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Thank you angied for the recommendation. I am picking up almond milk and greek yogurt tonight - will give it a whirl tomorrow morning!!

@"veryblessed" Congrats on your surgery! I too was sleeved on 9-20, almost 2 wks out now. Stomach pain is minimal , but found I had more abd pain after the staples removed... Strange ..but I Am definitely not pushing the food limits! Sticking w soft foods, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese. I'm finding the foods I crave no longer taste good when I try them. How are you doing now? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Boos, Crystal, Stephanie and Cathy... thanks so much for the feedback. As far as chewing well enough - agreed, I sometimes forget to chew as well as I should, but really for the most part, I have no other choice if I want to get something down. I think it is very telling when you are PBing on YOGURT and other soft foods - so chewing may not always be the issue. The juicing idea sounds good for nutrient intake, but it doesn't sound like something we should consider for the long run and in place of "real" food. This journey should really be a lifestyle change we can live with and that should include being able to eat solid foods to stay healthy. After reading your posts and living with this for the past couple of months, I realize I should call my doctor and schedule an unfill... even if it's only a half of a cc. I am getting so frustrated - depressed really - over not being able to eat real foods and swallow normally. It's not uncommon for me to have to stop my car sometimes to throw up on the roadside with something I just can't swallow or digest. Now that's kind of ridiculous and is good cause for me to reconsider how tight I am. So, the reason I am eating some junk food is because it actually goes down and I need to have the feeling of actually swallowing food sometimes! I do realize that sometimes the PBing gets worse when I forget to chew, take too big of a bite, or eat that extra forkful - but it's happening too often now and it can't be good for my health or esophagus. Time to get into see my Dr. and have a little taken out. Thanks again for the great advice! All the best to all of you. I'll keep you posted.

Sorry not to answer you sooner @Sajijoma - I've been swamped with work lately, and a family event too. So today I knew I had a lunch meeting, so I previewed the menu and called to ask how much meat was on the steak salad (3oz) so I started logging with that, and then added foods to get to my targets. - Breakfast I had 1/3 of an ounce of "Just Strawberries" (crunchy dried ones with no junk added, and 1/3 ounce is quite a bit really) and a "peppermint mocha" version of my Protein drink; 1 scoop Isopure low carb chocolate flavor made hot with a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk and two shots of espresso and peppermint extract . - Morning snack was 4 ounces lean Board's Head sliced deli chicken and 3/4 of an ounce of home-roasted cashews I make (less fat/salt/sugar) and half an ounce of aged Gouda. - Lunch at the restaurant was lettuce, a few grape tomatoes, a few toasted pecans and the rare steak - and light on the dressing! - Afternoon snack is 3 ounces non-fat Fage yogurt mixed with another scoop of isopure Protein powder (Combat is good too!), 1/3 ounce dried Just Peaches, and a Mediterranean chicken breast skewer from costco. Also 2 tablespoons cream in my iced coffee with some stevia - yum! - dinner will be 4 ounces scrambled egg-whites , one slice of bacon, 3 more ounces of nonfat Fage yogurt topped with a bit of SF Torani vanilla syrup and 2 ounces of frozen blueberries. - My evening snack (which I finally realized helps me avoid late night foraging!) is half a chocolate chunk Quest bar with half a tablespoon of Justin's Peanut Butter on it. This is fairly typical, though I don't usually have that much fruit. a couple times a week I get my carbs from mug cakes or other things like Halo Top ice cream, maybe skim milk in a small Cappuccino, or Combat protein powder has 5 carbs to a scoop, but 25 grams of protein! My Isopure I get at the Vitamin Shoppe has no carbs or fat, but also 25 grams of protein. It's a LOT of food, and not right for everyone, but after a terminally long stall I finally accepted that it could be my body was needing me to eat more and be really stable in my intakes so it could stabilize enough to begin losing again. I lift weights at the gym four days a week (two upper body days, two lower body) for about 25 minutes including stretching, and do some form of cardio on three of those days for about 20 minutes -- HIIT on the treadmill usually or by swimming laps the same way. Some days I use the torture machine (i.e. stairclimber!) but only rarely. I've consistently lost 2 pounds per week, this week 2.5 (yay!) and I can finally say I'm never hungry or deprived feeling. I have bread or a treat if I want to factor it in, and if it's REALLY good, but decided there's no point in eating mediocre stuff. Hope this is helpful. I aim for 60 ounces of Water each day too. Kate Wow - sorry for such a long answer just now!

