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I am so ready to get started. I have family coming into town for Christmas. So I am going to enjoy myself and enjoy the family time. I am actually going to start my full liquid diet January 1,22. I figure why wait 4 days. I’m just going to do it. I am trying out different shakes, yogurts, and puddings now. I am very texture oriented. So this will be interesting. For those who work… how much time are you planning on taking off for recovery?

One thing that might help you with long term success is to realize the mistake many doctors and even their nutritionists make, encouraging their patients even right after surgery to eat sweet tasting foods. This is a huge moment for you to rid yourself of sugar cravings. Stop eating anything sweet, period. Get your protein powder from grass fed PLAIN whey (or another plain protein powder, no sweetener in it, no flavor). I mixed it into full fat milk, or even water (really tasteless and boring), and then learned to enjoy it with a bit of flax seed in the wonderful full fat plain Greek yogurt. Get used to plain water. Unsweetened tea or coffee (use fats at will, cream, ghee, coconut oils). No fruit. And no fake sugars. None. No sweet tasting anything. Eating is difficult at first, and your gut bug population will change from your pre op diet. What a glorious opportunity you are given, to change the content of your diet. The surgery provides portion control for a long long time. But YOU can grab the opportunity to stop eating sweet things. When your gut population evolves over that first month, it will end up being the good bacteria that crave resistant starches like cooked and cooled potatoes and root veggies. You can even add some inulin (a fiber powder) or potato starch to your protein drinks. These starches will feed your gut bugs and keep them happy and regular, and they will only have you crave those starches. You won’t crave sweet foods if you avoid the sweetened whey powders and drinks and the fake color, sucralose jellos and crap. Broths and cheesy bakes taste way better than fake flavored fake sugared jellos. And keep you losing. Use the pause in your diet to choose nonsweet foods. What a great opportunity not to waste.

My doctors advised me not to follow the stories on people who don't like their bands because it discourages you. And because we don't know the entire story regarding why they had issues with their band. I met one woman and she kept complaining how she never lost any weight and then when I asked her why, she said oh she couldn't get anything down except ice cream. I asked her why she didn't try yogurt, or cottage cheese, or jello, or other alternatives, and she just ignored me. So you don't know the real reason, and most ppl think that the weight is going to fall right off that they don't have to do anything. It's not true. No one should discourage you, you do this for yourself!

So I got sleeved exactly a week ago. The following was posted by me at OH for those of you who frequent both sites. I'm just trying to get some insight into a really frustrating situation. I was on IV fluids only until Monday, when I started clears. I was on clears until Tuesday afternoon when my info packet said I could move to purees (including mashed potatoes). So since Tuesday, I've been eating the following: -Refried Beans (made me a bit bloated and unhappy) -Yogurt drinkables with splendaa(very pleasant, easy on my stomach) -pudding cups (fill me up fast, but pleasantly satisfying) -Soup with the chunks strained out, though not necessarily clear broth (ie, tortilla soup and hot & sour) -Soft tofu mashed into thin paste -Runny oatmeal with milk and Splenda -Starbucks Iced Latte with no sugar Now bear in mind I just got back. Protein drinks and sugar free options were very slim down in Mexico, so I had to commit minor carbicide a few times, just to get something in me. But is there anything on this list I should definitely NOT be having one week out? Only the beans felt like a bit too much. I'm also trying to better understand the when and when not to drink in relation to meals, even if the meals are mostly liquid. My doctor's diet schedule is incredibly vague "Softs: 3 days to three weeks" and a lot of the other ones overlap. The confusion comes because Angeles Health's own literature is so damned inconsistent. I dug up one version of their post-op plan that outlines Week1: Clears, Week2: Protein shakes, Week3: Puree, etc. But my doctor's nutritionist handed me a paper packet that said to go from clears to puree on Day 4! So I did, and it even listed mashed potatoes as an option! I'm so confused! And now you all have me worried. My own nutritionist isn't seeing me because she thinks there's no point since my diet is so restrictive. I flat-out told my surgeon and his team I was having yogurt drinkables, strained soup (not necessarily clear), and mashed potatoes and they voiced no objection. *sigh* Another issue is that when you're released from the hospital, they cut you loose and want you to stick to the diet plan. We found no easy protein shakes in Tijuana, nor did we find anything low-carb that I could eat in the pureed category. We really were left to our own devices. My stomach feels okay. I was eating mashed potatoes extremely slowly, licking little bits from my spoon and could only eat an ounce or so before feeling full. I'm perfectly happy to scale it back now that I'm back in the States. Should I just go back to my pre-op protein shakes? How do I know if my sleeve is okay and didn't get stretched?? The potatoes were okay at first, but now I just feel a bit bloated. I guess I'm trying to get some peace of mind that I haven't done any permanent damage to my new sleeve. PS - The coffee dried me out, so I think I've learned my lesson on that.

