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M1 - 1 oz of chicken, 1 oz of light swiss cheese M2 - coffee with cream M3 - 1 cup of salad with grilled chicken strips (2 oz), dressing on side M4 - 3 oz of yogurt, 2 oz of cottage cheese M5 Exercise LBWO - 5 am - 3 min warmup Quads Leg lifts (machine) 12 - 10 10 - 10 8 - 15 6 - 25 12 - 20 Leg Presses - 12 - 90lbs Hamstrings 12 - 10 10 - 20 8 - 20 6 - 25 12 - 25 (leg curls machine) 12 - 30lbs Calves 12 - 50 10 - 70 8 - 90 6 - 110 12 - 90 12 - 90 lbs ABS Crunches - incline Machine Ab crunches - no weights Exercise #2 - 3:15 pm - 27 min on treadmill, 3% incline, 3.3 to 3.4 mph, 1.46 distance, 213 calories Notes - Today was really hard getting out of bed, I've been tired all day, I just realized that the reason is I didn't sleep with my cpap machine last night, I will make sure I sleep with it tonight!

M1 - Cottabe cheese mixed with lc yogurt (couldn't finish it all) M2 - 6 oz of apple juice mixed with Daily 5 M3 - grilled fish, broccolli & cabbage (about a bite or two of each - except ate most of my fish - need the protein to build my muscles) M4 - grilled chicken, grilled veggies M5 Exercise - UBWO - Worked out at my gym at work today, couldn't get out of bed, this weather is not letting me get up in the AM, but I will work on it next week! My biceps and shoulders were worked to total fatigue - they are burning now! Exercise #2 - NOTES - Wt this morning 184.4 - OMG, I am getting so close to being out of the 180's! I must get my butt back in gear next week and get out of bed at 5 am. Although I haven't missed one exercise session, I have been doing it at all different times in the evening, afternoon, etc. It just works better for me when I do it in the am. So next week, that is my focus. Next week I begin week 4 of my BFL challenge, after completing next week, I will be 1/3 of the way finished - yay. I can't wait to take my measurements on the 19th - it will be my 4 mo anniversary and, it will be 4 weeks doing the exercise challenge. I am anxious to see what progress I have made and compare my pictures - even though I hated taking a picture of me in my bikini (I had to go buy one cause I didn't own one) - I think it will be neat seeing the difference after exercising for 4 weeks straight. Sorry, just can't share those pics with you guys, lol. Maybe after I finish the 12 weeks and I see a difference and I don't look so scary, I will share the pics. To all my journal buddies out there, thanks so much for all your compliments and your cheering me on. I am inspired by each of you and watching your progress motivates me even more. Together we can achieve this!

Okay - November, I'm starting off with the right mind and doing it right! I WILL lose weight this month, I WILL stay true to my Billy Bob (the name of my band), I WILL get back to exercising this month, and I WILL keep my journal updated more. I talked to my Physical therapyst today regarding the elliptical machine, she gave me the okay to start on it this weekend, however, I have to take it slllooooow. She said no more than 15 min to start out on and not to go super fast (this is going to be hard for me to follow - but I will do my best). So, I am planning on exercising tomorrow. Next week, it will be back to the 5 am exercises I think. I'm going to try and do 15 min everyday next week of the elliptical! My menu today Bfast - liquid calories - bad bad bad (had a white mocha been coffee drink - grrrrrrr so mad at myself) Lunch - about 1/2 cup of cottage cheese mixed with 1/2 container of carb control yogurt snack - hand full of nuts which included almonds, macadamias, cashews. Dinner - Salad bar from Ruby Tuesdays Exercise - worked out at the PT office - did 10 min on bike, did some leg lifts, and did some resistance with my knee on 20 lbs (ouch). Afternoon Exercise - did 10 min on recumbant bike Suppliments - took 1 Quickslim-30, daily 5 veggie & fruit drink

