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18 lbs, already! Great job! I found that white meat chicken was too dry and really hurt. I could do dark meat though. I preferred shrimp and fish, like fresh wild caught salmon, smashed up at first.....seems much easier to get down and did not hurt. Lots of Protein and nutrients. Okios plain yogurt with stevia as a sweetener, was a favorite...also loads of protein in it. More protein plus more Water yields more wt loss! Watch out for carbs...no more than 60 gms a day!

Hey everyone, I apologize that it's taken me so long to give you guys a status update. I had surgery on October 11th, and was told I'd be out by October 12th. I didn't get out until October 15th. Soo...here's what happened, I woke up from surgery and know how I was asking about extubation? Unfortunately, I felt it, and I remember it, but it wasn't so bad. Although, I just remember crying because they had me walk from the operating table to the gerny to be wheeled into recovery. That was seriously too much for me. After 4 hours in recovery and a very long surgery, I was taken to my room. So why did my surgery take so long? I was informed that I had a hernia, had the weight loss surgery, and had multiple large adhesions on my gallbladder that had to be taken care of. My surgeon basically told me that due to all of this-my recovery would take a lot longer than he had instructed me before. I didn't eat a thing in the hospital, I was there for 5 days and I just didn't have the strength to eat anything, and probably drank a total of two cups the whole time-and they didn't seem conserned. So I've been home for two days now, and I'm doing a bit better. It seems that I'm instructed that my recovery will probably be 2-3 weeks at the very least. Yesterday I had 14oz of Water, and two pudding cups. I was sooooo full. Today I did better. I had 18g of Protein shake, a yogurt, a pudding cup, 18 oz of water, my multi-Vitamin, and my Calcium liquid..stuff. I'm really trying to get as much liquids as I can in-I just get so full. Here's my problem. Due to my other "surgeries" during my time at the hospital, I'm having VERY limited mobility. I cannot get off or onto the couch by myself, I cannot get into or out of the bed by myself, I cannot use the facilities, in any way shape or form, by myself. I can handle the pain (not without some tears, I admit) but my problem is blood clots. I'm so worried. I tried walking around my house today (outside) and literally just became so crippled and out of breath that I thought I wouldn't make it home.When I was in the hospital, I walked maybe once a day, down the hall, and was crying by the time I got back, they didn't seem to concerned about my limited walking either. I'm trying to get walking as much as I can, but I'm in so much pain. Does anyone have any advice about my pain/walking/diet thus far? My mom bought my some yogurt....strawberry, cherry, and orange, which I used to LOVE. Now? HOLY COW-I feel like I'm eating a spoonful of sugar-literally-they taste awful. Weird. Anyways, I don't regret this surgery-not for one stinkin' second. I'm so blessed and lucky. I can't thank technology enough. I don't like pain, don't get me wrong, but I'd add a "fourth surgery" in there if it meant that I could still get this surgery done. I can't wait to get around and everything soon-I'lll try to respond to some of the pre-op questions asked by others tonight, since now I am officially a sleeved woman!! Hope you all have a great Monday tomorrow! : )

If I go too long without eating I get hungry and stay that way for the rest of the day, the only thing that fixes it is to go to sleep at night and then it resets the next morning. To keep this from happening I eat something every couple of hours, even if its just a yogurt, Protein bar, or shake. I think it has something to do with my blood sugar but that is just my personal opinion. So to keep my calories in line I eat 3 meals at 250 calories each and 2 Snacks at 150 calories or less each.

Add a little Greek yogurt for some extra Protein, and it will thin them some too. I ate them on full liquids, which I'm still on, only about 2 TB, when my husband and I went to Ninfa's in Houston. I ate a little of his. They are very thin there and went down easy. I squished them to make sure, but they were fine. I bought a can and did what you did, added a little cheese and yogurt too. I ate just a little. I did feel guilty, like I cheated, but I think they sat heavy with me, but it may have been all in my head.

Both suggestions are good ones. Start by changing what you munch on, and then work on stopping the munch entirely. I chew gum and had to break out my dusty crafting bag. Now I sit and knit while chewing gum. Don't get bored! Go for a walk, read a book or do something with your hands to keep yourself occupied. It's head hunger - it's an old habit and it's one that probably helped you gain weight. You need to replace the habit with a healthy one. And do yourself a favor and ensure that all of the food in your house is healthy food. It's one thing to snack on greek yogurt or a few almonds but another thing entirely if you're downing handfuls of chips or bowls of ice cream. Good luck! ~Cheri

Pasta, rice and bread high GI foods, but you rarely eat them on their own. The whole low carb thing is basically flawed by this, if you eat a balanced diet and eat Proteins at every meal as well as small amounts of carb foods, you wont have that blood sugar response. If you eat a slice of white bread on its own, you probably will, but that's not good balanced eating, is it? Of course you can eat pasta, bread and rice IF your band will tolerate it. You dont need enormous quantities of energy foods like this, particularly if you're trying to lose weight but you dont need to withhold food groups to manage your weight. Its just a matter of what your band can tolerate, and that's an individual thing. I personally have no trouble with bread, but clear, pulp free apple juice or cold yogurt will have me over the toilet bowl within minutes.

