Bufflehead

I have trainer friends who say this is normal - when you strain your muscles, your body retains water to help repair them. I've noticed the same thing myself! But everyone says that over the course of several days you will have a bigger net loss. It's just the day after that you pick up some water weight. I feel your pain though -- even though people tell me about the science of this, I hate it and have trouble believing in the net loss!

Congrats! Sounds like everything went well for you. My surgeon is also extremely conservative with post-op eating. No fruit, no starchy veggies, no grains, etc. for 8 weeks after surgery. In fact, while limited fruit can be introduced at 8 weeks, there are still no starchy veg or grains allowed until six months after surgery! And he has a very high success rate. You mentioned not liking the fruity protein drinks or Isopuke. Have you tried something savory, like the protein soups or Unjury chicken soup protein? If you are still on clears, the broth types of protein soups as well as the Unjury work on that phase. There are also creamy type soups if you are on full liquids. If you are interested, I would suggest a couple sample packets of the Unjury and maybe a variety box of the HealthSmart brand: http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/hot-soups/ http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/reg/chicken_soup_flavored_protein.shtml For the Unjury you definitely need a food thermometer to make sure your hot liquid is not over 130 F when you mix in the protein powder. Unjury does sell a "starter kit" with a variety of protein flavors, including the chicken soup, and it has a food thermometer in the kit. If I remember right, you can use any temperature of hot liquid with the HealthSmart soups as long as it is not actually boiling. Good luck!

Only you and your health care professionals can determine what is too much for you. That said, I wasn't allowed to eat more than 3 tablespoons of food per meal while on purees, and not allowed potatoes at all (only high protein foods). So for me, personally, the idea of eating 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes now, let alone so soon after surgery, has me pretty much recoiling in horror.

@@enlightened1 for in the hospital, my most important items were my phone and charger and chapstick. Everything else, the hospital supplied. I think it's really important to be up and active as much as possible. When you get taken to your room after recovery, try to be sitting up in a chair in your room rather than lying down in your hospital bed. The more upright you are, the more you move, the faster you will get rid of the gas. For after the surgery, I stocked up on Protein powder SAMPLES, sugar free Jello and popsicles, low sodium V-8, protein Soups, and Powerade Zero/G2. My most important household items were my heating pad, Bubba Kegs (I would fill one with ice and Water each morning and work my way through it), food thermometer (to make sure my hot protein soups/powders would not get too hot and denature the protein), digital food scale, immersion blender, and mini food processor (although I didn't need that for 3 weeks after surgery as I had 3 weeks of full liquids to get through). Before I went for surgery, I made sure that everything that required lifting or a lot of effort around the house was taken care of. Kitty litter was changed, floors were mopped/vacuumed, shrubs were trimmed, mulch was down, etc. This may not be such an issue for you if you live with someone who can take care of those sorts of things.

This book has really helped me: http://www.amazon.com/The-Beck-Diet-Solution-Person/dp/0848732758 It taught me behaviors and ways to talk to myself about weight loss and healthy eating that combat cravings, defeatist thoughts, etc. There are some things in it that really don't work well for wls patients, but those are easy to identify and work around. It doesn't give you a diet to tollow -- you find an eating plan that works for you. It is more about how to be motivated and successful. Since you say you know what to do but you can't get yourself to do it, perhaps it could be helpful to you, too. Good luck!

I tried both yoga and pilates and I have stuck with pilates. I feel like it is a much better workout. I only do it a couple of times a week, as a bit of a "rest day" from my usual alternating cardio (low impact aerobics), circuit training, and weights. I second the recommendation for weight training - I love it!

It was approved on my plan, I ate it as soon as I could and had no problems tolerating it.

You might want to try protein soups instead of powders. You can buy them at several online stores - here is a link to Nashua Nutrition's protein soups. I liked the HealthSmart brand. If you do try them, I would recommend starting with a variety box (or two) and holding off ordering boxes of one flavor until you have sampled something after surgery and decided you like it with your new, post-surgery taste buds. http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/hot-soups/ Also, you don't say exactly which brands/flavors you have been trying - I found that Unjury, Jay Robb, and Designer Whey seemed less sweet to me than some of the other brands. Good luck!

I weigh almost everything, including condiments. For prepared dishes like spaghetti, find what looks like a close recipe in the food database and change the serving size to how much spaghetti you had. You should be able to find recipes that include noodles, sauce, etc. If it is something you made that you eat frequently, you can use the recipe calculator to input all the ingredients and figure out exactly how many calories are in a serving of your dish. If you are just eating the meat from the spaghetti, weigh the portion of meat and then search the food database -- find an entry for "beef meatballs" or "cooked ground pork" or whatever kind of meat you are using, and enter in the amount you ate.

I would recommend not stocking up on anything pre-op other than samples, since your tastes and tolerances may very well change. I'm lazy so will link to an earlier post I made on where to buy Protein powder samples: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/307990-need-names-of-good-protein-powder/?p=3476426 As far as sweeteners go -- Protein shakes made with sugar are too high calorie and high carb for my plan, so I stick with shakes sweetened with stevia or with artificial sweeteners.

Some people do feel hunger. First you have to figure out is this head hunger or stomach hunger. Head hunger is when you are craving a specific thing, like cookies or mashed potatoes. Stomach hunger = you would eat just about anything to make it stop, including plain grilled chicken breast or your least favorite flavor of protein shake. If it is stomach hunger, then you have to figure out -- are you truly hungry, or are you experiencing stomach acid, which often presents as hunger? Many sleeve patients have increased stomach acid. Are you on a PPI? If not, you may want to ask your surgeon for a prescription. If you are, maybe ask for a different prescription. Lots of people find that if one drug doesn't work, another will. If it really is stomach hunger and not stomach acid, then yes, you may be one of the unlucky folks for whom true hunger persists, and while there are coping strategies, you'll have to white knuckle through a lot of it at the outset, because it is so important that you stick to your eating plan and not push boundaries. Good luck!

