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Yeah, it is going to stink. Thankfully I only have one week and can have yogurt etc. I start 7/11.

Well, for one thing, the cherries and wassa crackers and fruit and low fat yogurt (low fat = high carb) are only fueling your carb cravings. Go back to absolute strict protein/veggies only and see what happens to your cravings. When I find myself vearing off path, I'll even spend 3-5 days on the good ol prep liquid diet to clear the junk out of my system and get my head back in the game. Secondly, your next call should be to a therapist or counselor rather than your surgeon's office. Their help and the mental tools they can give you will be far more vital to your success than some preppy nurse's generic response. Long term WLS success is a direct result of changing behaviors, and your sleeve has really little to do with it. Find someone that can help you learn how to get through life without turning to food.

Sweets and high fat don't make every person sick after the surgery, and most of the time it is a short term effect for those that do get sick from them. I couldn't touch high sugar for about 6 months, but guess what? That effect wore off and I could eat anything now with no serious repercussions other than gaining weight. I know that, so I don't eat crap foods all the time. I do eat stuff like a cupcake or a cookie for special occasions, but I plan out my day so I know I have room in my calorie count and I eat healthy 90% of the time, so eating something "bad" occasionally doesn't derail my whole life. Relearning how to eat healthy during the honeymoon period is what the surgery is really all about. You have to throw out everything you used to do and establish good eating habits while the restriction takes care of the portion control. That is what everyone is supposed to learn how to do during the honeymoon phase after surgery. It is really sad that the doctors don't explain this part better to every single patient before they have the surgery. If you don't do this, then the weight loss will happen in the beginning just because you're not able to eat as much, but likely will slow down sooner, and also regain is very likely once your metabolism adjusts in a year or two and all you still eat is crummy foods. Anyway. You definitely need to try doing the 5 day reset. It will help remind you how your stomach feels and feel the restriction again, and should help you detox from the sweets/crap food cravings - eating high carb usually makes you crave more carbs - it is a vicious cycle. You made some mistakes, but the sleeve is still there, ready for you once you're ready to recommit to eating correctly. You lost the best time to make fast and easy changes, but if you put in the work, you can still make it happen. But you have to be willing to do the work. Start tracking every bite of food and sip of drink. Get your Protein and Water goals figured out, keep your carbs low (under 100 definitely but if you can push it down to 50 grams/day that would be even better), and get your calories for the day down to around a 500 calorie less than you burn in a day. Throw out all the junk food in your house. Tell friends and family to not tempt you with foods like that and don't go places where you'll feel weak until you get control of yourself. Think of it like being an alcoholic or trying to quit smoking. You don't go places where you'll feel tempted and you ask friends/family to be supportive of your struggle and not offer you things you shouldn't be having, and do your best to remove the temptations from your path. Exercise - find something you enjoy doing and then do it a minimum of 5 days a week. Even if it's just walking a 2 miles around your neighborhood after dinner, it's something if you're currently doing nothing. What seems to work best food wise is whole foods, that you cook yourself. If it comes in a box or frozen package, it probably isn't a very good choice. Learn to read labels REALLY well, and figure out things like net carbs, sodium levels, etc., and check out both here and bariatric recipe sites like http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ Proteins should be the main part of each meal and every snack: things like fish, chicken, lean cuts of beef, cheese, yogurt, even Beans and lentils. Healthy vegetables - leafy greens, red peppers, squash, zucchini, avocados, broccoli, cauliflower... watch the ones that are high carb like corn and green peas as even healthy veggies can have high carbs sometimes and you need to be aware when you eat them. Should also be including healthy fats like coconut or olive oils and things like nuts or avocados have fat too, but it's a good fat (just watch the amounts and calories). Watch things like lunchmeat that are usually high sodium (again, read labels!) and be aware of times of day that you might be weak and have healthy Snacks on hand to prevent the quick stop at the drive thru or dropping by the office vending machine. MEASURE everything. You can't rely on eyeballing food amounts. Get a digital scale, and weigh your food so you get accurate calorie counts. It is way too easy to guess and over-estimate your food portions. And you might need to see a counselor that deals with eating disorders if you can't get control of your eating and get your head in the right space to succeed at this. Please don't take this as being mean, but worrying over what others did and comparing your lack of success while eating bad foods isn't helpful or realistic. But here's the thing. You aren't a failure unless you give up completely. Don't give up, and you will succeed.

