amounts of carbs on alternating days. She’s an exercise addict, and that also helps her keep her weight in check. Body Image and Reconstructive Surgery Despite maintaining a healthy weight and feeling more confident in overcoming her food addiction, Pandora says her body image is a bit of a struggle. She has had 6 rounds of reconstructive surgery, and still has trouble accepting the mistakes she made in the past with her body and health. A Life-Changing Letter to Chris Powell! By August of 2012, Pandora’s weight was well under control, but she was not satisfied with that. She wanted to help others do the same. She knew she had the “the passion, desire to help, and love” for people who were struggling with their weight, because she knew exactly what they were struggling with. What she needed was help figuring out how to help them, and she just couldn’t get in touch with someone who could guide her. Then, in August of 2012, Pandora wrote a letter to Chris Powell, the celebrity trainer on “Extreme Makeover.” After some persistence, she managed to get her letter to him, and she received a reply! He posted an encouraging message on Facebook, and that was enough to keep her motivated. Since then, she has had a couple more interactions with him on social media – including an encouraging message when she was feeling down – and was able to meet him in Hollywood at the Extreme Makeover Finale. She considers him and his wife Heidi an inspiration. A Day in the Life Between taking care of herself and helping others be the best they can be, Pandora is very busy! Here is a typical day in her life. 8:00 a.m. Wake up, food prep, get ready for work. Coffee, coffee, coffee! 9:30 a.m. Arrive at the gym. May do a 4 to 5-mile run or take a group exercise class like yoga before work. 10:30 a.m. Breakfast: Quest protein bar. 11:00 a.m. Start work - working the front desk and doing either one-on-one training or weight loss/wellness coaching sessions. 12:30 p.m. Lunch: Veggies (cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots): about five of each and either some low-sodium turkey breast with low-fat Swiss cheese or some hard-boiled egg whites filled with chicken salad made with a Greek yogurt base and green onions. 2:30 p.m. Snack: Usually a container of Greek yogurt or some homemade steel cut oats from home. 3:00 p.m. Leads a weight loss boot camp group training session with light weights and cardio – usually works out with the group. 5:00 p.m. Snack: Usually a piece of fruit like an apple or an orange, or a banana on higher-mileage days. 7:00 p.m. Leads a weight loss boot camp group training session with light weights and cardio – usually works out with the group. 8:30 p.m. Finishes running for the day if she didn’t get in an early morning run or get more than 5 miles already that day. 10:00 p.m. Home/Shower/Dinner: usually a lean protein like baked chicken or turkey and steamed veggies. Uses spices and changes the vegetables a lot for variety. Includes a serving of brown rice, couscous, quinoa or whole wheat pasta on days she eats carbs. 11:00 p.m. Snack: Usually Greek yogurt, no sugar added ice cream sandwich, a frozen protein bar, or an extra-thick protein shake. 12:00 a.m. Bedtime Pandora tries to run longer distances after work if she doesn’t get to work out during her weight loss boot camp classes. Her days off on Sundays and some Thursdays may include an extra kickboxing class, a spin class, or a run over 10 miles. New Lifestyle, New Career, and Paying It Forward. As a morbidly obese high school graduate, Pandora had been limited in her career options. She made a living working from home at jobs such as customer support and data entry. Since losing weight and getting healthy, she has thrown herself into something she is passionate about – helping others get and stay healthy through lifestyle. Now, Pandora works as a weight loss and wellness coach at a ladies-only fitness facility gym, and has earned multiple certifications in the fitness and coaching industry. She also pays it forward as a weight loss surgery advocate. She has spoken at the Obesity Action Coalition and Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America (WLSFA), as well as at other bariatric support clinics and groups. She publishes articles regularly, including here on BariatricPal! You can follow Pandora on Desperately Seeking Slender and on Facebook and Twitter @SeekingSlender.