Jen -- glad to hear you are doing so well! Yay mushies! I know what you mean about looking forward to those foods. I'm on Optifast right now, so I'm actually looking forward to my post-op week of liquids, just so I can have some juice and yogurt drinks! Maria

I know TMI. But for everyone with a yeast infection, try douching with live yogurt as well, seriously!

I feel great today. Finally turned that corner. Yinfec is under control & I can totally sleep on my side now! Thursday I went to bed (the 1st night I was able to sleep on my side) and I woke up 14 hours later! I needed it. We have been blessed with BEAUTIFUL GORGEOUS weather today. I'm sitting here at my computer, ate my prune yogurt, drinking my coffee, have the patio door open, birds are chirping, my windchimes are chiming, the smell of burning sage is in the air and all is right with the world. I may even be able to talk DH into walking at the zoo today. Nasvhille has a really beautiful zoo and I have a membership. I hope no one has been discouraged by my whiny post, I just wanted to be as honest as factual as possible because I like to know what's up before hand. Now that I'm on the other side of things, I know I've done the right thing and I'm really excited about my future. I have a normal to small sized husband, he married me at almost my top weight, so I'm excited to see where this takes our relationship as we are able to do more outdoor activites together. Mary, know that I will be thinking of you. Hang in there and stay strong sister :hug: I hope no one has been discouraged by my whiny post, I just wanted to be as honest as factual as possible because I like to know what's up before hand. :girl_hug: Tracy

Hang in there Mia, I know exactly how you feel! I went through the same thing. I promise you, it will get better. You're on mushies right? Try to eat foods that will stay with you like oatmeal for breakfast, or canned tuna or chicken (very finely chopped). Stuff like mashed potatoes, pudding, and yogurt go down easily, but they don't stay with you very long. Remember protein, protein, protein! Try to keep active too, that will help burn calories. You probably just need to walk since you're still healing. It's going to be hard until you get some decent restriction, but I know you can do it!

All these ideas are good. But wow, I buy Bariatric Advantage meal replacements in a bag and only pay $60 a bag. I order it straight from them. I generally add frozen blueberries and cinnamon and it comes out like a brilliant blue cinnamon streusel ice cream. I guess I will get tired of it but haven't yet. It is still pricey but I figure it really isn't bad, with the things I add it works out to about $2 a serving, which is a meal. I use the greek yogurts as they have so much protein, but I love yogurt and the Greek is so much more 'yogurty'. You could add one to your shake mixes to change the flavor some. I started doing that because I tried to go vegetarian and my hair started falling out.

No judgement here because i have the same exact thoughts!!! I am not trying to be critical, it's just like even with Aretha Franklin and Drew Carey. 80-100 lbs, and they just suddenly after yrs and yrs of being big are successful at losing that kind of weight? I am sure by now, Aretha has lost even more, it's been a few months since I first saw her. I watched a talk show with Drew and he said he's going to just say "80" lost, because he lost more but has had a slight regain since his original loss. He talked about changing his eating, watching his carbs, eating things like greek yogurt.. I don't judge them either, and I guess after reading how many people on these forums keep their surgeries a secret, then a celebrity has just as much right to their privacy and they are stalked by the paparazzi so much and judged and critiqued publicly so much, so they probably want to keep their privacy even more than the average joe. And we've all seen how they do people like Carnie Wilson in the media. So it's no wonder!! But I am still very curious about the truth, because of my own journey. I know it's possible with their $ to hire personal trainers and nutritionists and chefs, but it does seem odd that it seems to be happening only in the last yr or so that we are seeing all these celebrity transformations. Regardless of the method, I am very very happy for them despite my suspicion lol. I always love seeing weight loss success. I love watching shows like Extreme Makeover, Weight loss edition, but I have mixed emotions with it. I am excited for the loss they have but I worry on their ability to keep up the exercise routines they have to keep. I do think some kind of exercise is helpful, beneficial, and sometimes vital to our health, regardless our weight. But 4-5 hrs a day?? When they get back to their own lives, no one is making them do this stuff, no one is buying and providing them with their groceries, etc. I worry about their well-being and emotional health and what failing after the show will do to their self esteem if they are unable to maintain. Sometimes I like the show cuz the guy seems to really care, but then sometimes I feel it's no more than a circus/freak show when he makes a big deal on the scales he has to use to weigh them at their starting weight. I know they get trips, exercise machines, cars, groceries bought for them, but can he at least not humiliate them on tv? Can't they do the weighing and just tell what the starting weight is without making them disrobe with all the rolls hanging out and stress they can't use a reg scale. I guess I know how i would feel in the same situation. But I guess they feel it makes good tv and that's why they do it. Anything for good ratings, right? I need to submit this post before i really get to ranting hahahaha