I was only allowed things I could cut easily with a fork. So if I wanted broccoli, I basically had to puree it while on soft foods.

I second what @@InfiniteButterfly said. This is an issue for your surgeon. You might have a complication such as a stricture, or you might just need to go back to your previous phase for a while, or something else might be going on -- but it's your surgeon who needs to check you out. Good luck!

4 weeks after surgery is my surgeon's standard plan but the dietician advanced me to purees a week early because I was doing so well getting my liquids and protein in and was tolerating everything just fine.

I had a lot better luck with that protein powder when I kept the temperature under 130 degrees. Good luck!

Definitely only use the SF syrups. The calories and carbs in the regular ones are insane. Another item folks might want to check out is Sweetleaf Sweet Drops: http://sweetleaf.com/stevia-products/sweet-drops/ They are smaller than the bottles of Torani syrup, but do have to go in the fridge once you open them. Although they seem expensive, you only need about half an eye dropper full so on a per-serving basis, they are actually cheaper than Torani. For the most part I think their flavors are more intense and blend really well. Some of my favorites are the dark chocolate raspberry (great to make a raspberry hot chocolate), apricot nectar, and valencia orange. My local Kroger carries some of these in the natural foods section, and they are for sale on Amazon as well as the site I linked to. I love that they are all natural.

I love my Torani SF syrups. I have so many, the top of my fridge where I keep them looks like a Starbucks. Or a Torani store, if such a thing existed! The fruit flavored syrups do work, particularly if you are using a vanilla Protein powder or a fruit flavored Protein Powder. I'm fond of orange protein powder + mango syrup, or vanilla protein powder + raspberry syrup. That said, most of my Protein shakes either start with a chocolate or coffee base. Some of my favorites to mix in are classic hazelnut, classic caramel, salted caramel, peppermint, gingerbread, and cinnamon vanilla. I like to try to re-create Starbucks-types drinks, specialty milkshakes, and similar things. Here are a couple of favorites: pumpkin Spice Latte - mix 1 packet Healthwise Cappuccino protein powder, 1 shot pumpkin pie spice syrup, 1/4 t. pumpkin pie spice, and 1 t. instant espresso granules with 4 oz. Water + 4 oz. CarbMaster milk (heated -- or cold if you want and iced latte). Gingerbread Mocha - mix 1 packet Healthwise Classic Hot Chocolate, 1 shot chocolate syrup, 1 shot gingerbread syrup, & 2 t. instant espresso granules with 4 oz. water & 4 oz. CarbMaster chocolate milk (heated). Peppermint Patty shake - 8 oz. CarbMaster chocolate milk, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 1 shot peppermint syrup. You can turned this into an iced peppermint mocha by adding 1 - 2 tsp. instant espresso granules to taste.

I exceeded my protein goal every day (75+) starting the second day after surgery and I still had massive hair loss. My surgeon & dieticians all say that it has to do with the shock of surgery & anesthesia and it's wrong to blame the patient for not getting enough protein, not taking the right vitamins, or not using the right shampoo. It will either happen or it won't, and there isn't anything you can do to prevent it.

There are lots of great ideas here. It might help to make a list of things you like to do -- or would like to try -- or even that just need doing and you'll feel better about once you take care of them -- that are hard to do while eating. Then stick the list somewhere visible, like on the refrigerator. You may not ever need to resort to it, but it will be there if you need it. Possibilities: exercise (keep some beginner exercise DVD's handy, maybe get some light weights, a jump rope, etc.) go for a walk teach the dog (assuming you have one) basic obedience or some advanced tricks sketch, paint, watercolor crafts have sex (no really) (let's see if the nannyware censors this) talk on the phone with a friend (it's rude to talk on the phone and crunch during the conversation) take a shower brush your teeth, give yourself a facial, paint your nails, shave your legs organize your closet general housecleaning work in the yard

You get an overproduction of mucus-y saliva from your mouth and throat, to the point of spitting it out. If you get this, you ate too much, or too fast, or the wrong type or texture of food.

I'm not allowed soup on my plan (ever) because it equals eating and drinking at the same time. That said, I have had soup - but just once, and it was over a year after surgery. I don't plan to make it a regular thing.

My diet was: 4 weeks full liquids 4 weeks purees - high protein foods ONLY 4 months soft foods - you have to be able to cut it with a fork. And no grains, no starchy vegetables, no sweets.

I love avocado and eat it regularly. It has healthy fat (which we need to absorb vitamins properly and for other reasons) and has lots of fiber too. But never more than about 50 grams per day. Otherwise it's just too many calories to fit into my plan.

Agreeing with all the others, focusing on hydration will help you. Walk when you can and rest or nap when you need to. Make sure you take your pain meds since you say you are feeling sore. Don't try to be a hero there - if you need them, take them. Not taking them will not help you get better faster! Since your PPI doesn't seem to be working, I would strongly encourage you to get in touch with your surgeon, explain the situation, and ask if there is a different/stronger PPI you can get a prescription for. Good luck!

This is great advice but just a tip - people also need to check if there are any special requirements for the policy as adopted by their employer, assuming the policy is from their work. Sometimes there are special modifications on a by-employer basis. Just for example, I work for the state of Tennessee, and BCBS is one of the insurance options offered by the state. However, our policy has different requirements for bariatric surgery than the standard BCBS requirements. These are laid out in our member handbook.