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So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
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Accurate Macro Calculator
ShoppGirl replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
You know, @AmberFL, part of your gain could just be inflammation from your surgery. Has your weight gone down any?? I would say that the implants are probably only like a pound or two themselves, but mostly I bet it’s inflammation. Not sure why I didn’t think of that before. -
Arabesque reacted to a post in a topic:
So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
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Food - Keeping it interesting!
DaisyChainOz replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in General Weight Loss Surgery Discussions
Still on fluids for a few more days, counting down til Thursday! Yesterday we went for a two hour drive to see some friends, had lunch out with them, there was pizza, hot chips with gravy, hubby had fish and chips on the table it didn'tworry me at all the others eating their yummy lunches! Luckily they had a clear wanton soup dish, so I had that and hubster got the wontons 😂 Today I made a darker version at home with added protein powder and fibre ☺️ Deeeeeelish!! -
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When to stop drinking protein shakes?
The Greater Fool replied to AnV1986's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I never* used them. My plan called for 3 meals per day, each containing 20+ grams of protein through meat (usually). Days 1 - 30 post-op were the same plan pureed. Day 31 forward not pureed any longer. How much protein, of what sort, and how often, is very much a personal decision in consultation with your medical team. Good luck, Tek * Never in normal times. However, when I was binge running, ramping up for marathons, my plan increased from 3 meals per day, to 4, then 5, then 6, then 6 + a protein drink. I fealt like I was eating all day long. I hated it. -
Spinoza reacted to a post in a topic:
So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
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Spinoza reacted to a post in a topic:
So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
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Spinoza reacted to a post in a topic:
So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
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When to stop drinking protein shakes?
Spinoza replied to AnV1986's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I am another fan of eating mostly food made from scratch as soon as you can post op, but honestly if you can't meet your protein goals that way then shakes are one convenient way to do it that doesn't require much mindwork or second guessing! -
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SpartanMaker replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
@ShoppGirl I hear you. Yes I saw the articles from HSS and a few others that quoted that amount, but I've found that sometimes things like this often become an echochamber, even among doctors and other healthcare professionals that should know better. All it takes for this to become the "standard", is for a 50 year old medical textbook or two to print this (based on old data or beliefs), and an entire generation of doctors come to accept it. Look no further than BMI as an example of a well meaning, but ultimately wrong calculation becoming the standard by which we judge obesity and you can see how this sort of thing may not be based on science, but on "generally accepted knowledge". Back to the subject at hand. We do know that RMR can and does increase during recovery, but the amount is not always the same and is highly dependent on both the injury/illness, as well as the individual themselves. As a general rule of thumb when talking about athletes like @AmberFL, the number of calories needed during recovery is typically a little higher than maintenance, but quite a bit lower than what they might have needed when working out. That said, we also need to recognize that Non-Exercise Energy Thermogenesis (NEAT) can vary by many hundreds of calories between individuals. This is important, because even though RMR may increase, it's logical to assume people will have a concomitant reduction in NEAT when ill or injured. The net effect of that may mean the calorie balance may not really change that much if at all. Here's an example: Let's use a 3 factor calorie model, meaning RMR, NEAT & Exercise. (I'm going to ignore TEF for now since it won't make a lot of difference here). Let's assume an RMR is 1500, since this is around the average for all humans. Let's also assume a NEAT of 600 for a total calorie burn before exercise of ~2100. I've selected this since it also is fairly close to the median. Obviously these are just averages and every individual will be different. At an RMR of 1500, if we use as an example a 25% increase due to illness/injury, that would mean the new RMR would be as much as 375 calories more. We would expect NEAT to drop in most people when ill or injured because they tend to sit/lie down a lot more, walk less, etc. Especially in people that have a high NEAT amount to begin with, a drop of 375 calories per day or more is easily within normal ranges when they don't feel good. The net result in our "average" person here is that while their RMR went up, their NEAT went down by the same amount, thus completely negating any need for additional calories. At the end of the day, like you pointed out, we all have to decide for ourselves what we believe and what we think is right. I'm certainly not opposed to anyone consulting with their doctor regarding nutritional needs, as long as you recognise that most doctors get, at best, a single course in nutrition in medical school. Many get even less. I'd tend to suggest a Registered Dietitian instead, especially when dealing with chronic or acute injury or illness. Full disclosure, my background in this area is in nutritional needs for athletes, not people that are unwell. The flip side of this is that I find there are very few RDs that have the requisite knowledge to properly coach athletes, since so much of their training goes into how to help with weight loss, or assist with the nutritional needs of diabetics, cancer patients and the like. We also know that there are some really lousy RDs out there as well, so caveat emptor. (Otherwise, why would we see some of them trying to get very active bariatric patients to stay on an 800kcal/d diet.). Any RD that does that is, i'm sorry to say, an idiot. I'll close by saying that I don't doubt you in the least that you needed to up your calories by a significant amount due to cancer and chemo. I'm sure you recognise that's really in a different league to what most people are going through when recovering from an injury/illness or even surgical procedure. In your case, you have both the fact that cancer cells are effectively using calories that should go toward healthy tissue, as well as the fact that chemo is incredibly destructive to the rest of your body. Best of luck. -
When to stop drinking protein shakes?
