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Got my second fill yesterday, and I can finally tell that I have some restriction. I did only liquids yesterday and didnt get hungry. Today I can do mushy foods and I was only able to eat half a yogurt this morning. So hang in there it will finally come at some point. Good luck.

Phoenix I laughed so hard when I read your post. I agree but it was sooooo funny. Thanks for the laugh I needed it. Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt- The best

I talked to my Surgeon about this hunger issue yesterday at my one-week post-op appt. He said with the DS there is "more stomach" than the other surgeries, so its not unusual to be hungry. He wanted to make sure it was not the pyloric valve (stomach to the duodenum) that was inflamed and making it feel like hunger. I have had no other issues and have easily been able to meet hydration and protein goals. He let me go ahead and add a small amount of plain Greek yogurt, applesauce, and cottage cheese to my full liquid diet. I also started in drinking several glasses of hot green tea with stevia (helps). Just an FYI, but I would suggest asking your Dr if your hunger is really feeling like an issue. He also recommended some gas x, and Devrom (sold on bariatric pal), as it seems I'm somewhat sensitive to all the whey protein...if you know what I mean.

I took I took off 8 work days off. I was tired the first few days but keep a small fridge in my office stocked protein shakes I took to work with me. Now I keep it stocked with cheeses, shaved lunch meat, and yogurt so I can sneak a protein filled snack when I need it. I didn't want to use vacation time, I want to use that when I can enjoy it, so when I exhausted my PTO I decided I felt well enough to go to the office. Everybody is different so do what feels good for you!! Best wishes!!!!

So in honor of this post, I wrote down everything I ate in the last two days. Many of theses are repeat items that I had both days..... eggs, bacon, chicken, shredded pork, turkey sausage, shrimp, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, power crunch bar, Quest bar, natures valley Protein bar, quest chips, Greek yogurt, unflavored whey protein, peanuts, asparagus, spinach, onion, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, baked Beans, red bell pepper, yellow squash, Kashi go lean Cereal, All Bran cereal, ground flax seed, blueberries, orange, coconut milk, 1/2 and 1/2, decaf coffee, decaf tea, plain Water, protein hot chocolate, Bai5, water with sweet leaf flavor drops, dark chocolate candy filled with brandy liquor. Portions ranged from a couple tablespoons to maybe 1/3 cup (except the liquids) and eaten over 14-15 "meals". My weekday variety is much lower. Probably more like 10-12 different things over 5-6 meals. I guess the OP's therapist would have a field day with me!

New discoveries this week since I have been doing the 2 week liquid diet. 1) I don't like GNC's vanilla whey Protein - too much of a weird whey/protein taste/after taste/smell 2) unjury chocolate Power is better but still not my favorite 3) The Nutribullet does wonders to mix the protein better (with ice) better than a shaker bottle 4) The Unjury chicken Soup is barely passable by itself (I never like Chick broth anyway) but I am looking forward to mixing with instant potatoes and fat free refried Beans 5) Cytosport Monster Milk (Chocolate) IS MY MOST FAVORITE WAY TO GET IN PROTEIN (warning: it's wicked expense, most because I buy it premixed in the bottles, which I think also helps dull any protein taste.) 6) I have a new respect for Jello and greek yogurt.

@@kimmeesue, Get off the carbs ASAP and keep your Snacks in the Protein family (meat, cheese, jerky, nuts, Greek yogurt). They're satisfying, and won't set you back too badly, no matter how much you eat. And drink tons of fluid! Hunger is often thirst in disguise. Good luck!