Hello everyone! I was banded on 12/29. Everything went o.k. came home next day around 11a m. Until today I really felt awful, sore, tired, emotional and after the third day STARVING!! But last nite I seemed to have a turn for the better I was finaly able to eat some yogurt and I had a popcicle.(besides the Protien shakes} everything up till then hurt my stomach & took hours to get down. Going to check-up Monday. I think it's all going to be O.K. :tt2:

Hi all... I just wanted to give some hope to someone out there. I've been in similar situations for over a year now. Had my band placed 3/07. Lost 45lbs... And Stopped losing... I tried eating healthy, leafy greens, lean Protein, lots of Water, but every time I pb'd I'd run for the Ben and Jerry's, or anything else that would slide down so that I could have a "meal". Yeah, I was hungry, but I probably could have done without another meal... So, I went to the doc to consider revision to bypass, and she requires 6 months with a nutritionist. So I've been seeing the nutritionist for 2 months, without a budge of the scale. I finally had to come clean with myself. Cut the crap out. No more Ben and Jerrys. I've read every single weight loss book on the market over the past 2 months. Digested all the info. None of the diets included ice cream. But I also didn't want to live a life of fat free, no sugar, no coffee, restrictions, and rules. Life happens. If I eat a donut, I don't want to care about it. Its the dozen I fear after a meltdown. So I basically wanted to revise my diet, not completely revamp. I went out and bought weight watchers ice creams, sugar free popsicles, and a protein shake from Arbonne that's super thick. I drink the shake for Breakfast. Snack is fruit or a light n' fit yogurt. lunch is 6" subway sandwich (of which I can only eat half) and Lay's Light potato chips (75 calories a serving). If I get the hungries around 3-4 pm, I eat fruit or another yogurt, or no sugar pudding. dinner is anything. A slice of pizza, chicken and veggies, big salad with protein, beef tenderloin, anything. After 2 hours I drink 3 glasses of water, or a couple cups of tea. If I still want anything after that, its weight watchers, sugar free, or lo-cal... To me, it wasn't a life altering diet, with 200 calories of this, or 5 points of that, net carbs, and such. I was just sick of the same old routine. Step on the scale, same number. Every day. Maybe I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do it without revision to bypass. Maybe I gave up on food. Maybe just the evil food. Of course I guess you could say that I wasn't using my band for what it was intended... (by the way, I hate when people say that. use your band as a tool. I know, I know. Just stop lecturing already). So, with revised diet in place, in 1 week I dropped 6lbs. How does that happen? I guess when you stop eating a pint of Ben and Jerrys for dinner every night, you can drop a few pounds. I haven't even started seriously excersizing. All I do is ride my bike 2 times a week for about an hour. I don't want to preach to anyone. But I gave up. And I'm trying again. Maybe this won't continue to work for me. Maybe I will still revise to bypass. Who knows. But it'd be great to lose another 20 pounds before the bypass, if thats what I decide...

Wow! Gemini, I could have written your post! I too have lost 90 lbs and am very pleased with my results so far. The last month's weight loss, though, has been very slow fro me also. I too have had a lot of stuck and painful sliming attacks (every day at least one or more meals a day for about a month!). I keep thinking I've just eaten too fast, didn't chew enough, was holding water, hadn't drank enough water, had food that was too hot/cold/spicy...etc! I was just fine and then all of a sudden--just like you said--I can't seem to eat anything except yogurt, pudding, or soup. I actually can't take it anymore. I have an appointment to have a slight unfill this coming Monday. If I were you, I wouldn't get that fill you have scheduled; I can't imagine you'll be happy with it. If my doctor has any good insights into why everything was fine until about a month ago, I'll let you know. I'm so looking forward to being able to eat again without wondering whether or not what I ate will be staying down...