I found myself feeling "hungry" during my first two weeks post op too. Looking back I'm fairly certain that was due to two main reasons: 1) gas bubbles gurgling through my system mimicked the rumbling of an empty tummy and 2) lack of food diversity. My plan did allow cream of wheat (very thin and supplemented with protein powder), yogurt and pudding during the full liquids phase. It helped to alternate protein shakes with something like Greek yogurt that has more substance. Are you meeting your protein goals everyday? When you feel hungry you should be reaching for a ready made shake or a cup of broth or even a v-8 if you need some diversity in your diet. Please reach out to your NUT or program for help.

Hello Everyone, I just had my MGB surgery on May 18th (about 2 weeks ago). I have been overweight for nearly 10 years, and though I have had some successes with diets along the way, all those ultimately failed and I regained everything back and a little more. I am a short guy so just looking purely at the weight, it may not look like I was that bad, but I surely felt really bad. At my highest I weighed 196 lbs (day of the surgery) with a 35 BMI and 38% body fat. The doctors stated I was morbidly obese, though they admitted I was one of the smallest size patients they had ever had. After the surgery the surgeon told me that my intra-abdominal fat was one of the worst he had ever seen. Though he admitted I was his first foreign patient, and the main reason could be that Chinese diet which although can also cause obesity due to excessive eating, is a lot healthier that what *we* foreigners eat. I did my surgery at a NCKU Hospital here in Taiwan (a national university hospital), which is also supposedly one of the top in the country. The great thing about Taiwan is that their National Health Insurance covers even temporary foreign workers, irrespective of the work they do. That was very helpful as the NHI covered majority of my cost. Weight loss surgery here is only covered by National Insurance if the doctor deems it necessary for you, which is either if you have BMI of over 40 or 35 with co-morbidities, which in my case was Diabetes, so I qualified for it. Most of the information I researched prior to the surgery came from English forums such as this one, so I had a good idea of how everything was supposed to be if I were to do it in US, but had little information of it would be done in Taiwan, since I didn't have any reference. I was surprised to find that some things were very different than I thought. I found that the time from the first visit to the date of the surgery was much longer compared to many of the cases I read online. Although I wanted to get the surgery as early as possible, they insisted I had to follow their process, (and it wasn't even due to the surgeon being too busy). I spent nearly 7 months doing a wide variety of tests. At one point I was going to the hospital once every week just to do a different type of test. (Tests are also covered by Insurance so it wasn't a money-making scheme or anything) I can't remember what all those tests were but I guess they tested nearly everything prior to the surgery. When I asked surgeon about these tests, he basically said : We want to find out if there's anything wrong with your body that is causing you to be overweight. We want to find out all the health problems you have (even the hidden ones) that may have been directly or indirectly caused by you being overweight. I would strongly recommend that everyone follow what their own doctors/surgeons tell them. Every forum I read mentioned about the pre-op diet so I was surprised to hear that there was no pre-op diet here. They doctor said that there was nothing I needed to do before the surgery, and just live a normal life. I had my last cheese Burger at 10:00 pm, the night before the surgery. After 12:00 am that night I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything. I had my surgery next morning at 7:00 am and it lasted for 3 to 4 hours. For the whole 7 months prior to the surgery I had always wanted to get the Gastric sleeve surgery, because