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I had my sleeve surgery 1/20/16 and I took a 3 day trip to Las Vegas on 2/11/16 (3 weeks post op). Now, I know everyone recovers differently but I was completely useless for the first 2.5weeks. I was worried about taking my trip but started to get some energy back a couple days before I left. I completely understand what you're going through. I apologize in advance, this may be lengthy, especially since it's fresh in my mind. I think the most difficult thing is going to be food. At three weeks I was supposed to be on a puréed diet. That was incredibly difficult while traveling!!! I am having trouble with Protein shakes post op, no matter what I try I just can't stomach them. That would have been my go to, but I just couldn't do it. I ate mostly yogurt and eggs and those 1 oz packages of peanut or almond butter (I can't remember the brand. It's all natural, no sugars or anything). But, I also ate things that weren't puréed. I didn't have a choice in some places. There just aren't many options on a puréed diet. I did get sick once from eating 2 French fries. I just didn't want to spend so much money on an entire meal when I really shouldn't have been eating any of the foods they had to offer and would only be able to eat a couple bites anyway, and I figured French fries were soft so I just took a couple from someone else's plate. Not a good idea! No more fried things for me!! It didn't help that our hotel room didn't have a fridge or anything, so I couldn't buy yogurts or anything to keep in the room. I did, however, make sure I had a Water bottle on me at all times. I'm not sure what stage of the diet you will be on during your trip, but I would definitely consider what your options would be. As far as rescheduling your trip, and I'm assuming that this is just for pleasure since you're wondering about postponing, I would do some research online or by phone. Look at where you will be staying and local restaurants and any outings you have planned. Most places offer menus online, try to find things that will work for your diet. Even call them and see if they will be accommodating. Also, look at who you will be traveling with. Do they know about your surgery and diet restrictions? Are they going to be supportive and understanding? I think if you will be able to find foods that will fit your diet you will be fine. I had energy back by that point and besides having trouble with food, I had a phenomenal trip. Good luck with your surgery and have fun in Hawaii!

Months before surgery then one month after surgery, I found Walmart's Great Value nonfat yogurts to be very satisfying. I have at least one per day. They have a little fruit stirred in and do have a little sugar. I'm a picky eater. I tried plain yogurt but would rather not eat than have plain or greek yogurt.

yep - the others are correct. It's the added sugar that they want you to avoid (or really limit). Most of the sugar in yogurt (unless it's got added sugar in it because of the flavorings) is lactose, which is naturally occurring in milk. I eat yogurt every day and have since my surgery nine years ago. I eat very little meat, so having Greek yogurt for breakfast starts my day off with a good amount of protein.

It doesn't feel like the weight took a while to pack on. I feel like I could gain 2lbs just looking at a cheeseburger. This "stall" feels horrible and I'm kind of feeling like a fool. To go through surgery and be limiting myself to water, cottage cheese, tuna, yogurt, ice pops, bland scrambled eggs, etc.....basically absolutely nothing with any real flavor, and be stalled out at 322lbs? Totally unacceptable.

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets Cook the cauliflower in salted water until soft.....20-30 minutes Drain off water, put cauliflower into food processor (sometimes I put half in, then pulse, then add in the rest) Salt and pepper to taste 2 Tbsp butter 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese Blend in food processor until very smooth Adjust seasoning to your taste

Im preop but making my way to the losers bench at a steady rate. So, reading everything here gave me ideas. Im headed to the bahamas for a week and wondered what to do with some foods in fridge since they would spoil. So I broke out the food processor. Using some low sodium beef broth and a partial jar of low fat beef gravy,I pureed and finely chopped some roast beef and peppered beef, stuck it in small portion freezer bags and froze it. We'll see how it holds up and it tasted really good to my preop taste buds..so if your bored with your pureed and mushies, this may be worth a try. Im sure other flavored meats would work as well with their coincided broths/liquids. Not so bland as baby foods. Just thought Id share for those who are sick of yogurt.

My nutritionist has me starting eating things like scrambled eggs, canned chicken or tuna with very little light mayo to moisten it so it won’t get stuck going down while swallowing. I can eat lean ground beef, thin sliced deli roast beef and turkey, shrimp, cottage cheese, yogurt some cooked vegetables. I still need at least one protein drink included in my day. My nutritionist stated I have to introduce these foods slowly to determine if my new stomach can digest these food. She some patients find out that the foods they ate before surgery find out they are unable to eat afterwards. I am so excited to start transitioning to textured foods but nervous at the same time that my new stomach will handle it now. Wishing all my fellow November Surgery Buddies who are transitioning to the next phase of your diet plan. What do you all think of changing our group name from “November Surgery Buddies” to “2021 November Surgery Warriors” I believe this group we are all warriors from our decision making, preparing or already has their gastric bariatric surgery as well as joining BariatricPal for support. I will understand if no one wants to change the groups name. I just wanted to bring it up as a suggestion. Reading these posts and seeing how much all of support each other made me look at how much we have a lot of strength and are uplifting thoughts for each other. It reminds me that we are warriors of battling our challenges together.