If you're lactose intolerant, the whey protein will probably make you sick. I couldn't tolerate them either for that reason. Plus, let's be honest, they taste/smell horrific or have a disgusting texture. Isopure would work if it wasn't whey protein. You can find soy, or egg base Proteins at GNC and online at various sites. I found soy protein to taste worse than whey. Can you have pureed meats yet? At the mushy stage (which is what you are describing from my guidelines with the Beans and eggs), I could have chicken, egg, tuna salad. You can mix it with some nonfat greek yogurt and a couple teaspoons of the dry ranch dip packets to sub for mayo or miracle whip. I did use miracle whip as well. I ate a lot of the salads because of the protein counts, and they were all easily digested.

It's interesting to read your post. I was 240 when I started preparing for surgery. I was so done overeating. Done thinking about food and letting it be what I used to celebrate the end of the week or whatever it is I thought I had survived. It wasn't my reward if it was making me miserable and unhealthy and most definitely defeated. I was 220 on surgery day and today 17 months later I'm 186. I've gotten down to 174. I've struggled since Easter to get back on my wagon. Sugar is like heroine. Talking my self out of eating it is like battle. It can't be in my house and I have to keep syntax nectar and yogurt close to help curb cravings. I was about 185 most of my life. I wonder if my body likes a set weight of 185? I don't even have to eat that much to gain. I am not accepting the idea of my body liking a set weight. It's hard now but way easier than it was before. I am happy. My surgeon is happy but I told him I know I could get down to 160. I could step it up. So I'm working on it. Thanks for writing your post.

Hi Vee! I am 2 days post op and excited also. I live in Texarkana (Hooks) but chose to have my surgery in Shreveport. I stayed overnight in the hospital and was so glad to get home, that first night was rough! I am instructed to have 4oz of liquid or liquid food every hour that I'm awake. I've had yogurt, cream Soups, popsicles, pudding, Water, tea, etc. It's all going down quite well! It is good to meet another Texan going through the same thing as me!

I was banded on 3/19 and feel pretty good this morning. I've been on clear liquids since Monday, which was 2 days pre-op, and then had to continue clear liquids through yesterday. Today I get to add creamy soups, yogurt, and V-8 juice, yummy! I came home from the hospital same day of surgery and was very tired and in some pain, but kept the pain killers in me all day Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday, I almost felt like a new person except for some pain in the port area so I only had 1 dosage of pain killer in the morning, then took another dose when I went to bed last nite. My incisions are starting to itch, this is driving me crazy and I started experiencing some hunger pains late yesterday, but nothing I couldn't handle. Still loving my band and I don't regret it for 1 minute. :cheers2:

I am almost two weeks out and was cleared this week for softs: cottage cheese, string cheese, eggs, etc. I am trying to get all my Protein from food and not shakes. Today I consumed about 435 calories, but this is what I ate: Breakfast: lite string cheese, 1/2 sm cup of applesauce (had trouble finishing the cheese) Lunch: 1/2 C pureed lentil Soup with 1 tblsp greek yogurt; a hour or so later I had 1/4 C egg salad Snacks: String cheese, 4oz greek yogurt Dinner: 1/4 tuna salad I didn't quite meet my protein goal, but close. Also because I had the two Snacks in there I had a harder time with Water. I read about all these people that can only eat a tablespoon of food a three weeks, I don't have any problem. 1/4 cup is about my max, but it goes down fine. Same with liquids. Mind you, I am not complaining, but I want to make sure I am not "messing" something up.