the thought of my intestines being rewired scared me. It wasn't a week before the surgery that I decided to change to Gastric Bypass, only to find there was no Gastric Bypass offered there. It turned out majority of the national hospitals only offered Mini-Gastric Bypass instead, so I had to go with that, despite having little information on it. The surgeon told me that Mini-Gastric Bypass was easier, had a short surgery time, quicker recovery and higher weight loss in the first 12 months compared to Gastric Bypass. He also said that there was a 60 to 90% chance that my Diabetes would go in total remission with MGB compared to less than 40% chance with a sleeve. He referred me to some many local researches that were performed by the university as well as the local Bariatric association in Taiwan. In my personal research I also found Taiwan was one of the best in Asia when it comes to Bariatric surgeries, so I just trusted my doctor and everything he said. I stayed 5 days in the hospital. The first couple of days were really rough but everything started to get better quickly after day 3. Walking helped a lot. I left on day 5, and was back to full-time work on Day 7 already (though I don't recommend it). As far as Diet is concerned, the nutritionist and doctor told me I could eat normal food but with certain restrictions. This is unlike what I read about many other people having to go through the soft food stage for a few weeks to a month. I was told the following : I could eat pork, chicken, beef, as long as it was lean cut, and cooked to be soft. She told me not to eat any fried or deep fried meat, but I could grill it, steam it, or cook it in very light oil. I was recommended me to eat more fish than other types of meat. I was told about the types of fish/sea food that I could eat and ones I couldn't. Shrimp was recommended as well. I was told I could eat Yogurt (low-fat and sugar-free recommended) eggs (boiled or scrambled), potatoes or sweet potatoes (bakes, mashed/boiled or cooked in very little oil). I was told I could eat more or less any kind of fruit I wanted, but to avoid fruits with very high-Fiber during the first few weeks (e.g. Pineapple). Now two weeks later, I can eat most fruits already. They said no sweets, or any kind of artificial/processed food. As long as the food was natural I could eat whatever I want but I had to chew everything 20 times and eat very slowly, and small portions. The only food I was told not to eat (ever or at least 1 year) was Rice, Noodles, Spaghetti, and Bread. So basically no starchy food. Instead they recommended that I eat any kind of vegetables (boiled or cooked). Though they said RAW vegetables could be a little difficult during the first couple of weeks. To keep hydrated I was recommended to drink lots of Water and low-fat milk. I think the requirement was something like 1500 ml of liquids per day at least. To avoid muscle wasting I was recommended to get at least 6 servings of Protein each day with at least 60% of them coming from natural food instead of supplements. The nutritionist said that I could eat 6 boiled eggs a day, I wouldn’t need to eat protein. I was also told to take daily Multi-Vitamins and Calcium Citrate. So far, since the surgery I have been eating normally more or less, except that I am eating much healthier foods than I used to. Even without the pre-op diet, I lost 15 lbs within 6 days from the date of the surgery. Since then I have only lost an additional 2 lbs in the following week. I couldn’t find any local forums or groups to share about my surgery so I am doing it here. I hope this info is helpful. If you have any questions about my surgery I would be happy to answer. Last but not least, I am very happy with my decision, and I think it’s a brave choice, given all the risks involved. I read an interesting saying in one bariatric articles about people who do these surgeries, which said, “I will live forever, or die trying!” This is indeed the case; in order to live longer and better lives, we take these extreme measures. This is not something to be ashamed but something to be proud of.

