Gastric Bypass Part Three

This might be my last gastric bypass post for awhile. I'm due to go back to work on Tuesday, two days from now. I feel pretty good. I still get tired if I'm doing a lot, and have to rest frequently, but I am able to carry on a fairly normal life.
At my surgeon visit this past week, she was pleased with my weight loss of around 16 pounds in 4 weeks. I was moved to the "Phase 3" diet, which is pretty much everything but take it slow, chew really well, and keep it to 4 tablespoons -- and no raw veggies yet. For the past 2 days, I've been eating normal food in very small amounts. I went to Marie Callendar's with my daughter and we split an entree, and I only ate about 1/8th of my half, if that. I became FULL on that amount. Later in the day, I made a chicken enchilada casserole for Mike and another one for our neighbors (she broke her leg). I had 4 tablespoons of it, and it was tasty and good. This morning I had 1/4th of a banger sausage and 1 egg, and at lunch I had 4 tablespoons of hamburger slow-cooked in fresh marinara sauce, with a dollop of ricotta.
I'm still having trouble with the protein shakes. The egg white protein gets too fluffy in my blender, which adds both volume and air and makes it harder to drink in an hour. The unjury blends well into V8 juice, so that's a winner, at least. I can get two shakes down a day, and I'm hoping the mini meals will provide the additional protein.
The pulling sensation in my epigastric region, which was never truly bothersome, has disappeared.
I'm making an effort to keep low carb, but I seem to tolerate butter and yogurt and cheese and I am not avoiding those, in small amounts. I've never avoided them in the past when keeping low carb, as I follow an Atkins-type regimen and have found it to work best and be very tolerable.
I WILL find a tolerable chewable Iron formula, but I'm not going to force myself to gag down Geritol. I may try the children's chewables again, now that my stomach isn't so touchy and my mouth isn't so dry. I also started B12 sublingual tabs at the direction of my surgeon, and those are not at all unpleasant.
My surgeon is satisfied that I am on track and if I continue to lose even 3 pounds a week, I'll be healthier and hopefully my joints will be less painful. If I hit any rough patches, or develop any complications, I'll be sure to update this. But at this point, everything seems to have worked out and it's just a matter of eating much, much less -- which seems normal to me now. I can't believe how much I used to eat, and the sizes of restaurant meals now.