At three weeks I was allowed to add soft foods - scrambled egg (i could eat about 1/2 of it), Yogurt, Loose oatmeal, and loose mashed potatoes. It was nice to have something with texture after being on fluids for so long. What does your plan call for at 3 weeks?

Yogurt, string cheese, hard boiled eggs, nuts, Rx bars are the things I’ve found in airports that I’ve been able to eat. Hope that helps!

I did not see any yogurt or eggs?! Do airports have grocery stores? All we saw were little news stands that had coke product and monster energy drinks. I did see some Core protein drinks, but I’m pretty sure those have a ton of sugar? But they were the only protein drinks I saw.

There’s debate on whether your carbs must be that low, what does your doctors plan say? I kept mine that low during my loss phase. Simple tweak is to get rid of the oatmeal. I didn’t add that back in till I was at goal. Check the carbs in your shakes, some are higher than others. I chose one with no carbs. Also check your soup, some have higher carbs than others. Does your Greek yogurt have added sugar? There’s another spot you could lower the carbs.

I use baked chicken breast pureed with a little bone broth and greek yogurt and that is 9 grams per ounce. I eat 3-4 ounces throughout the day. Cottage cheese is 3 grams protein per ounce and I eat 2 ounces per day. 1 PP shake with my AM coffee is 30 g protein. That is a total of 63-72 grams of protein. 2 grams carb for the cottage cheese, less than 1 total for the chicken, 3 for the shake. I also eat some garlic mashed cauliflower about 3 ounces per day (I carb) I do add some Land of Lakes light butter to the cauliflower and about 1/2 teaspoon Duke's mayo per serving of the chicken. I honestly am not worried about a moderate amount of fat and will not be using any fat free stuff....just nasty. My program does not allow any eggs, oatmeal, pudding, milk or soup at this stage. Liquid stuff just runs through the pouch and does not lead to satiety.....so they say. My surgeon is against eggs and I do not know why. I can have fruit but I see no reason since I am satisfied. My next things to try are tuna and black beans. count

i tried to have a little scrambled egg at my Rotary breakfast - fail! At least about three mouth fulls went down, but then I had to rush out before the three mouthfuls came back up again!!! Yep, all I can do is protein shakes, milk, yogurt and soups. Never mind - I guess that's the idea!

As for the fruit I would get fresh fruit, and then if you need to cook it...cook peaches in some water with a bit of splenda. Then when it's soft, coll in the fridge then put in the blender and make a peach puree. Strawberries I think can be just pureed fresh. I would get pineapple in it's own juice, strain the juice and even rinse the pineapple in water to get off the sweet juice and then puree it. I am on my own pre-op since I was told to just lose 12 lbs. before surgery. Eating one small meal a day and having protein shakes for lunch and breakfast. A small Fit and Trim Low carb and no sugar yogurt for a snack in the afternoon.

I go through four phases. Phase 1 --------------------------------------------------------- Day 1 Post Op to Day 10 Post Op Sugar free liquids including: clear no sugar added juices (no citrus), diluted with 1 pt water for 1 part juice, max of 3 oz juice per day. Clear broth or bouillon. Herbal tea or coffee. Sugar free gelatin. Sugar free Kool-aid, Crystal Light, Carb Solutions, Wyler's Light. Sports drink with fewer than 50 calories per 8 oz (Gatorade). Sugar-free Popsicles. Skim milk with protein powder or protein drinks up to 16 oz per day. 4-6 oz liquid hourly Multivitamin Iron B12 B1 Phase 2 --------------------------------------------------------- Day 11 Post Op to Four Weeks Post Op Foods allowed include all of Phase 1 and: cream of wheat, cream of rice, blended oatmeal, cheese with less than 5 g fat per oz, cottage cheese, yogurt (no fruit chunks), potato, pasta or noodles soft cooked, blended soups, sugar free pudding, scrambled egg, canned fruit no sugar added, soft cooked veggies ( but no beans, peas, onions, cabbage, broccoli, or cauliflower), and crackers with less than 3 g of fat per serving. Phase 3 --------------------------------------------------------- 4 Weeks Post Op to Six Weeks Post Op Everything from Phase 1 and 2. Plus: low carb protein bars, deli shaved chicken or turkey, seafood, tofu, smooth peanut butter, chicken or turkey noodle, vegetable soup, cooked crumbled hamburger or turkey, crackers. Phase 4 --------------------------------------------------------- Six Weeks Post Op and for Life All foods from previous phases. Regular bread and other foods as tolerated including 1-2 oz of poultry, fish, meat, or cheese. No drinking 15 minutes prior to meals or 30 minutes post meal.

