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Denise- It's funny that you think my weightloss is "big" when I feel like I've been on the plateau from hell. But, I bought a 50 pound bag of bird seed and could barely get it out of the car. I put it on my shoulder and walked around with it for a few minutes taking in how it used to feel when I was 50 pounds heavier. No wonder I was so tired. You also say that you can't eat onion rings, yet you can eat a donut. Well, I can't eat a donut, that's for sure!!! Isn't it weird how we all react? Oh, here's today's journal: Breakfast Thought I would have yogurt but it tasted nasty so I had a Protein shake instead with banana and Peanut Butter -but made with Water not milk (adds an extra 100 cals or so). (Tip- I get pretty ripe bananas at the store and then peel them, cut them in half, and freeze them. When I add a frozen banana half to my shake it makes it cream and really cold...and adds a little flavor. Very yummy.) Lunch: Tiny piece of lasagna. I am a terrible cook so it's all dried out and I can't eat very much of it. Snack: a handful of cheese It's which I ate too fast and then PBed. Yes, even us experienced bandsters screw up. If you PB something, does it count? 5 almond bark covered pretzels Dinner: 1 cup of chicken Noodle Soup Half a slice of toast with butter and strawberry jelly a handful of mini speckled eggs (easter candy is the devil) two pieces of dove chocoloate Snack: half a cup of broccoli half a cup of califlower fat free dill dip (only has 35 cals per serving vs. the non fat free that has 120!!) I'm doing a little experiment to see if eating raw veggies at night keeps me fuller longer than eating popcorn or something else like that. I am too tight to eat them during the day so maybe this is a good way to get in fruits and veggies? I'll keep you all posted. Cals:1397 I decided to find out how much damage I did yesterday so I plugged in the whole wretched day into fitday. It was only 2100 calories which I guess isn't really all that bad for going out and wooping it up. Megan

hi there, at what point did you add watered down/ lose things like grits, or mashed potatoes. pudding , regular yogurt etc? did you do it when you started to get hungry again a couple weeks after surgery or later? what were the first foods you added? any other food Ideas?

I was allowed yogurt and cottage/ricotta cheese at day 15. Please note I WAS hungry before that but thems the rules.

Pure Protein is pretty nasty I had Light & Fit yogurt during my full liquid phase. I was a little unsure if the little bits of peaches in there was ok, so I was spitting them out and putting them aside (as daintily as I could lol). I preferred using Fage 0, but greek yogurt isn't everyone's cup of tea. I strained some soups & had a canned lobster bisque that wasn't too bad calorie/fat # wise.

I weaned off shakes as fast as I could. I do not like the chemicals. EVERYTHING I eat has Protein in it. Period. Thats how you get it in. eggs, cheese, Cottage cheese Sausage, bacon, Breakfast meats, lunch meat of all kind. Currently my fav is butter basted turkey from Fresh and easy. Roast beef and cheese. Soups (easy to add any kind of protein to that) Yogurts Peanut Butter Nuts of all kind especially Almonds Fish fish and more fish Legumes

Hey - I did say that! Another thing that works is a few swigs of chobani yogurt smoothies. Creamy, drinkable. Yum.

Well, I got my happy butt out of bed this morning at 5:00 am and headed to the gym. I'm on a roll. lol. I did 35 min on the elliptical. I knew that tonight was going to be busy and I needed to do my exercise in the am if I was going to get it done, and I did it! Yay for me! I'm patting myself on the back right now....pat, pat, pat. Okay, enough of my bragging. Today's menu: Bfast - Matabolism is going crazy because I am STARVING! fresh tomatoes and carrots, dipped in hummus. yum yum Snack Ww yogurt - 1 WW point Lunch - the rest of my lunch from Applebees from yesterday. Talapia & broccoli. yum. Only 7 WW points for the entire meal. Dinner - Low fat chick tortillia soup - 4 ww pts Snack - Skinny cow ice cream sandwhich (2 WW points) Exercise - 35 min on Elliptical

