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But that's just my biased opinion. Okay, for documentation purposes let me describe my typical day: 7:00 AM - wake up & get ready 8:00 AM - Breakfast of either 2 scoops Apex Fit chocolate shake (mmmmmm... tastes like a REAL chocolate shake) or a FiberOne bar, and one Metagenics b-complex 12:00 PM - Lunch of leftovers from night before or a frozen dinner of some type 3:00 PM - Fiber One bar or some form of chocolate I shouldn't eat OR yogurt 5:00 PM - Leave work for the day 6:00 PM - Spin class on Mondays & Wednesdays, Swimming on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and running on Saturdays. It's warming up and we'll start biking and running outside soon. 7:30-8:00 PM - Dinner. This week's dinners consisted of Mon: Homemade Lasagna Tue: LF Cream cheese & chicken crepes and about 5 oreos Wed: Fried turkey steaks with mashed potatoes and a skillet brownie w/ ice cream Thu: Famous Dave's for mom's birthday and threw it ALL up! Fri: We're going to dinner for Nick's dad's birthday, not sure where This week we've not exercised at all because Nick was very afraid that he'd hurt his back again and woudl have to have surgery. He was so afraid that he even teared up the other night of the thought of going through that again. This is the equivalent of him being paralyzed. He's such an active guy. Not mountain biking and hiking and camping and doing some of those things he loves is like torture for him. We've prayed very hard lately and I felt like things would be ok. Today he called me and told me his back feels so much better. I'm so grateful! I wish I could have the motivation to exercise on my own without my awesome husband! Ugh. Maybe I'll have to start doing it at the campus track during lunch hours.

Fried chicken, baked potatoes, mac n cheese, fish, french fries, oatmeal, yogurt. This is some of the food i eat on a typical day. I crave for sweets all the time.

It sounds like diet may be a part of the problem. Right now you probably don't have much if any restriction. Fish and yogurt are fine. Chicken is good for protein but you want to stay away from fried food with breading. Yogurt is very good for you if it is not a sugar laden variety. Most of the items listed are heavy in carbs. Typically our diets involve proteins first (lean proteins without a lot of fat), vegetables second, and if there is any additional room left high quality carbs such as whole grains are eaten. This kind of diet leads to success for most bandsters and also is a healthy enough diet to provide necessary vitamins and nutrients. One problem with eating a diet heavy in carbs/fats/sugar is that it does cause you to continue craving it all the time. Your blood sugar levels have a fast high quickly followed by a severe drop causing intense cravings for more. The best way to move away from these cravings is to give yourself at least one solid week avoiding all carbs/sugar. After a week, cravings start to diminish and will continue to do so over time. The band will help diminish the amount of food that a person can eat once they hit their sweet spot. However, the quality of food makes all the difference in making significant progress towards goals. Dietary changes are a necessary part of the banding experience. Good luck to you.

