Bufflehead

Cheese is extremely calorie-dense. Are you weighing the cheese you eat and counting the calories, staying within a strict calorie range for the day? If not, yes, cheese can definitely slow or stall your weight loss. You could be adding multiple hundreds of calories to your daily intake.

Try eating less at each meal. Being overwhelmed by exhaustion can be a signal from your body that you ate too much. I know it sounds odd but it really can work that way -- give it a try and see if that helps? Good luck!

The risks associated with surgery itself are minuscule compared to the health risks of morbid obesity. If you want to be around for your husband and children, have the surgery. You are lowering your risk of death by about 9 fold. https://asmbs.org/patients/bariatric-surgery-misconceptions

When I was teaching myself to eat slowly, I used the Eat Slower app. I set my intervals for 45 seconds between bites. It worked really well for me. Measure out a small portion for your meal -- eating too much can cause distress just as easily as eating too fast, and the two are related. So, if you aren't being very careful to measure/weigh out a very small portion of food to start with, that can also be tied to your problems with getting sick. Good luck!

Increasing your protein won't magically make weight start falling away -- you need to keep an eye on your calories and carbs as well. Yes, you need to increase your protein, but that's because you need protein for healing and health right now.

Not every program includes a preop diet, so in order for the statistics to be meaningful, they would have to be taken from the date of surgery, not before.

I was still on liquids then (that phase is 4 weeks in my team's plan). Not into liquefied oysters or shrimp, so not for me! I did have pureed shrimp with buffalo sauce when I moved onto purees, and both oysters and shrimp in soft food phase, no problems. Scallops are another great choice!

@@Dub completely agree. I never ate grains when I was in weight loss mode, and still don't when I need to drop a few pounds. For me, grains and weight loss are not a good match. Now when I am in maintenance mode, I will have oat groats or oat bran for breakfast, but that's about it when it comes to grains. I don't eat super low carb in either weight loss or maintenance mode -- I eat modest amounts of dairy and fruit, for example. But I certainly never needed oatmeal for energy! I exercise just about every day -- vigorous exercise -- and work a full time job and always feel good and energetic, no grains needed. But I do think that if people are bound and determined to eat oatmeal while trying to lose weight, it's better to eat the kind that isn't processed and doesn't have sugar or fake stuff added to it.

Usually about three months after surgery.

Stay away from the processed instant fake oatmeal. I make either oat groats (in a crock pot overnight -- I can make a small batch and keep it in the fridge, 5 days of breakfast) or hot oat bran cereal. I make mine with cashew milk, add a little PB2 and some toasted nuts. No added sugar, and with the nuts and PB2 I end up with a good amount of protein to go with the fiber and healthy carbs. Oat bran and oat groats each have one ingredient: oat bran and oat groats, respectively.

I was taken off blood pressure meds concurrent with surgery and never took them again. My surgeon requires people with HBP to get a home blood pressure monitor and measure blood pressure 2x per day for several weeks after surgery. He says the vast majority of his patients stop taking blood pressure meds and never go back. I have never had a high blood pressure reading since surgery -- before it was almost out of control, even with meds.

Check in with your bariatric surgeon or dietitian -- it may be that they agree that given the serious medical problems you are suffering from, it's more important to eat a high fiber diet than it is to get 100 grams of protein every day. There is nothing magical about 100 grams of protein, which is much, much higher than, for instance, US government guidelines call for in order to remain healthy. Alternatively, you could do 3 high protein shakes plus tons of green veggies and a little bit of beans and fruit and have that be your basic eating plan.

Go savory -- a little light salad dressing, smooth salsa, spices -- smoked paprika is good. If you can have nut butters, add a tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter.

lol, when my intake nurse at surgery told me I was taking a pregnancy test, I just said, look, I am a 47 year old gay woman, like, really very gay, and she just shrugged and said every woman 50 or younger with a uterus gets a pregnancy test, no exceptions. (I'm in Tennessee, people are pretty conservative here too). PS for anything like this in the future . . . make them give you a second gown that you can wear like a cape, facing backwards. That will make sure you don't accidentally flash anyone.

A lot of hospitals won't let you leave in a cab. I like the idea of a neighbor or friend coming to pick you up. The hospital will like it too. The hospital will probably not like you leaving in an Uber -- they may not permit it -- but frankly they will likely never know if you don't tell them that's an Uber driver you paged and not the neighbor.

I would say fish out the meat and a bit of the beans and puree that with a tiny bit of the broth. Corn and tomatoes, even pureed, can be hard on the new stomach, plus they are high carb and low protein.

The sleeve is not going to stop you from making poor food choices. Yes, it is perfectly normal to gradually be able to eat more as time passes. Yes, it is perfectly normal to be able to tolerate junk food. Yes, it is perfectly normal to be able to eat tons of junky slider foods like popcorn and potato chips. They won't engage your restriction at all. Toss out the crappy foods and remove them from your menu entirely. They are not helping you. If you absolutely must have snacks, have lean, unprocessed meat or colorful veggies. If you think you are "hungry" but your brain is telling you that must have cookies rather than chicken breast or carrot sticks, you aren't really hungry, you are just having cravings. Wait until you are hungry enough for the diced chicken breast or some roast broccoli and have that for your snack. This is the time when you need to get tougher with yourself rather than softer. You can do this. Buckle down and work! By the way, you look fantastic . . . congratulations on your amazing success! Keep going!

I wasn't allowed raw veggies for six months post-op. Definitely check with your bariatric team for guidance.

In the universe in which I reside, it is impossible to get 30 grams of protein out of 15 grams of protein powder. Genepro makes claims that, to put it mildly, I do not understand given the laws of physics. I personally would not touch the stuff. But I know others who swear by great results.

Tylenol is what most surgeons will recommend, you may want to check with yours.

I agree with @Christinamo7. Obviously if we could have changed our bad habits pre-op, we most likely would have and none of us would have had surgery. You have to be willing to change, you have to want to change, you have to be willing to work at change. If you go in with the mindset of either "the sleeve will make me not want to eat fattening or junky food ever again" or "the sleeve will make it so that I can eat cookies and chips and milkshakes every day but I'll be happy with just a tiny bit and I'll be able to lose/maintain weight while eating cupcakes and Frappuccinos" -- neither one of those bodes well for your future IMO. If you are willing to work hard and change your habits, the sleeve will help you do that and enable you to have success.

Eat less in one sitting. You don't want to be full. You want to be satisfied.

Yes, it is normal to be exhausted for several weeks after surgery, not just a couple of days even. Be kind to yourself, nap when you need to and walk as much as you can.

It might be less tempting to think about if you called it what it is, self-sabotage, rather than "cheating." Cheating just sounds so cute and daring, right? But say to yourself, when do I get to self-sabotage? How often will I let myself self-sabotage? Will I self-sabotage for an entire day, or just for a meal? Etc. At least to me, it sounds a lot more serious and a lot less fun when I call it out by its true nature. Good luck!

I lived with my Bubba Keg at my side, filled with cold drinks, in the months right after my surgery. Only downside -- definitely not dishwasher safe. Wash by hand only. I would fill mine half with ice and half with ice water in the morning and in the evening there would still be tons of ice and the water icy cold, even in the heat of a Tennessee summer. Can't help with the straws -- I was given drinks with straws within a couple hours of surgery and was told it was okay to continue using them. After I got over being groggy from the anesthesia I quit using them, but just because I have never liked straws, not because drinking from them was giving me any problem.