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Today I am 6 days post-op. For the previous 5 days I haven't had any real desire to eat or drink anything. No real appeal in eating, and in some cases, thinking about foods made me feel a little queasy. Today - I feel hungry. I had a 5.3oz yogurt for breakfast (took about 90 minutes to eat, I think from about 7:30 to 9am). It is not just after 10:30 and my tummy and mouth say "eat!" Logically, I know that I have only consumed 120 calories today and I need to continue to eat and sip small amounts to heal but a part of me is thinking "This is how it starts all over again. You're hungry all the time. You won't stop eating. You'll gain every ounce back and THIS WAS FOR NOTHING." This paranoia is compounded by the fact that I had, what I believe, was my first case of extremely mild dumping syndrome. I had been having trouble finding any drinks appealing and thought a very watered down bit of pineapple juice would do the trick - I was right. I had about 1/2 cup pineapple juice to 2 cups water over the course of a few hours. FOr those who don't know, a serving of pineapple juice can exceed 30 grams of sugar. I expect I may have had about 10. I've now become obsessed with the idea that my pineapple juice has reawakened the sugar demon and all is lost. I know that sounds incredibly dramatic, but I've noticed over the last few days that these kinds of fears keep sprouting up. I can't shake this fear that this isn't a fresh start, just a pit stop on the same ol', same ol. Ugh. Anyone else dealing with similar feelings? How did you cope?

Don't be afraid. Take it as it comes. It is a slow process, healing and learning the new way of living and eating. You sound prepared. I, too, need Ambien for chronic insomnia, and occasionally have sleep eating. I'm 17 months post-op, and have had a few episodes, but not done anything extreme. Something about Ambien makes some of us "hungry". Have safe foods in your kitchen. Try to have those tempters gone. I find that taking less than a whole dose keeps the sleep-eating at bay most of the time. For me, it is a fine balance between enough med to sleep, and not so much to cause me to eat. I keep protein bars bedside. Early on, you might want to keep a protein shake ready in the fridge. Sometimes having protein before bed helps, me, too. Yogurt, cheese sticks, peanut butter, chicken (later as you can eat it). You will find what you like. Food still tastes good, so meals are enjoyable - just eat the right size and follow your plan. The plan is for a good reason, you will have foods added regularly, based on what the experts have learned by studying those who have gone before us. Use your nutritionist and team, they are there for you. Have a great journey. It gets better every day. I had my surgery 12/31/16, at age 70. Lost almost 1/3 of my body weight, over 60 pounds! I have a few pounds to get to my goal weight, but I'm so much healthier and fitter than before, I'm happy.

I've been getting what I would call "pre-headaches", that feeling of almost-wooziness where you know it could turn into pain. I've learned that's my sign I'm not eating/drinking enough. The first day or two I managed to have 2 protein shakes each day, maybe a glass of Crystal light. DEFINITELY not enough. In the next few days it would be more like 1 shake, 1 yogurt, 1 juice. I'm still struggling really, really hard to get enough nutrients to avoid the "pass out" feeling. Maybe this is happening for you too? Do you think you're getting enough fluids?

My pureed plan is whatever what was on the hospital menu for pureed diets that they gave me. For instance, they have scrambled eggs on the menu, so even though it's not a pureed food it's allowable. I try to eat a scrambled egg every morning but usually can only eat a quarter of it. I've been eating a 1/4 cup of Oikos vanilla greek yogurt (in the black container). I have the sugar free popsicles and sugar free pudding but haven't really eaten them. I've been getting in a shake and a half everyday of the premier protein shakes, but it's work. On surgery day I was 362, and today, I am 345.0 exactly. That's 17 pounds in one week! 32 pounds since 4/15. Mind boggling. For the first time I have little ankles and my feet aren't swollen. My body is finally able to heal itself and it's happening for me and for you

Thanks for the support guys! I made it to 10 days with the assistance of a teeny spoonful of low fat greek yogurt when I was feeling at my most miserable. Feeling pleased that I pretty much stuck to the instructions and know that it has helped with my mindset for the future. Full liquids is going to feel like a total luxury now!