Liquid Diet, Day 1 Well, it's Day 1 of my pre-op diet, and I've had a grand total of 1 cup of coffee with Splenda and a splash of skim milk, and a low-fat yogurt. Drinking Diet Coke, of course. To be honest, I'm not terribly hungry. I do feel a bit of a gnawing pain in my stomach, so I think I need to toss back a protein shake. The noticeable effect is in my mood. I'm wicked cranky. Add to that the fact that I'm still having no luck on the job search, and I'm a bit of a bear, I'm afraid. Also, for the past 2-3 days I've been nursing the beginnings of what seems like a big fibro flare. So yeah, that doesn't help things at all either. All in all, the food thing is doable, but I'm in a black mood. We'll see how things progress tomorrow... Liquid Diet, Day 1 - Addendum Um, yeah, this sucks Having consumed the sum total of 2 yogurts, a protein shake, a coffee and a glass of juice all day, I gave in to the desire to actually chew something and ate a cucumber. Since a cuke is, like, 90% water (and not sugar water, like watermelon), I decided it still counts as a liquid diet. Meanwhile, I still had to cook for the fam, and today's menu included homemade mac and cheese with veggies in the sauce. As luck would have it, today's batch was the creamiest one yet. According to Josh and the kids, my best version ever. Awesome. I guess I'll just smell it. This being skinny business is no fun so far. Liquid Diet, Day 2 - A Hard Day Today has been a really hard day. First of all, I'm really hungry and feeling weak. I don't do well on drastically low calories, and I feel shaky, dizzy, and just weak. It's 7:30 pm and I've had a coffee, a protein shake, a cup of chicken broth, and half a cup of apple juice. My big treat in a little while will be a fat-free yogurt. This is sheer torture, and my body is feeling run down. Second, I argued with my husband, and went on a cleaning rampage, frustration-induced (normally, this would have been an eating rampage.) I seriously cleaned the CRAP out of my house, which sorely needed it. DH was being a complete a-hole, so he didn't lift a finger while I was busting my balls on all fours cleaning baseboards with a toothbrush. At one point, our brilliantly-designed (not!) WHITE kitchen floor was giving me so much trouble that I said, "Screw it!" and ran off to Target and bought a steam mop. Amazing! Why had I never bought one before? It effortlessly cleaned my disgusting, grimy floors, and did the hardwood, too! And all that in a very Earth-friendly way, with just water! Anyway. My house is resplendent now, but I'm feeling like ass. Certainly, a full-blown cleaning jag is not the thing to do when you're half-starved and on the verge of a fibromyalgia flare! Dumb me. Now, I'm gonna pop a pill, eat a yogurt, and hit the sack. Josh can damn well make dinner for him and Avi, and take care of his shower and bedtime. I'm freaking done. Eight more days of this no-eating torture. I don't know how I'll survive... Pre-op liquid diet - day 3 Today has been better than yesterday, mood-wise. Mostly, I attribute it to not fighting with my husband, because the diet situation is still dire. Today, I have consumed a protein shake, a cup of coffee, a yogurt, and a small bowl of sugar-free jello. I might have 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese for dinner, along with a sugar-free Popsicle. Meanwhile, the guys are eating kielbasa, pepper and onion sandwiches - and they smell delicious! On the plus side, I've lost 2.5 pounds already. However, if weight loss was parallel to hunger, I would have lost 100 pounds by now! One more week... Liquid Diet - Day 4 Much better today, so far. I have decided to allow myself a half a cucumber a day (nothing on it), just to let my mouth chew on something. I'm going to get a haircut today. I'm chopping off quite a bit of it. I need a change! And, although the scale is moving in the right direction, I need some instant-gratification change. The happy news of today is that I am now under 200lbs! The scale read 199 this morning. Woo hoo!

My team lumps puree with soft food and suggests you start with easier things (ricotta, cottage cheese, yogurt) and gradually move down their list over time. But ground meat is totally on the same list (at the bottom! but on it) as yogurt, for me. I've had good success with going through their list and adding a new thing every day or two, as I feel comfortable. On day 6 of this phase, I just added tuna salad made with Greek yogurt and mustard and nothing "chunky." (I made it more "gloopy" than my usual recipe, too. Didn't want to risk it being too dry.) Maybe that's too slow a progression, though? I'm being so cautious. I hate throwing up.

I was given the opportunity to escort a group of fifth graders to Washington, DC this past week. I almost turned it down because I was only 2 weeks postop and I wasn't sure how I could mange the eating on the trip. My husband convinced me to go (it is not everyday I get an opportunity like that...I was replacing a sick teacher who couldn't make it.). My diet at this point is only clear liquids and protein. Dr. Kelly recommends not adding mushies until day 20. Lots of other people report eating food earlier so I wasn't hyper stressed. I was trying to keeping the operation quiet so I was trying to not draw too much attention to myself! I brought protein powder to add to OJ every morning and that is what I had for breakfast each morning. Lunch and dinner was a little tricky. Lunch the first day was provided by the bus company and I just took the turkey off the sandwich and chewed that up into mush and ate it. That went down fine but the cheese stick did not (harder to chew into mush). Our first dinner stop was a buffet. . I ate barely anything (enough to make it look like I was eating). My stomach did not do well with that. It just felt uncomfortably tight. Luckily we did a lot of walking that night through some monuments and it loosed up. The second lunch was really late (2 p.m.) and I ordered hummus at a greek place. It came with warm flat bread (red light food!). The hummus went down fine the bread not so much so. Dinner was at Medieval Times. I did the soup (and attempted a couple bites of the bread) and ate maybe a tablespoon of chicken (did pretty good with that). The next day we did lunch at the Smithsonian and I was really disappointed at my options. In hindsight I probably should have eaten a McD's smoothy. I ordered chicken nugget happy meal. When I say "ate it" I had four french fries and peeled the breading off the chicken nuggets (4 of them) and attempted to eat it. Those did not sit well in my tummy. Turns out that upstairs in the dining area I could have had a yogurt parfait (not advertised downstairs). Dinner that night was a the Pentagon Mall. I had wild mushroom soup (outstanding) and a bit of frozen yogert. Lunch on our last day was at the Golden Corral. Barely ate anything and stopped before feeling uncomfortable. I'd give myself a grade of "C" on my eating on the trip. I don't think anyone thought I was too odd for not eating more. Most people know that I have been trying to lose weight since the beginning of the year. We walked a ton on the trip. I am going to weigh myself tomorrow morning to see if there was any weight loss on the trip due to the exercise. I am happy to report that I barely felt hungry at all!!!! I'm going to back to liquids until my 20th day and then I'll stay with mushies.

