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I hope mo one thinks I am lucky and maybe my problem is unusual but here it is. I was banded on the 11th of July. I can't eat more than a couple of mouthfulls of food a day, nor can I drink more than a litre of Water. I get too full. I get that Christmas dinner feeling after half a glass of milk and it lasts for hours. I do take a multivitimin but a tablet as the chewable ones make me gag. I am only concerned about malnutrition. I had that happen once before and I cannot go thru my hair falling out in clumps like a cancer patient. I am trying a fruit and yogurt Protein shake in the morning....sips of water as often as I can but then I really have to try and eat at night. I managed half a hotdog. That cannot be good for anyone. I hate that bloated feeling. I have it now after about half a pint of smoothie in around 40 minutes. I am not due for a fill until the second week of August.

Amen sister! I know you are right, but telling myself that when I'm trying (still!!!!) to get into my favorite pair of jeans isn't working! LOL! I've been meaning to ask you what you are doing to accomplish your great loss? Do you mind sharing your routine and eating habits? You don't have to share every detail, but just a synopsis of how you are doing it would be great. Of course if you have any secrets to weight loss feel free to throw those in as well! HA! I know this is going to sound ridiculous considering why we are all here, but I'm wondering if maybe I'm not eating enough or the right combo of things. There are days when I have a negative number for calories for about half the day because I'm getting so much exercise (I have to log in everything on mydailyplate.com for my PE class). So, my caloric intake might look something like this: Total calories eaten: 1100 Calories Burned: 539 Net Calories: 561 I'm drinking at least 2 liters of Water a day, but try to get in three. I get in all the recommended Protein grams with no probs. I try to eat at least one salad per day and I always get in at least one serving of fruit if not two. I always have at least one yogurt per day. If I have anything like rice, bread, Pasta, etc it is always whole grain or whole wheat. I eat very few "bad" carbs or refined carbs. I almost never eat anything white, i.e. white bread, white rice, white crackers, etc. So what do you guys think? Do you guys think I need to change anything up? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Surgery in 5 days!!! So here is my 2 wk diet: 2 shakes a day any time 3 meals lasting no longer than 20 min that include one of each area Area 1 sugar free yogurt or nonfat ricotta cheese or nonfat cottage cheese Area 2 tuna in Water or salmon or skinless turkey/chicken Area 3 raw or steamed non-starch veggies Condiments allowed were ketchup relish or mustard The day before surgery is shakes, water, broth I have been able to make it through almost all family lunches and dinners through the holidays by just eating the meet and veggie for dinner & lunch I eat deli meat rolled up and a veggie. I tried drinking my shake while they ate waffles for bfast but ended up in my room the smell was too good. And since my mother inlaw cooked bfast every morning I choose to drink in my room to avoid temptation. I did fall off the wagon when fresh pizza was brought home I at a small slice of cheese. The smells are what is the worst for me. Even when I'm not hungry the smells make my stomach ache. So I will go for a walk and get way from the smells! I've lost 6lbs since I started the diet on 12/20

I ate a lot of refried beans. I also would pour some of the liquid out of lentil soup and put my immersion blender in it to eat the thickened lentils and vegetables. I ate greek yogurt and tofu. I think I was allowed to eat string cheese at that point as well. I was allowed to have eggs then, but only had them a few times at that stage.

NJ, my doctor is conservative too! I have received only 2cc since surgery. they said they will only do .5cc for now on. They also said my "sweet spot" is when you are so restricted in the am it is hard to get more than liquid or thin foods (yogurt) down. I had a fill Monday and there is no real restriction, but I do fill full and get hungry after 2-3 hrs. I called yesterday to tell them I didn't feel any different and they said I could call back in 3 weeks to get my appt. moved up instead of waiting the 5 wks. So you are not alone. I do think it is pretty cool that we are still loosing weight without the full restriction, that means a lot of it we are doing on our own!!