Nurseamy -- Now, I'm not banded yet, but I do have a long history with blood sugar issues and related hunger. If I was eating what you're eating, I'd be starving too!! To me it looks like too many carbs, and not enoughprotein and fat. This may sound really odd, but not to anyone who's ever been on a low-carb diet like Atkins. Adding a little fat will really help keep you satisfied longer. LIke Betsyjane said, make your soups hearty, make scrambled eggs with some butter, use full fat cottage cheese and yogurt and add some whey Protein powder, blend Peanut Butter into your shakes, etc. You can watch your calories on www.fitday.com. There will be plenty of time for restricting your calories further later on after you get filled when the band is doing a better job.

I got my 2nd fill on Wednesday. It hurt :-( They had trouble reaching my port because it is really high near my ribs. They filled me so tight nothing would go through so they had to remove a bit. Then they decided since it was so hard to hit my port that they would leave it in and let me eat some yogurt and drink water to make sure I wasn't still too tight. I'm from Dallas so I always ask them to make it really tight so that I don't have to come back so soon. Terridoodle - I think I saw you there, I recognized you from your little picture. I wasn't entirely sure so, of course me being shy, I didn't say HI. Wombat

I am currently on day 3 of my pre-op liquid diet and have cheated everyday. I Do really well during the day and horrible at night. Today I did a little better and only ate a few pretzels. I think I must just be weak. Tomorrow is my birthday and I want to do really well so I don't feel like a loser. My surgeon only wants me to lose 5lbs and that shouldn't be that hard right! Wrong I could lose 5lbs eating chicken & tuna. I can drink 6 to 7 slimfast a day, sf jello, skim milk, sf ff pudding, no sugar added non fat yogurt, broth, sf popsicles, tomato or veggie juice, unsweetened diluted juice, low fat cream soup, crystal lite and so on. I am able to have alot but I'm craving meat and sugar I hope my cravings and weakness do prevent me from doing what I have to do and drink the liquids. I have to be able to do this! 7 days to go! Surgery March 30th @ 6am!

I've got 12 days till surgery and am following the diet very closely. Mine is Slim Fast twice a day and a protein with veggies for dinner. Some veggies or a low fat yogurt during the day also I bought some very low fat wheat crackers (something to bite into) and some low fat ranch dressing--do dip a small amount of my protein of choice into and I had two crackers today. Not hungry but I'm sure as hell not full or even satiated at all. I'm really looking forward to the surgery, this is just another step I have to walk I suppose :tongue2:

BG- Yes, veggie kabobs are awesome! You start spinning classes next week, too??? So do I!!! I can't wait!!! I'm taking two classes, though...because each are only one day a week and I think that is just not enough for me! ZZ - Yeah, I have to make the chicken just so I can torch it like HoosierPoms! LOL I have never seen whole chickens MORE on fire than in that picture!!! Hilarious! And I gotta get that book! JM - Fresh fruit is the only way to go, believe me. Canned anything is pretty much crap-o-la. Fresh, fresh, fresh...YUMMY, too! Beware the cheese in mass quantities, though! It will plug you up, girl! LOL But I just saw a cheese advertised yesterday that is supposed to aid with digestion...what an oxymoron! I can't recall the name, but it reminded me of the yogurt Activia? Dunno. I'll pay more attention next time it's on. DiBaby - Get well, girl! We miss ya! Angel - We miss you, too! Glad to see you poking your head in from time to time! How you feeling? JM and BG - Honey is yummy! There is always Stevia, too! And it's completely natural!

BJean, thanks for thinking of me. I am doing quite well. I even cleaned house yesterday and made lunch for my family today after church. The hunger is getting better. I am still on liquids. My doctor wants me on them until I see him again which is not until Sept 17th. I have not always been a very good rule follower so I have had some of the "whipped" yogurt and that seems to kind of fill the hole. I am drinking the Protein drinks to make sure that I get all of my protein in but I shake it up a bit by putting fruit in the blender with it. A friend of mine that had the sleeve a year ago gave me a receipe for refried bean Soup from Weight Watchers that I tried today and was pretty good. Jello and Protein shakes do get old really fast. I will make it through I am sure, but I am ready to just be "normal" again and be able to eat at the table with my family.

My dr told me my main source of protein for the first two weeks should be skim milk and Greek yogurt (because it's high in protein). They never mentioned protein shakes. I can barely keep those down (I'm on day 4 post op). I guess every dr is different!

