What's on your Monday Menu, RNYers?

Thanks, Liz. I know it will always be tough so I will take every chance I get to see him!

QOTD: The ocean definitely. The waves are like my heartbeat, they constantly call to me. The ocean in Oregon is always cold, I used to run in as deep as I could stand it and have blue legs to show for it. I try to drive down every month or so it's only 1 1/2 hours and just walk on the beach. The ocean puts all of my problems in perspective. I plan to retire to Maui. The first time I went was 35 years ago and as soon as I stepped off the plane it felt like home. I used to try to go every year, but a divorce and lack of funds put an end to that several years ago. If I could afford it I would be gone tomorrow.

Accountability: Saturday was really bad, had too much alcohol, I was still only at 1100 calories but it felt like much more. I'm trying to not beat myself up too bad about it and move forward with awareness and not do it again. Back on track Sunday.

The scale is not my friend right now. I really thought I might hit my next goal this morning. 225, I was 225.2 yesterday. Nope! The scale fought back and said 227. These fluctuations are annoying, I did so well this weekend too so I thought I might avoid it. Bah!

Qotd: I am torn on this one! I love the ocean so much, growing up I would spend my summers in Marshfield. From a very young age I found peace and escape watching and listening to the waves. But the mountains.... I live in the PNW and our first house had the most incredible view of mt. Rainier. Most of our vacations are hiking around mt. Baker. And to top it all in 2010 during a vacation where he acted crazy strangely the entire time my then boyfriend proposed in the snow on mt. Baker after we had hiked as high as we could in the thigh deep drifts with no poles or proper equipment! He was so nervous, I will never forget how he fidgeted in the snow (packing it down so he could kneel), and kept asking if I was sure we should stop the ascent there (yes! We found out later we hadn't even been on the trail for most of that hike!). Sorry for the rambling there! If I had to choose one.... mountains :-)

Accountability: Really good yesterday. Lots of water and 35 minutes on the treadmill. I am hoping to repeat it today!

BF: 1 egg, 1 slice Dave's killer bread powerseed thin, 1t margarine, 1t sugar free preserves

MS: 2oz cottage cheese, 1 scoop beneprotein

L: 3 Turkey meatballs

AS: possibly nothing as the meatballs are pretty filling, but just in case, 1/2 oz pork rinds

D: the filling and salsa from a baked "chimichanga" trying the recipe from one of my bypass cookbooks.

A premier protein pudding and 1/4 cup blueberries

120oz water, all vitamins except calcium unless my order arrives, 35 minutes at least on the treadmill.

Hi folks! I tried to get myself on this thread before, but while I was on my liquid/puree diet, I just couldn't get into the routine. I've been on soft foods for about a week now, and I am going to try really hard to make posting here a daily habit.

Edited to add the QOTD: I grew up in Central Florida, so if I had to choose between Mountains or Ocean and could never see the other again, I would certainly choose the ocean. I had the pleasure of taking my daughter to the beach for the first time a few months ago, and while mountains are absolutely breathtaking, I could go the rest of my life without seeing them. I could never say the same of the ocean.

I'm just a few days over 1 month post-op, and I'm in the middle of a plateau, but I'm hanging in there. Working hard to get my protein in every day... I can get up to 50+ pretty well, but hitting the 70 that my program prefers is a challenge.

Here's what today looks like. I had to make some changes because I just poured my protein shake and it was all lumpy and gross. I was shocked to see it expired back in February... I got this case just a couple of weeks ago, and I've already had half of it. Blech....

Hi! I hope you can make posting part of your routine.

Congrats on your progress! Stopping by here every day is a great part of a successful routine. The accountability helps alot.

Don't worry too much about not making your protein goals yet. You are eating so little that it is hard to get it in without at least 1 protein shake. I suggest focusing solely on dense protein so that you maximize your pouch size.

Also how much fluid are you getting a day? Focus on staying hydrated even more than getting in your protein. Since it is summer add in some SF popsicles, which count as liquid. Your body needs both the protein and the fluids to heal.

Keep at it!

Fluid hasn't been too much of a problem - I am exceeding my plan's 64oz requirement regularly - usually I'm around 80oz or so. It's always my top priority!

Dense proteins are still a bit of a work in progress - I've only been on soft foods for a week and so far, tuna and chicken salad do not sit all that well. (I only made them with the barest amount of mayo - maybe that's the problem?) Going to try taco beef tonight at home to see how that goes. (Amounts were a guesstimate.) I'm trying not to get too sick of eggs and sliced deli meats. Hopefully the other options start to sit better soon!

I wasn't able to handle tuna or any other fish for many, many months: every attempt was very painful. I definitely wouldn't have been able to handle taco beef at your point, either - that strikes me as very ambitious! I didn't even have eggs until I got around the 10-month mark! But it all gets easier as you continue to heal, and things which didn't sit well gradually will become much more tolerable.

I had cod a few days ago poached in a little tomato salsa. It was okay but I overcooked it so a little tough. I had to chew chew chew chew!

I hope to try ****tail shrimp or some lightly seared scallops soon. Fish packs so much of a protein punch, that's why I keep trying to find something that I can tolerate easily.

Ground meats were one of the earlier suggestions that my plan has for meats in the soft food plan, but I do plan to be very cautious about it. Did you find it too chewy/difficult to soften enough?

What sorts of proteins sat well with you early on?

For many months, I used protein powders (my favorite was Cinnamon Buns by Bariatric Fusion) to get enough protein. I did find that deli meats like Boar's Head Ovengold Turkey (good, though high in sodium), BH London broil roast beef, and BH natural applewood smoked ham were good and well tolerated, providing I had the deli clerk shave the meat - not just thin slices, actually shaved. Cutting the meats that finely made them much easier for me to tolerate. I had to chew each bite to smithereens, of course. Chicken breast was too tough for me for many months. Soft stewed chicken thighs without skin were okay once I was several months out, if eaten with something like a tiny tiny bit of mayo, which helped. Beef aside from the shaved deli meats was too fibrous for me for quite some time, including ground beef, which still, at 12 months out, demands intense chewing. I have had filet mignon a couple of times - filet or tenderloin is an extremely tender cut and I still find it easiest to tolerate. Plus, or course, it's delish! But I'm sure I was somewhere past the 6-month mark before I tried that. Fish including tilapia, sole, salmon, tuna, and shrimp made me hurt badly until about 2 months ago, maybe 3. Now I enjoy it all again. Eggs turned me off and I knew that many people had trouble with them post-WLS, so I avoided them altogether until recently. I still haven't tried scrambled eggs, but will sometime soon. I did make use of Greek yogurt both as a meal and as a tangy condiment, and still enjoy this from time to time.

In time everything gets easier!