I'm 5 days out from surgery (sleeved on the morning of 4/26) and I'm struggling with eating/sipping. I'm on a liquid diet that does include sugar-free pudding or yogurt if I want it. It seems that for about 4 - 5 of every 10 nibbles/sips I experience a pain. It happens no matter the type of food (full liquid or yogurt), the size of bite/sip, the temperature, etc. I guess it sort of feels like a big, nasty gas bubble? Like the food is hitting a super tough pocket of air or meeting some kind of resistance on it's way down? Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a cause for concern that I should reach out to my doctor before my check-up on Wednesday?

I haven't been given the official go-ahead for pureed yet, but I can have: strained soups, protein shakes, Danon Oikos Yogurt, sugar-free pudding, sugar-free popsicles. I really, really hated the flavor of the Danon Oikos - they had that "fake sugar" taste - and now it's just normal. Same with the no sugar added carnation. It gives me a lot of hope for a "Fresh start" with food after I heal. I've been using Fooducate to find lower sugar, lower carb, higher protein versions of my favorite foods/drinks/condiments, and looking for "healthified" recipes for my favorite comfort foods (mac and cheese made with greek yogurt, who'd have thunk it?) That being said, I cannot possibly describe the craving I have for a spinach salad with feta and Newman's Own Homestyle Italian Dressing (....never ever thought I'd be saying that!)

You are craving crunch because you can't have it. Kind of the Forbidden Fruit syndrome. If you are only on the soft food stage, just be strong and hold on. It passes soon enough. Me personally, I wouldn't add saltine crackers back into my diet. Period. Even two years out. Once you have been cleared for normal foods and you are in need of a crunch, celery is always the first thing people reach for because, you know... it's a vegetable. It's good for you. BUT it is also very fibrous and extremely difficult for many in the beginning. My recommendation is pork rinds. I know, you just made a face thinking about tuna and pork rinds. But plain pork rinds really only taste kind of smoky. If you add tuna salad on it, the taste is almost nil. One last thing, try making your tuna salad with fage plain yogurt. It's a little different, but once you acclimate to it, it's almost impossible to go back to mayo based salads. Ugh, I shudder just thinking of the fatty/slimy texture of someone elses tuna, egg, or chicken salad.

Please read my 3 weeks post op post.At the end of the day you know yourself.Follow that clear liquid diet religiously the first week after and then follow the liquid diet(shakes,drinkable yogurt) the second week and your scot free....make adjustments according to how you feel.But then I went to Mexico to Dr Fernando Garcia at Tijuana Bariatrics and he's the best!

Today was my first day lifting weights.Did chest and tris at about 2/3 my old weight.Keep in mind I wasn't power lifting doing lighter weight with higher reps.It felt amazing.Ive been at the gym since day 1 but only on a treadmill.My diet it mostly high Protein with minimal carbs (oatmeal,fruit) Yesterday I had a couple small bites of bread,pasta but I am still consuming yogurt and protein shakes.Peanut butter has been a huge help and I started eating turkey lunch meat with a small piece of string cheese.This new journey is amazing it feels great never being stuffed.I sleep all night,I used to wake up to Pee at least 4 times a night and i also don't snore anymore.My energy is way way up.I was having leg numbness issues but that is slowly improving.As of today my only issue is slight constipation from the high protein diet but Metamucil nightly with another stool softener is helping a lot.I hope you all are doing well on your journeys.My results/reaction or whatever you want to call it are working for me.Find your groove and be patient.

Today was my first day lifting weights.Did chest and tris at about 2/3 my old weight.Keep in mind I wasn't power lifting doing lighter weight with higher reps.It felt amazing.Ive been at the gym since dayb1 but only on a treadmill.My diet it mostly high protein with minimal carbs (oatmeal,fruit) I be ad a couple small bites of bread,pasta but I am still consuming yogurt and protein shakes.Peanut butter has been a huge help and I started eating turkey lunch meat with a small piece of string cheese.This new journey is amazing it feels great never being stuffed.I sleep all night,I used to wake up to Pee at least 4 times a night and i also don't snore anymore.My energy is way way up.Ibaas having leg numbness issues but that is slowly improving.As of today my only issue is slight constipation from high protein diet but Metamucil nightly with another stool softener is helping a lot.I hope you all are doing well on your journeys.My results/reaction or whatever you want to call it are working for me.Find your groove and be patient.