I do cheese and yogurt without a problem....but they are still so low in Protein. I need something more concentrated Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

To be nervous is normal.. I had sleeve surgery on 9/1/16. After 8 months of going thru the process I questioned it all in the last week. It wasn't easy going thru the pre op diet for two weeks, but I got through it. I've added yogurt to my diet this last week and Sat I can have some pureed food. I've tolerated everything well, and basically was able to avoid pain meds day after surgery. As long as you are prepared you will do great! Good luck!

I love cottage cheese and salsa too. Everyone thinks I'm nuts! Those 110 calories jerky packs are great to take when on the run...I try to eat protein at meals, so I get veggies in. My body needs fiber. Baby cucumbers and cherry tomatoes are my go to. I love babybel cheese, Greek yogurt, 100 calories nut packs and hummus. Sent from my XT1650 using the BariatricPal App

PB2 is the healthier powdered peanut butter, from Walmart, and most stores. Mix with water. Macs Pork Cracklins -- 1/2 oz. has 80 cal., 7 gm. protein, 6 gm. Fat, 280 mg. Sodium. I look for the yogurt that has 8 grams sugar.

I know you mean well, but that's not useful advice. Frozen yogurt may be "skinny" compared to ice cream, but it's a slider food that provides a little nutrition and no satiety. Also, a big, big serving of anything is not appropriate for any WLS patient. Foods commonly found in a salad can be problematic for a bandster: raw veggies can be difficult to eat, and the fixings (like croutons, cheese, etc.) and salad dressing can cancel out any benefit derived from the veggies.

I'm 17 months out and have been maintaining below goal for over 8 months. There is nothing complicated about my meal plan.....I simply eat a healthy, balanced diet of protein, fruits, veggies and whole grains. I don't measure, count track or buy special ingredients (except my protein powders). I'm single and don't really like to cook, so I do a lot of simple meals or whatever looks good in the grocery store deli. I eat a lot of soups and chili in the winter. I do still drink a large protein smoothie most days to make sure I'm getting enough protein. Yesterday.... Slice of turkey ham and 1 fried egg 2 large travel mugs of decaf coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 Carl's Jr. Single cheeseburger with tomato and onion wrapped in lettuce, no bun 20oz bottle Vitamin Water Seafood cocktail (fake crab meat with cocktail sauce) Mixed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, zucchini) with Italian seasoning and parm cheese 1/4 apple with Peter Pan peanut butter Large cup of Sleepytime tea Chobani Greek Yogurt with Kashi Go Lean cereal Normal work day (I don't get a lunch break so there's lot of snacking all day)..... Decaf coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 Quest Bar or Kind whole grain bar Mixed nuts with craisins Homemade elk jerky 32 oz bottle of water Large Protein smoothie with fruit (banana, peaches or berries) and insoluble fiber supplement Protein for dinner (ham, beef, turkey, seafood, fish, whatever) Either a V8 or a couple servings of veggies, depending on how much room I have Greek yogurt Cup of tea And as for me, it's not necessarily about eating healthy 100% of the time, either. I have an alcoholic drink, candy, dessert, junk food, etc. several times a month. I pigged out over the holidays and then got back to basics afterwards. Just everything in moderation, like any "normal" thin person I know.