Hey Hope4momof4 great post, thanks for adding the calories. You are getting more than enough protein, couple minor suggestions. Here's how your diet compares to mine, I'm eating about 800-1000 calories per day: 2 eggs in morning, have less protein ( only 12G) but also less calories (125) than smoothy. Morning snack non-fat yogurt. 17 gram protein, 90 calories For lunch and dinner think about using a scale for protein and veggie portions. For lunch I eat 3 ounces protein (usually chicken) 23 g protein, 200 calories. Afternoon snack- sugar free pudding 60 calories For dinner I'm using 3-4 ounces of protein and 1/4 cup of brown rice or pasta and 1/4 cup of green veggies. Salmon 2x per week, Chicken 2x per week, steak once. Usually about 300 calories, 20 grams protein. One more thought if I look at weight loss by month, don't get too depressed with only first month, there's more weight loss to come. Stick to your plan, you can Here's my weight loss by month: First month 16 lbs 2nd month 13 lbs 3rd month 10 lbs Let me know what you think, Tex

My appointment today went well! My surgeon seemed really pleased with my progress and how everything is healing up. The dietitian wasn't there so I didn't get to chat with her about food, but the surgeon said she would have her call me on Monday. I asked about why I haven't lost any weight in over a week and she said to wait another week and evaluate after that. She mentioned I could be eating too many calories but we both agreed that was extremely unlikely. I don't see how that's even possible unless I have some sort of freak metabolic issue post-op. Most days this week I could barely choke down a 160-cal PP shake plus maybe half a cup of soup. I'm not worried about the food, to be totally honest. I just need to get walking and keep hydrating. Today was probably my best food day yet although I admit I didn't eat anything until 2pm-- but after that, I had Panera broccoli cheddar soup (in two sittings), a strawberry banana Greek yogurt smoothie (over the course of 3 hours), and about a half ounce of feta cheese (allowed to melt down in my mouth before swallowing of course). I'm SO happy about the smoothie; I was really worried about dumping from high amounts of natural sugars but I had no problems and it tasted absolutely phenomenal. I got some bananas at the store tonight and I'm eagerly waiting for them to ripen! I went to the store on my own tonight and shopped for about 40 minutes. I was definitely shaky toward the end but I just sipped my water and took it easy. If we can manage to get up and out of the house before 8, tomorrow morning will be a good one for trail walking... but I don't have much faith in us getting up, haha. I need to go to Whole Foods soon to see if I can find soy-based products like yogurt that I couldn't find at Wally World or my grocery store, so that can be another indoor walk for me. Slowly but surely I will get there!

Some suggestions for those who don't like the Protein shake mixes. Try an unflavored Protein powder you can get them from GNC. Here are some recipes I've tried and love. 6 or 7 sliced frozen strawberries 1 scoop protein powder 1 sm banana 1/2 c plain yogurt Blend really well 1/2 c Water, crystal light, or juice You can also add 1 tbs cocoa powder, yummy 6 coffee ice cubes, break them up a bit before putting in the blender 1 scoop of protein powder 1/4 c of liquid creamer, milk, or yogurt 1 tbs cocoa powder Slenda or other sweetener to taste 1/2 c cold coffee Blend well 1 apple, cores and cut up 1/2 cup of crystal light, water or juice 3 ice cubes, more if you want 1 sm banana 1 tsp cinnamon extract Blend well Try your own flavor combinations. Using ice really helps and blend well. 1/2 c of yogurt

I know some that did eat baby foods but personally YUCK! and a lot of my band friends threw stuff in the blender like roasts and said they tasted great again I just couldn't get past it. Once I switched over to the creamy/mushy phase at the 14th day I was all over the various cheese Soups if they had veggies in them I either gummed them to oblivion or fished them out. I couldn't be bothered to do the whole blender thing like I should have. I also made a variety of Protein puddings by mixing whey protein powders with instant sugar free puddings. (Chocolate, Cheesecake, Lemon or Lime, etc..) Later I discovered an even healthier option where I would blend Cottage Cheese until smooth and replace most of the milk called for in the pudding recipe with that instead. It had a much higher protein to carb ratio and tasted great. Most people think it sounds disgusting but really it tastes very creamy like you made it with whole milk (no hint of salty at all) Oh and if you freeze the puddings for a while before you eat them and stir them up they taste like eating soft serve ice cream. Yummy. Right now one of my favorite protein rich foods is Cottage Cheese with some Yogurt and a Cherry or Rasberry Crystal Light bottle Water packet stirred in. I've just been feeling too lazy to take the time to blend up the puddings and mess up the kitchen. But I'm not sure if cottage cheese would be considered "soft" enough for the 14 day mark. This stage was SO HARD for me but I just kept repeating to myself I can put up with anything for just a couple weeks and being self pay I couldn't risk the possibility of having to pay for any complications much less the loss of money with more time off work without pay. Speaking of work, one of these days I may need to talk to you about the whole teeth whitening thing. I'd love to do it but always assumed too expensive. Tried one of those home kits once and was VERY sore and dissapointed though I managed to get my money back. I personally think I would need veneers to do any good on my teeth. (though I'm not nor ever was a smoker)