I'm up to 2.7 now - it was "too much" for me back in March and I went down to 2.5, then a month later, 2.7 was perfect - now I've scheduled my next fill for May 7th, just in case. Restriction to me is the ability to eat a small portion (3 oz meat/1/2 cup produce), and feel satisfied (not necessarily "full") and not get hungry for ~4 hours. But I notice my morning Breakfast, since it's yogurt & bran Cereal, doesn't stick with me as long - and I don't expect it to, it's almost a "mushy". If I eat 3 oz meat with a veggie, I stay satisfied much, much longer. Personally, I'd say go in and get .1 or .2 and see how it goes - you do have restriction, so you really don't need a lot. I do liquids/mushies for 24 or 48 hours after a fill (basically my doc just says "take it easy for a day"). The closer I get to my "sweet spot" the more cautious I am after a fill. I'm pretty much right at my sweet spot so I do things like yogurt, milk, Protein shakes and cottage cheese for 2 days and then re-introduce things slowly. Have you tried shaking your "menu" up? Any chance your difficulties in eating are caused by "trouble foods" that would clog any of us up? Sometimes that's all my "golf ball" feeling is - eating something that could be trouble for anyone with restriction! For example, until my last fill or so I ate the little baby raw carrots. My one and only "sliming" incident was with those darn carrots about two weeks after a fresh fill, and I just won't eat them again! Not worth the pain..

I too just went through this kind of thing. I went rouge for 3 years and came back just this last May. I started with my food journal again. This was my down fall like water is to you. It just took up too much time to write everything down, find the food in the book or on line and then count the calories. I keep a journal now. I keep times of when I eat and what I eat (i.e. breakfast burrito/ sm flour tortilla, 1 egg, chdr chz, salsa, pork-comments too – ate half, got stuck…) but I don’t count calories and I’ve been on top of it each day without a problem. That was my first step. Second; I picked up some of those water flavored packets (5 different kids) and now I can drink 64oz (4 16oz bottles) in a day. I have some in my purse, in the car or in my snack tote I carry w/me every time I leave the house. Third; got back into doing exercises twice a week. I found a Zumba class and have been enjoying it immensely. I’ve lost 15 inches of off my whole body since April. Fourth; I now watch the amount that I eat and what I eat. Started by eating half and half only. Found that it was really enough, started listening again to my body when it was satisfied – not FULL. I eat about every 2-3 hours (meals to snacks) and try my best to stop at 7-7:30pm (some days I do this, others days I don’t, but I keep trying) One thing I’ve learned is to own up to my mistake, deal with it, learn from it if I can and then move on. I went back to the doctors for the first time recently, I handed since him since 2007. That was last fill I had had too. At this visit the doctor this added ½ cc to my current 8cc that I already had. I’m proud to say that I’ve lost 3 pounds in just 8 days! I mentioned this earlier, keep snacks with you at all times. This will stop the urge for fast food—the quick fix. I will have fruit, yogurt, string cheese, almonds, crackers, 100 cal snacks and of course 1 or 2 bottles of water (that have been pre mixed w/flavoring) Keep posting! I would like to hear how you’re doing. You can do this, I have faith in you!