RickM replied to AnV1986's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Some programs want their patients to avoid them as soon as possible - within the first few months - on the premise that they don't want their patients drinking calories and would rather they work with solid food instead. Most programs don't care, but there is some merit to the liquid vs. solid argument, at least for a time. Many, OTOH, as we see above, still use them long term, often as a convenience. I still use them - my own blend, as with most things - as an exercise recovery drink after the gym. My wife uses some of the powder in the regular smoothie that she makes (20 years post op) in which she also includes some of the added supplements that she still needs (for her DS,) So, if you can get away without them and still get the requisite protein, and object to drinking them, then great - you can do away with them. If you like them and they still provide some benefit or convenience, there's little reason not to continue using them. -
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possible to stall after 9 day?
ShoppGirl replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or say congrats but I guess I’ll do both. Sounds like you’re doing great. Keep it up. -
possible to stall after 9 day?
DaisyChainOz replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Well, I found out Magnesium laxative works! 🥵 The evil has left the building!! 😆🥳 Thank you very much everyone, for the support, I woke up to find a 200gm (half poundish) drop today, so that's something!! I am looking forward to hitting my first mini goal this week (under 100kg) and am very close, so have been sweating it a bit!! -
Accurate Macro Calculator
ShoppGirl replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I’m certainly not trying to be argumentative either. The reason that I went out of my way to state that it was from AI to begin with is so that the OP would be aware of that fact and take it as they may. Then I added that I was able to see the original articles and they could too if they did the research themselves and I suggested that they ask their doctor if it applies to them specifically. Also if you’re speaking specifically about the part that was talking about their rule of thumb for number of calories per pound, that was not from AI at all. That was from hss.edu and I referenced that above so that one can find and read the article for themselves and determine if it is applicable. It was all intended as food for thought and something to look into. Not medical advice as I am not a doctor Personally, if I have a question I gather data from a lot of sources to include chats and AI summaries as well as medical journal articles or friends and then I ask a professional to decipher the medical jargon, tell me what out of the chat and less reputable sites or word of mouth is true and what applies to my specific situation. In my opinion though, what it boils down to is that our metabolism while recovering from surgery or something else is going to be different than the same person when they were feeling fine just trying to lose weight and we should at least be aware of that and ask the right people the right questions if we care about weight, muscle loss, recovery time etc. I can only ever speak accurately about my personal opinion or experience and that experience is that the oncology dietitians’ advice worked for me and it was basically if you’re craving a cookie then no, don’t have it but if you’re craving fruit or vegetables or something otherwise nutritious then your body probably needs them and you should listen to that when your recovering from something. Basically don’t just be counting calories and starving yourself during recovery, nourish your healing body. Of course my situation is different so that’s why you should always consult with your doctor. -
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SpartanMaker replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Not trying to be argumentative here, but this seems like a bit of a strange comment considering that Google literally states that "AI Overviews use generative AI, which is a type of artificial intelligence that learns patterns and structures from the data it is trained on and uses that to create something new." Personally, I think it's important to treat anything AI Overview produces with a significant bit of skepticism. I don't doubt that this particular response was generated primarily from other sources since that's literally how AI works. That said, there's an old adage in computer science that goes "Garbage in, garbage out". This is just as true today with AI as it was in the dawn of the computer age. I absolutely agree, but there are 2 things we need to take into consideration. The first is to what extent we burn additional calories. There is data in the scientific literature showing that RMR (not total calories burned), increases anywhere from 15% to 50% during the acute recovery phase. Whether it's near 15% or 50% depends a lot on what one is recovering from. I'm sure you'd agree that having a grade 1 muscle strain is not nearly as taxing on the body as chemotherapy or, say recovering from extensive burns. Add in the fact that most people have no clue what their RMR is and it can be very difficult to estimate the exact amount of additional calories burned. (Plus, the farther along the recovery process you are, the lower the increase in RMR.) The second confounding factor here is whether one actually needs to eat back those calories or not. Just because one is burning more calories does not mean one also has to eat all those calories back. This unfortunately is not clear at all in the scientific literature so we're sort of on our own here. My personal belief is that if your calorie needs have gone up a lot because you're recovering from a significant injury/illness AND you are at or below maintenance, then it's probably more important to eat more because you have less stored fat to fall back on. On the other hand, If you still have excess fat stores and/or are recovering from a more minor injury/illness, then you probably don't need to consume as many calories as you might otherwise. I also tend to believe that eating good quality foods is probably more important here than just eating more calories. 1000 extra calories of junk food is not going to help nearly as much as 250 calories of whole foods. The problem is, most of us are just not going to be able to accurately calculate any of this. This is why I'm recommending caution and only jumping up a lot in calories if major fatigue is an issue. -
So unmotivated to do anything, but frustrated that I'm not doing anything!!!