I'm 12 days post op and I'm having a hard time getting my protein in. I'm so over the shake any other ideas? Would it be gross if I put some protein powder in my yogurt or pudding?

I have been eating Greek yogurt, with fudge brownie protein added. I mix it in the blender. The taste isn't bad and I get the protein. Please call your nutritionist, sounds like your stomach is saying too much too soon. I hope that this helps.

You are absolutely not being dumb. I remember before surgery, every time I would eat hot bread at my favorite italian restaurant, I would think... I will never be able to eat this again. And it was almost a panicky feeling. And many other foods I was afraid that I would not be able to eat as well. Well, I am 6 months post op and can usually eat most everything. I try to eat slowly and take small bites, and if something gives me a problem, it is usually bread. Funny thing is, (pre-surgery) we used to go through about a loaf of bread/week here at home, but I have had a loaf of bread in my freezer forever and we finally took it out and now it has sat on the cabinet so long it is hard and needs to be thrown away. And honestly... I haven't missed it one bit. I am losing my weight much more slowly than many in the lapbandtalk community, but I am very happy with my weightloss this far. I feel so much better, and I have gone from a size 22-24W to a 16W and xl clothes and that has been awesome. My desire from the beginning has been to learn some healthier habits. I have found that I now love yogurt, turkey meats, vegys and fruits. Granola is my best friend when I get the munchies at night instead of something that comes out of a box made by the miniature chef named Debbie. It is all just a process. Hang in there. You will be fine, and hopefully you will find that anything you have to give up will be replaced with things that are much more significant. Good luck and God bless!

I really didn't do the puree stage..... Protein shakes for 3 weeks post op and then my surgeon put me on soft foods like soft baked salmon, flounder, tuna and stewed chicken, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and etc. Chewed very, very carefully of course. I'm glad it was like this. Much of the stuff that I see commonly eaten during the puree stage don't really support high protein and weight loss.

My post op put me on full liquids the day I came home from the hospital. I found 2 oz serving containers in the party section of my local Walmart and I put my yogurt, soup, sf jello, sf pudding, etc into those. I also bought baby spoons. Using that container and the baby spoon, it takes me 20-30 minutes to eat.

I'm confused why I can have jello but not yogurt on the first few wks post surgery. Does anyone know why ? Thanks ! Sent from my SM-G973U using BariatricPal mobile app

Just liquids.. no foods allow..only yogurt jello Popsicles broth and the protein shakes... I don't know how I will be able to do it.. but I will with God helps..we got this...

12 days post RNY I feel fine, no pain, no discomfort I can drink water easily, 2-4 regular sips in a row. I can eat 1/2 cup or 4 oz of food in one meal without any discomfort. I think I could actually eat more, but I don't plate more food. I finish what I plate though. Ex: 1/2 cup of blended chili with 1 oz ff greek yogurt, 2oz grilled cod with 2 oz cottage cheese and slice of grilled tomato, 1 egg mashed and 2oz of mashed cauliflower, etc. These seem like big meals. They are all in my NUT's sample menu but at the upper limit of allowed portions. I called NUT and she just said to chew slowly and stop after 30 min. I do chew slow and still finish within 30 min. The thing is I do not feel full or satisfied. I also don't feel hungry. I sort of feel nothing at all. I find this very weird and frustrating. Overall I get about 80 g of protein and 500-650 calories. I'm down 10 lbs in 12 days and I feel that its low. Not sure what to do or how to proceed. I feel that without feeling full or satisfied I'll get off track really fast. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

Turkey meatballs and half a cup low carb Marinara 2 ounces pot roast with a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yogurt. I put in one quarter of a potatoe and some peas too. I made my own chilli and figured out the calories and servings and purée it with some Greek yogurt too. Pulled pork with barbecue sauce and Greek yogurt The possibilities are endless!!!