I use this lunch bag from PackIt. Put it in the freezer at night, cooling gel built in. Keeps stuff cold all day - even if I don't eat it, yogurt is still cold when I get home. I use this when I go to the office twice a week. (Other days I work from home.) https://www.packit.com/lunch-bags/freezable-uptown-lunch-bag-new.html

I'd really work at avoiding drinking while eating. If you got a fast tract then adding fluids into the mix is probably going to speed things up all the more. I get that same feeling of times of not feeling like I ate anything. Denser proteins like tuna or chicken definitely sit heavier in my stomach. Things like yogurt and cottage cheese pass through the system quicker than other foods. Are you tracking your food? If not it's a good idea to start to know for sure where you are at with calories and carbs. Lot of things can contribute to a stall. Not getting enough water, protein, or calories can be a big factor in that. May seem counterproductive but keeping your calories too low and inhibit weight loss.

Sleeved 9/6/16. I know you don't want to hear about shakes. I stopped drinking them after surgery. They made me nauseous. I did find a recommendation on this app about 7-8 weeks post surgery that suggested genepro. I have been using it ever since. One small scoop is 30 grams of protein. Doesn't taste like anything. Don't put your nose in it. Made me nauseous to smell it in the beginning. Now i don't notice the smell. I mixed it in yogurt, soup, and now in my milk for my decaf latte just to jump start my protein intake. Good luck.

I keep mine under 25 a day as well and I don't feel it's restricted at all. I still eat tortillas (carb friendly 4 net carbs), nuts (almonds and pistachios), yogurt (dannon light and fit is only 8 carbs), cheese, strawberries (1/4 cup). I don't eat bread, pasta, or rice and I never will again. Don't miss them at all anymore. I eat so much food that I don't feel deprived. I eat turkey bacon, avocados, eggs, Greek grilled chicken and tzatziki sauce, tuna patty (instead of bread crumbs add in pork rinds and bake instead of fry), grilled mahi mahi and squash are some of my favorites. I drink water everyday and don't miss soda or anything. I mix it up every day to keep things exciting. I do meal prep because I want to stay on my diet and be prepared. I find that when I don't have a plan or schedule that's when fast food or unhealthy options start looking good and I'm not going down that path again.

1. Count net carbs, subtract the fiber 2 If you eat meat and green veggies it is almost impossible to even hit 25 grams of carbs a day. Less than 25 net is really good if you want to drop fast, but 60 isn't bad. What do you eat in a day, if you are eating stuff like yogurt, just give it up

i'm a little over 5 months post surgery. I'm still struggling with what to eat. For breakfast I eat a hard boiled egg and a yogurt or a scrambled egg. Sometimes I'll eat a little fruit. For lunch its usually a protein drink, a salad with broiled chicken, chili from Wendys or sliced turkey wrapped with cheese . For Supper its usually shrimp or talapia or tuna . I don't have a lot of variation simply because its so hard to swallow certain things and I don't want to waste my money, I often fall back to the protein drinks simply to get in my protein and it just makes everything simple. I haven't tried the Peanut Butter powder but may do some very soon.

Congratulations! I had my surgery on Monday, April 24th...so I'm six days post-op today. I too have the lovenox injections, twice a day. They're not as bad as I thought. I inject them into my lower stomach, alternating sides per shot. The worse part for me is that in my main incision site, where they take the stomach, and in my case, the gallbladder too, they had to leave it open. So that means, twice a day, my husband has to pack it with gauze and the incision is probably three inches deep. I guess the doctor did this because my gallbladder was full of stones and infected and he had the hardest time trying to get it out. He was afraid of an infection, so I guess this is how they head that challenge on--packing a wound . I will say my right side where they took my gallbladder out, and where my drain was, are the two areas where I have pain, other than that, I'm pretty good. I will say, six days out is 100% better than 3 days out. It's amazing how fast the body heals itself. An hour after I got to my room they put me on clear fluids, which all I could do was sip some water here and there, and by the second day I've been on pureed foods. So, as I'm writing this, I have my quarter cup of Oikos greek yogurt that I'm working on. Everyday it's getting easier to get food down, like a quarter of a scrambled egg this morning, but I'm not hitting 64 grams of protein or anything. It's not easy getting the protein and fluids down, but our bodies need both badly to heal itself and so we have to chug along. Good luck and it only gets easier--concentrate on that!!! Oh, and edit to add that I went off my pain meds as soon as I got home. I think that was the best thing ever. I had no more nausea or mental fogginess...

