Search the Community

I probably don't eat as I should, but I eat a way that works for me....every morning I have a slice of peanut butter toast...at around 10 AM I have a Nature Valley protein bar (yum)...12:30 is half a PB&J sandwich....maybe at 3 I'll have a piece of string cheese or an orange....I have whatever I fix my family for supper......and in the evenings I usually always have a TCBY frozen yogurt bar and I always always have my 2.5 cups of white cheddar popcorn. I get around 1200 - 1400 calories a day, but I lack protein (usually getting around 50-60 grams). I eat whatever I want but ALWAYS count my calories on Myfitnesspal.com (which I love). On the weekends I still stay within my calorie range but I'll include a trip to DQ (mini blizzards are great) or whatever treat we're indulging in....but again, I always count the calories.

That's sounds yummy! I went to Costco today they had plenty samples. I'm pre op. I tried a sample of Greek yogurt with honey drizzled on and it was really good.

I was sleeved 2 days before you and I'm also at a stall. I've actually put back on about 2-3 lbs. I'm a little discouraged because now i find myself able to eat a lot more than i used to, and if i choose to eat something that is really easy to go down, like protein shakes, yogurt, or pudding, it doesn't stay with me at all and i end up eating large portions and then eating again shortly later, and my calorie intake ends up being too high at the end of the day. I've ended up with days with my calories as high as 1500-1600. I don't know if this means i should be moving to solids now, or what, as i get hungry easily :thumbup1: I wish i could have my filling veggies back, they always stuck with me on few calories!! I hate not being able to eat them!!

Thank you all for everyone's replies- I did end up going to the ER. My stomach and esophagus was/are very swollen and I failed to mention that i had taken several soy capsules that i am taking as a natural hormonal replacement therapy, i am supposed to take 5 capsules twice a day with a meal, which is very difficult to do. I have only been taking it once a day, and only 2 capsules at a time. Last night i took all 5, and with only a small amount of liquid to get it down. I believe that is what got lodged, as did the ER Dr, but he also agreed with what you all mentioned above- that what i ate last night, a few yogurts, a few jellos, and a Protein bar, all within a few hours, and before going to bed, was probably really overloading my stomach at less than a month post-op. I'm having a lot of trouble with keeping the food intake so small, and i know that most of it is mental. I was such an overeater/compulsive eater before surgery and ate HUGE volumes of food at a time, that even what i ate last night seems like bird food to me, i never would have thought of it to be too much. But an entire night of no sleep, 8 hours straight of dry heeving and the foamies, severe stomach pains and a final trip to the ER were a huge wake up call to reality. I am not going to put myself through this again. I've really tested my limits and i know what I am NOT capable of doing. I believe that my nerves must be dead in my stomach because if i don't measure food, i will continue to eat much more than 1/4 cup, and that is obviously going to result in big problems like what just occurred. I'm going to have to go back to basics- measure food, and for a few days probably just stick with cold Protein shakes to let the stomach heal a bit from the trauma. Thanks everyone for your support and i'm sorry to be such a pain in the rear!!

I agree with you!! I am so paranoid about eating too many calories and so i under eat! I am 3.5 months out of sleeve surgery and I think my body is in starvation mode. I'm going to try to up my calories to 600 and see if that breaks my somewhat stall. i was drinking a protein shake at night but i figured its like 160 calories before bed.....not sure if that is good for me. I drink it in the morning now as breakfast. Then i will have no fat cottage cheese or greek yogurt as a snack a couple hours after dinner.

I had a slipped band and a prolapse myself. It was pretty awful -- reflux every night. It hurt to eat or drink anything but ice cream (cold so it numbed me- not sharp, like yogurt). Even drinking Water hurt. They tried removing all the fill and that did not work. I had lots of barium swallows. Finally, I had revision surgery. That was a year and a half ago and I have been afraid to get another fill. That's why I am here now -- as a step toward getting the courage to try again. I need to see if I can get the band to work for me without another prolapse -- otherwise, I need to consider other surgery. I am working toward weight loss after prolapse -- I have gained what I lost back. Mocca

