I am almost 3 weeks post-op and am doing very, very well. I lost 18 pounds pre-op and as of this morning I have lost 77 pounds post-op. I have had no real problems with anything I've eaten. I have had problems a couple of times by eating too fast and not chewing as thoroughly as I need to. But, nothing has come up or out inappropriately. I am getting tired of the same old food routine though. I'm eating low-carb yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, refried beans, and that is about it. My doctor and nutritionist really stress having a limited diet until about 4 months out. But, I'm getting tired of those things. For those of you who have had surgery in July like me, what things are you eating at 8-12 weeks post-op? I know what I'm doing is successful, but I would like to have a little more variety and am wondering what other options exist. I would apprciate your input. Thanks. Scott

Hi Diana, Glad to hear your doing better. It feels so much better afterward! When I had mine it was 4mm and they stretched it to 10-12 mm, and that's where it is now. IV's suck! Jan

Here are a few more deserts but please dont over do it with these recipes. No Bake Cookies 3 c quick oats 2/3 c peanut butter 2 c splenda *1/4 c sugar (Cindy thinks they are a little bitter if you omit this..so I never tried it without adding it) 1/2 c low fat butter (1 stick) 1/2 c milk (skim) 1/3 c HERSHEY's cocoa (Cindy has tried other brands and they just didn't taste as good) 2 tsp vanilla Measure out oats & peanut butter & set aside. Combine splenda, sugar, butter, milk, cocoa, Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a rolling boil then remove from heat. Add oats, peanut butter, and vnilla. Stir quickly and mix well. Immediately drop by heaping tsp onto wzx paper or foil. Cool. Makes 2-4 dozen...depending on size of cookie. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SF...Flour-less Peanut butter cookies 1 c Splenda 1 c Peanut Butter 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla Mix well, spoon onto cookie sheet. I smash them down with a fork to give them that 'peanut butter cookie' appearance. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 for 15 minutes. Let cool thoroughly on a rack before storing. Yield: Depends on size of cookie, usually ~12-18 cookies per batch. For nutritional info, add the values for the PB you used plus that for 1 egg, divide by # of cookies. Mine are usually ~90 calories/cookie...although, I do think that some of the fat from the peanut butter cooks off because you can see the greasiness on the cookie sheet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SF Chocolate Eclairs Dough 1/2 c water 1/4 c butter 1/2 c flour 2 eggs Vanilla Filling 1-1/4 c cold fat-free milk 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 pk (1 oz) sf instant vanilla pudding mix 1 c fat-free whipped topping (*they just came out with SF Cool Whip) Chocolate topping 1-1/2 c cold fat-free milk 1 pk (1.4 oz) sf instant chocolate pudding mix For dough, bring water & butter to a boil. Add flour all at once, stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat & allow to stand for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until mixture is smooth & shiney. Transfer to a resealable plastic bag, seal. Cut a 1" hole in one corner of bag. Pipe eight 3-1/2" logs onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400, bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wie rack. IMMEDIATELY cut a slit to allow steam to escape (I used a pair of kitchen shears for this in order to do it fast). Cool completely. Split and set tops aside. Remove inside soft dough if needed. (I didn't need to) For filling, beat milk, vanilla, vanilla pudding mix until thickened with a mixer on low speed (~2 minutes). Fold in whipped topping. For topping, Mix for 2 minutes or until thickened on low speed milk & chocolate pudding mix. Assemble by spooning vanilla pudding mixture on top of bottom dough layer, add top top layer, top with chocolate topping. * If you make more than one batch, I wouldn't double the chocolate topping or you are going to end up with A LOT left over. For every 3 batches, I'd double the topping recipe instead of tripling it. yield: 8 1 eclair = 170 calories, 7 g fat, 70 mg cholosterol, 418 mg sodium, 19 g carbs, 6 g protein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No-Bake Strawberry dessert 1 load (10-1/2 oz) angel food cake, cut into 1" cubes 2 pk (.3 oz each) SF strawberry gelatin 2 c boiling water 1 pk (20 oz) frozen unsweetened strawberries, thawed 2 c 1% milk 1 pk (1 oz) SF instant vanilla pudding mix 1 carton (8 oz) frozen reduced fat whipped topping, thawed Arange cake cubes in a single layer in a 13"x9"x2" dish. In a bowl, dissolve gelatin in boiling water, stir in strawberries. Pour over cake and gently press cake down. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. In a bowl, whisk milk & pudding mix for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Spoon over gelatin layer. Spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 20 servings 1 serving = 92 calories, 2 g fat, 2 mg cholesterol, 172 mg sodium, 16 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dawns Mint Chocolate Cheesecake 1 Package s/f double fudge dipped mint Murrays Cookies-crushed 2 philly cream cheese fat-free boxes 1 tub cool-whip lite or s/f 2 boxes Jello pudding s/f cheesecake flavored 4 c Skim Milk Put crushed cookies on bottom of 9x13 pan (save back some cookie crumbs to garnish). In mixing bowl whip together the cream cheese and the cool-whip, then add the jello pudding mix, and 4 c, mix together. Pour pudding mixture over cookie crust. Can also use this same mixture but replace the mint cookies with fudge dipped s/f graham cookies (Murray's) or sf Oreo's and/or top with lite cherries. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fruit ****tail Snack Cake Ingredients: 1 large egg 1 c Splenda 1-15 ounce can fruit ****tail (I use Del Monte's Carb select), minus 2 tablespoons of the juice 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1 ¼ c all-purpose flour 1 tsp vanilla extract 1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Coat an 8" square pan with non-stick cooking spray. 2. In a large mixing bowl beat egg, Splenda, and fruit ****tail with a hand mixer until smooth. 3. In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients. 4. Fold dry ingredients into fruit ****tail mixture with a whisk; then add vanilla extract. 5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Cool & serve. Serves Nine Per serving (Calculated using fruit ****tail in light syrup. Calories, etc will be lower if the Del Monte Carb select Fruit ****tail is used instead.) Calories: 110 Carbs: 23 g Protein: 3 g Fat: 1g (0 saturated) Fiber: 1 g Sodium: 200 milligrams

1. What types of food did you eat this week? Had the meat stuffed into the Pasta House Company canneloni, meat and cheese topping from the rest of the family's pizza, cottage cheese, baked a turkey, so lots of leftovers 2. What types of exercise did you do this week? boring....walking treadmill 3. How much weight did you lose? Total loss? My scale isn't accurate, can be up to 7 lb difference just getting off/on again. Don't know till I get back to the doc. 4. What was your biggest challenge? had stricture and repair Friday. Couldn't keep anything down. 5. Have you made/eaten a dessert with Splenda? Can you share the receipe? Nope, but I have Splenda with cottage cheese and cinnamon alot *Fun bonus question: What are you plans for Halloween? Go out for dinner to Mexican restaurant for fajitas (kind of a family tradition since we don't give out candy)

Hi all. Had endoscopy with dilitation yesterday to repair the stricture. Mine was 7 mm and he stretched it to 12. That will take care of me in the short term. Will be able to eat food again!!! YIPPEE!! Procedure was easy, the IV was the worst of all, like most of you had indicated. I will go back in a month and surgeon will do it again to get it to the size that most people have. Thanks everyone for the information and support. You are all angels!! ~Diana