You know, if you are eating more than usual, and were getting hungry sooner, you might have been ready for the fill. It may just be some residual swelling as you adjust to it. I would take it very easy, go onto some liquids, then just feel your way along slowly--your body might just take a few days to settle back down following the new fill. For me--I do feel like I am at my sweet spot---because I simply do not feel hunger. I can likely eat more than most bandsters because I am not very tight---I eat so much less than ever before, but more than some bandsters I know! Last night for dinner, I had a grilled hamburger on a bun, and I ate just about half of it, and about 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and about 3 Scoop size fritos. Tonight we are having pot roast, I will eat a piece of roast---say 1/2 a cup, 1/2 of a potato and several small carrots....with the gravy it cooked in. I am tighter in the morning, I eat usually part of a container of yogurt with granola in it. If we go out for fast food, I can eat a Taco, and some pintos and cheese at Taco Bell. I donot count calories, I try to eat healthier than the things I have mentioned here, I was just drawing on recent memory!!! I do try to make the biggest portions of my meal Protein and vegetables---less starchy foods. I am having a TT done soon, and will have to be unfilled, I am afraid!!! I have not felt hungry to have to fight that feeling in almost 2 years! Not sure how I will do to be honest. I am impressed that it was your first slime and PB after 5 months---you must be doing really well following the rules! Way to GO!!! I would just take it easy, the fill may settle in, and be fine, but if you continue to have problems I would ask for a teensy weensy unfill ---no sense in being miserable. Glad you are feeling better! Kat

I'm scheduled for 9/9... On pre op for 3 days now. No cheating but I'm hungry! Very hungry. Allowed 3-4 shakes per day and 1/3 cup of cottage cheese or yogurt. So far, so good but I feel like I'm starving but I know I'm not. Didn't realize how much I REALLY ate before I started this. No wonder I'm fat!

Hi Mary, thank you. I am absolutely loving my sleeve. I feel so different. I didn't think I would as I still have at least 6 stone to go. Getting off the sofa is easier, walking, getting my socks on. All sorts! How exciting that you'll be done on 20th. It'll be here before you know it. Which pre op diet are you doing? I found mine fine. For some reason I found it empowering and didn't cheat at all. I am pretty much sorted with normal food but it has been trial and lots of error for a while. I have a yogurt with granola, Cereal or a slice of brown toast for brekkie, a wrap with ham or chicken or Pitta and houmous for lunch. For dinner I have 2 chicken wings or chicken and veg skewer or a fish cake all with veg. I don't bother with potato, rice etc. I don't have room and don't get on with a lot of it. I think it's more important to have the Protein. At the beginning of normal food I was sick a lot! Every week I get better at working out my portion sizes and what is good for me. I can't do straight fish but fish cakes are great. I have no regrets but had a few occasions when I worried. It's all fine now though. I have no reflux. I have no side effects. If you have any other questions just shout. More than happy to help. P.s did I see you live in maidenhead? I lived there for a bit.

