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It sounds like things are going great. Its understandable that you would be nervous, you've had some traumatic experiences in the past. I have not been banded and pregnant but I have been pregnant and lost significant weight. On purpose, with the blessing of my doctor because I was 220 odd pounds when I conceived and I had had preeclampsia twice before. I did NOT want to pile on weight, although in the ironic way these things go, that is not the way my body tends to react to pregnancy. Statistically, gaining weight during pregnancy within normal limits is associated with a healthy pregnancy. That's only a statistic. As my doc pointed out for me, the baby needs nutrition, not fat. You need to take in adequate carbs, Protein, Vitamins and minerals, you do not necessarily need to take in a lot of extra calories and gain fat. You can gain the average weight during pregnancy by eating Big Mac's or ice cream and pickles or whatever(in fact most women do!) and you have not done one single thing to increase your odds of a healthy baby whereas you can eat perfectly, not gain weight and have done brilliant things for your baby. If you are sure you're eating the recommended intakes of various foods and you are supplementing well, dont let minor weight loss worry you, if its getting a bit out of control, supplement with somethign healthy like a fruit smoothie, made with some milk, some fruit, even a bit of cream or full fat yogurt. That packs in calories AND nutrition (I wouldnt turn to artificial foods like shakes at this time, if you want to go that way go for a weight gain supplement without all the artificial ingredients). If you really cant eat enough, the unfill a bit, you'll probably get tighter and need to eventually. good luck!

Hello Melissa, Topdowndog, and luvmy3boyz.... I am also an October 16th bandster and doing pretty good on the fourth day out... I was a little weak today, but I think it was from being on the clear liquid diet and needing something a little more. I had a yogurt smoothie and a bowl of cream of wheat and I feel much better... I haven't had any problems with gas pains and was lucky not to get a sore throat... My throat would get dry and hoarse but that was about it... I only got the nausea feeling once, but I did get the hiccups alot, but a couple sips of Water would take care of that.... I am very pleased with my progress so far and I'm looking forward to a healthier way of life... Good luck and many blessings to all of the October bandsters and keep us posted on your journey...

The dietician told me that yogurt has too many carbs to count as a protein snack. I was crushed.

So I grabbed my first container of puréed ham salad and color me surprised I could only eat half the two ounce cup. I was eating whole Greek yogurts and 4oz of soup. Texture really does make a difference.

My lactose intolerance seems to be based on how much I consume. I was doing greek yogurt, cottage cheese and ricotta cheese during pureed but now I seem to be tolerating them less. I'm going to move away from lactose-dairy for awhile.

Yesterday was the first day since surgery where I had a 'good' food day. Everything I ate was tolerated well. I got in my liquids. I had a nice diverse meal day...egg and greek yogurt with strawberries in the AM, chicken salad at lunch, homemade crab cake for dinner. Get on the scale this morning and up .8 of a pound. Really? Sooo frustrating because I had so many bad food days in the last 2 weeks during pureed and early soft food stages....learning about so many new intolerances (lactose being the biggest of them) and then I have a great food day and...weight gain.

I'm one of those who experiences hunger...all the time..It usually hits me within 2 hours after eating. I've been on Pepcid since day one, even tried switching to Prilosec and went back to the Pepcid. I still have hope that it will get better after the 3 mos mark (next week). I feel like I'm eating constantly which is what I was hoping the sleeve would eliminate, so pretty bummed about it. It did get somewhat better when I removed some of the carbs I was eating (banana, yogurt). I know it's not head hunger. I just thought this was going to be a little easier, but it still takes a lot of discipline, planning, willpower and exercise to keep losing.