Oh, and another thing I thought of..even though you said you don't snack per say. I would suggest you eat a lite snack between meals and make them healthy such as a fresh fruit, hard boiled egg (white), yogurt, or string cheese. This can help with adding on to your caloric intake as well

morgan21, I'm a month and a half out. Here's a bit of what it was for me in the first few weeks. 1st week: Clear liquids for the first 3 days, then move to full liquids, then full liquids until day 14 Very tired, and needed to take a nap most afternoons I did have a small amount of pain if I forgot and took too big of a swallow or went too quickly - in part due to the hiatal hernia repair that I had at the same time. I took pain meds in the evening and right before bed for the first 4 days, but was able to do just fine without them otherwise. I was able to get in most or all of my required liquids, but I was sipping all the time. Perfectly able to go out for little walks - I was getting around 7000 steps a day and even walked up the big hill in our neighborhood. No real feeling of restriction with clear or full liquids Came out of surgery 12 lbs heavier than when I went in - Boo! Seriously, though, it wasn't a big deal, and was gone by the end of the first 10 days. Second week: Full liquids - cream Soups, broths, whizzed up veggie Soup, Protein drinks, etc. Not so tired - I could have gone back to work at this point, but I would have been pretty exhausted in the evening so I'm glad I didn't! I did still took the occasional nap because it's good to get plenty of sleep while healing, but if I had something to do it wasn't a big deal to skip it. I had plenty of energy to walk around, as long as I paid attention - the energy would deplete pretty quickly if I pushed too hard. Still had some minor pain/discomfort, especially if I took in a little too much in a swallow, but it was quite manageable Still no real sense of restriction, Third week: Back to work - new job at new company, so no easing back into things! It went fine - this coincided with me starting soft foods, so I was having things like yogurt, cottage cheese and the like for lunch, and had enough energy to get through the day effectively. Speaking of starting soft foods - that's when I started finding my restriction. If I overate even a bite, I'd have this strange achy feeling in my shoulders (sort of like the post-surgery anesthetic gas issue, but more so). If I pushed it at all I'd also get a nasty pain right below my breastbone. Guess what I didn't do anymore after that happened a couple of times! I started to realize that I would have a tiny burp and then a little hiccup when I was full. I still had some discomfort until almost the end of my third week, but it wasn't that bad - maybe a 2 or 3 on a scale of 1-10. By the end of the week, that had finally disappeared. I'm now a month and a half out, and on normal foods. I've learned my limits and rarely get discomfort. I can eat 1-2 oz of dense protein, plus a few small bites of something on the side. I do still use Protein shakes for Breakfast or an occasional mid-afternoon snack, but my surgeon and my NUT are both okay with that as long as it's not because I *can't* eat and as long as I have "real" food for lunch and dinner. I've even eaten out at restaurants - my husband and I share a plate, or I order something appropriate from the appetizer menu. I've just resumed my gym membership and started working with a trainer once a month to keep me on track. I have been through two stalls - both about a week long, but noticeable if you are a data junkie and weigh yourself all the time If you would be bothered at watching the scale bouncing up and down a pound or two for a week or two, then don't weigh all the time. I am not more than mildly annoyed by it and knew to expect it, so I just roll my eyes and make sure I'm getting adequate protein, liquids, sleep and some exercise. If I only weighed once or twice a month I'd never know the stall had happened, honestly. Good luck!

Just wanted to share a lil info about fruit! I am a firm believer NOW that a apple a day really does keep the Dr. away...actually more like 4 or 5 a day! I highly recommend you put your good ole blender to use and make yourself a smoothie or 2 EVERYDAY! I have been doing this pre and post and I feel so much better. I have even noticed a few of my health issues improved or all together disappeared. Fruit gives you the vital nutrients that are sometimes neglected with us bandsters, we must focus on protein but often tines lack the vitamins and minerals we need, my goal is to be slim and healthy, not slim and looking like death. I use a greek non fat yogurt, an apple, pinrapple, a banana, ice, a lil water and a few packs of equal and end up with a very delightful smoothie, I dont measure the ice and water and generally use 2 to 3 packs of equal. I have used almost every FRESH fruit but always include an apple and banana... I added a bell pepper this am and it was delicious! Happy Smoothing!

I started with some soft scrambled eggs, yogurt, and cottage cheese. I would even suggest some soup, and if it has stuff in it, puree it so that it thickens a bit. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Good luck with your surgery, Rabid24. Let me know how it goes. Question....what all did you eat on the liquid pre-op diet? I don't like cottage cheese or yogurt. Hugs!