I know i know, they all said its not possible to do that, but I feel like maybe I did. July 21 will be 6 months from my surgery and coincidentally, my birthday! - Maybe when I went from working out at night to working out in the morning before work (up around 330/4am, workout 415-515am, home by 6am), my system went out of whack? its like after work and after a sensible protein packed dinner of mainly chicken breast or something prepared healthily, i still feel like I can eat and eat and eat. I have a protein shake with spinach for breakfast, my millions vitamins, water, decaf coffee, then a great lunch of half cup of chicken breast or a protein shake with more spinach and then dinner at home. I try to stay on my water and an 11am and 3pm snack of string cheese or peanut butter or a hardboiled egg white. Has anyone else felt like they could just keep eating? The last couple nights I ate a half container of reduced fat jif! I never even ate pb before surgery. Maybe im craving sweets? Is that im not drinking enough water? I add sugar free packets to flavor my water b/c i dont like mio’s aftertaste and dont always want a sweet powerade zero. I was having greek yogurts but stopped because i was getting burned out on dairy. Just wondering if anyone else feels this way about their pouch. Maybe its all in my head! Im 25 lbs from my goal weight!

sure is! Just stick to your yogurt and pudding. Time will fly!

our doctor allows yogurt as our source of protein for the first 2 weeks. we can also have milk, sorbet s.f. jello, coffee,tea fruit ice, popsicles and a few other things. The yogurt has to not have chinks of fruit in it.

I had surgery 8/19 Dr James Ray also, I was understanding clear liquids only day and day after surgery then liquids skim milk broth coffee sugar free koolaid and Jello, yogurt drinks ensure juice instant breakfast drink tea crystal light popicicles and v8 juice that has helped me, I had got chinese soup just the broth and had froze it up. I do like that but may not after all of this. My problem is my shoulder is hurting really bad wish that would quit. I have not been able to go to the bathroom think I should have a bm soon take care

I had a rough time with the band. I wasn't banded in Mexico. I was banded at a Bariatric Center of Excellence in Scottsdale, Arizona. I was told, 3 bites of Protein to every bite of vegetable. I was told, avoid beef and pork. Eat what walks on two legs or swims. Don't use sauces, gravies or dressings because you're adding unwanted calories. I'd eat chicken/turkey and it would get "stuck" and I'd have to get an unfill. And there I would be told, "Yeah, chicken is hard for a lot of people to eat. It gets stuck. You should probably avoid it." I'd eat fish (salmon usually) and sometimes it would get "stuck" and I'd have to get an unfill. And there I would be told, "Yeah, fish can be a problem because it's flaky and gets stuck. You should probably avoid it." I was told yogurt can be okay but it's easy to eat too much because it's a "slider" food so I should avoid it (even when I said I was eating plain greek-style stuff that was 24 grams of protein per serving! "When you eat yogurt, you won't feel full because it goes past the band. And the band is there to make you feel full.") But I was continually told, "3 bites of protein to every bite of vegetable." So...avoid beef and pork. Check. Chicken/turkey can be a problem, avoid it. Check. Fish can be a problem, avoid it. Check. Avoid yogurt. Check. BE SURE TO EAT PROTEIN! check!!! I got to the