My date was the 12th. It's crazy how all these doctors have different plans and schedules for when to add what. My stage 2, I was allowed yogurt, sugar free pudding. I go to stage 3 on Wednesday which will add puréed foods. I can't have a real cooked egg until stage 4 which will be may 10th. I am only now starting to feel "full" and it's only sometimes.

Yes, I have three protein shakes, a mod snack which can be a yogurt and a low carb/low sugar dinner. On Friday, while I was on my way to school I vomited five times all the protein and fluids I have taken that day and was sent to the er. There they told me I had to eat something while taking the antibiotics because the shake wasn't enough. Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey there's this great protein that's flavorless at gnc called gene pro. It has 30 grams of protein per scoop. You can add it to your milk, yogurt and even your water. That's one way to up your protein. As far as calories go, I'm about 2.5 weeks post op and I'm on soft foods and I'm having issues getting my calories in. My minimum is 800 but I average about 450 to about maybe 600. My dietician recommended I add some mayo or low carb dressing to help add calories. I use sour cream, cream cheese, blue cheese or even land of lakes butter. I usually add it to my eggs, chicken, tuna and fish. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I was sleeved on the 13th as well. I'm doing pretty good now. I had a few rough days with a couple regretful moments but now I'm so happy I did go through with it. I started soft foods on the 25th. That first egg last looked and smelled wonderful but once that first tiny bite and you swallow.... reality hits you and you realize how much slower you have to eat and how important it is to chew. I thought I was going to eat it all in no time but it took me almost an hour to finish it. I had to put sour cream. They recommend adding mayo or low carb dressings to help make it moist. It being too dry will make it hard to swallow and feel like it's stuck in your esophagus or throat. I couldn't even get a 6oz yogurt finished in 30 mins. It took me an hour. But slowly but surely you'll get it down in no time. I'm ok to eat a yogurt in 30 mins now. Soft food proteins are still taking me a while to finish but it feels so good when I look at that scale. It's all worth it. It's hard work but so worth it right. Congrats to you all and hope we all reach our goals in no time with hard work, dedication and discipline of course.