Believe it or not sometimes you have a fill in there already. You might want to ask about that. I was shocked to find that my surgeon had put in 2cc during the surgery and I thought I asked all the questions I could. I went up to 3 1/2 for my first fill. Then I did another shorty after. Recapping that was 5.5,then 6.5 and lastly 7.5. I enjoy the fills. The hunger is gone and you eat so little it will shock you. I am going to get a slight unfill this Monday because I am getting reflux at night and that's got to stop however otherwise I'm staying with this. Here's what to do-Follow the rules. Drink slowly--don't eat for 2 days. Add yogurt and soup and stuff like that for 2 days. I also don't drink or eat at least 2 hours before going to sleep. I don't drink an hour before and after eating. Go with fish, eggs, cottage cheese, etc. Good luck.

Hi happy girl! Like you, I'm trying to be conscientious of what I'm downing... and last night, the day's total was only 300 cal Today is my first day on full liquids, and I'm READY! In all of the literature given to me, NONE indicate a calorie goal/limit... but I can't imagine that it should be less than 1,000/day... how else are we supposed to recover from surgery? The trouble is that it's difficult at this stage to consume 1,000 'good' calories. My list: **** all are 'diet, fat free, sugar free, etc*** THINNED full liquids: applesauce, baby food, diet veggie juice, pudding, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream soup, cream of wheat. My shake alone is 200+ calories (I add a banana, 1 scoop frozen yogurt, 1/2 cup milk)... 2 of these/day is how I get my 60 g Proteins. Hope you're feeling well.... I'm getting past the nausea and weakness... but the gas pain in my left shoulder is KILLING me. Figures, it's gotta be something!!!:!:

My Dr. is sooo weird and I am highly considering ignoring him (which I know everyone on here hates) BUT He says Week 1 - Clear liquids Week 2-3 - Clear liquids + milk (I took this to mean things like cream soups and runny yogurt were okay...) Week 4 - Introduce new foods one at a time. I am in Week 2 and I am starving! I'm thinking Week 3, I'm going to do some mushies just to survive. He skips the mushie stage - that's weird right?

That is quite a bit more food than I can eat even at 20 months out unless I eat for over an hour then I can fit about that much in, and I would have to sip my drink in between with a few breaks in there. The 5 day pouch test is only going to rid your system of carbs. There is no way to shrink your stomach. The hiatal hernia repair will not effect the final size of your sleeve. Surgical technique and your own anatomy play a huge role in how much you can eat(length of stomach specifically). At 2 months out, I was lucky if I could get in 2-3oz of mushy meats, or about 6oz of yogurt (separately). There's a few things you can do. 1) Do not stretch your meal out over more than 20 minutes 2) Eat Protein first, and do not eat more just because you can 3) If you are experiencing hunger, try filling your sleeve with protein dense foods. 4) Log your food, and make sure you are staying within your calorie/carb/protein guidelines, if you are going over, or are under, reevaluate your food choices and make the necessary changes. You've done really great with your weight loss so Celebrate that success. I kind of live by the mantra of "Just because I can, doesn't mean I should." I can eat a lot of junk food, but I have to make the "best" choice.

Sounds pretty good. Suggest substituting PLAIN (not flavored) low or no fat greek yogurt for the FF sour cream. Tastes almost the same and more protein.

residual anesthesia and general toll on the body from surgery. Plus caloric changes. This will pass. Make sure you have your Protein shakes/greek yogurt and Vitamins as soon as you are allowed

Thanks for all the kind words! My weight loss is continuing at the leisurely (but healthy) pace of about 1 lb per week. It's gotten to the point where it plateaus and the week-to-week "noise" of Water weight and so forth can "hide" the weekly progress, so I have one more piece of advice for you prospective or new sleevers: once you get more than 3-4 months out from your surgery, weigh yourself monthly at most. Weekly weigh-ins will just drive you crazy because of the numbers "bouncing around," but monthly weigh-ins will still show steady progress -- and that's what counts. At this rate, I'm on track to be under 250 by the end of the year -- merry Christmas, me! -- and at my original target weight -- 220 -- by my next birthday. Wonderful presents, both. It'll probably be next fall before I'm under 200, but I'm okay with that; at least I'm on the road! And still, my life continues to be easy; unlike before, I don't have to constantly make decisions centered around my weight and losing weight. PS: greek yogurt and Protein shakes are AWESOME choices for a sleever. I'm a big fan, myself!