SleeveToBypass2023 replied to SleeveToBypass2023's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
That sounds amazing!!! I've always wanted to go to Athens and Mykonos and Crete. Maybe someday it'll happen.... -
possible to stall after 9 day?
NeonRaven8919 replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
I had to laugh react becaue, while I'm sorry to hear you're struggling, this descriptionis made me laugh! I had the same issue post op. They gave me lactulose liquid and told me to take it every night but it didn't really do much. Until it did! I honestly thought it would never stop! And then suddenly, I was down about 5kg (10lbs). Seriously. This is normal. -
Accurate Macro Calculator
ShoppGirl replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Well, it wasn’t exactly an AI generated recommendation. It was an AI generated summary of all the articles that applied to the question I asked Google. So basically One of the articles them gave that recommendation is below and you can read the full article of course and determine whether it’s a reputable source and applies to you. I agree with not going by a cookie cutter approach regardless of where it came from. Especially the Internet, but it logically does make sense to me so it would definitely be worth talking to your doctor about and asking for a specific plan for you. I know for me, my body is fighting cancer and processing chemo right now which both increase metabolism. Currently I’m logging like 1000-1500 cal more a day and still losing (albeit a little slower to appease my doctors). It changes your metabolism when your body is fighting something and it does burn more calories during times like this. How many that would be something your surgeon may be able to help you with a refer you to someone who can. I am very fortunate that I am at a big fancy breast center and they have an oncology dietitian that is helping me throughout all of my different treatments that I have in store for me over the next year to keep me on track for both that and my bariatric journey. i think the most important part would be to just be mindful of the fact that healing does require adequate nutrition and not to be at too much of a calorie deficit because yes, we will heal like we did from our bariatric surgery but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was the ideal circumstance or that we we’re healing as fast as we could have. I know you are itching to get out and back to your activity asap as I would be and good nutrition is very important for faster healing. I’m not saying that means you need to eat as much as you were eating when you were working out like crazy, but if it was me, I would focus primarily on fueling my body to get better faster, without gaining of course, and really focus on the weight loss once I was back on track (it won’t be that long). I mean if you can lose a bit great but if your body is screaming out for nutritious food it’s probable that there is a reason. The nutritionist that I am working with would not give me a specific calorie amount instead she told me to still try to avoid cookies and chips, but to eat when my body was craving nutritious food and she checks in with me every week to see how I am doing and make tweaks Does your surgeon have a nurse practitioner that you could talk to if you give them a call? Or was your dietician from pre surgery very helpful (mine was worthless 😂). Maybe you would get a more in-depth response from them than your surgeon who’s always super busy. -
January 2025 Surgery Buddies!
NoSnowHere replied to Melissa💖💜💙's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
Thanks for posting! Glad your surgery went well and hope that your recovery goes well too. Yes, I would love to hear how others have managed the drastic changes of eating. Mr surgery is next Thursday and I've already been thinking about that transition. -
possible to stall after 9 day?
ShoppGirl replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
What I did and tried to type was to weigh myself every day, but I only logged it in my book once a week. That way, the small fluctuations were less of a big deal when I seen what happened at the end of the week. It would probably be better to even do every other week or every month to log. Or log it every day but just highlight it once a week or once a month something like that so that you can see that really your trend is down -
January 2025 Surgery Buddies!
The_katz_meow replied to Melissa💖💜💙's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
Hi all 👋🏻 I just had surgery on 1-20-2025 things went well. Now trying to navigate such a drastically different way to nourish myself. -
January 2025 Surgery Buddies!