B- Chobani Greek Yogurt (lemon) L- Refried Beans w/ cheese and sour cream S- Lauging Cow cheese (1 wedge) D- eggs & Corned Beef Hash S- Protein shake

I start every day with Protein hot cocoa, but you do have to watch the temp and warm it up slowly. I warm a cup of unsweetened almond milk in the microwave, add a scoop of chocolate Protein Powder and 2T unsweetened cocoa and a dash of salt (cuts the artificial sweetener flavor), and mix very well with a whisk. Sometimes I thin it a bit with some hot Water, or microwave it a few seconds longer to warm it up, but it will thicken a lot if you get it too hot - the protein "firms" up (like cooking an egg). You can actually use this tendency to cook to your advantage - there are a lot of recipes "out there" for protein "cake" or "muffins" or even "cookies" made with protein powder and often eggs, other liquids, sweetener, etc. cooked in a minute or two in the microwave. Some flavors of protein powder are really good added to plain greek yogurt - I like the nectar twisted cherry this way. Or, blend with almond milk and ice cubes to make a kind of soft serve ice cream. I've always been told the best protein is whey protein isolate - it's best digested by your body so you get the most benefit from it, but it's also the most expensive, so for cheaper brands you'll often find a blend of whey protein isolate and whey protein concentrate.

1389 calories: 90 protein -168 carbs -50 fats- Maintaining my bounce range. I'm down 4 lbs. Breakfast Oat meal 1.6 Cup Dried cranberries 2 oz Sliced almonds .3 oz Black coffee 2 cups Unsweetened cashew milk 1 cup Splenda with fiber Lunch 50/50/spring mix 3 oz Grilled chicken breast 2.3 oz Hemp hearts .2 oz Pomegranate seeds 2 oz Chili lime pepitas .5 oz Light n fit Greek yogurt 5.3 oz Dinner 50/50 spring mix 3 oz Hemp hearts ,2 oz Chili lime pepitas .5 oz Smoked salmon 2.9 oz Snack Red grapefruit 3 OZ Chickpea sea salt snack 3oz Frozen grapes .5 cup

Wednesday jan15 fast attempt #2 5'2" / 29 months PO/ CW 172.4 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 8:00 coffee with 1 oz almond milk 2:00 coffee with 1 oz almond milk + cayenne + cinnamon 6:00 2 egg omelet with cheese 7:30 veggies 8:30 coffee with milk + whipped cream 11:30 strawberry Greek yogurt oatmeal smoothie --------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals- 678 cals / 43g protien / 47g net carbs / 32g fat Sent from my SM-G950U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Yesterday, Tuesday, Dec. 3 Maintenance : 5'4" / 21Mo PO RNY / 131.4 lbs B1 Protein latte x 4 (4oz PP) B2 3 Egg white bites (HSF ham, turkey saus, spin, seasoning blend, cauliflower, mushies, salsa, egg white, ps mozz) L Greek salad with cod and grilled shrimp AS Greek yogurt + 2% cottage cheese + WF Apple Butter (LURVE-like cinnamon apple jello) D Grilled salmon + asparagus + avo/tom salad BS 1 sq Lindt 90% chocolate + almonds + green pear Daily Totals: 1272 cals; 113g protein; 71g fat; 39g carbs; 11g fiber; 28g net carbs Super hungry hippo day yesterday. Again with the craving protein. So I listened to my body and ate. Now this morning I am not even ready to think about food. I'm expecting today to be a low food day. I still lost 0.2lbs (insignificant could just be water).