Until last week I too had been struggling with what to eat and how much. My surgeon said a saucer of food was how much I should eat 3 times a day. Well I could fit alot of food on a saucer. I thought I was doing right, but I was not losing at all once I went to solid foods. One of his office staff came to the montly support group meeting and brought us a menu plan to try for a month. It was set up by their onstaff nutritionist. It's really helped. I've been on that plan for 6 days and I've lost 5lbs.:thumbdown: I thought I'd share it with you all in case anyone is interested. On this plan I'm allowed to choose 3 meals and 1 snack per day and ONLY eat what's on this list. My doctor's mostly focused on watching fat grams so that's why items are fat free whenever possible. Breakfast: 1) 2-3 egg whites with 1/2 banana 2) 1 cup cheerios with 1/2 cup skim milk with 6 strawberries 3) 1 cup oatmeal mixed with skim milk or Water 4) egg beaters (or egg whites) with 1 piece of wheat toast (40 calorie bread) - use butter spray and sugar free jelly 5) fat free yogurt with blueberries 6) 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup fat free cottage cheese with peaches 7) 2 slices of turkey bacon with one piece of wheat toast 8) 3/4 cup of corn flakes + 1/2 cup of milk 9) 2/3 cup of light fruit yogurt + 1/4 cup of granola 10) 1 serving of Protein supplement 11) 1 small apple + 1/2 cup of milk 12) 1/2 english muffin + 2 tbsp sugar free strawberry spread 13) 1/4 large whole wheat bagel + 1 oz fat free cream cheese 14) blenderize: 1/2 cup light vanilla yogurt + 1/2 cup berries of choice 15) 1 low-calorie granola bar + 1/2 cup of milk 16) 1 whole grain waffle + 1/4 cup of mixed berries + sugar free syrup 17) 2 egg whites, scrambled lunch and/or Dinner: 1) tuna fish mixed with pickle relish or mustard (can add fat free mayo too) and 5 fat free crackers and 1/2 apple 2) any Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers Meal that is 5 or less fat grams per meal 3) deli turkey or deli ham with 5 fat free crackers and 10 grapes 4) salad with grilled chicken or shrimp (only lettuce and veggies) with fat free dressing (or 2 tsps of light dressing) 5) baked potato with 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese or fat free ranch dressing 6) grilled or baked chicken marinated in BBQ sauce or fat free italian with 1/2 cup brown rice and steamed veggies 7) grilled or baked fish with 1/2 sweet potato and veggies 8) 1 cup whole wheat Pasta with red sauce with chicken or shrimp in the pasta 9) grilled or boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce and veggies 10) vegetable Soup 11) chicken noodle soup 12) 1 tsp tomato sauce, 1/4 oz fat free mozzarella cheese atop 4 whole wheat crackers 13) 1 slice whole grain bread with 1 oz lean ham or 1 oz fat free cheese 14) 3 oz baked chicken + 1/2 cup of green Beans 15) salad: 1/2 cup salad greens, 2 oz grilled chicken, 1/4 cup raw carrots, 1/4 cup raw bell peppers, 2 tsp low calorie vinagrette dressing 16) 1 serving of low calorie beef and vegetable soup + 4 whole wheat crackers 17) 1/2 pita stuffed with 2 oz turkey, lettuce, and tomato 18) 2 oz baked fish + 1/2 cup broccoli 19) 1 medium baked potato + 1 oz grilled chicken, 1 oz cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes 20) 2 oz turkey + 1/2 cup mashed sweet potato with 1 tsp of margarine and 1 tsp of cinnamon 21) 1/2 cup refried beans, fat free sour cream, and salsa on a whole wheat tortilla Snacks: (one a day) 1) any fruit 2) fat free popcorn 3) 100 calorie snack pack (only 1) 4) yogurt 5) turkey or ham slices from deli 6) 1 piece of laughing cow cheese with 5 fat free crackers 7) kiddie size frozen yogurt (sugar free/fat free) from TCBY 8) 1 small peach, plum, apple or orange 9) 1 low fat, no sugar added ice cream sandwich 10) 1/2 cup light yogurt 11) 1 oz fat free cheese with 3 whole wheat crackers 12) 1 low calorie granola bar 13) 1/2 cup vanilla fat free, no sugar added ice cream 14) 1/2 cup sugar free Jello or pudding 15) 17 grapes + 1 oz fat free cheddar cheese 16) 1 small while grain bagel + 1 oz fat free cream cheese 17) 1 no sugar added juice popsicle 18) 1/2 cup etamame (soybeans) 19) 1 small apple with fat free caramel

This is an example of what I typically eat on an average day when not working out. small glass of soymilk oatmeal (instant) or egg beaters yogurt (lowfat) piece of lowfat cheese chicken/steamed veggies (lunch) low fat rice cakes cottage cheese beef Jerky fish with Beans or veggies 1 orange whole grain cracker (about 15 of them) piece of cheese I eat about every 2-3 hours. about 4-5 oz This list is in order. of course I change things up if I am working out which I will eat more for energy needs. I eat often and drink about 80 oz of Water. I am never hungry. good luck.

I am 7 weeks post op RNY...i am not sure what to eat any more...pretty much only eat yogurt, cottage cheese, lunch meat and chicken...can I have salad yet? What else can I eat? i am anxious about trying any recipes unless I am able to account for everything in there so I can track. Help!

I have a picky sleeve that 6 months out still hates poultry--particularly breast meat, is hit or miss on pork, fish and eggs, but tolerates rare steak just fine (go figure). Greek yogurt is still a staple as are soups and shakes. Some days my sleeve even decides shakes are a no go....mostly if i drink it too fast though.

You are doing fabulous! At your stage, I could also only eat about 2 oz and, truthfully, I'm not much beyond that now (about 1/3 cup capacity, it seems). Anyway, try Greek yogurt. I'm in Canada so there are fewer choices, but the best one here is Danon Silhouette at 50 calories and 8 grams of protein. Most of the others are double the calories (or more). It's thick, so at first, I actually put it in a bowl and mixed some slimfast or other protein shake in with it and ate it like soup. It's about 1/3 of a cup in total but with the liquid added - obviously a little more. It would take me three separate times to finish one small container of yogurt at your stage, so go slow. It's a great way to get in some protein. Good luck!!!