point where everything was getting stuck (except the "bad" stuff - sure I could eat pudding and Cookies and usually cake!). I could eat runny eggs (not scrambled and certainly not hard boiled). I could eat yogurt. I could eat cheese. And I could drink protein. Basically, the only Proteins I could eat had to be soft or liquid. And that was what I was supposed to eat most? How can anyone live that way? Yes, I lost a bunch of weight - because I wasn't eating much! I couldn't! I couldn't eat healthy foods! I was miserable! My surgeon had left that Bariatric Center of Excellence where I was banded/maintained. In October last year, I had a big problem (couldn't sleep, couldn't drink, let alone eat) and the Bariatric Center of Excellence in Scottsdale had no one available to do an emergency unfill. No NP or PA, the surgeon was out of town but I could go to the ER (not covered by my insurance because they weren't contracted with that hospital) and a non-bariatric surgeon who wasn't really familiar with fills/unfills, on call with the Bariatric Center of Excellence, could help me. No thank you. I found my original surgeon practicing elsewhere (finally! he wasn't for a while), he was able to get me in. He had me do an upper GI at the hospital right then - my band was prolapsed quite a bit. I was only at maybe 3.5 cc in a 10 cc band. He was aggravated when I told him about my fill/unfill/fill stuff with the other office - especially when the fills were very, very small. He said they should've known there was a problem because I was barely filled. He deflated the band completely (relief! I could drink Water again!) and told me I needed it removed. It wasn't an urgent thing unless I couldn't eat or drink, so I went home. He told me he wouldn't reposition it because if it happened like that with me, it would happen again. Starting sometime in Spring 2011, I started having "stuck" issues again. More bringing up the food. One night in July, I had cooked a burger patty (after deflation, I was able to eat most everything again). Ate it plain, no bread (of course), no veggies. I had eaten too much. I didn't know I had until it was too late. Unknown to me, my band had prolapsed again. It was allowing me to eat much more than I had before. This night was just too much. I tried to wait it out and I went to sleep after a while. I woke in the middle of the night and I vomited. I didn't bring it up, I vomited. Retching, stomach acid, etc. After that, I couldn't really drink. I "slept" upright. All day the next day (thankfully a Saturday), I didn't eat. I just tried to sip water. I had no improvement. After the next night of waking, coughing up water over and over again, I drove myself to the ER. Unfortunately, my surgeon was out of town. His partner in the practice was on call. He wasn't very nice to me but...I had the band removal surgery and that was that. (I'll say healing was much better with this than when I had it originally - no port/muscle wall stuff to deal with) Was it the worst decision I've ever made? No, because I needed to do something. And I did lose weight. But I was miserable most of the time. So very miserable... I'm still over 100 lbs overweight and gaining. I have PCOS and I don't know what to do. But weight loss surgery is no longer an option for me. And I'm really worried about my future. To the OP - find a local surgeon. Fork out the money. You need an upper GI. You could have a prolapse and you are risking erosion. This is your health and your quality of life at stake - be proactive.