I’m really struggling with things right now. I’ll be two weeks post op on Monday. I have my appt on Tuesday. Everything tastes so bad. It makes me sick. Like, actually eating is fine. My stomach doesn’t get upset, it doesn’t hurt, nothing like that. But it tastes so bad that I don’t want to eat anything. Is mental nausea a thing? I don’t get sick sick, but I’m still very repulsed by it. I’ve tried soooo many things and it all tastes awful. Various soups/broths, yogurt flavors, protein shakes, flavored water w/unflavored protein, pudding, jello... I force myself to drink one protein drink and a greek yogurt cup every day. Although, that’s even a struggle. So I’m averaging roughly 200 calories a day. And again, physically I absolutely think/know I could eat more but the tastes are just so bad. I was really, really sensitive to smells before hand so I don’t know if that has something to do with it? So, I haven’t found anything I remotely like... my friends all talk about their pizza and burritos and I really miss it especially not being able to find at least one thing I sort of like to eat right now. But even then I don’t think I’d like the taste of that stuff. I put cream cheese on a bagel for my daughter and licked a tiny bit off the knife and about gagged. And I freaking LOVED cream cheese before. I do take my vitamins twice a day. I mean, to be honest my chewable vitamins are the least offensive thing I eat each day... they taste like flintstone ones. Idk, I guess I’m just feeling down or frustrated. I hate all the food, wish I could just find something I like, and of course I just miss being able to eat normally. 5’6” 25 yo SW: 256

I am only two months Post surgery and Since I paid cash did not have to deal with any of the Bullshit you guys did with insurance. I also have a brother 3 months ahead of me so between the two of us we got experience. To put this in perspective I got as confused and buffeted as you guys are on this site. My doctor had support groups and books and flyers and found it all to be one big jumble of a mess that was not easy to understand and Since I am a typical Male - Give me a damn list and i will follow it. So I went a different route and hired a Nutritionist in my area, one that specializes in Medical diets like for cancer! Here is the program that we got calibrated in under two weeks. Not going to give you the fluff just the program - 1. Forget Food - Food is a luxury and to painful to eat and to think you have to eat enough to meet your requirements - My view Screw food - 2. Get a Blood work up from a local lab - Full work up will tell you all your vitamin levels as you currently are - you have a baseline to work off 3. First few weeks are recovery - My view Survive, It sucks! 4. Now its time to set the Nutrition plan - 15 days after surgery 5. Protein shakes from Sams are key, Be careful some shakes are loaded with Carbs and sugar, Sams has the cheapest and the best for you. - FYI I hate protien shakes but trust me this will make your life a lot easier. - Here is my recipe but you need to set your own levels ------3/4 Protein shake, w/ 1 scoop of whey protein, Ice, GNC 50 plus vitamin Powder, Nutricost Pure D-Ribose Powder (250 Grams) , frozen fruit, 2 tablespoons yogurt, and two sugars. i drink a 8oz every morning by 10 am - You will be full of energy - 1/2 Nutrition vit and min. and No way you are hungry. ----- Twice a day i take the following pills - GNC multi vitamin and Cardio vit and Bariatric Vitamin. Around 1:00 and 3:00 - ---- Twice a day i Take a vegetable blend drink with Kale and other nutrients and mixes - I buy the pre made from Sams. That is pretty much it for me every day for the last few months - I don't need any food because i have exceeded my vit and nutrients for the day and the protein. Eating is to much of a pain in the ass to me, Hurts, and Just not worth it, I was going every week for a blood work up - after 5 days of above my levels were perfect, You will feel the difference and energy level will sky rocket! Most of the issues are mental, and i fully understand - But once you plow thru the head games and get calibrated - life is way better! Best decision i ever did