My journey involving bariatric sleeve surgery began at 450lbs. My blood pressure was in true digits, both numbers, I had diabetes, and my doctor could only guess my BMI, because the chart went to 65, and I was over 70! My legs hurt all the time, and so did my back. I could eat 100 wings in a single sitting. I ate 32 tacos at once to show off. It was killing me. Almost 2 years ago, I started the bariatric journey, with Kathy Scutella. I got to the surgery date, but had to call it off because I had just gotten a job and without FMLA I would lose it. I have up for almost a year. Then I got better insurance, and met my current PCP, Dr. Kelly Wienecke. She encouraged me to look into bariatric surgery again. So, I did. I lost 68lbs before my surgery the second time through. That included the 16lbs I lost during the 2 week pre-op diet alone! I lost 7lbs in 7 days between my visit 1 week after the surgery with bariatrics and my appointment a week after that with my metabolic disease doctor. My one month goal is to be down to 300lbs or less when I see Kathy Scutella again. She said 20lbs loss would be good. I want to go for more. Protein shakes, salmon, eggs, yogurt, tuna, chicken all the time. I got healthy mayo and chicken broth to blend it up real good. I read things on bariatric pal all the time. It gives me hope for having some things I used to eat. It gets lonely being the only one not eating what's for dinner. One day, in moderation I can though. That's my short story. I've went from 450lbs to 314lbs in about 2 years. I got over 100 more left to lose.

I use the Bariactive brand I had to stop the chewables because my palette wasn't having it ,so I switched to the ones you swallow .On the calcium I have to cut it and morter and pestle it up and put it in a yogurt just because they are to big for me to swallow right now, the multivitamin I also put in yougurt as well its in capsule for .As for my B12 it comes in a nasal spray and I do gummy biotin and b-complex.

Well, I just found this site so I'm gonna try to catch up. I started this process on 4-28-07 at a seminar for Banner Bariatric. I did all the preliminary paperwork and doctor's records, etc. then had my first appointment with Dr. Rob Schuster in June of 2007. I had to have 6 months of doctor monitored weight loss attempt for my insurance so we began that process. I lost about 25 lbs but put back on 6 at Christmas time. During this process the original hospital, Mesa Banner was closed and everything moved to the new Banner Gateway hospital campus. Due to this change, my insurance wouldn't cover it until after the first of the year since it was showing out of network. Another lovely delay that ended up causing me problems with the $1000 flex spending I had set up to cover the surgery in 2007. Oh well, at least I didn't lose any of it as I was able to find things to spend it on. Pre-op appointment was on 1-29-08 and I had lost about 18 pounds at that point. On 2-4-08 I started my pre-op diet that consisted of SF jello, SF popsicles, broth and zero calorie drinks plus 3 low carb protein shakes a day for 2 weeks. That part was a bitch but really gave me a head start on the weight loss. It also helped shrink my liver to make surgery easier and shrunk my stomach to help keep the hunger away. Surgery was on 2-18-08. Everything went well and I had a pretty decent stay at the hospital. I came home 2-19-08 and started my full liquid diet on 2-20. This consisted of 2 oz serving of SF pudding, Lite yogurt, thinned cream of wheat type cereal or strained, creamed soup plus 3 protein shakes. On 2-22-08 they found a tumor in my husband's brain and I had to take him to the ER at St. Joseph's hospital. On 2-25 they preformed surgery to remove the tumor and he was released on 2-29-08. He has malignant brain cancer. And so the fun began. He'll be doing a year of chemo and radiation - 6 weeks of 5 days a week and then to maintenance dose of 23 days off, 5 days on for a year. Enough of that. I already have a hospital blog for his care but this is my place. 3-4-08 was my first post op follow up and I had lost 28.5 pounds since my pre-op bringing it to a total of 46 pounds since beginning my journey. I also got to change my diet to pureed foods plus 2-3 protein shakes. Woo hoo! I was excited, now I'm sick of it. Oh well. Dying to know how much I've lost now but I don't have another appointment until 4-1-08. I can't begin to say how sick I am of protein shakes. Isopure drinks have helped a lot. They have only 160 calories, zero carbs and 40 grams of protein. Nice wallop of protein there and tasty too. I've only cheated a couple times with cake. My son had his 13th birthday on March 10th and some people from church have brought some wonderful food and desserts including the oh so tempting chocolate cake. I am just now getting hungry and think that maybe I will be ready for my first fill. I really do need to cut the carbs back down though so I don't lose my ketosis. Fighting a tiny infection in 1 of the puncture sites but it's almost healed finally. More later now that it's mostly caught up.