NoSnowHere replied to Melissa💖💜💙's topic in Gastric Sleeve Surgery Forums
PoppyVelvet, I've come back to your post several times as I've been on the pre-op diet preparing for my surgery. Thinking of you and wondering how you're doing ?? -
Accurate Macro Calculator
SpartanMaker replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
@AmberFL I must have missed that you are recovering from surgery. While I probably wouldn't recommend a significant fat loss diet while healing, I'd also be a bit cautious about using Google AI recommendations. The idea that you need 15-20 calories per pound of current body weight to heal just doesn't pass the smell test. If this were true, none of us would have properly healed from our bariatric surgery. Keep in mind that 15-20 pounds for you right now would be roughly 2500 to 3400 calories. At your starting weight, that would have been about 4500 to almost 6000 calories a day! Looking through the scientific literature, I couldn't find a single reference that this level of calories was needed to promote healing after surgery. There were some references to additional calories being helpful in the event of significant wounds, thus your calorie needs may be somewhat higher for more involved surgeries vs simple ones. I apologise, but I have no idea what "PS surgery" is, so that doesn't really help narrow things down. I think my recommendation would be to base this more on feel. If you are feeling really rundown, that's probably a good indication you may need to up your calories. You're always going to feel somewhat tired after any major surgery, so I'm talking about feeling excessively tired. If you do feel the need to add more, my recommendations above regarding macros still stand. We do know that wound healing requires adequate protein (thus 1.6g/kg is a good minimum target). We also want to make sure you're getting adequate essential fats, so shooting for a minimum of 50g is still good advice. If you are more like 70 to 80g, especially when not on a fat loss diet, that's just fine. I wouldn't necessarily recommend going much higher that that on fats because if you do, if will mean you would likely be subtracting calories from carbs. Good whole food sources of carbs like whole grains, vegetables and fruit have tons of nutritive value that you really shouldn't be skipping right now. In short, protein first, essential fats next, and carbs for the rest of the diet. -
It’s likely it has to do with your surgery but I agree with others that it’s still worth having things checked out. Two things can be happening at the same time and we don’t want to miss something just because we had surgery. We did this to get healthier not the opposite.
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AmberFL replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
@ShoppGirl that is very interesting! Ok this makes me feel less bad LOL -
When to stop drinking protein shakes?
AmberFL replied to AnV1986's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
never LOL I drink one everyday. Its my afternoon pick me up. I add it to a cold brew, Jordans skinny caramel syrup in a big mason jar. Its delish and takes me a long time to finish. -
@summerseeker and @ShoppGirl Thank you both!! ❤️
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possible to stall after 9 day?
DaisyChainOz replied to DaisyChainOz's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Thanks for the reply @ShoppGirl I know I shouldn't but it's a compulsion... and honestly if I *had* weighed myself every day back when I was slim...and taken action when my weight crept up in the first place... I wouldn't be here now 😝 I am NEVER going to not weight regularly again. Thank you @Arabesque, great advice and encouragement as always 😁 ffor double post above, I can't remove or edit it either. -
Wow. What a difference a year can make. And what an amazing birthday gift you have given yourself this year!! Happy Birthday 🎁 💪 🎉 👙 🎁
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Accurate Macro Calculator
ShoppGirl replied to AmberFL's topic in POST-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A
Okay so I was curious to know exactly how much more our bodies burn while we are healing so I asked Google and this is copied from AI response. Basically if we need more calories to maintain as your healing you really may be good by just cutting back a tad on the extra Carbs since your carbs were much higher due to a very high level of activity, which you’re not sustaining but honestly if I was you I would Just wait until your through this to worry about losing you could take even longer to get back on track if you try to lose now “Yes, your body burns more calories during the healing process after surgery. This is because your body's metabolism increases to help heal the incisions, fight pain, and prevent infection. Explanation Hyper-metabolic state After surgery, your body enters a hyper-metabolic state, which means your metabolism increases. This causes your body to break down muscle protein, fat tissue, and neurotransmitters to provide energy for healing. Calorie needs During the healing process, you should consume more calories than normal. A general rule of thumb is to consume 15–20 calories per pound of body weight. Protein needs In addition to calories, you also need more protein during the healing process. Protein is a key building block of the body and is necessary for tissue growth and repair. Hydration Drinking plenty of fluids, mostly water, helps deliver nutrients to the wound site. What to eat Eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods Eat nutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, lean fish and chicken, grains, beans, and nuts Take a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement if you don't get enough nutrients” This is from HSS.com “How many calories should I be consuming since I will be inactive? Now is NOT the time for weight loss! When people are immobilized, they worry about gaining weight. However, you should NOT decrease your calorie intake because you will be inactive. In fact, your calorie needs are now greater than usual because your body requires energy from nutritious foods to fuel the healing process. You will need to consume about 15-20 calories per pound (using your current body weight). If your overall energy and protein needs are not met, body tissues such as muscles and ligaments will begin to break down. This will compromise healing and may prolong your recovery period”
