I did some research on what people eat and what their goals are after surgery. I found the USFC Medical Center website for post surgery patients. So for the first month I am striving for 500-700 calories per day. I am tracking my food and nutrition intake on My Plate which does a great job of tracking foods and their content and is free to use. It has a HUGE database of foods to select and is easy and I like using it. One difference between me and the people who have actually had the surgery is that their stomach is very small and they have to blend their foods and can't drink and eat at the same time. I don't have to follow those restrictions since I am not actually having the surgery and I can eat and drink at the same time and will have my whole stomach to use for digestion, so that is a plus! At first I was worried about that small calorie count per day but then I found this study from Web MD about the effects of a very low calorie diet and people who have been diagnosed with the disease in the last 2 years and how it for all practical purposes "cures" diabetes. It has been just over 2 years since I was diagnosed so this motivates me even more that this can be done. So the plan for now is to eat every 2 hours, small servings with all food groups being represented daily. Drinking plenty of liquids throughout the day. When I lost the weight for the Army I didn't know anything about nutrition and just starved myself eating only 300 to 400 calories per day for several months until I had lost the weight and then I went right back to eating normal and with in the first 6 months had gained back 30 pounds and that plagued me while I was in the Army because I couldn't lose it despite all the physical things you do in the Army. After I got out I put on another 50 pounds because I stopped doing any of the physical things that were keeping me where I was. I averaged another 10 pounds per year after that until I was past 300. This time around I am more educated about nutrition and have a guild line to follow. I feel very good about this. Today I'm eating: Activia light yogurt, 2 light sting cheese sticks, Pure Protein bar, 4 oz chicken meat, large mixed salad w/light dressing, sugar free jello cup, herbal tea, and low sodium broth. The nutritional content of that is, 626 cal, 1471 mg sodium, 18 gm fat, 72 gm protein, and 47 gm carbs.