WARNING - MAY BE OFFENSIVE!!! DO NOT scroll down if you are easily offended. I didn't write it, but I laughed purdy derned hard at it! DIVORCE LETTER Dear Connie, I know the counselor said we shouldn't contact each other during our "cooling off" period, but I couldn't wait anymore. The day you left, I swore I'd never talk to you again. But that was just the wounded little boy in me talking. Still, I never wanted to be the first one to make contact. In my fantasies, it was always you who would come crawling back to me. I guess my pride needed that. But now I see that my pride's cost me a lot of things. I'm tired of pretending I don't miss you. I don't care about looking bad anymore. I don't care who makes the first move as long as one of us does. Maybe it's time we let our hearts speak as loudly as our hurt. And this is what my heart says: "There's no one like you, Connie." I look for you in the eyes and breasts of every woman I see, but they're not you. They're not even close. Two weeks ago, I met this girl at Flamingos and brought her home with me. I don't say this to hurt you, but just to illustrate the depth of my desperation. She was young, maybe 19; with one of those perfect bodies that only youth and maybe a childhood spent ice skating can give you. I mean, just a perfect body. Tits like you wouldn't believe and an ass that just wouldn't quit. Every man's dream, right? But as I sat on the couch being blown by this stunner, I thought, look at the stuff we've made important in our lives. It's all so superficial. What does a perfect body mean? Does it make her better in bed? Well, in this case, yes, but you see what I'm getting at. Does it make her a better person? Does she have a better heart than my moderately attractive Connie? I doubt it. And I'd never really thought of that before. I don't know, maybe I'm just growing up a little. Later, after I'd tossed her about a half a pint of throat yogurt, I found myself thinking, "Why do I feel so drained and empty?" It wasn't just her flawless technique or her slutty, shameless hunger, but something else. Some nagging feeling of loss. Why did it feel so incomplete? And then it hit me. It didn't feel the same because you weren't there to watch. Do you know what I mean? Nothing feels the same without you. Jesus, Connie, I'm just going crazy without you. And everything I do just reminds me of you. Do you remember Carol, that single mom we met at the Holiday Inn lounge last year? Well, she dropped by last week with a pan of lasagna. She said she figured I wasn't eating right without a woman around. I didn't know what she meant till later, but that's not the real story. Anyway, we had a few glasses of wine and the next thing you know, we're banging away in our old bedroom. And this tart's a total monster in the sack. She's giving me eerything, you know, like a real woman does when she's not hung up about her weight or her career and whether the kids can hear us. And all of a sudden, she spots that tilting mirror on your grandmother's old vanity. So she puts it on the floor and we straddle it, right, so we can watch ourselves. And it's totally hot, but it makes me sad, too. Cause I can't help thinking, "Why didn't Connie ever put the mirror on the floor? We've had this old vanity for what, 14 years, and we never used it as a sex toy." Saturday, your sister drops by with my copy of the restraining order. I mean, Vicky's just a kid and all, but she's got a pretty good head on her shoulders and she's been a real friend to me during this painful time. She's given me lots of good advice about you and about women in general. She's pulling for us to get back together, Connie, she really is. So we're doing Jell-O shots in a hot bubble bath and talking about happier times. Here's this teenage girl with the same DNA as you and all I can do is think of how much she looked like you when you were 18. And that just about makes me cry. And then it turns out Vicky's really into the whole anal thing, that gets me to thinking about how many times I pressured you about trying it and how that probably fueled some of the bitterness between us. But do you see how even then, when I'm thrusting inside your baby sister's cinnamon ring, all I can do is think of you? It's true, Connie. In your heart you must know it. Don't you think we could start over? Just wipe out all the grievances away and start fresh? I think we can. If you feel the same please, please, please let me know. Otherwise, can you let me know where the fucking remote is. Love,

Ok, many of us have expressed a need or desire to be accountable for Protein intake, Water intake, food intake, calories, lots of stuff....SO I thought I'd start a thread for us so we have a place where we can come and be accountable! Just put in here whatever you want to be accountable, and we'll all help each other stay on track. I'll go first, I need to be accountable for the crap I'm putting in my mouth. So far today I've had a Fruit & Yogurt Parfait, 2 tbsp of tuna salad, 8 Triscuit thin crisps, a lite mozarella stick, and 1/2 of a New whey Protein bullet. (34 grams of protein) I've also had about 20 ozs of water so far today, too.

I love ribs. You are not over eating. As long as you are not stuffing yourself until you want to barf you are fine. IN a typical day I eat: 530am-protein bar 8am- yogurt 11am- lunch...maybe some chicken or turkey or almost a whole can of tuna fish 2p small snack like grapes or a string cheese 530p dinner.. a small bit of whatever i have made the family 8p Protein shake "dessert" I feel fine and I am losing fine still.