Hi all, here is my Journey so far. I was one of the lucky ones (NOT) who had a JP Drain. I hope my story helps others. So far, so good - no regrets at all!! June 2017: My ins just dropped the numerous lengthy requirements and is allowing sleeves. I jumped on it, and was able to navigate thru the list quickly. Start to finish took me about 2 months. Do Ins companies really think we haven't tried every program out there prior to considering major surgery??? Stupid! They no longer require 6 months of Dr administered weight loss program, but my Dr watched me for a few months, and submitted it just to make sure I would not run into any problems. I was approved 10 days after submission. I hate having to jump thru hoops, but the savings was worth it. Altho, I would have paid out of pocket if denied. Check off the requirements, and you should be fine. Most Drs have a good relationship with the ins claim reps. My daily (boring but working) pre op intake is: coffee with a splash of Premier Protein banana or caramel , then the rest of the Premier Protein Shake for Breakfast, at 10am I have 2 C of chicken broth, at Noon I have 2 C chicken broth + another Premier Protein shake, at 2pm I have 1 sf Jello cup, at 6ish I have 2 C chicken broth (appetizer ) and another Carmel Premier Protein shake, 8pm snack another sf jello cup. I don't really like any other flavors of broth or I would have those. My shakes have to be under 200 calories, high protein (these are 30g) and as low sugar as you can find (1g). Premier is handy, pre made, and I like the flavors (Caramel, Banana, and strawberry Cream are my favorites). I SWEAR I have not had any headaches, and my energy level is really good (just fall asleep earlier which helps me not dwell on food). Aug 25/2017: Surgery day and I couldn't be more excited!! My surgery went well except that I needed a JP drain that will remain in for about a week. I was up walking 2 laps of my floor that night. The nurse said she had never seen anyone do as well as me. She said my positive and excited attitude surely helped! My pain never got above 2 or 3 and I needed very little pain meds. 3 ice chips made me nauseous, so I did not eat or drink anything the first night. I do have to give myself shots in the stomach of Lovenox (blood thinner) to prevent blood clots for 2 weeks. Aug 26: Got discharged this afternoon after my upper GI and chest xray came back ok. Was able to keep down 4oz of liquid before I left the hospital. I'm off the pain meds now, and don't even feel the need for Tylenol. The Lovenox shots are not as scary as I thought they would be. The trick is to freeze the area for 10 minutes before you give yourself the shot, and put the ice back on right after you are done (the after affect feels like a wasp sting). Now I just need the gas to pass (pun intended). All said and done, I feel great for what I've been through, and lost 12 pounds pre op. I will keep up with updates. Thank you for all the support and info. This Forum is great, and I hope to pay it forward. Aug 28: Ok, so to continue my journey, I am 4 days post op and my drain is still working over time Im not concerned, but can't go back to work until its removed. After having little to no pain, this morning I noticed pain on my right side - like a stabbing pain. I have to hold my stomach when I walk for any relief. Seeing as most of my stomach was sliced off, I am assuming that now that the swelling is going down, some of this is "normal". Its definitely NOT gas pains. I don't like taking the liquid pain meds so am taking tylenol only. liquids are going down no problem. Energy level is up, and I'm looking forward to Protein Shakes on Friday. Update: Dr said my drain most likely moved which is causing the pain. Its pretty intense. Good thing is they will be removing it on Thursday. Bad thing is I will be living with the pain and have to take the liquid pain meds until then...a small price to pay I've discovered a love for tropical flavored sugar free popsicles !!! Aug 29: Having a good night and a great hair day so I'm psyched! Lol. My incisions are dissolvable stitches with a rubber cement waterproof type paint over them. The stuff just flakes off when healed. Easy peasy. I SERIOUSLY think I could have returned to work tomorrow if not for the JP drain. All bodily functions working perfectly, and no hunger pains. BUT I know that even tho I feel good, my body is still recovering from major surgery, so I am working from home Thurs and Fri and returning full time the day after Labor Day = 10 days post op. Knowing that there is still swelling and fluid retention from my hospital stay, Im staying off the scale until my post op appointment. I have ankles again!! August 31: Got my JP drain out today (yes, it hurt), but as soon as it was removed, the pain went away!! I feel like a million bucks Sept 1: Diet