I had gastric bypass in 2009; I responded well and lost a ton of weight (from 376 to 256 in 9 months). I got pregnant with my son 9 months out, then pregnant with my daughter when he was 9 months old. After a TON of hard work and near perfect clean eating and running 4x a week I finally saw a naturopath to figure our why I wasn't losing weight.

Turns out I am very insulin resistant, among other things, and my perfect eating (paleo but no sugars or paleo versions of baked goods, etc) did me no good to combat it. So, I started IP.

What I need help with is that I can't seem to get all the food in. I can't drink water for 45 minutes after eating due to the surgery. But even beyond that I had a really hard time getting the 2 cups of veggies plus lettuce at lunch and then 2 cups of veggies and lettuce and 6-8oz of protein at dinner. I seriously think my "cheating" will be eating not quite enough. Plus, since I'm 280 pounds my coach wants me eating 4 IP meals so I protect my lean muscle mass.

So I need help! I have permission to primarily eat cooked veggies, as I don't digest raw veggies well at all. I already did the trick of adding veggies to my soup, plus I added an egg and veggies to my omelette to spread out the food.

Any other tricks? Thank you!

Today was day 1, PS. And I won't cheat at all. I view this as medically necessary to prevent diabetes and, I hope, heal my body. It's so much more than weight loss and I just can't afford to cheat.

You. Red four cups of veggies a day, spread that out. Per my coach, you don't have to eat two cups for lunch and two cups for dinner. That being said, I too have a hard time getting all four cups in. I have to be very conscientious about it.

How frustrating to re-gain hard fought weight loss. I've lived it (without surgery). I agree with you on the no cheating. That was me when I started. Viewing it as medically necessary & so much more than weight loss.

I see several ideas and none are "tricks"

First: Lettuce is unlimited but is also not required. Use it as a "filler" as needed, rather than a requirement

Second: Adding an egg to the omelet just added MORE. Try just the omelet packet alone, or with perhaps just 1 c cooked veggies

Third: No permission needed to cook veggies. That is fine. Veggie purees were my friend. Go to the Daily Chat thread and find the link to the veggie puree thread (lots of links in the first post of the Daily Chat)

Next: if 8 oz meat (measured raw) at one time is too much, try splitting it & having 4 oz at lunch and 4 oz at dinner. If it is still too much, try cutting back to 6 oz (measured raw). This was the amount on an older P1 protocol
Same with Veggies. You don't have to do 2 c. with lunch and 2 c. with dinner. You could have 1 c breakfast, 1 c lunch, 1 c. dinner, 1 c. snack.

If you split your dinner protein, your food intake could look more like this

B: packet + 1 c veggies
L: 3-4 oz meat + 1 c veggies
S: packet + 1 c veggies
D: 3-4 oz meat + 1 c veggies
S: packet
lettuce could be an option at any of those times.
Add your oil, salt, water, and you've got it!

One other thing: you could try making most of your packets the "lighter" ones. Some are more filling than others. Several are under 100 cals and only 1-2 carbs (like the raspberry jelly, orange drink, lemonade, and some of the other "fruity" ones).

And, be sure to join the 100% thread. It is all about no cheats!

Great advice, Lisa!
I'm closing in on being only 25 lbs away from my goal, but I'm, of course, concerned about the transition away from the lunchtime packet. This is exactly what I needed to see this morning in order to start thinking about Phase 2 & summer plans.

You've gotten some great advice tamila! Not much to add except that I really feel for you!

I had to switch to about 4 peeled, cooked to death veggies prior to hernia surgery and absolutely no raw veggies. I found it much harder than eating raw veggies mainly because it took more planning to cook veggies rather than just grab raw ones. With 2 little ones at home, I imagine that it is hard for you too!

I found making zucchini muffins helpful. That way I could eat them at a slower pace than all at once and still got a cup of veggies in. Red pepper puree was great - I'd make it a little thicker then spread it on flat bread made from the potato puree, roll it up and slice it. Finally, a cup of spinach cooks down to about 6 bites, especially if you chop it up pretty fine.

Best of luck to you and I second Lisa, come on over to the 100% thread - we're all about no cheats!

I'm a couple years post-lap band so I understand some of your frustrations. One way I get veggies in is by wilting (I guess that's what you would call it) baby spinach and then putting some vinegar on it. Really cuts volume down but still gives nutrients.
I'm not sure if meat has been a challenge for you or not. I know I have to make sure that whatever I have is super moist or tender. I have been having trouble with chicken so my coach has me using ground beef (extra lean, of course) or turkey. The hardest thing is reheating leftover meats since that dries them out.
Good luck to you and I'm glad you have already gotten great advice from previous posters.
Hang in there!

I do have to make sure my meat is super moist! The way I cook my chicken is to bake it with just herbs in the oven, in a glass dish with foil cover, and a meat thermometer. I stop at exactly 180F. That keeps it super moist and no during out.