1) I second using FF/SF pudding mixes in protein shakes + using a blender ( I have a personal blender from Hampton Beach $15 at Walmart/Kmart) 2) If you make the shakes with milk freeze some of it into Milk Cubes (huge affect on the consistency, more like a frappe NE ice cream based milk shake) 3) Using a stick blender to mince the fruit and fluff up Greek Chobani yogurt during mushie stage (early on you may need to add a teaspoon of milk to make it runnier). 4) Pacific Brand Roasted Sweet Red Pepper & Tomato soup (package in a box sometimes sold in the "Organic Section" of the grocery store). My cheapest Grocery sells it at $2.50 for 16 oz box. I did see it yesterday at Cosco for $10.69 for 6/32 oz boxes; which is a huge savings. 5) Adding Mrs Dash flavorings to Sweet Red Pepper soup prior to heating. Mrs Dash is salt free and they have lots of flavors. 6) Low Cal Pudding Cups in the Refrigerated section have less fat then those that are in the Pudding section. 7) Walmart sells bagged frozen Wild Salmon the portions are sealed in individual 4 oz servings. Many other stores the "servings" are twice as large. Since I live alone that would mean having to have the same dinner two nights in a row. 8) Microwave sweet potato and then cut them length ways down the middle. I get two servings that way; save the other for another day. 9) Using low fat laughing cow cheese to mix into shredded chicken instead of Mayo. Which means you can heat it up making it feel more like a real meal. 10) Use Romain lettuce leaves to make sandwiches. Put the chicken/tuna on the spine and roll the edges over. 11) When making egg beaters; toward the end add in 1/8 cut fat free chive cottage cheese. Add a lot of flavor for few calories but added protein.

My recommendation is to go back to basics. Get back to a restricted calorie/carb daily meal plan, and stick with it. I can not relate to eating until full because on my program the goal was to measure portions, and to not eat until full. Being diligent, and disciplined is the only thing I can tell you that has given me continued success in maintenance. I have to make the best choice on what I put in my mouth, and I still rarely eat until I feel "full". I'm satisfied, but I do not rely on restriction to keep me in check. Don't get me wrong sometimes it's tough to not eat certain foods, but I also know that if I want to stay at goal, I have to make the best choice. I have to remember what got me fat, and those are the things I avoid. I was a volume eater, and loved that full/stuffed feeling, well that's what got me fat so I had to change the behavior. There is no need to redo the sleeve if you follow the guidelines of Protein first, green low carb veggies and then if you have room some starches. I'm almost 2 years post VSG, and still have amazing restriction when I put the "right' foods in there. If I choose to eat crap food, I can eat a lot more of it. The last 20-30 pounds is always the most difficult to lose. And, it's going to take effort and compliance. Figure out a meal plan, I ate 4 meals a day, no Snacks, no excuses. I drank my fluids, and I didn't exercise until I was 4 months out, and it only lasted 4 months. I have never enjoyed working out. For me, working out is just a chore like scrubbing toilets. It's a "HAVE TO" thing, not a want to thing. Food choices are the key to ultimate success/failure. Personally, I can gain weight easily, but I can also lose it easily when I make the best food choices. There is a bit of "give" in the sleeve after a 6-12 months, but that's normal and expected. It's the sleeve maturing to full capacity, and honestly, we can not live on 600 calories a day for the rest of our lives. So, it's not a bad thing to be able to eat more. This is where the "work" comes into play with the sleeve, well with any weight loss surgery option. We have to continually, religiously make the best choice. I can eat craploads of cheesecake, pudding, sorbet, chips, crackers, pretzels, nuts, soft foods like chili/yogurt, but with protein foods, meats, cheeses and eggs, I have amazing restriction. I max out at about 4-5oz of dense protein. To this day, I still can not eat an chicken breast, like the ones they serve with grilled chicken salads. I can eat about half of it, and if I want to get more in, I have to stretch my meal out further. Also, during my losing stage, I never stretched my meal out over 30 minutes once I got to more solids foods. If I stretch out my meals, I can eat a few more ounces of food which defeats the purpose of the post-op dietary guideline. Cheating the sleeve is easy, and all it will result in is cheating yourself out of losing and maintaining your loss. Basics to follow: 1) Measure portions 2) Track food intake religiously 3) Don't eat until full, eat until satisfied 4) Drink 64oz of clear fluids 5) Set a meal plan, no snacks, stick with it 6) Don't make excuses You can try the 5 day pouch test to get rid of the carbs if that is the issue. Days One & Two: liquid Protein low-carb Protein shakes, broth, clear or cream Soups, sugar-free Gelatin and pudding. Read more. Day 3: Soft Protein canned fish (tuna or salmon) eggs, fresh soft fish (tilapia, sole, orange roughy. Read more. Day 4: Firm Protein ground meat (turkey, beef, chicken, lamb), shellfish, scallops, lobster, fresh salmon or halibut. Read more. Day 5: Solid Protein white meat poultry, beef steak, pork, lamb, wild game You don't necessarily have to do the liquid part if you can be disciplined to just eat protein.