additions today!! I get to have protein shakes again, yogurt, milk, and cream soups. Still not feeling hungry and am down 18lbs. Had half a protein shake for breakfast, yogurt with sugar free cheesecake pudding mix stirred in for lunch, broth and a half glass of milk for dinner and sugar free jello with sugar free whipped topping for dessert. I heard that some are lactose intolerant after surgery, but I had no issues with anything I ate. I'm paranoid of gaining anything back, so am kind of afraid to eat. I will have to watch that. Having cabin fever so decided to venture out for the first time since surgery. I have a tendency to feel good and over do it, so wanted to be careful. Took a quick trip to the store, and then for a well deserved pedicure. Heaven. Energy level is still up. Since my boyfriend took good care of me, I decided a date night was in order and we went out. Challenging to say the least. How do you go into a bar without ordering a drink?? Pre planning helps. THIS IS A NO JUDGEMENT ZONE!!! I ordered a tall glass of water with lots of e and 1 small shot of vodka. Then I added Crystal Light cranberry to it that I brought along. Nursed it for 2 hours and did not even finish it. I have read others say alcohol hit them quicker after surgery (no noticeable change for me) and I KNOW that its not allowed (this soon or in some minds at all), but I am human. I gave up diet coke for Gods sake Next challenge coming up = lunch with friends in the liquid stage. I am mentally preparing already. Eat before, and take my Crystal Light. Since I am keeping my surgery secret, the only viable option is to say Im having a little tummy issue. Stay tuned. Sept 2: More milestones accomplished today! Ride my motorcycle - check, go boating - check Sept 3: Lunch with my man and his mom.....First I had to reassure my fiance that he could eat in front of me, and I would be ok. He was considerate enough to make sure that it was ok to plan lunch with his mom. Sweet man. I had a protein shake for breakfast and some vitamin water. We chose a restaurant where I knew they had soup on the menu. I told my future mother in law that I had been having stomach issues, and was changing my eating habits. I am not telling people I'm on a diet, or that I had surgery because history has shown that when you do say these things, people watch what you eat, or fill your ears with "helpful" tips etc. I'm not having it. So I ordered water and a cup of soup. Ate the broth and inconspicuously covered my cup with my napkin and handed it to the server first chance I could. Mission accomplished! You can go out to eat when in the liquid stage. Sept 4: Family bbq planned today.......Again, I will eat before we go. My fiance and I came up with a plan. We will both take plates and put food on them, he will then eat his plate of food, and then mine. Oh the games we play....Again, sweet man! I really don't care what anyone thinks, or surmises, this is my Journey and I will do it my way. 2 more weeks til I can eat real food The bbq was great. Truly a testament to the fact that it isn't the food, it's the company. I drank a shake for breakfast and then had some Greek yogurt before we left. Packed some So Be Life Water (my new staple). My brother in law tried to tempt me with Sangaria and grilled pineapple and I simply told him that I was trying very hard to eliminate sugar from my life plan and I was feeling GREAT so I must be doing something right. My fiance and I carried thru with our plan, and as we went thru the food line, he put on my plate half of what he wanted and then ate everything on both plates. Nobody said a word!! Not even my brother in law who notices, and comments on everything. That night we hit one of the last post op milestones Sex 10 days post op is just as fantastic as pre op. Yay! Sorry for the TMI, but this is a question that others are wondering about. Sept 6: Planning our road trip evac for hurricane Irma. I am packing protein shakes, cream soup packets, SoBe Water, crystal light packets, cottage cheese, yogurt and sugar free pudding mix for my yogurt. Wish us luck! Sept 12: The past week has been hell thanks to Hurricane Irma. Prepping 2 houses and 4 days of travel thru 3 states.....Boy, if I ever needed comfort food, or wanted to garbage up, it was now. But I stayed true to my plan by packing a cooler, and was never hungry! Sept 14: I am now in the puree stage and happy to be "chewing" kind of. I still love my sugar free popsicles. I have been switching it up with egg salad, tuna salad and lots of soups. I am surprised that I do not have any hunger pangs. So far I have not had any issues keeping food down. Watching my fiance eat the foods I used to eat does not bother me because I am so looking forward being thinner and healthier. So far I am down 24 pounds in 1 month (that includes my pre op diet week). Yay!