Two notes: your advice, Lisa, is awesome except for I'm supposed to have a fourth packet. I did find that putting 3 oz of chicken & two cups of veg in my soup helped it all go down easier and I didn't get overly full.

I was told I do need to try to get lettuce for the fiber, to avoid constipation. For that, I wilted a 1/2 a bag of organic Power Greens (kale, spinach, chard) from Costco. I used about a TB of olive oil (for 4-5 servings), then added fresh garlic and lemon juice. It was delicious, and I counted a serving as my lettuce for the day (2 cups) plus one cup of my normal veggies.

Also, I added the extra egg because my coach said 1 egg = 1 oz of meat, so I can eat an egg or two elsewhere in the day to offset the dinner amount. That really helped!

Blurg; no drying* out

Hi Tamila: according to my protocol sheets - kale, spinach, and chard are actually part of your 4c veggies - only 'lettuce' is lettuce and it's an option - romaine, iceberg, butter, green leaf, red leaf, etc - not other types of green veggies. The amount of water and the 1 gram of fibre in a shredded cup (or less) according to nutritiondata.self.com will not stave off the big C so I wouldn't worry about adding any lettuce unless you were actually hungry, and you are not.
If you bake Kale chips in your oven that is another easy way to eat 2 cups of veg & not even notice, lol.

Tamila, I know nothing about IP, but my mom had gastric bypass (over a decade now) and has since struggled to get fruits, veggies and fiber into her diet. She's started making fruit & veggie smoothies for breakfast and/or lunch which has really helped her eat a lot more of the *good* stuff than she ever could before, since it's in liquid form (takes up less room in her small tummy!) and she can drink it throughout the day. Not sure if that would fit into IP at all, but thought I'd throw that out there!

Going to 2nd canadjineh on the kale, etc., being a select veggie. Also wanted to chime in on the egg issue - my coach said to count it as 2 oz of protein. Anyone know the actual answer on that one?

I often have to split my meat up into to meals a day even without gastric bypass...that's just a lot of meat to eat at once! I also work really long hours so I tend to split my meals up more to keep giving me energy throughout the day. I know there are IPers on here who blend spinach into their shakes. I LOVE wilted spinach. I just sautee my other veggies until done and add the spinach with just 30 seconds to go. Delish!

Hmmm. That is good to know. I'll bring that up with my coach when I see her next.

Since 4 eggs plus two whites is 8 oz protein equivalent it makes sense that one egg is closer to 2 oz than 1. That is how I count it. But then again, I will eat an egg white every once in a while and not count it at all.

I've had LapBand, so I know exactly how you feel. I had my doctor unfill my band a bit, so that has helped me a lot, however, I still can't eat a ton at a time. I split it all up. 2 cups veggies at lunch, 2 cups at dinner, 4 oz meat/protein at lunch, 4 oz at dinner. Any meat also has to be moist. For the veggies, you can also add spinach to your morning smoothie, whatever flavor. You can put in a giant handful (probably up to 2 cups) and I swear you can't taste it. It also adds to the amount you are eating to get you through the morning. You could split it up even more by doing 2oz protein at breakfast, 3 at lunch and 3 at dinner.

Also, I make veggie "hash" a lot. I cut up my veggies really small and cook them in a pan with a teaspoon of olive oil and lots of garlic and a bit of water, cover and cook until they are nice and tender. I almost always have some red sweet peppers and zucchini - my favorites. If I use spinach, I usually take a bunch of leaves and stack them then roll it like a cigar and slice it verrrry thin to make a chiffonade (you can google if you don't know what I mean). That way the spinach doesn't get slimy like it can when you wilt it. You can eat the veggies in the cooked, chopped state, put it in a soup packet or put it in the blender and make a puree. All quite tasty and I love it! The zucchini muffins RuthAnn suggested are great, too. Don't forget Jicima (or rutabaga or turnip) "fries"! When they are cooked, they shrink quite a bit (bummer), but it cuts down on the bulk of the veggies and they are really good!

Also, vary your protein. I have a hard time with chicken sometimes - I have to eat dark meat. Rare, moist steak is great (filet) and find a frozen burger brand that has no sugar added and cook it moist and drain the fat or make burgers yourself. When you eat seafood, it seems like a treat AND it is easier to eat. The She Crab Soup recipe from Rainbow's recipe thread is delicious and splurge on really good crab. I live in Houston, so we get good seafood. I buy the kind in the actual seafood department in the little plastic sealed containers. Canned kind of scares me... Shrimp always makes me happy, too. Get some sugar free ketchup (Whole Foods) and make some cocktail sauce. A nice filet of fish on top of cauliflower "rice" is really lovely, too.

I had a hard time the first week, but figured out how to get it all in. It will be easier when you feel better, too. I felt kind of awful and nauseous at first, but feel so much better almost a month in. Check out all the recipes in the recipe threads and you'll find that there's so much you can do with what you are required to eat! I'm actually enjoying it.

Good luck! You can do it - and it works!