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@onereallybigbird. That's awesome news. Get some unflavoured Protein powder and add some to creamed Soup and yogurt, even sugar free pudding. It helps get the protein in. If too thick at milk to thin down. People also add it to broth but I can't seem to get that to work it curdled Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I don't know if the mashed pintos and cheese from Taco Bell is a good choice. It might be full of fat and made with processed cheese, which is not good for you, so I personally wouldn't go that route. As an alternative, you can have nonfat or low fat refried Beans. You can even put a little bit of light sour cream on them. Cream of celery soup was my favorite during my full liquid and pureed stage. I mixed in some of my unjury unflavored Protein powder to get the protein, which is important. Mashed sweet potato, mashed canned carrots. Some high protein foods during the mushy/pureed stage that I liked: scrambled eggs (I did Egg Beaters), cottage cheese, refried beans, nonfat plain greek yogurt (mixed with a little stevia to sweeten), chicken salad made with mashed canned chicken and nonfat or lowfat mayo.

Try yogurt or cottage cheese. try smaller bites,I use a baby spoon and eat slow.I had my surgery Nov.22,2016. I'n still on soft foods til Drs appt Friday. If you can't get food down the Dr needs to check for stricture.

Do you plan to eat like this for the rest of your life? I went in with the mindset of everything but in moderation, I lost 10 lbs more than I ever even planned for. Instead of bacon eggs and hasbrowns, I would eat an egg. For lunch, instead of a whopper meal with drink, I would get a whopper jr and maybe finish it, or a piece of bread with peanut butter. For dinner, the other half of a sandwich, for dessert- maybe some Greek yogurt or a piece of candy.

I can't get down Greek yogurt either anymore . I've tried different brands. I'm still working on my daily routine too. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yesterday I started Week 3 and I'm looking for suggestions on semi solid foods you enjoyed and if you got creative while still sticking to the guidelines? I never thought week 3 would come:) and never thought I'd enjoy purée potatoes and yogurt like it was steak! LOL Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Both my kids are high functioning ASD - I know what you mean! We mostly avoid artificial/processed food, but the pre-op diet was tough. I'd already picked up a few Sucralose products during the insurance mandated diet, but went full chemical sugar free for the last few weeks of super low carb. Man, it was *nasty*. But I've seen the pictures from my surgery and my liver looked FABULOUS, so I'm pretending it helped my liver shrink and am moving on. Like elisa5150, I did use sugar free stuff the first month or so - especially the sugar free popsicles - but also Gelatin, Protein powder, and some protein hot chocolate. Now, I use flavored stevia drops for kefir or yogurt (yay live cultures!) and a little xylitol (a sugar alcohol) in my tea. Some of Protein shakes (Orgain) have stevia and erythritol (another sugar alcohol) or monkfruit and inulin (Jamie Eason Lean Body for Her). Personally, I do really well with xylitol and okay with erythritol (though their "naturalness" is highly debatable). And while current research increasingly makes it look like sucralose and other traditional artificial sweeteners are really messing with gut health, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that stevia, monkfruit, xylitol, or erythritol have much effect one way or the other. There are natural(-ish) protein powders out there - as long as you can keep the carbs and protein where they're supposed to be. (My NUT recommended youbars - they make custom Protein Bars with options for natural sweeteners.) We love grass fed butter and cheese, though I'm sticking with olive oil and coconut oil for now. I do have a tub of natural coconut oil based vegan butter spread I use every once in a while, but I wouldn't give up grass fed dairy for margarine if I had a choice. Mostly, though, my new stomach prefers savory moderate to low fat food, so I try to work with that as much as I can. When I was still eating dairy, I discovered I could mix herbs (Penzey's Fox Point seasoning) into low fat Greek yogurt and use it as a dip. Still got my protein, but didn't have to sweeten it. Which is probably for the best. I don't think living on artificially sweet or fatty things is necessarily better than living on real sweet or fatty things. So, good fats when we eat them - grass fed beef; pastured eggs; olive & coconut oil - and all in reasonable amount. If a dish is too fatty, I can't eat enough to meet my protein goal. Sort of a self limiting problem, so I don't see the need to drag margarine into it. As for sweets... research just keeps making it look like artificial sweeteners wreck your gut and make you crave more sweets. Which kind of makes sense since some "bad" gut bacteria has been tied to increased sugar consumption/desire for sugar. And sweets have gotten me into a lot of trouble in general, so I feel like this is the time to develop better habits. Thank heavens I did full on high fat/low carb Keto before surgery - I rarely had sweet things anyway and it still kicked my butt! But it really did kick the sugar cravings and I am so glad I didn't have to deal with that post surgery! It's made it way easier to explore healthy options that don't involve so many chemicals. Now to try and get back on my gut health protocol and try and get my kids onboard. Wow - sorry this is so meandering - it's the middle of the night and we have a small herd of cousins over for the first Christmas break sleepover. Brain. Fried. Let me know if you need product ideas - I feel like I've researched them all . Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Hey all! I was sleeved August 24 and have lost 48 pounds thus far.. I am a creature of habit and usually eat the same things everyday to get my Protein in.. however, I'm getting a little blah with the same old stuff.. what is a typical day of meals like for you? Any fast high protein meals you can recommend me making? Maybe it's a mental block but I can NOT get down Greek yogurt which is such a bummer bc it has so much protein in it. Thanks Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Ooh yogurt smoothies! !! Yes Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App