So, today is 11 days post-op. I'm doing pretty well. My incisions are healing fabulously. I'm walking every day. Now, with this I should put in a disclaimer...I walk every day in bursts. LOL. I still get tired pretty easily. If I can keep my mind occupied, then I can walk for a longer time than when I'm trying to do household chores or something like that. For instance, my mom and I went to Burlington Coat Factory. That store is so much trouble! LOL I kept falling in love with all the clothes that I'll be able to wear once I reach my goal weight. Plus their housewares area is unreal. Such great prices! I was able to walk around the store for about a half hour before I REALLY had to sit down somewhere. And I've noticed, standing still....not a real great idea. It makes me more sore and wears me out so much faster than actually walking around. Even a week and a half out I'm still pretty sore in my tummy. But again, that soreness is usually amplified by sitting in one place too long. Like tonight playing Castle Panic with the family because it's Saturday - Family game night. It's a tradition we instigated several months ago where my kids, me, and my mom all get together for pizza and games and/or movies. It's a time for family bonding and it's almost always awesome. Only time it isn't awesome is when one of us is not feeling good or is in a rotten mood and pretty much kills it for all of us. It's life. It happens. Thankfully, it doesn't happen often. Tonight was hard though. I LOVE pizza. Hot pizza. Cold Pizza. Cold Pizza for breakfast. Cold Pizza for lunch. Hot pizza for supper. Veggie pizza, meat pizza, everything pizza, pineapple and ham/canadian bacon pizza...just no jalepenos please. LOL. I even found out before surgery that BBQ Chicken pizza isn't bad either! After not eating anything solid for 13 straight days, the smell of that pizza everyone was enjoying was so hard to endure even though I was "full" from my protein shakes, broth, and water. Believe me, drinking an once of fluid every 15 minutes with a tummy the size of an egg keeps me pretty full all the time. I have an alarm set on my phone to go off every 15 minutes to remind me to sip some water. I've made it my theme song. It's Rachel Platton's Fight song. I felt it appropriate since I'm fighting to take my life back from my food demons. The other hard part is dealing with the people in my life who are resistant to change. Like my oldest son. He wasn't happy about me getting this surgery. At all. He likes having something to hold on to that's more than the skin and bones that he is built like. He doesn't like change of any kind. He's fought his senior year every step of the way because it means change. He still doesn't understand that change is inevitable. And you can either roll with it, or be rolled over by it. I used to thrive on change. Until 2013 happened and there was so much change in so little time that my mind couldn't deal with it and pretty much ceased to function correctly. I fight every day to get my mind to function as it once did. To thrive on change again would be such a blessing. But my son. He has never dealt with change well. So, instead of supporting me, he teases me. Just like his father used to do every time I tried a diet or tried to lose weight. He'd purposely get something that I could not eat. That he knew I couldn't eat. And he'd bring it to me and say "Here hon, look what I got you. A chocolate glazed donut with bavarian cream filling. Your favorite. Oh...that's right. You can't have these can you? I'm so sorry. I guess I'm just going to have to eat it myself." And then he'd proceed to eat one of my favorite donuts in front of me, pretending to savor every last morsel. My son hasn't been quite as cruel as his father was, but he'd get a kiwi and slice and eat it and slurp the sweet juice from it and say things like "Gee, mom, don't you just wish you could have one of these right now?" Then he'd laugh and finish eating his kiwi and walk away. Or, hey mom, don't you just wish you could have a slice of this delicious pizza. I'm so sorry you can't. It's SOOOO good!" So, that's been really hard the last week or so. I really didn't care the first week because I really just wasn't hungry for anything at all. I had no appetite. Nothing sounded good, nothing tasted good. Not particularly. And after 4 days of chocolate shakes I was ready to scream. Now, after 2 solid weeks of nothing solid and only sweet protein shakes...I've already got supper for next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday planned out! Salmon, bunless Turkey burgers, and pizza!!!! with sauteed zucchini and mushrooms....mashed cauliflower......stewed tomatoes.....asparugus, spinach, tilapia, cottage cheese!!!!! Yogurt! OMG, I'm making myself so hungry...I really need to stop. See, I don't see my surgeon again until May 4. The last time I ate anything solid was April 16. 17.5 days without anything solid to eat. I'm about to go mad. But it will be okay. I know I can do this. I have to do this. I saw my primary care person yesterday. (She's a nurse practitioner, so technically not Dr, but might as well be.) My weight there was 258. Actually one pound less than what I was the morning of my surgery! She took me completely off my diabetes medicine. And I see her again in 6 weeks. Then, she's sure she's going to be taking me off my blood pressure medicine and my thyroid medicine. So, I'll be down to only the medicines for my back pain and my acid reducer, so 3 medications! Quite a change from the 7 or 8 I've been taking the past few years. I'm really excited. Well, that's all the updates I can think of right now guys. Oh! But let me tell you something about those 4 in 1 protein shakes (you know, the ones that have all the vitamins already in them so you don't have to swallow a handful of vitamins quite yet or chew those nasty tasting chewable).... If you get the vanilla flavor (I imagine it could work with chocolate too, but not with as much variety) you can add things like the Sugar Free Orange Crush water flavoring to the mix and if you drink it cold, it tastes just like an orange creamcicle! Raspberry Ice is really good too. Cherry is okay, but not one of my favorites. You can add unsweetened cocoa powder to the mix to make a chocolate. Add Unsweetened cocoa powder along with the Raspberry Ice to make a chocolate raspberry shake. There's so many possibilities. The only problem I've found is that you get really tired of the sweet stuff all day every day. I look forward to supper when I have my cup of Bone Broth (the beef is my favorite) It's by Great Value if you have a walmart in your area. It's the only broth that I found in the entire store that has 7 grams of protein per serving. All the other broths only had a whopping 2 grams of protein per serving!!!! Anyway, nature is now calling again (one of the drawbacks to constantly drinking...lol) Praying for healthy, happy, love filled days for you and yours!

Since the day after discharge I've had milk, yogurt drinks, unsweetened applesauce, high protein oatmeal, and cleared on liquid stage for fruit smoothies which I'll have starting tonight and until soft foods stage.

I ate my egg 1 day early, not gonna lie. However- I know where you're coming from. I'm closing my third week on Wednesday, and that's when I get to start shaved turkey, greek yogurt, soft fish, etc. I WANNA DO IT NOWWWWW- but I won't. There's a reason I was told to wait and I'm sure in hindsight I will be glad I did. Good luck- I'm rooting for ya!!! SW: 350 / CW: 318 / GW: 200 Sleeved April 13, 2017