Why no nuts? Theyre a superfood. Personally, id take cold foods like yogurt, nuts, cheese and crackers, a salad Id premaid at home or Soup (in a Thermos so you dont even have to heat it). Protein bars taste like candles to me and whilst i dont think the odd one will hurt, i cant imagine eating fake food like that regularly. But you didnt ask that, i know, so in answer to your question, no i dont think 320 is too much for a meal - but is the bar a meal? Does it get yoy through? Its way too much for a snack.

I started having taco seasoned ground meat as soon as I was released for soft foods. Added taco bell hot sauce, and greek yogurt (as sub for sour cream). My first solid attempt at regular food was fajita meat with onions, and salsa and it was an uneventful event, and I had 3 chips. The big thing to remember with VSG is that there no food restrictions. NOW, that doesn't mean your body will approve, or accept what you put in there, but I eat spicy food on a 3-5 times weekly basis and have for 18 out of my 21 months post-op period without issue. There is not a "never again" unless you make that choice with food. I wasn't allowed to have raw veggies/fruits for 3 months. The veggies in salsa are cooked so they should be okay as long as you are released for regular foods.

You've been sick, and on antibiotics. Your body is storing everything it can so it can recover. I also recommend the same thing to people that experience a stall. Up your Water, and calories. Even if it's just 50-100 calories per day with a string cheese or more greek yogurt, something to shake things up. If you're active, then you very well may not be getting enough calories. I hate the word "lightweight" just as much as I hate the word "heavyweight", but your starting BMI was a full 13 points lower than mine, and it's true, statistically, I will lose faster than you. It sucks, but it's what seems to the be the trend. Can you have sugar free puddings, what about thinned out cream of wheat with an egg white tossed in for extra Protein (it sounds gross, but it doesn't change the taste or the texture)? Hang in there, the scale will move. Shake things up, and as difficult as it seems, stress actually causes the body to produce more cortisol which in turns causes no loss. It's the "fight or flight" thing.

No dumping but I have vomited. Once it was pretty bad with baked salmon. eggs used to be fine but not anymore. It's very easy for me to get foamies. A couple bites and I'm there. Also, I can't tell when my pouch is full. One minute all is well. Next baby spoon and heck, oh no. It takes about 3 minutes for my pouch to tell my brain enough. Not sure why because I am following my plan. Even yogurt this morning caused it and I only ate 1/2 of a yogurt.

I mix FAGE Total 2% plain yogurt with 20g of Protein with Bio Chem unflavored whey protein 20g. I don't taste the protein powder. There's no gritty texture. In fact, it's richer and creamier now. If I hadn't been the sneaky culprit who spiked my own yogurt, I'd never notice the protein powder in there. After my post-op protein struggles, I'm finally getting some protein. Still not the recommended amount, but a whole lot more than before.

Try eating less. Maybe a tablespoon is all your body can handle right now. Believe me any less and I would be eating air. I have found that some of the foods I loved and could tolerate before DO NOT agree with my body. I have to stick with water and lowfat, no fruit yogurts for now. The sugar content in most of those Greek yogurts are ridiculous. I haven't touched those. My sugar intake should be less than 10g. I ate a small amount of butternut squash Soup and I can already feel that's not gonna work for me either. By the time I'm done with this pre-op diet I will be on a whole different diet. Not complaining, actually excited to see where this will go. I will find a whole knew way of eating....goodness knows I don't need to go back into old eating habits.

I am not a surgeon but that seems like a lot to me. I have a 32F and at 5 weeks I can hold 2 - 3 oz. 2 oz for me is the rule but some real soft foods I can hold 3 oz (like pudding or yogurt). Maybe you should talk to him about a smaller size? Ask what size he is using and why. It is your body, you have a right to ask. I seem to remember that it is difficult to revise again once you have been sleeved because the staples can't be found after healing has taken place. Seriously, this might be your only chance. Be cautious even if it means a delay in surgery. Just my humble opinion.