I am 9 days out. I had surgery on 12/7/16. I feel sick a little bit all the time. Learning what to eat. I had broth and cream Soup in the hospital.... I just can't.... I am using Protein shakes. Yogurt smoothies. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Good suggestion! I keep dropping money for things I can't tolerate! Will try this, cuz I am having a horrible time getting my protein in. I have tried everything, but the smell and taste of the protein makes me puke it back up. So far am using Atkins shakes, Healthy Wise Soups, Atkins Lift Water (as tolerated), but I had to get something in my system that would stay down. So I had to go to soft food more quickly than I wanted. Cottage cheese and very, very soft Salmon. Now I can tolerate the Oikas Greek Yogurt so far. I have tried adding the Protein Powder to stuff, but even holding my nose doesn't work. Blech! 11/11/16: HW 380 11/28/16: Duodenal Switch Surgery 11/28/16: SW 374 lbs 12/14/16: CW 350 lbs

Eh, ok. Back to liquids with a little cottage cheese, yogurt, and refried Beans added in. Haven't thrown up in a couple of days! I see the surgeon Tuesday, but the barium swallow test isn't till the week after. I actually feel better. Throwing up takes alot of energy! Thanks for asking! Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App

I'm 8 days out, noticed my sips were not small enough. I've always been a gulper. Thankful I haven't had much pain when I drink. I did the first few days now not so much . Haven't had a lot of gas issues. Was given an acid pill for 30 days perhaps that helps. Yogurt was too think with extra Protein powder so thinned out with soy milk (has more protein then milk) it does get better hang in there. Also took durolax to help with BM, that helped a lot. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I wondered the same thing early on. It definitely gets easier. I was sleeved on Oct 13. I felt like I had improvements with how things felt in my tummy between weeks 3-4 and 6-7. From week 3 to 4, I noticed that soft foods, like yogurt, didn't feel so yucky. From week 6 to 7, Water suddenly tasted refreshing to drink (prior to that, water made me feel like gagging). ...hang in there.

I am 3 days post op and I am really struggling to eat. I am allowed to have stage 2 full liquid, like yogurt, pudding, Protein shakes and applesauce. I am lucky if I can get an ounce of food down. I dread having to eat. How long will this last? Will I ever want to eat? Drinking is super hard too. Help! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thought I'd share my discovery... I'm on day 4 of the pre op high Protein shake liquid diet. It's definitely challenging and quite a change from eating mindlessly for so long. I wanted to share some things I've discovered regarding the shakes. The shakes when Blended (ninja) can be really nasty to me. I have a box of unflavored and chocolate, I do a scoop of each with a lot of Water and 4 to 6 ounces of plain kefir and it is really drinkable! The tartness of the yogurt cuts down the sweetness from the Protein Powder . Sometimes I throw in a little bit of fruit and spinach as well. I also like my coffee hot not lukewarm ...but they say you can't mix protein with hot liquids because the texture changes, this is true. however... I found an awesome way to drink hot coffee with the protein and the same should hold true for Soups. I slowly slowly mixed two scoops of my protein powder into about 16 ounces of warm coffee I use the thermometer it was about 120 degrees comma if I poured too much protein it would come if I really took my time and adding a little bit it wouldn't call, once I managed to mix my two scoops with no clumps, I then I threw in the microwave for 40 seconds. it became really hot and smooth, no clumps!! I can't believe I've never read this everything on the instructions and everyone says that protein cannot be mixed with hot water but why didn't anyone ever think that we can just reheat it? Maybe this can help someone that likes Hot things like me. Sent from my XT1585 using the BariatricPal App

Good question for your surgeon's office or nutritionist. I was sleeved 11/29 and just advanced to semi-liquid at 15 days out which includes yogurt, cream of wheat and pureed soup. As we all have seen - every surgeon's progression plan is different, but I don't even average 500 calories daily. You will not fail if you are doing what you are supposed to - sometimes it just takes longer for your body to adjust to the new plan!