Eating a whole container of yogurt isn't a problem. My program recommends 2-3oz of lean meat or cheese, and the equivalent they list is 6oz of greek yogurt. Measuring is definitely an excellent tool (I do it,) but that much yogurt really is fine. Sent from my SM-G920P using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi All, I am looking for any suggestions that you may have to my nose issue. 11 weeks ago I had jaw surgery and 4 weeks ago Lap Band surgery. Lapband was easy because I could not eat from my jaw surgery. I have yet to really eat solid foods. My Issue- meat stinks to me now. I usually have yogurt, yogurt smoothies, Atkins drinks, 42 gram protien shots, Water, Vitamin water, and all of my Vitamins. If I smell meat at all, I nearly gag. Today at work in an attempt to begin eating more solid food (as I have no energy) I ordered a scrambled egg with cheese and bacon on the side- It stunk when my co-worker brought it to me. Later I ordered a chicken salad and potatoe salad- trying to find something that I could have a few bites of and when I opened the chicken salad, it smelled awful. I know it was not spoiled, its just me. It has been 11 weeks since I have had food my jaw does hurt when I chew but now I need more nutrition to make it through the day. I know of you are thinking why is she trying to eat those things and had the lapband, because I do not know what to eat anymore and I need the protien and I am trying anything that I can. I can only eat about 3 to 4 bites and I am full. Not sure if I have restriction or if my stomach has shriveled up from lack of food over the past 11 weeks. HELP ANY SUGGESTIONS. Thanks

I was in the same place as you. What I did was start making make ahead meals, too. Google Eggface ... she has lots of recipes that can be made ahead. I use her site for inspiration. However my go to quick food is chicken. I season a pack of boneless chicken breast & thighs with garlic & herb Mrs. Dash & olive oil then put it on the George Foreman. Put them in individual freezer bags and I'm set. I have also done pork chops & turkey burgers, too. I can eat them anytime for any meal. I also eat alot of veggies. I cook 2 or 3 veggies then put them in little storage containers and freeze those too. Plain greek yogurt with a pack of Splenda & sugar-free fruit is something else I keep on hand. I hope this helps ...

My weight loss progressively slowed down each month post-op. Over time, I needed more calories to be satiated. Finally, at 9 months post-op, the weight loss stopped right at my Ideal Body Weight. I'm currently 14 mo post-op, and I'm still experimenting with how much and what to eat to maintain. I currently eat about 1800-2000 calories a day. I don't follow a specific diet now, but I try to stay focused on protein, eating clean, limited (and healthy) snacking. My biggest challenge is grazing. My restriction makes it hard to eat actual meals, so I find myself eating "pieces" of food throughout the day... some cheese here, an apple there, a piece of ham, some greek yogurt, a protein bar, etc. It's working ok for now, but it's something I'm monitoring. Initially, I was tracking everything I ate, but I don't do that now. I keep a running tab in my head, and I'm trying to get to the point that I can regulate intuitively. I weigh myself every morning. I've regained about a pound from my lowest weight.

Does anyone have issues with pureed foods? I literally only eating beans, protein shakes, different allowed cheeses and yogurt. I am two weeks since surgery and seen no weight loss in a whole week. Anyone having a hard time going to the bathroom too? Sent from my SM-A326U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had lap band surgery in February this year (2008). I am 5'10" and weighed 298 and am now down to 199. Things were good for the first 5 months and I was able to eat most foods in moderation with very little problems. There wasn't much I couldn't eat but I ate smaller portions. I have had 4 fills and think the last one may have made me too tight but I am afraid of getting an unfill or if there is another type of problem wrong with me. I am drinking plenty of liquids and have never got dehydrated. I hardly eat anymore because solid foods come back up and I get full after a few bites. Breakfast consists of either yogurt, oatmeal or Cereal. lunch consists of Soup, applesauce, Meal Replacement or crackers. dinner consists of fish, hamburger, Beans, cheese, salad or string beans I stay with soft liquidy type foods becacause just about any other type of food comes back up. I throw up once a day when I try and eat dinner. The food comes up in waves. I first throw up things that are hardly digested. Then I start salivating and throw up some more. Then the rest is saliva. I hardly ever feel really hungry anymore and need very little to feel full. I am not able to eat a big variety of foods and throw up once a day when I try and eat more solid foods. Afraid that throwing up every day will cause a problem. I am eating around 700-800 calories a day but am drinking plenty of fluids, exercise often and don't feel hungry or tired. Don't feel like I am eating a well balanced meal and not getting enough Protein. Has anyone else experience this? Should I be concerned? Is my band too tight? Could my band have slipped? I just don't know what to do and am a little scared. :w00t: I have a good doctor but am afraid to talk to him about this and don't know why. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