Today is day 4, I did entirely too much. My port incision feels tight and pulled like I may have done something to myself. Could have been when the cart rolled into me, could have been the pants, either way.. I will rest up for the rest of the day. Today I woke up and had yogurt for breakfast, that kept me full, but I decided I needed a protein shake to go all day. When I got home from my moms, I did some work, and got dressed. I put on the loosest but still cute and professional outfit I could find, luckily for me I work from home for the most part but I did have appointments out today. I made my shake to go and went off to my first appointment. Everything was fine until I had to follow him, he walked what seemed to me as "REALLY FAST" normally I keep up with him no problem. But I could feel my stomach tightening, gas? pain? pulling? dunno.. just make a joke so he'll slow down.. joke joke, ok I got nothing.. Sorry if I can't keep up with you today, just had surgery. "Oh ok" he says as if I had just said there was paper in the fax machine.. like umm ok.. awkward but whatever... Finish with him and on to the next, I walk into the building and the smelll makes me nauseated.. umm ok gotta go... back to my car, driving driving driving.. trusty shake by my side.. wait sitting sitting sitting, but these are my big pants, why are they digging into me right there.. ahhh ok there we go.. Whole Foods, they have the BIG thing of Fage yogurt on sale for 6.99... yogurt got it, wait what's this brand it has 24 grams of protein, WOW.. hmmm ok.. let me try this one too, oh what else do they have.. An hour later.... on to the next place. By the time I'm driving to the next place I'm nauseated from the gas pressure and I think I just did too much, lifting a grocery bag, walking around for an hour, etc.. but I still need some groceries.. Let me go to the store on the way home. I get to my street.. I think I can..I think I can.. I go straight instead of turning, I pull into the parking lot and I sit in the car feeling wiped out but trying to psych myself up.. wait what do I even need again? Oh that's right SOUP! I walk in, as normal as I could and see the motorized cart, I jump in, screw it, I need it.. MEEP MEEP! I get my shopping done with ease, but I bought too much, how am I gonna get this home? sigh.. I drive the cart out to my car, put the items in the front seat. Go to drive the cart back into the store and it stalls going up the lil' incline and pushes the full force/weight of it onto my stomach.. OUCH.. the guy from inside comes from outside to help, and he yells at his female co-worker who is standing less than a foot from me, for not helping me. I don't necessarily agree with HOW he said it, but i'm glad he said it so I didn't have to. I come home and pull out the light things, the rest can wait.. inside groceries put away as much as possible, pants off.. ahhhh hmm I'm hungry... WOW that was the BEST cream of chicken and mushroom soup I've ever had in my whole life.. I would hurt someone for some pizza right now.. I don't even like pizza.. but I do like the crust.. mmmm Soup.. delicious.. couple hours later, I wasn't hungry but because I knew it was in there I had some chicken salad.. I wanted to see how it went down, how hard it was to chew, etc.. all in all I had about 1 tablespoon of it, maybe a lil' less. Went down well, tasted even better... tomorrow I'll eat that.. tonight is my first night home, my first night sleeping in a bed, I layed on my bed at my moms but it was too high and hard to get up and down from, the couch, too cushy, the recliner, just right... so I stayed and slept in that recliner 95% of the time.. So now I'm in bed laying on my side.. wanting to roll onto my stomach and just SLEEP a good sleep.. on the upside NO pain meds today, all systems are GO and now I'm just tuckered out.. so with that I will say good night world. :cursing:

Donna, Be careful with fast food. The McDonalds fruit and yogurt has tons of calories, its awful. I looked it up and I remember its real high. When in doubt, order brothy soups, no creamed soups, lots of fat. Good luck.

What kind of greek yogurt do you use LB4Me? Can you have the kind with fruit in it after awhile? I was told just plain in the beginning.

I remember going thru that, I think it's just a change your body is going thru. Mine only lasted a few days. I'm eight weeks out and I rarely feel hungry. I make sure I have my two protein shakes every day. Besides that I eat a Greek yogurt and very small portions of food.

Donna, Did they send you home with a menu plan and list of foods, etc? I just copied the menu in the above post from the sheets they gave me after surgery. Yesterday I substituted oatmeal for the liquid yogurt, so probably had a few more calories than that, but it still isn't much. It sounds to me like I just need to add in a few more small meals, and pitch the menu. After next week, they have more foods on the menu, but I'm concerned about the pain from just trying rice, and thinking I might need a little more time to reduce the swelling first. I really like Dr. Zapata. He was so kind. I had a rough go in the hospital, vomiting everything, including ice chips for the first 24 hours. He was very involved, trying hard to figure out a solution. (The solution came when they stopped putting meds that made me sick in the IV -- lol) I would recommend him to anyone. Kristine

