Bufflehead

No, I order from the appetizer menu or take home leftovers. Not interested in discussing my medical history with complete strangers.

Also cookies, cake, candy, crackers, chocolate. Lots of foods that start with c! Not immediately after surgery, but eventually you can eat large quantities of these food without feeling much restriction at all.

It could be orthostatic hypotension. This is tough to diagnose because your blood pressure only goes below normal right when you stand up -- or when you sit up from lying down. Otherwise, your blood pressure looks normal and most people aren't taking their blood pressure at the exact instant when they are in the process of standing up! Try pumping your legs like you are riding a bicycle for 30 seconds before standing up. If it is orthostatic hypotension -- which is very common for the first several months after wls -- that should help a lot. Good luck!

I used an app called Eat Slower to help me learn to eat at a more moderate pace. You can set the interval between bites as you choose and even choose the sound you like to chime when it is time to take a bite (including an oinking pig if that amuses you).

If your dietitian says to avoid starchy foods, then avoid starchy foods. Your dietitian isn't just "one person" that you should decide to disregard, your dietitian is a crucial member of the team you should be trusting to lead you to weight loss and health. Why would you throw away your dietitian's advice in order to follow the advice of random internet strangers? Also, IMO being "bored" with food shouldn't be much of a consideration right now. You should be eating for health and weight loss, not entertainment. It is okay to not be entertained by your food. If you need to switch it up, are there high-protein, low carb options you can look at, like tuna or salmon salad, chicken breast with green veggies, turkey sausage or bacon? Cottage cheese? Ricotta bake? It might help to go away from traditional "breakfast" type foods if you want more options. Good luck!

You need to follow the plan that your team gave you. If you want to eat off plan, call them up and ask for advice/permission.

Protein powder and some sort of liquid (water, low carb milk such as Fair Life or CarbMaster, unsweetened almond or cashew milk -- whatever works for you). Did you not get any instructions from your bariatric team?

I was sore and tired. It was a little difficult to get comfortable in bed -- a body pillow or sleeping in a recliner can be helpful. I also continued taking pain meds at night for the first week, that helped a lot. I was moving slowly but didn't have any real mobility issues. I needed someone to change the kitty litter for me due to lifting restrictions but otherwise did not need any assistance (I live alone). I never had any nausea. I just worked hard on getting all my fluids and protein in and went for regular short walks.

I would have the sleeve at least a couple of times each year if I needed to (in an imaginary universe where that is possible). I haven't thrown up once since surgery. It's good that you know it is going to be hard. Too many people walk into this thinking the sleeve will do all the work for them. The sleeve will enable you to do the hard work, but it'll still be work! The way I saw it described once was, imagine you have no shelter and want to build a house. You have three options. First, don't try to build a house and just sleep outside in the wind and rain (equivalent: don't bother trying to lose weight and just suffer the consequences). Second, build a house but choose a popsicle stick as your tool of choice for driving nails and an emery board to use in cutting lumber (diet and exercise). Third, get yourself a hammer and a power table saw (surgery). You are going to still be the one swinging the hammer and working hard to build the house, but now you have appropriate tools and it is possible. My recovery was easy as surgical recoveries go. I never regretted it, even for an instant. This was hands down the best choice I have made for my physical and emotional health in my entire life. I am down approximately 200 lbs and my life is immeasurably better. Good luck to you!

Syntrax Nectar definitely has better numbers than the others. I like the taste of Chike the best though. When I make a coffee protein shake, I also add a couple teaspoons of instant coffee to it to bump up the coffee flavor.

refried beans tofu meat or fish pureed with a small amount of flavorful sauce or dressing and heated up a bit.

I allow myself one small piece of fruit per day in weight loss mode. Otherwise, the sugar, calories, and carbs just add up too quickly. They may be natural but that doesn't mean they won't hinder your weight loss just like any other calories. ETA: I should note that the fruit varies but I don't eat tropical fruit when trying to lose weight. It is even more caloric and sugary than most fruit. So, I stay away from bananas, mangoes, pineapple.

