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I think you the regret you are feeling is normal-I know I felt it and still feel it sometimes-I am early on but I do understand what you mean. It is a kind of mourning the loss of freedom in what you eat, the pureed stage of the diet is horrible and i have got to the stage of almost puking when I eat cottage cheese or yogurt. I am sure I may never eat cottage cheese again. I am getting to the stage where food is just what I have to eat to live. I think we can go through the 5 stages of grief with this surgery! Some people may laugh at me but I think it is normal to do this

This is a tough period post-surgery. I know because I am going through it too. Yeast infection makes sense because of the antibiotics. Try eating probiotic yogurt or kefir. I had a yeast infection post op too, got rid of it with otc remedies and eating Probiotics. Right now I am having problems with constipation/diarrhea (both) with pain in my lower quadrant. About to call the Dr just to make sure everything is up and up. I did not think it would take this long to feel good and I have had a few tears as well. But I am confident "this too will pass". It is always good to receive assurance during this difficult healing period. Support is essential to your wellbeing. If you don't have supportive family or friends around you don't be embarrassed to call your Dr. My kids are Dr's so I know they are just people, feeling people at that. In reference to regretting the surgery. I had a couple of moments like that but then I remembered where I was when I decided to go for it. Do I want to be there again? No way! I spent years trying to do it on my own, and I had to force the hand, since I wasn't able to control food intake without help. Forcing the hand comes with sacrifices, not least of all is learning to derive pleasure without food, the temporary physical ones I am confident will resolve. Now to call my surgeon for reassurance.

@@TEXASLADY52 some people do have physical limitations that do not allow them to exercise like they want so dont beat yourself up for it. .just do what you can. Be careful with your starches. .like oatmeal and potatoes. Rely on reading nutritional labels to calculate carb grams especially if you have diabetes. Those programs like fitness pal are great but sometimes you just have to do good old math and read labels..too much hidden sugar will raise glucose levels and impede wt loss. Just a suggestion try eating more lean proteins less read meats..get your complex carbs from veggies and fruit. Breakfast fill up on protein like egg, turkey sausage, greek yogurt. Cottage cheese, etc. And plenty of water in between. Just some suggestions that helps me and my patients

I am 8 days out, as well. Down 21 pounds. I feel hungry, lightheaded and sluggish, too. Yesterday I had about 1 Tbs. of pureed cottage cheese and for dinner I had 2 Tbs. of plain mashed potatoes. I also got in all my liquids, a Protein shake, Jello and yogurt. My biggest problem is night hunger. My stomach and head are waking me up in the middle of the night. Trying to eat or drink some kind of protein before bed to stave that off. Hang in there! We are traveling this journey right alongside of you! I have just showered and washed my hair. Resting before I dry my hair. Took out my last staple this morning. Kinda scary but I'm glad it is out even though I got very dizzy after I pulled it out. We are having heavy storms here today. Just trying to stay calm and follow the plan.

SpideyMom, No one has anything yummy at this point. It is hard to get excited about cream soup ,yogurt and protein shakes. LOL, but it is not funny. Maybe in a few days some people will be back on regular food and have some good recipes for us. The chicken sounds delc. and I am going to try it as soon as I am on regular food. I will have to go get a sf Dr. Pepper as I drank all of them before surgery. My how I miss my diet drinks.

I had 0.5cc put in Wednesday and it was just too much. It takes me an hour to choke down yogurt. I assume the doctor knows best about how much to take out, but as I'm private pay for my visits, I don't want her to take out too much. I have to say though, I'd much rather have all 0.5 out and go back to where I was than be stuck feeling like this!! I can't imagine why people would go around feeling like this on purpose. Anyway, not that I can eat much anyway, but I assume I have to be Clear liquids the day of an unfill too?

Anything that can be blended was allowed on my mushy/puree/soft solid stage. I stuck with refried Beans with greek yogurt, cheeses, greek yogurt, chili, deli meat with cream cheese rolled up, mashed potatoes, soft cooked veggies, applesauce was allowed on my list, and chicken, tuna and egg salads were all my staples.