Breakfast -- Greek yogurt with 1Tablespoon of Chia seeds. I love, love Chia seeds; they keep me "regular." lunch -- 2 poached eggs with wilted spinach and tomato slices on 1/2 toasted English muffin. dinner -- Mexican shrimp cocktail (Shrimp in a cold tomato juice, with lime, chopped onion, cilantro, and chopped avocado), saltine crackers, and half a chile relleno. I was at a restaurant, and the cocktail was about 1-1/2 cups including liquid. I ate about half of it, maybe. Snack -- Chia seed pudding (chia seeds with Water, allowed to gel, with drops of English toffee stevia liquid sweetener). It's good, filling, has Fiber, Protein and lots of antioxidants. In between, I drank 2 bottles of water before breakfast, 1 before lunch, 1 before dinner, one before my pudding, and 1/2 of one right before bed. My early ones I drink plain. The later ones I add Dasani flavoring drops.

Funny yogurt has never affected me like this before, and post op there just are not alot of items you can get protein from. Maybe lactaid will help, cause other than protein shakes with almond milk there isnt anything that gives better protein than greek yogurt.I will try the peppermint tea,heating pad.

If you had intolerance prior it could be on high at the moment. It could be your new tummy reacting to the yogurt or it could be the intolerance. Some things can take time to readjust too. I can't have ice anymore in my drinks without an upset stomach and I couldn't do any form of chocolate protein/pudding, etc for 3 months without pure nausea.

FRESCA: I cook very fast and I make sure to have a shake right before i cook. It smells so good, but I haven tried anyting since Tuesday. I was even offered a yogurt parfait from McDs and I said NO. I have stuck with the Optifast, little Water, Slimfast at night, sugarfree Jello, & sugarfree candies since Tuesday. It's been a challenge, but I get over each battle a little stronger. I told my daughter of 19, that she might have to cooking soon. I think I'm pretty strong, but yesterday's dinner smelled soooo goooodd!!!. Then they eat in front of me. I just don't look and focus on the tv. I have to do this until March 3. Then Clear liquids.....yummy...lol...... I know there is a light at the end of this tunnel. I JUST KEEP THINKING, BY THE TIME SUMMER COMES, I SHOULD BE ABOUT 30LBS LIGHTER OR MORE. THAT'S GREAT...... GOOD LUCK FRESCA!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Am I lieing to myself? I have generally always considered my weight struggle a hormone problem. I don't eat perfectly but I don't think I eat worse than the people I'm surrounded by who are thin and not struggling. We go out to dinner - they clean their plates - and they order feasts - and I nibble on salads. I cook for them once a week and they don't gain weight off of my food - but I do. I watch them eat desert night after night after night while I don't eat desert all that often. Not because I am holding myself back - but because I generally don't like sweet things. I HATE chocolate. I HATE ice cream. I dislike cake unless it's a very specific kind of cake with a very specific kind of frosting. I only like about three pies known to man. And in most cases, I don't bake them nor do I order them when we eat out. My one weakness for desert is creme brulee but I rarely end up in restaurants that offer it so would say I eat the stuff about three or four times a year. I don't generally eat bread except for with sandwiches. I don't go crazy with grazing throughout the day, in fact I eat three meals and one afternoon snack. Breakfast is a fruit smoothie with nonfat plain yogurt. Lunch is a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with a smidge of mayo. And dinner varies - during the week it's generally leftovers and on weekends is when I cook. It can range from pot roast to roasted chicken to sushi at our favorite sushi bar to Vietnamese grilled beef vermicelli to grilled fish... So am I lieing to myself? Is food my problem? Am I food addict and I don't know it? I'm not perfect. I don't pretend to be. I DO eat out probably too much. But I also think I order wise things, for the most part. I'm not big on fried food - although on occasion some fried chicken IS good. Am I lieing to myself? Have the six nutritionists I've seen over the years been wrong when they said "your food is not your problem?" I've had TSH tests run on me multiple times just to find out I have HYPER-thyroidism. THAT does not make sense so no one treats it. I have had my metabolism measured a few times just to find out I have a fast metabolism. And yet the weight packs on. So am I lieing to myself? I swim, walk, lift weights three or four times a week. Swimming in the summer, walking otherwise. I garden - that burns calories when you are out there pulling out all those weeds with all the built up frustration you don't know you have. I am like a ping-pong ball when my husband and I TRY to sit down and watch a movie. I'm up every fifteen minutes to do this or that. My dog used to get so mad at me...he'd get all curled up and cozy and then ping, I'm off again. He thinks he has to follow me everywhere but by the time he was about three years old or so, he said 'forget it, do whatcha gotta do and I'll be here when you get back'. He has now found solace in the fact that my husband gets irritated by this, too. Just curls up with my husband if need be and they sit idly by watching me ping and pong about. So am I lieing to myself? Am I setting myself up for failure here? If I'm not lieing to myself - will this work for me? Can it help me? It almost seems like if I am lieing to myself, then yay. I can fix that!