I see you are pre-op so that's a "whole 'nother world" from post WLS. Because, you still have the monkey on your back for portions and addiction to the foods that made us all fat, especially when it comes to eating easy, crap food that tastes delicious and packs a sh*t ton of fat/carb calories with them and the drive thru is a tempting, evil siren. My advice if THIS above scenario is actually your issue, then we all just have to suck it up buttercup and change the way we deal with food. Now, if I'm wrong and instead it's because you have lost your appetite and desire for food as you move toward the WLS outcome, then I sincerely apologize and will help you brainstorm. I second what everyone said about the crockpot and storebought rotisserie chicken especially post WLS, because crockpots are awesome for cooking things in moist heat so they will go down your new tummy better. But if even a crockpot sounds too gruesome for words with work, then you can think of many other pre-made foods from the grocery. I personally think some of them are full of hidden sugars/salts, but there are some jewels that work really well. I tend to eat the same 2-3 things for breakfast and lunch every day. It's easy. It's easy to track in MFP. And I'm not bored by them cuz they are just "expendable meals." I'm busy with work and other daily chores so am not counting on them to speak to my soul, just fuel my body and keep me from going off the deep end with hunger. Breakfast: 1. Omelet or egg scramble with Hillshire Farms Black Forest Ham or pre-cooked turkey sausage crumbles from Jimmy Dean, baby organic spinach/super greens trio, mushrooms, salsa. 2. Cottage Cheese/Greek Yogurt mixture (to keep the carbs down and get probiotics), frozen blueberries, 5g Fiber One Cereal 3. Green smoothie: scoop of banana cream protein powder, 1.5oz frozen chopped spinach, 1oz frozen blueberries, 5g whole psyllium husks, 12oz water, 4-5 ice cubes=blend and drink. (Sometimes I add 6g Vitacost Peanut Butter Slim Powder.) Lunch: 1. Salad + grilled or unbreaded protein (you can get at any drive thru or make your own) 2. Lunch Wrap: Hillshire Farms deli meat, low fat mayo, organic spinach or chopped cabbage, low cal dressing, low carb tortilla 3. Green soup: 2c water, 1 1/2 tsp Better Than Bouillon, 100g chopped frozen greens-your choice, 2 mushrooms sliced, frozen squash or cauliflower (optional), 2oz diced protein (any kind), spices of your choice, hot pepper vinegar. 4. Sardines, mustard, pork skins and grape tomatoes Dinner: You can do anything, but essentially I grill/broil/pan saute a whole package of chicken on the weekend. I cook a lb or 2 of ground meat (turkey, chicken, lean beef, or pork), and usually make a pork loin cuz they are so dayum cheap. Once that is done, I can portion and freeze or leave in the fridge since there's 2 of us. So that's the meat. Once in awhile I will make a pot of chili, meat sauce for "spaghetti," and special soups or stewps then portion and freeze for rainy, non-cooking meals. I keep frozen veggies (broccoli and green beans), fresh veggies: salad stuff, grape tomatoes, avocados, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, etc cuz it takes 5 minutes to whip up a couple of servings of veggies at dinner. I keeps sauces either made or bought to add to meat to jazz it up. I keep shiritaki rice and noodles to sub for pasta. Then beyond that I keep string cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, Parmesan on hand along with cottage cheese, yogurt, hard boiled eggs. I keep packets of chicken, tuna, and salmon in the pantry. With all of that stuff, I'm able to get meals together in 10 minutes or less. That keeps me on the weight loss trail and living the dream as I work toward surgery. If you don't want to cook meat, look in the frozen foods at all the grilled basics like: fajita beef, grilled chicken, brisket, pulled pork--just read the labels for added sugar, carbs, and calories. Hope this helps you!

The change in your taste buds can really make things difficult. I couldn’t eat some of my favourite vegetables & proteins for quite a few months so I hear you. Don’t worry, they will start to taste yummy to you again as you progress. I found nothing really tasted good on the purée stage until a friend told me she could successfully eat puréed poached chicken with lots of gravy & chicken stock. It was probably the salt from the gravy & stock that made it tastier lol. I ate a lot of soups - strained & puréed - as they seemed to go down more easily. As did yogurts. Take it slowly to introduce purées especially if they are causing you discomfort. Start with one purée meal a day. You may be someone who needs to go through the stages more slowly - it’s not uncommon. Good luck.