Hi all I m 6 days out and for the first 2 days I was in so much pain I didn't 'want to eat either I just want the pain to stop but I got dehydrated because my liquids kept coming up so now I can have puréed foods and I can only eat about 3 spoons full so I open and have to go back to something as small as Greek yogurt less more eat a 3 course meal.

Sounds like things are going well. Good for you. I hope everyone else is doing well. I got okayed to get in the pool and walk around, which I have been doing. Getting in no problem being in no problem getting out - I do feel a bit of tugging and pulling on my tummy and that's due to that silly thing we call gravity. While inside the pool your body is compressed by the water, the 1/2 way in with the belly and 1/2 way out is not that comfy. My incisions are healed, but I have a few annoying white stitches (suppose to be dissolvable sticking out that will need to be trimmed which irritate me a bit. I'm still on full liquids, though I have gotten in some watery instant mashed with added unjury unflavored protein, I did try watery scrambled eggs (less than 1/2 egg (eggbeaters) and a few teaspoons of 1% cottage cheese (these are considered Pureed - but the protein shakes were gagging me and I had to try something). I live mostly on seriously pureed and watered down bean and bacon soup I can get in less than 1/4 cup of soup for dinner. I had Cream of asparagus last night, which was pureed first before adding skim and cooking. I can only get in 1/4 of a cup of soup a day, plus 1/2 small container of yogurt or 1/2 a sugar free pudding. I'm still hitting on 450-489 calories a day. I'm doing better on my protein. I bought the nectar, which I had yesterday but though I decided to try my frosty chocolate this morning to see if I am doing better than Monday, each sip is still hit or miss, but I'm getting it down better today than Monday. I try to get in 6-8 isopure a day too. I have had a lot of personal tragedies in my personal life which has been painful lost a friend and a beloved pet last week, but I'm trying to stay positive, though I admit I am getting cranky. 5 week post-op check up and meeting with nutritionist is Monday. I better....be allowed pureeds...I would like to try pureed tuna and I have had the stupid pouches in the fridge for 2 weeks hoping for the day I get to move along. Sometimes I worry that I will never be able to get down more than a 3 teaspoons of anything down at a sitting and I will always be abnormal. It's not really about the food, it's about the fact that I take a few sips of soup or 2 teaspoons of cottage cheese and I felt like I had a 16 ounce steak and baked potato. Poop talk below - beware! BM's are hard to come by. For those suffering liquid in liquid out, I miss those moments. I miss the gas and water. I am taking a prescription of amitiza (like colace) and resorted to suppositories for now and am waiting to see if I can start metamucil or something else soon, because ....I know I'm a girl, but I miss farting and I miss pooping. I have had severe issues with intestines in the past with adhesions around them, and I have had diverticulitis and I get polyps and I just know that going potty is good for you, not going potty is not good for you and that's playing with my head a bit. The weather is humid and hitting a 100 and nobody in my family really wants to go walking with me at night. I almost went this morning but it was already miserable out. I am going to attempt the gazelle again, but it pulled a bit too much on my tummy a few days ago when I tried. Unfortunately, I had a hernia repair and of course some pretty good complications so I have to take it light, but I would really like to get more exercise in. Weight loss has slowed to a crawl, I have weighed the same basically for almost a week (i've gotten on the scale in the afternoon to enjoy a 3+ on the scale just to be down the next day) and it's probably due to the heat and I'm going to cut myself some slack though it gets on my nerves a bit. Everyone says I look like I lost a lot more weight, so maybe it's inches though my tummy is still nice and swollen. I would think after 5 weeks it would have dropped by now. I have nice curves on my sides but 2 inches above my belly button is jetted out still. Obviously I'm healing slow, maybe my age and Lupus is causing me to be a slower healer. I'm still happy I had the surgery. I had a goal of 199 by July 18th, the way I was losing I was certain I would make it, but this up & down thing has me crawling. I hope everyone else if feeling well and every day is a little better than the day before. Good luck healing and enjoying the loser's bench.