Am I lieing to myself? I have generally always considered my weight struggle a hormone problem. I don't eat perfectly but I don't think I eat worse than the people I'm surrounded by who are thin and not struggling. We go out to dinner - they clean their plates - and they order feasts - and I nibble on salads. I cook for them once a week and they don't gain weight off of my food - but I do. I watch them eat desert night after night after night while I don't eat desert all that often. Not because I am holding myself back - but because I generally don't like sweet things. I HATE chocolate. I HATE ice cream. I dislike cake unless it's a very specific kind of cake with a very specific kind of frosting. I only like about three pies known to man. And in most cases, I don't bake them nor do I order them when we eat out. My one weakness for desert is creme brulee but I rarely end up in restaurants that offer it so would say I eat the stuff about three or four times a year. I don't generally eat bread except for with sandwiches. I don't go crazy with grazing throughout the day, in fact I eat three meals and one afternoon snack. Breakfast is a fruit smoothie with nonfat plain yogurt. Lunch is a turkey sandwich on wheat bread with a smidge of mayo. And dinner varies - during the week it's generally leftovers and on weekends is when I cook. It can range from pot roast to roasted chicken to sushi at our favorite sushi bar to Vietnamese grilled beef vermicelli to grilled fish... So am I lieing to myself? Is food my problem? Am I food addict and I don't know it? I'm not perfect. I don't pretend to be. I DO eat out probably too much. But I also think I order wise things, for the most part. I'm not big on fried food - although on occasion some fried chicken IS good. Am I lieing to myself? Have the six nutritionists I've seen over the years been wrong when they said "your food is not your problem?" I've had TSH tests run on me multiple times just to find out I have HYPER-thyroidism. THAT does not make sense so no one treats it. I have had my metabolism measured a few times just to find out I have a fast metabolism. And yet the weight packs on. So am I lieing to myself? I swim, walk, lift weights three or four times a week. Swimming in the summer, walking otherwise. I garden - that burns calories when you are out there pulling out all those weeds with all the built up frustration you don't know you have. I am like a ping-pong ball when my husband and I TRY to sit down and watch a movie. I'm up every fifteen minutes to do this or that. My dog used to get so mad at me...he'd get all curled up and cozy and then ping, I'm off again. He thinks he has to follow me everywhere but by the time he was about three years old or so, he said 'forget it, do whatcha gotta do and I'll be here when you get back'. He has now found solace in the fact that my husband gets irritated by this, too. Just curls up with my husband if need be and they sit idly by watching me ping and pong about. So am I lieing to myself? Am I setting myself up for failure here? If I'm not lieing to myself - will this work for me? Can it help me? It almost seems like if I am lieing to myself, then yay. I can fix that!

I need to take off a few lbs, so I am in weight loss mode right now. And this is pretty much the way I was eating at a year out, when I was in full time weight loss mode. Here's my diary from Friday Early morning: fat free hot cocoa made w/ cashew milk Breakfast: 3 oz chopped chicken breast Lunch: 3 oz chopped chicken breast + 1/5 oz green Beans + 1/2 T. light champagne vinaigrette Afternoon snacks: small apple, Protein shake Dinner: roast brussels sprouts, curried tuna & kale w/ an egg baked on top After dinner: Greek yogurt, roasted rosemary walnuts & fig Totals for the day: 1,095 calories, 93 grams protein, 87 carbs, 13 grams Fiber If you want to see diaries on a regular basis, friend a bunch of post-surgery people on myfitnesspal, that way you can check their diaries every day ETA: at a year out, I was probably eating more like 2 oz of chicken breast at a meal -- at that point I don't think I could have eaten as much as 3 oz in a sitting.