Jenn.. I feel great today. Another steri-stip came off today so I have 2 incisions uncovered and 3 covered yet. Will be glad when the itchies are done. I'm able to sleep on my side and my tummy. I'm sitting here with my second yogurt of the day. I haven't lost anything in the last couple of days, but I've done the diet by the book, so hopefully some more will come off soon. I never got swollen and I am noticing my clothes fitting looser now. It's not uncomfortable to wear all my undies again. The first week I camped out in my nightgown and nothing else. Now I can dress for the day and yesterday was my first day back to my routine. I did an hour of volunteer work at the hospital, had a 2 hour flute rehearsal, did some work at the church for an hour or two, came home and did some work on the computer and then went to choir rehearsal from 6-7. Went out for dinner afterwards... I had broth. And then home to watch tv. I got to bed about 11:30 and slept like a log until this morning at 8. I feel 100% normal and am just waiting to get out of the clear liquid phase and into the "all" liquids.(5 more days!!) In a nutshell I can say that this experience has been all good so far and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Judy

I was doing yogurt for 3 days before surgery, I hardly ate anything. Didn't eat anything at all the night before my surgery.

That's about how mine is. Except in my 2 week pre op, I can have cottage cheese lowfat and low carbs Greek yogurt. But only up to 3 times a day and 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. I have to have clear liquids throughout the day. The day before I can only have clear liquids and take citrate of magnesia around 4 pm. But the rest is exactly the same. Sent from my Z983 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi everyone, I'm having my bypass next Wednesday, 7/22. I was calm for the most part until the past few days, when I started getting nervous, but that was the nervous that I'm assuming everyone feels when surgery gets close. For some background, I'm 22 years old, 5'1, and started working towards surgery in October of last year at 260 pounds. As of today, I'm 50 pounds down, and that's of course on my own, before having surgery. Yesterday, I started having serious second thoughts. These normal nervous thoughts had me wondering if I could do it on my own since I've been able to lose 50 pounds by myself before surgery, and I keep telling myself I worked hard for this, and surgery is right around the corner, and if I didn't think I needed it, I wouldn't have started the program in the first place. Like I said, I was calm until a few days ago, but yesterday it really started hitting me. I started getting the feeling that I'll be unsuccessful with the surgery. Most, if not all, programs require a high-protein diet after surgery, including my own program. My issue is, I'm an extremely picky eater. I'm a vegetarian, and while I'm not totally vegan since I'll eat products containing milk and eggs, I prefer not to eat (or drink) those things if I can avoid it. So aside from not eating meat, I don't eat cheese or regular eggs prepared in any way (if I try I will not be able to stomach it). I also am grossed out by tofu. This honestly leaves my only options for protein for the rest of my life to be protein drinks and yogurt (which I would prefer not to eat all the time, it's not my favorite thing). My nutritionist said lentils and beans are ok, but they have a lot of starch so to eat other things if I can. I'm on my pre-op diet so that means I'm stuck on my protein drinks and yogurt for now, and after talking with my nutritionist a few times yesterday, the nerves I was already feeling worsened, and I started having normal doubts to real second thoughts. I was wondering if I'm actually cut out for this kind of surgery since I know I can't keep up with the protein that I'm being asked to eat, and I'm not sure I can compromise since I already know I won't be able to handle things like eggs, cheese, and tofu. If this kind of thing relies on me eating protein all the time, what kind of success can I have if I'm not able to do that? Yes, it'll physically restrict me from overeating, at least for the first year or two, but I'm afraid of a stall after only losing a small amount, or regaining the weight and having gone through all of it for nothing. I'm also thinking how if I lost 50 lbs on my own, I could try to lose the other 100 lbs on my own too, even if it's not the rapid weight loss that the bypass would give me. Like I noted earlier, though, I wouldn't have started this program in the first place if I didn't feel like I needed to go through it and wouldn't have worked so hard to make sure it happens. I'm 22 years old, should I wait a couple of years since I'm having these thoughts and try things out on my own and see how things go with that? Or should I go through with surgery next week? I have no idea between my doubts and the hard work I went through.

Keep in mind, you may need to verify your meal size with your doc or RD. Because when most people here 4-6oz, they start thinking weight--as in weighing on a scale. But, the reference they gave you still alludes to a volumetric measurement. 1oz by VOLUME (measure) = 2tbsp = 1/8cup by VOLUME = 1/4oz by weight 4oz by VOLUME (measure) = 8tbsp = 1/2cup by VOLUME = 2oz by weight 6oz by VOLUME (measure) = 12tbsp = 3/4cup by VOLUME = 3oz by weight ************** Conversely, most protein in it's pure/fluffy/cooked state, unweighted down by meat lube or other moisture additives like light or fat free mayo and dressings and sauces add up like this: 1oz protein by weight (then flaked, chopped fine, or pulled) = 2oz by VOLUME = 1/4c by VOLUME = 4tbsp 2oz protein by weight (then flaked, chopped fine, or pulled) = 4oz by VOLUME = 1/2c by VOLUME = 8tbsp ************** And then there's the whole "meat salad thing" like tuna salad, etc... 2oz tuna, salmon, canned chicken by weight (flaked, chopped, pulled) + 1tbsp low fat mayo/yogurt + 1/2tsp mustard + 1/2tsp dill relish = 1/4c by VOLUME = 4tbsp. It will weigh more than 2oz by weight because of the addition of the condiments. Fun and intriguing bs isn't it?