Hope y'all enjoy long posts as much as me!!! Lol so Monday and Tuesday I did long fasts and only ate blended/ smoothie food. I would've loved to continue Wednesday but since my adorable nephews woke me up at 530 a.m. and fasting on almost no sleep is very difficult for me. You would think waking up this early (2+ hours earlier than usual) I would have time to prepare food, but they kept me busy. So I had to grab food at local supermarket. I did my best to choose right foods. Surprisingly enough I didn't really feel hungry until late night thankfully I was able to control myself. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday feb 5 29 months PO/ 5'2" / CW 173 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 600 a.m. coffee + almond milk 945 a.m. lite greek cheese snack 100 p.m. veggies + 1 oz tuna + mayo 500 p.m. 1 oz cheddar cheese / coffee + almond milk 630 p.m. 1 oz tuna + mayo 845 p.m. plain Greek yogurt + pb powder 1130 p.m. nugo slim protien bar / coffee+ almond milk + whipped cream --------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals- 790 cals / 71g protien/ 41g net carbs / 35g fat Sent from my SM-G950U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello from Galveston Tiffany! Week #2, I'm recovering at the beach. Gotta kill time before my 2nd follow up visit with the doc. Anyway, this has nothing to do with a baby, but you said you never used Protein supplements. Yay, I cannot, I have tried. The taste was killing me. I am a week out as of yesterday, I have not had to use my medication for naseau at all, I have not been sick at all. I don't want to start now. I can spend hours trying to get a shake down....I finally gave up because I was freaking out about Water, and just focused on liquids that I could do, crystal lite, water and Sobe. Anyway, this week I can have liquid yogurt and anything that will 'go through a straw' so i'm being creative. Greek yogurt, plain, I'm adding Weight Watchers Key Lime or whatever for flavor and then skim milk to thin it. Blend it and there ya go. I can only do this once a day, and am only using half the Greek yogurt. It's not enough. I've added boiled shrimp to Campbell's healthy choice chicken gumbo Soup and blended it, but I'm not hungry. I'm eating about an eighth of a cup once or twice a day. Do you have any suggestions? The good news is, I'm down 30 lbs since my first meeting with my doctor back on Apr. 6th. :biggrin0: Thanks Tiff!

Hi everyone! We got back from the beach unscathed. We did cut the trip short and came on on Sunday rather than yesterday. While at the beach we were under Tropical Storm Warnings and decided not to chance the roads flooding. We had a blast at the Water Park! I ran to the top of one of the towers! I wasn't tired - at all and was able to fit into everything I wanted to fit into. I haven't had so much fun in years!!!! I even turned a couple of heads...LOL....they were old men - but damn they still turned! hehehehe Bea - I saw the greek yogurt at the grocery store last night. I almost bought it, but I was being frugal (we spent WAY too much money - a lot unexpectantly) this weekend. I'm going to get some when we get paid this week. That sounds really good! Nurse - The great thing about falling off the wagon - it is now so much easier to get back on!

Hi all. You are right Joany, you can eat all the icecream and candy you want, no restriciton will stop it, to bad we don't have a quick super fill, close the whole up when you are near stuff like that, then let it out- ha ha. The other problem with the sweets is they make me even hungrier once I've had the sugar. my instinct diet book is big on desserts with fiber and fruit and protien- all three if you can, so you feel more full and satisfied. My favorite one is a 100 calorie- light and fit vanilla yogurt (the low cal kind- with aspertame or whatever, my yogurt during the day is a live active yogurt, and has more cals, but this is dessert) high fiber cereal, frozen raspberries, and melted dark chocolate- the portions work out to 100 cals- and it is so satisfying - and feels like a real dessert. not really pretty, I wouldn't serve it at a party, but for me it's great. so Joany I am self pay, no coverage- I have an HSA that I use for this, I hope the IRS doesn't mind. This blind fill place I think should be good, I hope, and if not they are close enough to not be a problem. I guess some blind fill places say if you have to come back for adjustment within 2 weeks it will be 50$. so hopefully that will be the case. I love the OCC dr's in Tijuana, very professional, and they do a great job. Thier fills are tops for sure, wish I lived in the area. But for me it's a day off work, babysitting, plus probably like 500$ in flying, parking, ground transport and other fees. I know some places charge almost 400 for a fill, so this 150 place is exciting prospect and I won't have to take off work or get a sitter. well have a great day all