I too have never noticed a smell. I have not sniffed at it though. I only have mixed it with water because I am lactose intolerant. I will throw plain yogurt, frozen strawberries in and blend it up. Van, strawberry and chocolate are great. The chicken I have not tried.

i'm 2 days post op...my pre op diet was low carb so i really didn't have to worry about full liquids or mushies... what i wish i had done was look more at the recipies and things people have posted...cause shakes and chicken broth, after day 2 for me, need a little spicing up if i'm supposed to do this 10 days...everything that i had in my home was jello, yogurt, shakes...all very sweet, making me nauseas lol so i'm already looking at things people are eating in the mushies stages...so my advice...read ahead get different things to eat in your home for you to eat...i truly believe that will make things a little better, even just adding certian spices to you meals can make all the difference!:tt2: good luck guys!

Fair life milk has 13 grams per cup. They also have chocolate. I lived off plain milk and YQ high protein yogurt.

My doctor wanted me to try and get my Protein in from the very beginning- and I was released with a Clear liquids plus protein drinks order. However, I could hardly drink anything for the first five days- I set the alarm on my phone for every fifteen minutes and measured out 2-4 ounces and drank it. It was tough! At day five drinking became much easier and I started getting all my protein in from that point as I am a complier by nature and I am determined to make this work for me. Though some of the drinks I had liked pre surgery were now disgusting to me I did find a couple that worked and I had at least two a day plus added some greek yogurt and milk to my Soup etc. ( went to thin liquids after a week) and have gotten 70-80 grams since day five. I suggest ordering different samples for sure- I like the Chike meal replacements- they are very tasty and though they have about 8 net carbs they are great for the first few months . I also second Unjury- their unflavored protein is great to add to soup and other things and the chicken soup is an absolute Godsend because believe me you will get really sick of sweet protein drinks! Everyones tastes differ so you wont know what works for you until after- I advise you to have lots of samples on hand and don't stock up too much in case you hate the things you formerly liked. The reason, btw, that my doctor wants you to have protein from the start is to keep your energy up and especially with the lower calories you tend to take in during this phase, to be sure you don't start burning muscle instead of fat. It is never too soon to start the right chemistry for weight loss! Good luck to you!

Right now I am on day 3 of my "mushy" phase of the diet. I can eat scrambled eggs, yogurt, Beans, tuna & chicken (mushed) with some fat free mayo, I can have some mashed cauliflower fat free ricotta. That's all I can think of off my list right now lol.

I have been banded for 7 years and in this whole time, breakfast is a no go. Best I can manage is a smoothie mid morning - usually after 10am. I am soooooo bored of smoothies!!!!! I would love to eat an egg, or some bacon, anything really, but any attempt means it comes back up shortly after. Sometimes I can manage a couple crackers with some soft cheese or a couple bites of a granola bar, but not a good protein source. Even yogurt is a no go. Any suggestions??? My band is good. I was formerly way too restricted and now that I am a bit more open, I am able to manage better options for lunch and dinner without things backing up or coming up, but mornings are bad. Even juice is tiny little sips over about an hour or more......

@pinknova I didn’t experience headaches but did have low blood sugar causing dizziness, nausea and vomiting. I’d talk to your surgeon. Mine was great and helped me modify what I’m taking in and I no longer am having that problem and my sugar is staying around 80. My surgeon told me that some people are very sensitive to ketosis and suggested I drink a little juice or have something with natural sugar several times a day. I avoid any processed sugar still. But will do a all natural yogurt popsicle, Greek yogurt - I can only eat a few teaspoons at a time but it really seems to help, organic apple juice. Also, when going out I carry a few peppermints in my purse, the ones that dissolve quickly on your tongue. Took me what seemed like forever to figure out what was going on. Wishing you all the best in your journey.. also adding this small bit of natural sugar has not seemed to impact my weight loss I’m down 20 pounds since surgery and had surgery exactly 2 weeks ago today.