I have been cooking up a storm these last few weeks and stocking the freezer up with healthy meals. Both of my crockpots have been getting a workout! I have been getting some great recipes from emilybites.com and skinnytaste.com. Emily bites has a lot of recipes that you use a muffin tin to bake it in. Great for portion control. For breakfast, I either have a Protein shake or Special K protein cereal. I am made mini quiches in the mini muffin tins but I have been eating them for lunch with a cheese stick. Boca burgers are also a great option for lunch...or Greek yogurt. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Woo Hoo!! I was banded May 4, and as of today, I'm down 40 lb. If I weigh tonight, it may only be 37 lb, but I'm takin' it!!! I'm still having trouble swallowing though. I haven't had a fill at all yet, but scheduled for my first one tomorrow. I think my biggest problem is still taking bites and sips that are too large, then I immediately get that awful pain. I thought the food was supposed to stay in the "pouch" (I'm not even sure I have one yet, since I haven't had a fill) for a while before passing through. I feel this pain within 5-10 seconds after I swallow. It's crazy, I can eat something crunchy, like a Pretzel Thin with hummus, and it goes through fine. Some of the softer things (like Greek Yogurt.. thicker...) will cause the pain. I'm thinking it probably has more to do with the size bites/sips I'm taking than the actual food product, though. On Thursday I was getting ready to go on a little day trip, and tried to eat some Greek yogurt for Breakfast. No way. It just would not go down. So I had nothing but coffee. Later in the day, I tried eating a few chicken nuggets from Wendys (I know, poor choice, but I needed something to eat while driving) and took little tiny bites of those, and they went down fine. Took me 45 minutes to eat them. Just seems strange that the nuggets went down with no pain and the yogurt just about killed me. I am SUPER excited about the weight loss, though! 20 lb on preop, now 20 lb since surgery. I'm wondering, though, if "this" is what it feels like to be at the sweet spot. I'm not hungry, I'm losing weight... so is it possible that i can be at restriction without even the first fill? I guess I'll see what my surgeon says tomorrow about whether or not to give me one. This is a crazy journey!

Thank you for your response. Like you I am sure I will begin to learn what each pain or sensation is. I know that I definitely do not have an appetite as of right now just feeling kind of gassy. I have to eat Clear liquids and juices for a weak and then onto cream Soups etc. then onto week 3-4 soft foods such as mashies, yogurt, and pudding. Good luck on our weight loss journey!

Thanks, I guess before I was able to eat chips and yogurt, it was easy and I did not PB. Now I tried to sip my morning cofee and i did not PB which is great. I have not tried any solid food. I am hoping by time I be able to eat solid food small portion and keep it. I do excercise and My goal is only 10 more lb. thanks for your respond it was truly helped me and gave me some piece of mind. I am trying to find center in san diego so I don't have to go to mexico for any adjustment. traveling to mexico is truly pain and time consuming. Thanks alot. Nooshin

...but I'm not sure LOL I had my second fill on Thursday and today is my first real day back on solids. Breakfast was an 8 ounce yogurt and Frigo cheese stick, lunch was a meatloaf lean cuisine (didn't have time to make anything today) -- had no problem with either meal. For dinner I made about 1/2 cup of egg beaters with laughing cow cheese and toasted an arnold sandwich thin. I had about 3 bites of the sandwich, chewed thoroughly and took my time, and all of a sudden, I started sliming. Not like getting stuck though. Is this restriction? Is this what they mean by saying, "I know I shouldn't take another bite because I know what will happen"? I am hoping this is it, but I'm not sure. Thanks for educating a banded fool who is 4 months out and still has no clue what being full feels like with the band :w00t:!!!

I don't know about stuff to take on the plane, but I recently spent many hours stranded because of snow. You know those frozen yogurt places they have in many airports? I asked the kid working there to look up the grams of protein in a small cup of the frozen yogurt.... 35g ! So I got one! Yum! At that point I had 4-5 hours to kill and didn't care about the carbs. I asked, but don't remember what it was.

Being able to eat 4 cups of food doesn't mean you don't have restriction. It all depends on what the food is and over what period. E.g most people could probably manage 4 cups of icecream or yogurt or Soup or similar if they tried. Especially if it is eaten slowly.these foods are all sliders , go down easily etc. Most people would struggle to eat 4 cups of a proper solid Protein e.g beef/chicken/fish along with some vegetables and a small portion of carbs. ideally you should eat a meal over 20 - 30 min. If you take longer than that you will be able to eat more as the food will have started to pass through the band. So before you blame the band you need to look at a couple of things:- What are you eating? How long is it taking you to eat? Are you cheating the band by drinking fluids to help the food go down easier? It has been said many times that the band is only a tool. It cannot do everything for you. You are the one that still decides ultimately what you are going to put in your mouth. But if you are doing the right thing and the band is not helping then you need to go back to your Dr and discuss your problems and hopefully sort them out. Maybe you need more fill.You didn't say what kind of band you have. if it is a Realize band then typically more fill is required to reach restriction than with a lap band. You may have a leak - has this been checked. Good luck - hope you sort this out and get back on the road to losing really soon.