Sleeved 8/23/16 - HW 271.5 (4/16) SW 246.9 CW 205.1 From size 20-22 pants to size 14-12 right now. About 50 pounds to goal. If you are not already using it, use My Fitness Pal and track every ounce of food and Water that goes into your body. It keeps you honest. I weigh myself daily. (Some people do weekly but I find daily keeps me honest.) Make sure you have healthy options in the house so you never have to be looking around for a snack. Try different kinds of Protein powders now in the small sample sizes to see which ones you like or don't like and start experimenting with shakes. Pre-surgery for three months I did a Protein shake every morning for Breakfast -- and worked on playing with flavors, fruit, coffee-house syrups, etc. Start exercising - walk around the block, swim, join a gym. move your body and schedule time for it. Plan rewards for various weight goals -- 25 pounds - new lipstick? 50 pounds - new dress? Start a private pinterest board with fashions you want to try as you get thinner Research thrift and consignment shops in your area - you are going to need them. If you don't have a good scale, buy one. (I have a Withings, which sends my weight directly to My Fitness Pal. Consider purchasing a fitness tracker. (I use a Garmin Vivosmart HR and love it. I think it's much better than the Fitbit models.) Get your head in the right place - the surgery isn't going to solve any problem you may have with emotional eating - if that's part of your issue, get help now - work with a therapist or other counselor. Get a good pair of sneakers. Start by walking a little more now. Park 15 spaces away from the grocery store this week. 25 spaces next week. It's all incremental. Protein is your friend. Start counting your grams of protein. After surgery, your rules will likely be protein first, everything else after. I average 60-90 grams of protein a day and I eat about 800 calories a day now. Oikos Triple Zero Greek Yogurt and Fairlife Skim Milk are your friends. I'm at the point now where I can eat anything, even bread, but I don't. Sometimes I'll have half a slice of whole wheat toast. Barilla makes a high protein Pasta (yellow box) which is really good. Once you get a surgery date, find a group here on BP to chat with that are all having surgery in the same month. Attend your hospital or clinic's support group meetings regularly. Best of luck with finding the new you. I wish I had done this 15 years ago.

I had my surgery on Dec 5, Monday will be two weeks. I have only lost 3 pounds so far and I'm feeling a little discouraged. I average between 700-900 calories a day, I get all my protein and fluids in. I feel absolutely no restriction, I can eat 1/2 cup of soup, cream of wheat, a full 5oz yogurt whatever. Is it possible to fail at this? According to my fitness pal I'm eating way less calories than needed to lose weight so I'm confused and discouraged.

Do you purchase flavored Dannon oikos triple zero yogurt or is it plain Greek yogurt? I used to love Greek yogurt but I can't eat the plain one.

Most people seem to breeze right through and even cheat and eat things sooner than they are supposed to. I am not one of those people. My stages were much shorter than your's. 3 day easy pre-op, 3 days clear liquid after surgery, then full liquids weeks 2-5 (including yogurt, creamy Soups, Protein shakes, etc) I tried a million shakes and have a hard time getting any of them down. Around week 3 I started complaining to my surgeon. At week 4 they put me on an anti stomach acid med (a PPI called protonix, some people get it right from the beginning) I still had problems getting much down except for Water. I feel hungry but after a couple of bites start to feel sick. At week 5 I was SUPPOSED to be able to try to eat almost anything that sounded good. I was still struggling so I called my surgeon. He started me on another med called carafate. It is supposed to aid in healing and sooth any possible ulcers. My surgeon told me to call back at week 7 if I am still struggling. I get very few calories a day (maybe 300-400??) I am slowly eating more and feeling better. I can eat a scrambled egg. I can get down a Babybel cheese and a couple of almonds. Tonight I had 2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter and a couple of apple slices. So my answer to you is YES I have struggled to eat again. Call your surgeon if it doesn't get better in a few days. BUT if you are getting all of your water and all of your protein in they will probably tell you to just slowly keep working at eating. Hope this helps. I am honestly shocked at what I see people eating at 4 or 5 weeks out. Not just what they eat but the amount. I am not saying they are doing anything bad, just that I couldn't force that much down if I wanted to. I don't understand how they do it.

I know every surgeon is different but I am curious as to how long they had you do each phase of the post op diet. For example, my doc had me do 2 week liquid pre op, 2 weeks clear liquid post op, then week 4-6 full liquids then after that introduce soft foods. I am at the full liquid stage and I had about 1 tablespoon of yogurt and it did not sit well with me. I am hoping this won't last but has anyone else had a tough time introducing thicker foods back into their diet? Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

I'm glad I like protein shakes. Two Pure Protein (35g each) and one Dannon Oikos Triple zero yogurt (15g) takes care of the majority of my protein. I don't have to add any powder to anything (thankfully because I hate it!)

As long as it's allowed on your plan soup has been great for me at this stage. I started with beef or chicken broth and once I was on purees I switched to creamy soups. I love the roasted red pepper and tomato soup from Trader Joes. I melt a little asiago cheese in it. When I wanted something a little thicker I tried grits and they were really good. I make protein shakes in the morning with almond milk and chocolate protein powder and greek yogurt. This morning I added a little PB2.

You should be given details about what you can eat during each stage. Every surgeon is so different you really have to just wait and see what they tell you. Most people go from Clear liquids to full liquids (Protein shakes, Soups, I was allowed yogurt) Then people go to pureed foods and then soft foods. I have been eating a scrambled egg daily for a while now. It varies so much from surgeon to surgeon it's hard to make suggestions for you.