My post op put me on full liquids the day I came home from the hospital. I found 2 oz serving containers in the party section of my local Walmart and I put my yogurt, soup, sf jello, sf pudding, etc into those. I also bought baby spoons. Using that container and the baby spoon, it takes me 20-30 minutes to eat.

Hey Ash!!! congrats on your band!! yayyyy! but listen!!! do not over do it. Do eat more than your 4-6 oz please. I was banded in 2009. from 215 came down to 168 in about 10 months. It was great.... but holidays came around and i stopped meassuring. Now i'm back on Protein shakes and soft foods. (yogurts, sweet baby food, etc.) because i gained some weight back and started to have really bad heart burn, nassua and stated to want to throw up! But most of all i couldn't swallow anything!! it felt like a had rocks in my thourht or asophagus!!! i started to research here on the site and found out by pouch has probably sretched and in danger of slippage. So on Monday i started with my Protein Shakes, and all of that kind of stuff. it was soooooooo darn scary to even think of having my (baby) band removed or having any kind of issues like slippage or erosion!! so please, please, please. do not over eat or over drink. Don't get comfortable with your weight once you start to hit or get closer to your ideal weight!!!! i thought i was in really deep s****! but thankfully i'm smart enough to had noticed that something wasn't right. and i made the changes i should have NEVER gotten away from. remember, this is a tool. I would even eat a drunkstick from Popeyes here and there..... not good at all and very stupid of me!!! just please be careful. we invest a lot!!!!! puting our bodies, bank accounts, etc through this to have it taken away. love always, iva

Well here I am! One week post-op and I can't believe I'm already here....I don't feel banded but I definitely feel the pain of my incisions and the changes in my body. A few things I've noticed that I'm wondering about you guys... 1. I feel bloated. Constantly. I don't feel these "gas pains" everyone talks about?! I belch often. My incisions are painful. But I don't have gas pains? I just feel bloated. Allllll the time. 2. I've lost my hunger sensation. Physically I don't feel hungry. Emotionally, I do. I've just transitioned to my full liquids stage and am allowed SF pudding, FF tomato/cream soups, broth, protein shakes, jello, and yogurt. I am having a hard time with the non-liquids. I ate a lot out of feeling like "well I don't have anything else to do," or "I didn't have dinner," or "I need to try that flavor of yogurt," etc. that's my food addiction and it scares the crap out of me. I know it was just one bad day but I'm only one week post op and I'm already feeling like a failure. Should I go back to liquids? Idk what to do. 3. Do many of you use myfitnesspal? I have a few friends on there from this forum but would like more. My username is westcomk. I think it's nice to have benders on there! 4. I'd like to share recipes if anyone's interested. For instance, I realized my favorite Campbell's tomato soup has 12...TWELVE grams of sugar per 1/2 cup. So I found a sugarless homemade recipe tonight that I'm going to try. Does anyone have any good low sugar soups they like? Thanks for listening everyone. Maggie

IndioGirl55 Thanks for your reply. I did call my doctor and he said it is from the hiatal hernia repair. It is causing a vaso-vagal response because of the swelling. He said to give it 4 or 5 more days without the jello or yogurt and try it again.

Blue Bunny makes a great low cal/low sugar/low carb yogurt.. it is only 50 calories and I LOVE it.... I can only find it at Wal Mart though. :frown:

Don't get real discouraged, the self dissapointment i think is worse. I am getting banded on Monday the 28th. I have not been 100% good. Everytime i gave in to the temptation i would honestly get so upset with myself I would vomit, didn't enduce the vomit but i would get so anxious. In the grand scheme of things that little bit of cottage cheese isnt going to do much. Try as hard as you can to stay true. It is very hard. add oenut butter to the shakes, or some fruit. I found the best tasting shake is to use some chocolate protien powder, ice, water, and some coconut greek yogurt, its like an almond joy. Hang in there, don't give up. Don't be like me. i regret my decisions and now am in a better mind set, but i wonder if it was too little to late. You dont want that on your mind. Hang tough, the first week is the worse, it gets a little better each day, and be concious of the situations you put yourself in. If your going to be around people or events where there is large amounts of food, maybe stay home or meet up with them after dinner. Best of luck to you.