Hey Ross, Listen to them. Their menus sound good. I never have much hunger so I eat weird. I have 2 big cups of coffee for Breakfast. About 4:00 pm I will eat a Protein bar. About 7:00 pm I will have either tacos or taco salad for dinner. Sometimes part of all of low carb Protein shake before working out. When I was first starting out like you I ate eggs for breakfast and a measured out 3/4 cup amount of chicken salad with eggs, FF mayo and eat the same for dinner. The rest of time is drinking all that Water. I tend to pick something I like and stick with it. I did Chicken salad for 7 months straight. I bought big cans of white chicken meat at Sam's (Costco) and made enough for the whole week so I did not have to think about food just get my bowl out and fill it up and that was it. I have been considering getting a juicer because I hate vegetables except the bad ones. So I thought I could drink my veggies. I do best when I do very low carb NOT no carb but low carb. I also eat low carb yogurt love it! Cheri

Ok.. so I am post op day 5. Up until today I have been feeling like total s**t. Last night was bad because of all the gas pain in my left shoulder/collar bone/neck. Up until today I haven't been able to stomach anything more than water, apple juice, and a tiny bit of tomato soup once. I made a strawberry smoothie this morning with greek yogurt and my unjury unflavored protein powder. I have to admit... I thought it would taste way better lol (certainly doesn't taste like the smoothie from the coffee shop). This came out to be about 16oz after all was said and done. Do you think I'm ok if I sip slowly... or is this too much to take in? I'm still trying to decipher the pains in my belly but I think I'm catching on.

Lots of liquid Protein in the form of shakes (unjury) and Ispoure (grape frost & blue raspberry) drinks. Typical day: Breakfast: shake snack: 1/2 Isopure drink lunch: Soup - my doc allowed creamy Soups as long as I watched the carbs snack: the remaining half of the isopure drink dinner: soup and yogurt also, most evenings I'd have one of the following before bed: yogurt: low-fat sugar free Jello: sugar free popcicle: sugar free protein bullet - if I didn't reach the protein target You'll be surprised at how full you'll be if you take in 80-100g of protein.

I was a vegan for about 2 years and vegetarian for a year after that, all leading up to my WLS. (Btw-- I am not a moral veg-eater. I used to eat meat, then got sick, and couldn't eat it anymore.) In getting my sleeve done, my nutritionist and I devised a plan on how I'd be able to get my Protein in / keep the carbs low. I stuck vegetarian. I get my protein from Protein shakes , meatless ground beef (I swear this actually tastes pretty good), Beans, eggs, cheese and Greek yogurt (which I had to build up a tolerance to). I'm getting about 70-80g of protein in daily right now. My nutritionist also has me taking B12 and Vitamin D every other day (so I'm not missing nutrients with my intake). Oddly enough I was willing to attempt red meat / whatever to get my protein in, because I want to be very successful post-op, but when I tried it still made me really sick. ????

There was a study that came out recently about how the body reacts to artificial sweeteners. However, I was on a low carb diet for three years before I was banded, and artificial sweeteners never made me hungry the way sugar and white carbs did (does). Even now, a year after surgery, if I had to live without artificial sweeteners, I would probably fail miserably. How long post op is he supposed to be on the liquid diet? Every doctor is different with their dietary rules. Mine said I had to lose 5% of my body weight pre op, and could use a variety of diets to achieve that depending on how much time I had to diet before surgery. After surgery, I was on Clear Liquids for 7 days, then two weeks of "full liquids" which included yogurt drinks, cream Soups, and Protein shakes. I didn't use slim fast, but I did have a Protein shake mix that contained artificial sweeteners. I still use it occasionally when I think I am shorting myself on protein. Some doctors say no caffeine after surgery, and some (like mine) said coffee is fine. I don't really know what to add about the slurping down liquids to test for a good fill level. I found that my own sensations of fullness or "backing up" were more reliable than what the doctor saw on the fluoroscope to determine a correct fill level. I wouldn't think drinking rapidly once or twice would cause damage, but on the other hand, I always would have problems drinking quickly without having some real discomfort, so I don't think it would provide a reliable indication of correct fill level. The problem with a doctor presenting a patient with too strict and too limiting a post op diet is that it makes it that much harder for the patient to stick to it. I would think he would get VERY hungry on just broth after more than a week, when the stomach swelling from surgery goes down. However, I realize we all often think our own doctors are the wisest and give the best advice, while any deviation from that is questionable.

@@Djmohr hi I had my surgery on April 23 thus far from before surgery and post I lost 45 pounds. For Two Weeks I'm Stalling, my fluids I'm getting better at it and I stop taking my protein and vitamins which I started again this week. I walk my job I walk and constantly on my feet. I gained about 3 ounces my routine now is I wake up and take my protein, for lunch I will have mash potato and a little gravy. In between I try fruit which the only one I can deal with is cantaloupe or strawberry, and later have a yogurt. This is really my day. This is new to me and someone just refer me to this site and said it will be helpful. And thank you for the the time to reply.