They gave me yogurt and broth In the hospital... I couldn't "eat" it but they gave it to me..,

Surgery date was 10/29. Down 21 lbs. Feeling pretty good. Can't wait until week #3 so I can eat tuna with mayo! Right now just pushing the water, can have a teaspoon of unsweetened applesauce, a teaspoon of mashed potatoes, or yogurt.

Yes, I'm still on the liquid diet (for 10 days post surgery, which will be this Sunday). I'm allowed clear liquids, protein shakes, nonfat yogurt and sugar free pudding. My calorie intake has been between 600-800 per day on the liquids... its not TOO bad, but sometimes i feel like i could kill someone for a bite to chew on!

I am on my 3rd day post op and at this stage have no desire to chew.I am even finding it hard to drink some of the liquids. Not because they are difficult to get down , there is no problem there, I'm just not really hungry yet. I can't even drink a full cup of tea and if you knew me then you would realise that is amazing as i am a complete and utter teapot. Just got my breakfast. Half a glass of drinking yogurt and so far all I have managed is two sips. The rest can wait until later.

Hi again Sha! Well consider yourself very lucky, I started mine two days ago and am not allowed to eat ANY food. liquids only consisting of Protein shakes, juices, low cal drinks, Jello, and thank god a little yogurt. broth is an option but I can't seem to sip it, blah! It has been tough but I guess the good part is that in the first two days I lost ten pounds! Take care and can't wait for the 10th!!!! FatBoy to soon be Slimboy

I am also a 10-Nov-10 bandster. I found out yesterday (less than 24 hours after surgeon submitted to insurance) that I was approved. The woman who called to tell me said that she has never seen an approval come through so quickly. My pre-op diet starts a week in advance of the surgery and consists of sugar-free liquids and things like SF pudding and low- or no-fat yogurt. I am still a little in shock, frankly, but I am also quite excited to start moving forward after what seems like a long time! :thumbup: My first step was the seminar in April and my approval came yesterday, so it was about 6 months from beginning to end. I did not see the surgeon, though, until mid-July, so if you use that date, it has really been only three months. I just cross my fingers that this really happens...it just seemed a little too easy.

I've had a lot of challenges with the band, but I think I can offer you some support. I think what you are experiencing is normal. RIght after my surgery, I could not eat more than 1 6oz yogurt and it took me all day to eat it. I got through it by drinking apple juice mixed with water. By the end of my first month, I could eat exactly the same way I did pre-banded. I had no restriction at all after the swelling went down. I hope you start feeling better soon.

Well it turned out, I only worked out that one time. I am so upset. My job had me so consumed, and I just couldn't let go. I was coming home 8:30/ 9:00p, with no energy to work out. One day, I didn't get to eat until after 8:30p. I was an emotional reck. The funny thing was, I really wanted to over eat, and my little stomach was not hearing that. LOL! I was mad, cause I wanted to make up for lunch and dinner. I had to really talk to myself and remind myself, that I would be okay just eating the one meal (well I had a protein shake, a banana and some yogurt, but not lunch), and my mind just couldn't shake that. I realize that has been one of my down falls, eating late as hell. I am greatful for this surgery, because I am forced to not to over eat. I am getting my mind on track with my body (slllooooooowwwwwwwwwlllllllyyy). I will be at the gym in the morning. I think your task of walking to the game was cool. Heck, you could have been dropped off. LOL! I know the other people probably would have have agreed to that, but the option could have been different none the less. Stay encouraged

I was banded on the 20th and having similar experiences to you all. I still have some gas stuck up in my left shoulder, but it's really more irritating than painful. Today though I had sharp, shooting pain in my left ribs. The first time it happened, it caught me off guard and made it hard to get a good breath. As for food...I'm on the full liquid diet until 2 weeks post op. Over the last few days I've had Water, Gatorade, broth, SF Jello, SF pudding and even SF frozen yogurt. I felt really guilty about the frozen yogurt though. I'm down about 7 to 7.5 pounds since surgery. I did not do a pre-surgery diet.

yesterday I had Breakfast: coffee with coffee mate creamer 1 piece pumpkin bread with butter Lunch: 4 chips /salsa 1/2 a cheese enchilada Dinner: 1/2 a soft taco with meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream snack : greek yogurt