I started out adding my meds to my yogurt but it made me not like my yogurt so now I grind the meds and open the capsules and put them in my mouth and swallow with flavored water. It's much easier for me and I am hoping to like yogurt again in the near future haha. Sent from my SM-N910P using the BariatricPal App

About 3 weeks after my surgery, my sister had a 30th birthday party for my nephew. There was lots of food there, and I had to sit and be sociable with everyone while they were eating appetizer type foods. I did pack some food and brought it with me so I had something that I knew for sure I could have like a greek yogurt, a cheese stick, and a Protein shake. My sister did have chicken, so I took a little bit of that and shredded it, along with some pulled pork. It was only about 1 oz of each, but it worked. I also had a piece of cheese. The rest I just told myself first I didn't have room for all that food, and secondly I didn't just go through surgery and recovery for nothing! So, this is where your willpower and strength has to come in. Keep in mind at the time of the gathering, you will probably be on pureed foods, so you will be able to have some refried Beans with a bit of cheese melted on top, guacamole perhaps, smooth salsa (not chunky). So, you will have some options. You will only be able to eat about 2 oz at a time, so be careful! I hope everything goes well for you. If you are going to be there for a week, I would definitely go to the grocery store and stock up on stuff that you know you can have. Don't forget to make protein your priority.

Whats your food look like each day?that is a good question.I usually wake up at 6 AM, I take a protein shake or a bar (Quest). Then I go to the gym from 6h45 to 8h15. 15 minutes elliptical to warm up, a 30 minutes weight lifting with 80% of max weight and high rep until failure of the muscle group. I usually do 3 x 10-12 reps of different exercises, then 30 seconds rest and another set of 3. 30 minutes running to finish. Once I get to work I have another bar / shake. At lunch I usually take a salad (2 boiled eggs, some chickpeas or beans, couple of cherry tomatoes, green. No dressing) and a fat free yogurt for later. no snack in the afternoon. If I am hungry, I go for another yogurt. in the evening I usually go for scrambled eggs (2), or sea food (shrimps, squids, smoked salmon) and a smoothie (Watermelon, light cranberry juice is my favorite). no late snacks. During weekend I usually take lest protein shakes / bars and eat poultry, fish, etc. I don't have any cravings or things I want to eat. I select food I know will work for my sleeve, but I don't miss anything...yet. it may change later. I don't know. I don't enjoy eating as I used to (which is a good thing because that is the reason why I am obese), even if I still cook for my family during the weekends. This is a good thing as I want to move on with my life and have other objectives. Hope it helps. Awesome post. I love it when members detail what they eat and their activity level- it's very helpful and I always get some good ideas. Can you share how you make the watermelon smoothie? I'm convinced I'm part fruit monkey- can't get enough. Btw way to go!!! You are on fire!!! Love your attitude. Thank you for your nice comments. I do what I can, and it is not working too bad for now. For the smoothie, I take some watermelon I put in the blender, some ice (a few cubes) I add light cranberry juice and voila! I also do it wiith unsweetened peach ice tea. I like the combined flavors. Sometime I add a full peach in it. I try to avoid high sugar content fruits such as cherries or grapes. Mango juice was not a good idea as the flavor overtakes the watermelon completely. I tried to mix pineapple and light coconut milk. That makes an awesome alcohol free cocktail. Something else I do in the morning: I put an espresso shot in my chocolate shake with skimmed milk. Awesome cappuccino ! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Whats your food look like each day?that is a good question.I usually wake up at 6 AM, I take a protein shake or a bar (Quest). Then I go to the gym from 6h45 to 8h15. 15 minutes elliptical to warm up, a 30 minutes weight lifting with 80% of max weight and high rep until failure of the muscle group. I usually do 3 x 10-12 reps of different exercises, then 30 seconds rest and another set of 3. 30 minutes running to finish. Once I get to work I have another bar / shake. At lunch I usually take a salad (2 boiled eggs, some chickpeas or beans, couple of cherry tomatoes, green. No dressing) and a fat free yogurt for later. no snack in the afternoon. If I am hungry, I go for another yogurt. in the evening I usually go for scrambled eggs (2), or sea food (shrimps, squids, smoked salmon) and a smoothie (Watermelon, light cranberry juice is my favorite). no late snacks. During weekend I usually take lest protein shakes / bars and eat poultry, fish, etc. I don't have any cravings or things I want to eat. I select food I know will work for my sleeve, but I don't miss anything...yet. it may change later. I don't know. I don't enjoy eating as I used to (which is a good thing because that is the reason why I am obese), even if I still cook for my family during the weekends. This is a good thing as I want to move on with my life and have other objectives. Hope it helps. Awesome post. I love it when members detail what they eat and their activity level- it's very helpful and I always get some good ideas. Can you share how you make the watermelon smoothie? I'm convinced I'm part fruit monkey- can't get enough. Btw way to go!!! You are on fire!!! Love your attitude. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I started mine yesterday. What is your diet? I am allowed full sugar free liquids which includes yogurt, pudding, Jello and hot cereals. I have to keep it to 1000 cals a day and zero solids. I only got 700 in yesterday and got a lecture from myfitnesspal about how it wouldn't show me my averages to help discourage me from eating unhealthy. I was more prepared today for work and brought my jello and stuff with me. I only did shakes yesterday and though I was going to die.