Well, here it is...just a little more than 48 hours since my surgery. Yesterday afternoon was a little rough, my stomach hurt as if I did 50 sit ups and getting up and down was a chore. Finally dug out the heating pad and took an Aleve. Thas has really seemed to help. I only took the prescription pain meds the first day, then I switched to liquid tylenol. Gosh, those things taste AWFUL. Plus they didn't very good at relieving the pain; hence the Aleve. Feeling pretty perky except I think that darned anestesia (sp) is still hanging around in my system. Not quite up to normal speed yet. But, today will be my first outing. Our granddaughter turns 2 today so I just have to go to her party. But will be taking my protein drink and Greek yogurt. I am doing pretty well in not experiencing hunger yet. But I am sure that will kick in shortly. Well, it is back to work tomorrow morning at 0630. I just hope I feel twice as improved as I did today. KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT WORK, MY FELLOW AND FEMALE BANDSTERS.

OK, I am confused. I understand the process of being banded (surgery) but what I am confused about is the recovery period. I know I am supposed to be eating healthy, which I am desperately trying to do, but here is the confusion part..why am I told to eat things like yogurt, mashed potatoes, cream of wheat, oatmeal, puddings, applesauce??? all these things are packed with either sugar or carbohydrates. Is this just a recovery phase while healing and waiting for the fills to start? And after having watched the DVD which was provided to me yesterday, which outlines the 8 rules...am I supposed to do this from the very beginning or after I start fills? What do you do? I truly want this to work and I know the band is just a tool, but I need to know how to make it work to my benefit. Any suggestions? Z

I made this last night and it was big hit! I'm eating it again today for lunch and it really is good. Enjoy! Ingredients: 4 Talapia filets (or any type of fish you like) 1/4 c. salad dressing, ranch, nonfat or lowfat 3 T. yogurt, plain, nonfat or lowfat 1 1/2 T. mustard 1/2 lb. spinach, fresh (I used a big bag of baby spinach) galic salt and various other spices to your liking (I used a little garlic and Emrils fish rub) Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse fish, pat dry with paper towels and arrange in glass baking dish. Mix dressing, yogurt and mustard; spoon evenly over fish. Spice the fish up, use your favorite seasonings, doesn't take much as the salad dressing and mustard have some spice in them. I like to sprinkle a little of Emeril's fish rub on mine, then maybe a shake or two of the garlic salt. Bake until fish is no longer translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. (I cooked mine more like 15 - 20 min) Remove tough stems from spinach; rinse thoroughly and drain. (I didn't have to do this as I bought the baby spinach in a bag) Heat nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is hot, add spinach and stir-fry just to wilt the leaves, about 30 seconds. (I also added a little pam butter flavored to the skilley to give it a little more flavor and seasoned the spinach with a squeeze of lemon and garlic salt) Arrange spinach single layer on serving plates; top with baked fish. Nutrition at a glance Each Serving Provides: amount per serving Calories 130 Total Fat 2 g Saturated Fat 0 g Cholesterol 53 mg Sodium 337 mg Carbohydrates 8 g Protein 20 g

Greek yogurt , lf cottage cheese.and I think tuna is in your mushi diet along with cream of chicken soup