I am sorry that you are having troubles. Are you allowed to eat non fat greek yogurt or cottage cheese? My Dad is also a diabetic and has trouble keeping his blood sugar up while sleeping. His solution is to eat 3/4 cup of cottage cheese with fruit or some other topping right before he goes to bed. As for broths- have you tried straining broth based soups? You can get all the flavor of the soup without the solids. I really like low fat broth based tortilla soup. Num Num.

low carbs before and after ive had mine since may8 2012 im six weeks out got my first fill monday chew chew chew a small bite of food i have lost 16 lbs since surgery and 22 before get an exercise plan i walk 6 1/2 miles 5 x a week eggs are your protien friend if u can eat them yogurt and cottage cheese best of luck

Hey y’all. So I’m experiencing the hunger sensation even after I had my meal. I’m in the liquid stage still. But is it normal to experience hunger , even if I just ate. I eat very liquified stuff, like runny yogurt, non fat sugar free custard etc But even after that, I still feel hunger. How did you work through this and what did you eat feel the restriction? Xoxo

As Chris Isaak would say "Baby did a bad bad thing." When I was on call last night, Faye was talking about McDonalds in the Galleria. We walked over, and as I passed the Subway I said, oh I should be good and go there. But I didn't, of course. I walked with her to McD's, got the purple food haze and ordered a small fry, 10pc chicken nuggets AND a medium milkshake. SERIOUSLY!!! I also had waaaay too much for lunch, veggie burger (plain no bun), frozen yogurt with snackwells cookies, small serving of veggie lasagne. I was so full after that lunch, I can't believe I went on to eat McDonalds - it wasn't even that good. I think there are a couple things leading to this: 1. The fact that I have this card with tons of money and I can have whatever I want for free. Solution: Think of it as having as many healthy things as possible, pretend the other stuff doesn't exist. This is not easy. 2. The "reward" thing, I'm on call - I deserve to have whatever I want Solution: There are some rewards down there in moderation. Fruit bars, small amnt of frozen yogurt, snackwells 3. The fact that I am very hungry, have to rush down when I get a second to eat. Also not many good choices. Solution: Eat smaller meals through the day, pack a few things... protein bar etc. 4 The fact that I have access to foods that I don't usually have access to at home and that I want them. Nothing can change that, hopefully the fill with help. Ok, so now to turn over a more positive leaf. Saturday: Joined the gym, did 20 mins on the elliptical and it was rough. Sunday: Gym closed so did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, it wasn't that hard, nice to watch tv. Monday: On Call Tuesday(today): Went to gym post call and did 30 mintues on the elliptical at 20 resistance and 0 elevation, found it a bit easier without my hands on the arm swingies. I also did a good job on the nautilus, figured out the big bugee machine. Still feel a little fragmented on them, like I'm not picking the right weights or doing enough reps/or few enough, and repeating the way I should. Regardless, I was there for an hour. I feel pretty beat now. So, this is actually a pretty good week overall. Monday holiday (even though I was on call I wasn't at Neuro), Tuesday post call, Wednesday lecture, so just really a full two day week. And I'm on call Friday, so I don't have to stay late. Then I have eight days off!!!! I sort of feel that I'm wasting my vacation though. Not going anywhere or doing anything. Truth is, I can't really afford it. I could get together with Jill, take care of more annoying busy work (insurance/accident thing, apartment condo thing). Hopefully I won't sit around and eat all day. Ok, so overall, winning on the exercise front, losing on the food choices front.

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