HI all, back finally! good to read the comments. Miss Joany, I hope your infection keeps getting better! eat lots of live yogurt while you are doing those antibiotics. So I am curious, doing a bit of a survey. sort of long. Just curious about some of this stuff howdy there. so I'm taking a poll, let me know. I hope you all are doing well. 1. how many cc's you have in your band 2. do you feel you have restriction- what does that mean for you? 3. are your calories tending to stay below like 1600 (or what are your calories generally.) 4. what is your weight loss like. 5. are you hungry between meals. 6. are you exercising, and how much 7. how much water are you drinking? I'll start. 1. how many cc's you have in your band<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 4.5 from OCC. I'm planning on going back, for 1 more fill, maybe depending on what people say with restriction about how they feel. But it won't be till after the holidays.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 2. do you feel you have restriction- what does that mean for you?<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> last week, there were things that I felt were cool, like I would get a tiny nasal drip, and I took that as a soft stop, and I wasn't getting hungry between meal. I feel like this weekend I ate till I felt very full, and never got the nasal drip. this was the first time since my fill. so maybe that sign is not happening. I will see today if I get hungry between meals, if I'm able to keep at 1200 cals per day, and not feel hungry between meals I will be happy with the way things are. we shall see.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 3. are your calories tending to stay below like 1600 (or what are your calories generally.)<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> generally yeas, below 1300-1200. but I don't count everyday, I also do some days where I just do what Miranda said for portions. I feel Sunday I went over my goal. but I didn't count, I need to get better with keeping track and knowing even when my schedule is strange.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 4. what is your weight loss like. I've lost all the weight plus 1 lb that I gained from Thanksgiving weekend. I started 298 I am now 266 my surgery date I was 280 so since surgery I've lost 14 lbs in basically 10 weeks. that is not my goal, I'd really like 2 lbs per week, would still be happy with an average of 1.5 per week. I'm at 1.4, I guess with the holidays in the mix maybe I should still feel happy. but I would like it to be more, of course. <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> <br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> 5. are you hungry between meals.<br style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> I feel I am mostly not hungry between meals, as time goes on since my fill, my hunger has increased between meals, but I am still able to deal with it, with my yogurt or piece of fruit, which is part of my daily food plan and staying under 1200 cals. so I am ok with that. Once I went to bed, and my belly was grumbling. but I drank some water, I abated and I fell asleep. 6. are you exercising, and how much this has not been that good this last week. I have a goal to walk somewhat briscly for a mile each day. This is 20 minutes of exercising a day. I'd like to add to that, but haven't yet. and last week durning hunting season, I did not walk at all. 7. how much water are you drinking? besides exercise this is a huge obstacle. I am trying to drink 64 oz a day, I am pitifully below that. If I could drink during meals I could jack that up. but I don't so I need to increase this a lot.

I had my surgery July 3rd so I'm on my first day of "full liquids" -- according to my dr's diet plan I can drink soups, protein drinks, yogurt drinks and even watered down cream of wheat! Not really hungry today though. Not like day after surgery or even yesterday. I'm down about 21 pounds since I started my pre-op diet. I'm not really in pain just some minor discomforts -- the big incision is "tight" so I can feel it but I wouldn't call it pain. The shoulder comes and goes. I've done some walking -- the last few days have been perfect for walking. I've had a few hic-ups and was able to burp without too much problem. I'm tired but it could be that I took some codeine in the middle of the night to help me sleep better. I think it's making me drowsy today so I'm going to try and stay off it today and tonight. Good luck to those are getting banded this month! d

I broke down and got some of the greek yogurt at walmart the other day. Today I tried it for the first time..... Yumm! I used 1/4 cup yogurt, 2 tbl of kashi very berry granola, 1 strawberry diced up, 1 tsp honey. I think that you could flavor it to meet any taste... even could use the SF flavored Syrups or Pudding like Bea did. I can really tell this new fill is helping. I finally for the first time cannot GULP water. I had restriction before but could still gulp... Now I have to sip and chew to goo. I can't wait to see if the scales moving :tt2:

meats like chicken that tend to be dry can hard. In addition to Kristen's suggestions, I usually have something to dip it in for added moistness. Plain old yellow mustard is super low cal/low carb. Or I'll take some plain nonfat greek yogurt and add some herbs or spices to it, I've even mixed in a little pesto before. The moistness helps the meat go down and sit a little easier. Don't give up - it takes time to figure out what works for you.

At your stage I could eat 2-3oz of food depending on what i was eating. Dense protein only 2 oz, but yogurt I could eat 4oz. I weighed my food because I felt it was more accurate. I didn't have any problems eating either. I was a fast healer. I think it is great because you can transition away from shakes faster then those that have more issues eating. Just stick to appropriate portions sizes and the eating plan your doc gave you and you should be fine. I am 3 months post-op and I eat between 900-1100 calories a day and I am losing just fine. I run 2-3 miles 4-5 days a week for exercise.