I was starving at 5 days too! I started with Greek yogurt and that helped a lot - protein and it filled me up!

What Greek yogurt do you all buy? Calories? Carbs?

I find its easier to buy plain or plain Greek yogurt. No need to look at labels then. I add my favourite sweetener or honey and fruits. In Egypt I would be eating figs and dates with it. If you struggle to get protein shakes, Use a tip that I was given, drink skimmed milk with a tablespoon of milk powder added to bump up the protein. I added fruit and occasionally peanut butter to it and blended it smooth. You can add yogurt to this too. If you say what kinds of foods you want to cook the people on here can give you the recipes

I absolutely love Chobani's Pineapple flavor. It took me a while to get used to the texture of Greek yogurt, but now that I have, I enjoy it. I like all of the Chobani flavors and I also like the Fage brand.

My date in feb 27th. I started my diet yesterday , protein drink for breakfast and lunch and meal for dinner.. I found myself hungry yesterday after lunch so I had a celery stick and some hummus. Dinner was grilled wings and broccoli. Before deb I got lunch and had yogurt

Thanks I appreciate it! I tried calling my surgeon about this and haven't been able to reach him, and i called my general internist earlier and only reached the office voicemail system. I may take your advice and have a shake before bed, or switch up my eating patterns and only do solids early in the day and after 5:00pm or so switch to yogurts, shakes, and puddings, things that go down easily. And maybe for the time being prop myself up with a few more pillows at night, i just find it very hard to sleep when I am nearly sitting up, it is much easier to sleep laying on my side with one pillow under my head, but that is what is causing the food to come back up

In praise of yogurt ... I love vanilla yogurt, especially with berries.

I was sleeved on June 20th and I 'think' I am hungry all the time! I don't really know what full feels like? Does chest discomfort mean your sleeve is full??? I get those feelings but my stomach is always growling. I am getting a minimum of 60 grams of protein and 50 ounces of water a day. I am still on liquids so I also eat jello, broth, and popsicles. I have even tried pudding and yogurt! I just feel confused because everyone told me they didn't even want to eat the first week!

I was banded October 28th too and I can sympathize with you! I moved on today to some yogurt and thicker soup but not creamy creamy! Thank God I'm going back to work tomorrow so I'm not at home bored just thinking I want to eat!

I've started buying Stonyfields YoKids Squeezers and Chobani Champions. Both are marketed for kids but are very tasty greek yogurt options. The YoKids: 2oz tube, 60 cals, 1g fat, Sugar 9g, protein 2g. Champions: 2.25oz tube, 70 cals, 1g fat, sugar 8g, protien 5g! I eat them either out of the fridge or freeze them for a yogurt pop! these are delicious Hope this helps! BTW...Youre doing and looking awesome! My surgery is July 3rd! Ill be joining the losers bench soon

I too am three weeks out and my weightloss has come to a complete stop. This week I had a follow up with my surgeon and he advised me to watch my calories. Its very easy during the full liquid and mushy phase to consume too many calories with yogurt and creamy soups. He advised me to try more protein in the way of ground turkey and fish. I have to admit that the idea of pureed food made me gag but Im being creative and making ground turkey with pinto beans and a touch of salsa. I blend it just enough so that its not too chunky. The best thing is that this meal kept me feeling full for a long time. I drink two protein shakes a day. The chewable vitamins gag me, any suggestions for making them more appealing? All this and still trying to drink 64 oz of water. Im excited and feel like I am back on track!

I am 12 days post op and also have advanced to some mushies and it has been fine, I eat a scrambled egg for Breakfast, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potatos, ff refried beans with greek yogurt(Very High Protein) tastes similar to sour cream.

Very good!!! Love this yogurt!! Costco has them in blueberry, peach, and strawberry.

thanks so much for the advice, i will definitely try the recipes.. what brand of plain yogurt do you recommend?

Is it just me, or has greek yogurt just exploded in popularity? Honestly I had never given it a second look until May of this year, when I had my first NUT visit and she mentioned it for post op. Now I see even the store brands have their own version of the higher priced yogurt at a cheaper price. Unfortunately, I happen to do most of my grocery shopping at a super-busy grocery store and they frequently run low on ALL brands of greek yogurt....ugh!