Whats your food look like each day? that is a good question. I usually wake up at 6 AM, I take a protein shake or a bar (Quest). Then I go to the gym from 6h45 to 8h15. 15 minutes elliptical to warm up, a 30 minutes weight lifting with 80% of max weight and high rep until failure of the muscle group. I usually do 3 x 10-12 reps of different exercises, then 30 seconds rest and another set of 3. 30 minutes running to finish. Once I get to work I have another bar / shake. At lunch I usually take a salad (2 boiled eggs, some chickpeas or beans, couple of cherry tomatoes, green. No dressing) and a fat free yogurt for later. no snack in the afternoon. If I am hungry, I go for another yogurt. in the evening I usually go for scrambled eggs (2), or sea food (shrimps, squids, smoked salmon) and a smoothie (Watermelon, light cranberry juice is my favorite). no late snacks. During weekend I usually take lest protein shakes / bars and eat poultry, fish, etc. I don't have any cravings or things I want to eat. I select food I know will work for my sleeve, but I don't miss anything...yet. it may change later. I don't know. I don't enjoy eating as I used to (which is a good thing because that is the reason why I am obese), even if I still cook for my family during the weekends. This is a good thing as I want to move on with my life and have other objectives. Hope it helps.

I am not really a French speaker but I studied French in high school and college and am a bit of a Francophile, especially when it comes to movies. I did a quick Google search and found a couple of things that MAY help. Look for the brand Jockey cottage cheese in the yogurt section of a supermarket. Also, "le cottage" may be on a label (http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/12/le-cottage-cheese/). I also seem to recall from something I read years ago that there is a completely different name for what we call cottage cheese and that it is more rustic/country in France. I will see if I can find out more.

Thanks. I have tried adding powdered milk to regular milk and ended up having diarrhea .. Tried it again and same thing, tried milk alone and again same thing. Wonder if now I'm becoming lactose intolerant or not!! Used to have milk perfectly fine for the first 2 weeks after surgery. The pre-mixed Protein shake had the same effect as protein shakes. Protein bars I can take and didn't have a problem with but i can only take in very small amount of food per day so I spent a whole day just chewing on one Quest protein bar! Which is around 20g.. Again this wasn't the case almost 10 days ago and my oral intake was much better. I'll try making my whey at home from Greek yogurt and see how that goes. Sardines packed in oil is something I can handle well at the moment. And it's a good source of protein. Thing is my doctor doesn't seem to be bother about protein intake that much I wonder why!! My loop was made shorter than usual because he said I don't need to lose much and having a shorter loop will make nutrient absorption better. To be honest I did consult another Bariatric surgeon 2 days ago and asked him for his opinion. He said I should be a low risk since my loop is shorter but he would've preferred a VSG for my case. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Sean, I started soft foods yesterday. I've tried egg but mostly just do cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. I did do some squished avocado this evening and it was fine. I honestly would be fine on pp shakes and Popsicles. How are you doing? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I started at 206 and had surgery feb. 1. I have has complications with 24/7 nausea for two months and then could only eat eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, and broths. I now hate all of them. Two weeks ago I was able to start eating almonds and sunflower seeds. Started trying different foods again and can now eat yogurt, oatmeal and a few other things. Everything else still tastes funny. Especially carbs....don't like bread especially. I have lost 73 lbs. In three and a half months. I know some would say I am lucky but this journey so far has been hell. Everyone else was eating a lot of different foods at one month out. I am at least three months behind. I also have to be scared that I will lose too much. I look like a skeleton and not healthy. Slowly getting energy back but have lost a lot of muscle. See some hope now...finally...but did not have ANY support from my surgeon. They are just now concerned with stopping the rapid weight loss. I have been asking for help for months. I was happier before surgery. My cholesterol is great though and sleep apnea and GERD are totally gone. Other things good too....but struggling with depression. Again, though, things finally look like they are getting better. Just goes to show that everyone is different. Isopure Fruit drinks made all the difference in the world for me.... Sent from my SM-G360T1 using the BariatricPal App