I love just plain old any kind of yogurt. . . i don't like flavors, just plain. . . sorry

How's all my 10-11-12ers doing today? Hard to believe 2 weeks ago today I came home from hospital! Weight-wise, I'm doing good-total loss from DOS to today -15.5 lbs.! However, my cals. are staying pretty low (600) since I can't yet tolerate yogurt or pudding (forget Farina-never a fan, can't get mire than tsp. down!) so that's been a bummer. I was only taking Tylenol but after going to work last Monday, 10/22, too soon, the burning came back and now I'm taking Vicodin! I'm Ok-saw my surgeon Tuesday-just overworked the muscles that are trying to heal by too much movement. Ouch!!! The burn is getting less and less every day, but I truly felt better a week ago than I do today. Don't push yourselves too hard! Take it from me, itsnot worth it! I think I was trying to prove to everyone and myself that the WLS was no big deal- wrong! It's a life changing event-it's a verrrrrry big deal!! 

Yesterday I started full liquids and I feel the same way. I can eat an entire cup of soup also! I have been doing 3 protein shakes a day, for breakfast I had 1/4 cup yogurt, for lunch 1 cup soup, dinner 1 cup soup and right now I am having 1/2 cup pudding. I feel like I can eat more but I am afraid to. I have my post op appointment tomorrow and I am going to talk to the surgeon about this.

UPDATE: So I'm 3 weeks post op I'm on my second stage which is textured and soft foods. I basically have been eating normal but healthy of coarse. So salads, Greek yogurt, grilled chicken and sometimes nuts. I've even tried the kind protein bars. I'm doing great the trick is to eat slow and I'm doing ok with that. I'm still doing 1 protein shake a day and that's ok too I'm learning to add bananas and peanut butter protein to make them taste different I've even tried mango from the Bariatric pal website. So far I've lost 22 lbs total I started at 306 and I'm now 284 as of tonight. I feel like I need to start incorporating some cardio and weights into my routine. I can feel my skin getting softer and more grab-able. It's scaring me. I'm excited to see what the next couple of weeks has to offer [emoji847]

Welcome to the other side.... I have truely never felt hunger since being banded. for me it has all been head hunger. I eat my premeasured portions (when ever possible ) at regularly scheduled times (as my work schedule will allow). I try not to eat more than three meals a day. If i do give into the head hunger I try to stay with protein bars and healthy snacks like cut up apple slices or a small handful of frozen blueberries or a snack pack of yogurt. This is where a call to your nutritionist comes in handy. Call and ask for them to call you back or to email you snack/ meal ideas. They usually are more than happy to help. Best of luck on your Journey.

You will DEFINITELY Get better. The first week was rough for me too and I was totally exhausted. I'm a little confused about the yogurt. You should be able to eat some yogurt during the first week -- I'd just add some milk to it to make it go down a little easier. Also, you should seriously be sipping on your Protein shake ALL DAY LONG. You absolutely MUST get down 60 grams of protein every day. Go out and buy yourself one of those hand-held portable blenders that you just stick into the cup -- I still use my Protein Shake and LOVE it. THere's a whole thread on here somewhere about Protein shakes and how everyone makes them differently, but I add some flax see oil (Udo's) which someone suggested on here, Water and splenda. SOmetimes some vanilla flavored coffeemate too! Yum!!! Other people add a spoonful of reduced fat Peanut Butter and love it. Either way, it sounds like you're not getting your protein in and you really really need to be doing that! I also eat a lot of cream of wheat (NOT OATMEAL! TOO THICK).. I'd take the chunks of dried fruit out of the packet and mix with water and a little milk. Yum! Don't worry, this is just the tough time. It's difficult to cause a slip so I would not worry about that right now. Just clean your incisions, baby yourself and drink the protein! good luck!