Just bring a protien shake and a yogurt with you. Put that on the table and eat with the rest of your friends. Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

Campbells Soup at Hand. Protein shakes made with EAS Advantage (Soy) and 1 tlbs of peanut butter (use water and ice cubes). Motts makes a pomegranite (sp?) flavored applesauce that is sugar free and SO SO good. Chocolate sugar free popsicles, luigis sugar free italian ice (life saver, this stuff is). Have you tried Silk Lite Soy Milk (Vanilla flavored)...delicious enough to drink straight and great to mix with protein powder. If you have an Aldi, they sell a Fit and Active Non-Fat yogurt smoothie. Very good and low in calories! I hope this has helped...good luck to you.

I'm on soft food until my first fill, November 16th, so I know exactly what you mean--I began with a general plan of what each day's diet would consist of and now in the second week after liquid, I too am running out of options. My biggest issue is with breakfast: have never cared for eggs but have been eating eggbeaters every day. Today I tried baby oatmeal and it was just bland, even with sweet n low! May have to go back to yogurt (1/2 6 oz. container) Went to the grocery store the other day and just cruised the aisles looking for something that would be good and simple and mushy: best thing I found was a small can of cranberry jelly! Have done mashed potatoes for dinner and have some canned veggies I plan on whipping up. I have been dreaming of mashed cauliflower and so may buy cheap frozen and cook it down and mash it up! But like you, my main dinner in two weeks has been refried Beans with shredded cheese on top. Soon we'll be able to have a small amount of regular--yum-m-m!

Just one of those days. Had yogurt with fruit for breakfast then our lunch after church took forever to cook so it turned into dinner. Normally I'm averaging around 700 calories a day

Since the subject is fills...anyone had trouble with cold stuff after a fill? Last night I had a little "golfball" feeling with a SF popsicle, and today with a fruit smoothie (made it myself, with a peach, yogurt, frozen banana, orange juice and 3 ice cubes). Maybe I'm drinking too fast...boy, what a difference in this fill!

No appearing to have any difficulty eating any certain foods, just had egg substitutes,1/4 cup with ff cheese and cottage cheese blended with peaches for breakfast. Pretty good. Don't get hungry just know I need to eat, so doing well over here. My mother is here to help which is nice, going to try yogurt for lunch and maybe some tuna. Good luck everyone! Hope the day is treating you well.

I did this protein mousse with 8 oz light soy milk, small package of sugar free pudding, 2 servings of protein powder and some fat free whip cream. Blend the heck out of it and refrigerate it. It makes 4 servings and really helps me get my protein in. Other than that I've been doing lots of refried beans, soups, Greek yogurt....my doctor doesn't do a puréed stage. We just have to chew really well so I've been doing some fish and soft meats. I have a couple of reduced fat chicken Vienna sausages for breakfast. They are easy to mush up and so far so good with them.

I went to Dr P with the Ellis group. I didn't research how big of a portion drs left behind b/c well. I just didn't think to do that. I however had my lap band removed and sleeve done at the same time. I had the lap band done in January 2011 and I had such a hard time with it. I either never felt full or couldn't keep anything down. It was a constant battle. Up and down and finally it was bothering me to the point I didn't utilize it anymore. Had all the fluid taken out BC it just didn't do anything for me anyways and why damage my stomach. So I'm scared of not having restriction like I didn't get with the lap band. I can eat some yogurt and it takes me a while but I can manage to much up the whole thing in an hour and than I think like you said it's more not being able to eat normal food that's bothering me. I am going to draw some signs of words of inspiration to hang places to keep me focused and on goal. Maybe that's the head distraction I need to keep me not focusing on food. I have to say. What is a walk aide and why is it so expensive? Have you called the company to see if they can work with you on a price? Or you can contact local Dr offices who specialize in what you need help for and see if they would be willing to help you and make a donation or work with you!? You can also contact local businesses but I advise you do that in person as letter often get ignored Brick house congrats on your success!!!! Jules

I just got tightened because I wasn't loosing and could eat too much, but I notice I need sauces or more soupy type foods to get it down. I am stuck eating protein shakes or soups most of the time. I eat yogurt or 60 cal puddings, etc. I can get spaghetti and meatballs if I have a lot of sauce. Any ideas for low calorie sauces. Fish is good for me with tarter sauce. I need more variety. I am losing again now, so I don't really want to get loosened, any recommendations??? I need help with my diet please !!!

Anything that can be blended was allowed on my mushy/puree/soft solid stage. I stuck with refried Beans with greek yogurt, cheeses, greek yogurt, chili, deli meat with cream cheese rolled up, mashed potatoes, soft cooked veggies, applesauce was allowed on my list, and chicken, tuna and egg salads were all my staples.