Oh boy the variety of advice were all getting makes it difficult for us to help... My nut said I'll come home on full liquids after 2 night in the hospital and on the 5th day out from surgery I can add Greek yogurt etc... The guidelines don't seem to be the same for anyone unless two people are using the same surgeon... "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" Einstein

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141006195341-7146982-protein-supplements-after-weight-loss-surgery-yes-or-no "Be Wary of Protein supplements in the Long-Term Protein shakes and powders can be convenient, but they’re not your best bet for long-term weight loss. As you progress from pureed foods to semi-solid and then solid foods, your surgeon will probably recommend that you stop drinking shakes and focus instead on solid sources of protein. They’re more substantial and satisfying than liquid shakes. They take longer to eat than drinking shakes. They’re easier to fit into a real-life eating plan. You won’t be “drinking your calories.” They have more natural nutrients than processed shakes and powders. Most weight loss surgery patients can get enough protein just by choosing one or two high-protein foods for each meal. You’ll get 60 to 80 grams with the following foods. Breakfast: 2 scrambled egg whites; light English muffin and some fruit. Lunch: cup fat-free cottage cheese and a green salad with 3 ounces of canned light tuna. Dinner: 3 ounces of chicken breast and steamed spinach. Snack 1: 1 low-fat cheese stick. Snack 2: 1 6-ounce container of plain low-fat yogurt and 1 cup carrot sticks." Just be careful with the primary source of protein/meals being shakes.

I started today on a two week full liquids diet. That includes 3 shakes a day with a sugar free full liquids to supplement. flavored Water, SF Jello and pudding, hot cereals, Popsicle, broth, low fat cream Soups and low fat yogurt.

Are you eating a lot of onions, garlic or cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower? Those all give me gas. So do Beans. Beans is supposed to be helpful. It could be lactose too. You can try cutting out the lactose containing foods, or try lactaid. I personally find that if I eat yogurt frequently, my lactose intolerance stays mostly in check. (Hurray for good bacteria!) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I lost 15% of my starting weight during my 6 month medically supervised period (6th appointment was last week, now just awaiting insurance approval and hopefully surgery on June 17th). I wasn't trying to lose a specific amount, just not gain and wanted to start making some changes. This is what worked for me. 1. Log everything and I mean EVERY BITE into a tracker like myfitnesspal. Even just eat like you normally do for a couple of days so you can see where you are. 2. Next, stop drinking calories - no soda, no sweetened tea, no starbucks 3. Cut out potatoes and Pasta (wasn't much of a rice eater anyway but cut that out too). Cut out almost all bread - occasionally I'd have a sandwich for lunch on a whole wheat deli thin - but not every day. I did occasionally have oatmeal for Breakfast but made sure it was a higher Protein, lower sugar option like quaker weight control or think thin brand. 4. Meals basically consisted of lean meat and lost of non starchy veggies - think broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach, swiss chard. Afternoon snack was typically a little greek yogurt and some berries. 5. Move more. I was pretty much sedentary when I started so I started by parking slightly further away at work (I now park a lot further away). And started with doing just 5 minutes on a pedal exerciser a couple of times a night. Now 6 months later I routinely get in over 5,000 steps a day but it was most definitely a gradual build. Do a little more each day - it really does add up over time! 6. Gradually reduce calories every couple of weeks. All of this was done with help of my NUT. She'd look over my food log every month and discuss what was good, what needed tweaking etc. I won't lie - while simple to figure out what to cut when you log, it is hard to do. But think of it as starting your healthy new life now. You can do it!

At this stage, you want to focus on liquids and protein. Dehydration was a real problem for me around week 3. Keep sipping. Food, for me, was basically kept to peanut butter, soft scrambled eggs and refried beans. I lived on cottage cheese and yogurt forever too.

Yes...well I added it to yogurt. ..wasn't sure if it could be added to hot foods Sent from my SM-N915V using the BariatricPal App

Can you add unflavored Protein powder to your yogurt and broth? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I eat both regularly, usually in yogurt, they are a superfood!

Try adding yogurt or cottage cheese to the Protein shake... Maybe in the blender with ice and cinnamon... I find the shake taste best when I use the blender.... "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" Einstein