I was sleeved on March 5th at approx 0800. My journey started a few years ago. I started tossing the idea of bariatric surgery around when I kept gaining and gaining weight. My dr kept doing test to see if there was a reason, and adding meds to my regimen because I was being diagnosed with different things. I talked to my dr about it and went through the initial seminar that the local bariatric surgeon has. That's as far as I went that time. I met my wife and realized that I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be around for her and my children. Her and I talked and she pushed me to go back to the dr and start the process again. I am a paramedic for the city we live in and she is an EMT. A nurse at one of the ER's had recently had gastric bypass. My wife spent about an hour one night talking with her and her experience. She recommeneded the surgeon she used. He had practiced at the local trauma hospital and done the gastric surgeries there. Our friend had had great success and had nothing but great things to say about Dr. Allen. I did some research into the different types of surgeries that were being performed and decided that I really wanted the sleeve. I contacted Dr. Allen's office and scheduled to go through the seminar again. By this time I had almost completed the 6 month weight loss study with my primary dr. After the seminar I submitted the appropriate paperwork and was pre-approved. I met with Dr. Allen and informed that at that time he was not doing the sleeve. He suggested the bypass for me. I decided it was the next best thing; I was NOT having the band done. lol Dr. Allen wanted a few approvals from my primary physician before surgery. I had to have a EKG, and Pulminary Function Test. The PFT came back obstructed at the dr's office so I was sent to a pulmonologist. I was very discouraged. I met with the pulmonologist he sent me to and was told there was a chance I had COPD. Again, more discouragement. The pulmonologist was not about to sign off on letting me have surgery since the intubation could be bad for me. He wanted me to use an inhaler and CPAP at night for 6 weeks and come back for a follow up PFT. 6 Weeks later I was back. The PFT was enormously better, and I felt ENORMOUSLY better. Best of all, he APPROVED ME FOR SURGERY. My primary physician signed off ok'ing it as well. It was time for the waiting game with the insurance company for approval. A few weeks later on Feburary 5th at 1300, I recieved a phone call from the surgeon's office that I had been approved and my surgery date was March 5th. They gave me the date and time for the pre-op meeting and test. And the best of all, the information on the 1500 calorie diet I was to follow for 2 weeks prior to my surgery. 2-weeks prior to surgery my wife went to the store, stocked up on slim-fast shakes and frozen lean cusines and I started this crazy 1500 calorie diet. I was approx 390-400 lbs. It wasn't as bad as I expected. The day before surgery a few of my friends from work and my wife took me out for my "last meal". I went to the local BBQ shack and had a full rack of ribs. Normally, before the diet I could clean them off and still be hungry, however, I ended up sending almost half of them home with a co-worker! We then had a small desert and sat and talked for about an hour. It was the last time I really ate "real" food. The next morning my wife and I were up at 0430 getting showers and packing bags for my hospital stay. I was told to be prepared for a 3 day hospital stay. Surgery began at around 0900 and I was out and in recovery by 1030. No problems with sedation or intubation. However, I was slightly oversedated and sent to the ICU for the night because they were worried about the sedation and my sleep apnea becoming a problem. I don't remember much of this. The most I remember is having a cathader that I kept asking to be taken out and waking up with the CPAP mask on at one point. The next day at around 0800 I was taken for a swollow study (worse tasting stuff in my life). Everything looked great! Cathader was taken out and I was released to drink clear liquids! A few hours later I was moved out of ICU up to a regular floor bed. My wife spent hours with me at the hospital, encouraging me to get up out of bed to walk and get the gas off my stomach. She made sure that I was getting adequate nutrition as well as enough Water to drink. She even brought me fat free milk! On the Friday after surgery I called her to come get me. They removed my JP drain and got me ready to go. I was able to go home and get a FULL NAP!!! I actually felt good enough when I woke up to go to the grocery with her to get some broth, Soups, and yogurts. Since then, I am down to only 1 pain pill a day if I go out for a long period of time. I haven't gone back to work, but don't have a follow up until Monday. I'm hoping to get the staples taken out of the incisions on Monday as well. They itch like crazy. And I'm super excited to start the mushy stage of my diet. I'm ready to get back to the gym and start walking and riding the bike and lose some of this weight a little quicker. I'm amazed at the little amout that I'm eating and it's keeping me satisfied. I already have more energy than I did before the surgery and I am able to stay awake longer during the day. I did cheat yesterday and had 1 lean hotdog. I ate it very slowly and didn't drink anything with it or afterwards. I didn't get sick, but I felt 100x's better afterwards. Guess, we're not all perfect lol Hope everyone else that has been sleeved is doing well also, and everyone getting ready to be sleeved is excited!

I'm following my plan, I was just curious if anyone felt the same way. I can have yogurt on Monday, which is only 2 more days away. I'm just getting sick of this clear protein drink. And I'll be happier once I can have some milk and my chocolate protein shake. I'm not pushing it. I've made such a drastic decision to better my life, I'm not going to mess it up. It's just hard to make a full dinner for my family and not participate. I know it's only a few days. But it's a thought that has run through my head.

Same here. I even had to take MOM just to go every 3 days and it was super hard....even caused bleeding. Once I started adding insoluble fiber to my shakes and yogurt, I've had regular, soft daily BM's. For me, soluble fiber like Metamucil and benefiber did nothing. It had to be insoluble fiber. I currently use a mixture of ground flax seed and Now Foods apple fiber.