Okay...just an idea. Some of us are mentioning how we are not losing as much as we'd like or eating stuff we shouldn't....how about starting a thread for your meal plans? I'll be happy to start, I'll edit this tomorrow because I my dinner plans on the refrigerator at home. Thurs. 1/10 - B: 1 NF Yogurt, 1 Fiber granola bar, maybe 1 sm. banana, water; L: 1 ham wrap w/ww tortilla, hummus, tomato, lettuce, ff cheese, chicken broth; Fri. 1/11 - B: 1 c. cream of wheat w/apple pie spice and cinnamon and splenda, 1 slice ww toast w/pb, 1 c. ff milk; L: chinese chicken salad, 1 sm. apple w/ff caramel dip Sat. 1/12 - B: 1 scrambled egg with salsa and ff cheese, 1 sausage patty, fruit, 1 c. ff milk Sun. 1/13 - B: homemade fruit & yogurt parfait, cream of wheat with splenda Mon. 1/14 - B: 1 slc. ww toast w/sliced tomato and ff cheese broiled; 2-4 slices turkey bacon, 1 c. ff milk; L: Hummus & Pita, 1/2 c. tabbouleh salad, chicken broth Tues.. 1/15 - B: 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 md. banana w/pb & granola, 1 c. ff milk; L: 1 Hormel dinner, SF Jello Wed. 1/16 - B: 1 packet oatmeal made w/skim milk, 1/2 grapefruit; L: Tuna salad on multigrain crackers, 2 kiwifruit Whatcha think??

I am getting back on track - until someone brough freaking OREOS into work today and I had about 8 or 9 of them... I'm so mad at them. Haha. I typically have a shake in the mornings, either chocolate soy milk with scoop protein powder and tsp organic Peanut Butter or I'll do regular soy milk with protein powder and a small banana. Lunch varies... an apple, a yogurt, light string cheese, couple tbsp sunflour seeds (dry roasted, not in oil!). then dinner is like a veggie burger, some veggies, or I'm hooked on this organic veggie chili. I do eat snack, usually one of the smaller South Beach Living bars or a string cheese. Though I'm currently working on replacing dairy in my diet, so that stuff will be gone soon. Trying more fruits and veggies, and natural nuts and seeds (not soaked in hydrogenated oils). I'm also working on becoming high fructose corn syrup free... Its a struggle, but its for the greater good. (freaking oreos...)

At that point I ate mainly shakes, refried Beans (Taco Bell pintos and cheese) plain kefir, low sugar yogurt, hard boiled eggs, hummus, cheese, Avocado, and puréed or cream based Soups or broth. I was still getting the hang of meats, veggies and scrambled eggs. I was able to eat a few crackers at this point, but I try to limit them. Anything harder than the very soft stuff could make me sick or cause pain. It was a time of transition. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Avocado - chocolate Mousse from Rachel Ray http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-avocado-mousse-recipe.html OK, don't laugh. I tried this and wish that I had known about this in my puree-soft stages. What I did differently: Used artificial sweetener instead of agave, cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips, a scoop of chocolate Protein powder, and I added some plain Greek Yogurt to keep it smooth after adding the Protein Powder. I did not have any raspberries, so I ate it like a parfait layered with lite whip cream. I just threw it together from what was on hand. You could serve this to your unsupportive friends and family, and they would NEVER know the difference if you did not tell them