It has been hard. I’m not even 9 days in. I’ve found a groove. I’m enjoying chewing on ice as a snack 😂 Also, yogurts have given me something to spoon. Good luck!

I am absolutely being tortured. My pre-op diet is: Meal 1-eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, ect. any two. Meal 2-Protien Shake Meal 3-Lean meat, and green vegetable Meal 4-Protien Shake I am at work, this week they are ordering food in all week. I have to smell their food for two hours before I take my lunch break. I am drinking a ton of water and am still starving. It sucks. By lunch time I am so hungry I could eat anything. Yes I know I am a big whiner and I know in the end it will all be worth it. But right now my stomach doesnt understand or care about all of that. If I had this much willpower I wouldnt be in this situation to begin with. Sorry, I needed to have a pitty party.

Okay, I had my second fill Monday. I went from 1.6cc's with little restriction to 1.8cc's and can not eat much at all. Yesterday I had 4oz. yogurt, 1 slice of turkey lunchmeat, 1 slice cheese, 5 sunchips. What is the difference in a sweet spot and starvation? On the flip side I have lost 4 lbs. since Monday.

kacee- i have a whole fridge full of protien drinks and yogurt ect too. Some of it has been there two weeks! i am glad you are able to relax and keep busy today, i am so jealous of you! i cant seem to concentrate on anything at work so i know it is going to be a long day. luckily i woke up as dh was leaving for work so i should be really tired by the time i get home. good luck! I am just hoping to spend more time at my desk than in the bathroom today.

I have liquid pre-natal vitamins from the vitamin shop. The only difference is 800mg. of folic acid and they have everything except calcium. I blend them with a yogurt shake and it tastes fine. They are only $15 for a 30 day supply and they are organic.

Lana and Grandma, Thanks for the wonderfully supportive words. They mean so much to me. Apparently, band slippages feel different for everyone. Mine was a couple of days of pain under my left rib cage. I thought I had pulled a muscle or something because I could still eat with no PBing. That started Tuesday, and each subsequent day the pain was less. Friday evening, I went to the store and while walking around, I had this intense, crampy pain all across my abdomen and I was feeling very bloated. Again, I passed it off as 'maybe I'm just stuck from lunch.' When I got in the car, the pain completely went away. Went home, had supper with no problem. At 11:30 pm, just when I was getting ready for bed, the same discomfort came over me. I couldn't really lay on my back, side or stomach for very long. Standing provided a bit of relief, kneeling on the floor with my head also on the floor helped a bit. I was starting to think kidney stones, but the pain wasn't sharp and acute as I remember my Dad having during his bout with kidney stones. Anyway, after 5 hours of this (yea, I'm a glutton for it!), I called a friend to take me to the ER. The CT scan showed a distended stomach above the band. Someone from my surgeon's office came in and completely unfilled me (after 6 pokes and some wiggling - don't get me started!). The unfill and some Dilaudid really made me feel better. I don't have pain now and am going for an Upper GI on Thursday morning, seeing surgeon in pm. I do exercise. But I am always hungry. And it's not boredom, depression, etc. I never feel satiated. I can eat some fish, almost no chicken, no pork, no beef unless it's ground (but not burgers). eggs are hit or miss. Beans work, but good God, how many can a person eat?! I can only eat 1/2 container of yogurt in the morning, lunch is usually a salad and by dinner, I'm famished and I can eat well more than 1 cup's worth of food. I work a job where I cannot stop to eat 6 small meals. And, as I mentioned, the foods that would satisfy me just won't stay down - no matter how much chewing I do. So, I end up eating around the band. I've only had 1.5ccs in the band, so I certainly am not too tight. None of this is to excuse myself or my shortcomings. I certainly feel much, much, much better than I did when I was 305 lbs (I'm now 245), but I hoped for so much more. I'll never be skinny and frankly, I don't want to be, but I would like to be under 200 lbs. I'm 48 years old and am beginning to feel I will never achieve this goal. My anger and frustration at myself has really been the major hindrance to my success. For the first time in my life, I feel like a loser, and not the kind of loser I want to be!