I'll be two weeks out tomorrow. I think I've lost about 6 lbs since that fill now that I think about it. The thing is, I am worried I may end up too tight. I just had my yogurt for Breakfast and it almost started to come back up (started sliming). My doc told me two weeks ago that I had restriction even before I got him to agree to the other .8 ccs, but if he gave me any more than that, I would have issues swallowing my own saliva from being too tight in the mornings. I am thinking I need to restructure my eating to include Snacks, but it stinks because that will make getting all the Water in an even bigger challenge. Here is an example of a typical day for me (weekday): Morning (9-11 or 11:15) 1 medium coffee w/ 2 tsp non-dairy creamer 24-32 oz water Breakfast (11:30): 6 oz Dannon Light N Fit Yogurt, Frigo Light cheese stick (I add a small banana if I'm still hungry) (24 to 32 ounces of water in between) lunch (3:30): Left over dinner (chicken or beef) from the night before- 6 oz, a small side of green Beans or carrots and a frigo light cheese stick (24 to 32 ounces of water in between) Dinner (7 or 7:30): chicken or beef (6 ounces), 1/3 cup veggies Evening snack (optional--maybe 2 or 3 days/week): Skinny cow ice cream bar or sugar free pudding with one scoop of Protein powder Am I expecting too much from my band by expecting to go so long in between meals? I thought we should be satisfied for 3 to 4 hours..... Should I try to break up my meals? I can try to eat earlier, but it is VERY hard to get anything to go down except liquid. Again, my yogurt had a rough time of going down just now, so I'm going to bag the cheese stick and banana and just wait to eat again--if my band is cranky today, I don't want to piss it off by trying to eat any more for breakfast, and for some reason I'm not really hungry anymore. I am a MESS! I know! Thanks for listening and for your advice!!!

Sleevers, I am two months post-op and feel I have the protein counting down, but am not certain I am on track with my supplements. Here are the vitamins I currently take, how does this compare to what you take? Daily A.M. 1 Prevacid (Why do we take acid-reducers? I do not have any reflux issues - do you still need to take these) With Breakfast which is usually cottage cheese & yogurt, 1 250 mg calcium citrate supplement (Can't wait to try the lemony Cal-cet when I run out of my current supply.) 10:00 ish 2 Viactive multivitamins - but I found in the small print this weekend that they have the "wrong" kind of calcuim, so I need a new chewy, chocolate multivitamin - Any suggestions? 4:00ish Every 3rd day, either a B12 or an Iron supplement. That's it. I just don't want to be missing something my body is needing. Thanks for sharing your regime.

Thanks Carol. It's interesting that I'm fine when I eat greek yogurt and cream of wheat w/soymilk, but as soon as I add in Optimum Nutrition Whey powder or Chike, I go off again. I haven't had any cream soups, except Trader Joe's Organic Creamy Tomato soup and I think I was ok with that. It seems to be the Protein powders that do me in. I'm hopeful that I'll soon be on pureed foods, just another week or so, then I can get my protein from better sources. I'm glad I'm not the only one in this boat, but that said, I'm sorry it happened to you as well. I'm glad yours cleared up. I'd hate to not be able to eat cheese etc.

I was able to eat cheese, and Greek yogurt easily, but milk was a no-go. I'm not a milk drinker, but I gave it the good ole college try with bouts of diarrhea following.

Thanks for the replies Tiffy, Nikki and Jewels. I think this is just going to be a learning process for me. I did ok on Greek Yogurt this morning followed by Cream of Wheat w/soymilk for lunch. The Cream of Wheat was great after living on Soup and yogurt.

I'm not allowed to eat applesauce until the third week post op. I tried to put it in yogurt but just couldn't get it down. I made the mistake of just trying to swallow them last night. Big mistake. I think one got stuck and I've got some pain and discomfort. I don't know how some of you did it with just swallowing them whole. I'm not going to take anything until I talk to the office tomorrow.

No puree, that wasn't any part of my diets. Stage 2 from my doc states: Proteins - Lean soft and moist meats (fish, tuna, poultry, or pork), low fat cottage cheese, low-fat or non-fat cheese, soft tofu, eggs or egg substitute, soft low fat casseroles with soft vegetables; Milk - Fat Free or skim, sugar free or low fat yogurt; Fruits & Vegetables - Any fruit/vegetable without seeds or hulls that have been cooked soft. Soft unsweetened canned fruits or vegetables, fresh soft fruit; Bread & Cereals - Hot cereals cooked in milk (oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat), cold Cereal (high protein) soaked in milk, toasted bread or plain soda crackers; Other - Sugar free Jello, popsicles, pudding/custard. Problem is I won't have access to ice and stuff to keep things cold all week. I will need as much that can be stored at ambient temps as possible. That's where I'm getting lost.