Again, doctors may differ but my main rule is no white sugar no white flour (per my doc and nut). Seeds and nuts are fine in small amounts. Should avoid breads (though sometimes Ezekiel bread is ok). Reduced fat cheese is ok in small amounts. Can you have a small piece of birthday cake or ice cream? Well, the true answer is no you shouldn't. But will you and have others? Probably. But it is best to not have any. Once you do, it almost seems that you give yourself permission to do it again and the amounts get larger and pretty soon, you are back to old habits. I'm not saying don't, I'm saying you shouldn't. But I'm also putting my own inability to control myself onto you! lol. Sorry. Things you can have: chicken Turkey seafood edamame eggs yogurt (especially fat free greek yogurt. The new recommendation is Oikos Triple Zero in black container) Fat free cottage cheese veggies (once your body accepts them anyway) fruit (no more than 2 small servings / day once your body is ready to have them) seeds and nuts lean beef and pork though chicken and turkey are better chili tofu lot's of Water Things to avoid: I can't remember the whole list but I think it's... carbonated beverages anything deep fried or fried Chinese food white sugar white flour rice Pasta pizza (though I do have some but only eat the toppings. I am going to try the cauliflour crust pizza soon) Cookies crackers candy cakes donuts muffins you get the picture! Note that neither list is complete, just the things I thought of off the top of my head. It's hard and I'm doing horribly lately and have been eating from the bad list. Don't do this! Don't even start doing this!! It really sends you down a bad rabbit hole. I highly recommend going to eggfaces blog to get ideas of what to eat. If you search on "the world according to eggface" you should find her pretty easily! Best of luck.

Well, my restriction is staying pretty good. I have loose days, and I have tighter days. It even changes from meal to meal. Some mornings, I just stick with oatmeal, this morning, I woke up starving, so had to eggs over medium and 2 slices of bacon. Normally, I would only eat 1 egg. Last night I noticed I was hungry and very lose around 7pm, but then around 9, got very tight again. Strange. But its something I've learned to accept and deal with. Eating has been going great, sticking with my proteins first, exercise, not so good. I know what I need to do, so just need to quit making excuses and DO IT! As Nike says "Just Do It". Menu today: Bfast 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon Lunch: baked chicken - 3 oz few carrot sticks Snack: yogurt Dinner fish - baked green beans

Why does breakfast need to be dry and solid? I know many of us have trouble getting much down for breakfast. I used to do Greek yogurt (high protein!) but can't eat at all in the morning because my band is tight when I get up. Now I have a protein drink every single morning. I have a protein bar for a did morning snack. My fitness pal is a lot easier than you would think. if you take the time to plug everything in you will know for sure where your calories are coming from and where to make changes. If you get the app on your phone you can scan the barcode of any food item and just hit add. Once you start using it you will see that all you favorite/most used foods are there for you. I used to think food journaling took up way too much time. honestly, it is worth the very few minutes it takes. My husband and I both use it now and it really only takes a few extra moments after each meal. I actually log before I eat. I don't have any great breakfast advice other than what I mentioned above. Really make an effort to plan your foods ahead of time so you don't reach for worse options. Good luck.

Hello there!!!!!!!!! Basically I start my day off with a small cup of orange juice or milk at approx 5:30 in the morning. I am usually not hungry this early. I am at work by 7:30 and still not hungry. Around 9:30 I am starting to get hungry and I will have yogurt or oatmeal. That keeps me satisfied. I will eat lunch around 12:30 or 1:00 and I can only eat 1/2 of a cup of chicken and veggies. I have dinner no later than 5:30 because I like to be at the gym by 7:00. I know its crazy but my gym is so crowded that I can't get to the machines before 7:00 so I don't even bother. Its quite annoying. This is where I have problems because after I work out I am hungry again. I work out 5-6 days a week from 45 mins to an hour. I am an extremely slow loser but my starting weight was 226 and I am 5'8. The best part about being banded is not being hungry all day. I do not drink the 8 glasses of Water a day because I am not that thirsty. My doctor told me not to worry about it. He says if you are thirsty then drink. I was trying to force myself to drink a lot of water and was literally making myself sick. Its hard to eat out with frinds because no one knows that I have the band. I have to eat slowly and take small bites and everyone stares at me like I am crazy. 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.

Oh how glad I am that I found this thread!! I'm four weeks post op and NOTHING since week 2! I lost 22lbs the first two weeks and now nothing! I thought it was because I started soft foods, but even then I gained one week! I only weigh once a week but it's so frustrating! You go to these drastic extremes to loose weight and you expect to loose every day, especially with the lack of calories coming in! And to top it all off it seems like starting this week mashed potatoes and refried Beans upset my tummy! I'm tired of yogurt! Help!

It's not ketosis it's thrush. Eat some unsweetened yogurt, take probiotics, and get some mouthwash from your Doctor. No biggie.