I still have a very rumbly stomach, 3+ years post op. I did at one point have issues with passing gas which is something I never had a problem with in my entire life before surgery! It went away when I got off the PPI's.

I had to lose about a third of my body weight before people started commenting. I had to get a new driver's license recently because my old one expired, and the lady taking my picture commented and complimented me. Before then, I did get extra scrutiny a couple of times at the airport and so on, TSA people who needed to be convinced I am the same person as I was in the picture, but it wasn't too much of a hassle, so I didn't bother getting a new one just because of the picture.

acid reflux -- are you on a PPI? If not, you probably need one. If you are, you may need a different PPI or to adjust the dosage. Definitely check in with your doctor. Don't eat within a couple of hours of going to bed, that should help a lot. Good luck!

Yes, it is perfectly normal to be exhausted for several weeks after major surgery. Be gentle with yourself.

Drink A LOT today and eat high fiber. That will help you clear the barium out and feel better.

With respect to item no. 1, you are traveling to areas that tend to eat carb-heavy cuisines (rice and noodles in Japan, rice, lentils, beans in south Asia, rice, corn and beans in Mexico). So, I think you'll have to be committed to avoiding those foods to a great extent and working at getting lots of meat and green veggies. You can get those things anywhere, but you may have to look harder and work harder to get what you need. Are you willing to do that? If so, go for it! You do not need a bunch of frankenfood protein powders and protein bars and special artificially flavored popsicles and cashew milk and whatever. You just need meat and green veggies and to not fall into the easy trap of eating the big scoop of rice that may start appearing whenever you eat out. As far as exercise goes, people in India and Japan and Mexico probably get more exercise than your typical "first worlder"(assuming you are American, Western European, etc, your profile doesn't say). Commit to doing a lot of walking. Figure out how people where you are get exercise and do it. If it doesn't happen, that's not ideal, but exercise really has a minimal impact on weight loss. You can tone up when you get done with your travels (exercise is not going to have an impact on whether or not you end up with loose skin, so if you are worrying about that, put it aside). People notice what we eat a lot less than we think they do. People will be paying attention to their own food, not yours. Certainly don't let potential judgments from other people stop you from doing what you've wanted to do for a long time. Anyone who is rude enough to make a comment on someone else's eating habits is just a jerk, and you can't let jerks control your life.

My bariatric team does not allow soup because of the "no eating and drinking at the same time" rule. Drain the chicken from the soup, drink the broth first, then eat the chicken.

You really can't know exactly how your body is going to react to all of this. A lot depends on your age, your metabolism (not everyone is the same), your body composition, and your final maintenance weight. I maintain nicely in the 1600 calorie range without much exercise. I know other people my same weight who need to eat 1800 or more calories to maintain rather than lose, and still other people who need to stay below 1200. You can't predict, so there isn't much use worrying about it now. As far as not eating a VLCD for extended periods of time, most medical people agree now that for morbidly obese people, that is perfectly safe from a health stand point as long as you are sure to get your nutrients in. I did it for almost 2 years post op and never had any problems and once I recovered from surgery, always felt great and energetic.

I used to dread going out because I worried about fitting in booths or in those tiny plastic patio chairs. Now I am so much more confident and actually look forward to going out! Also, I don't need to shovel a six course meal into my face to enjoy myself anymore

@@higher yes it does, or you can exercise more, or choose to lose slower and eat at a 500 calorie deficit instead of a 1000 calorie deficit. And all of these are just starting points -- they generally work, but you need to play around and see exactly how they work in your body. For example, I should maintain at about 1450 calories by these guidelines, but I actually maintain at more like 1600-1700 calories. But I know other people who weigh the same as me but need to eat more like 1200 or they start gaining.

Barring some sort of horrific complication, you'll be absolutely fine by the cruise. You'll enjoy both the cruise and the reunion more as a lighter weight person IMO.

I prefer the five day meat test. Eat all meat and animal products for five days, no processed meats though. If you want to feel restriction and really cut back on your caloric intake, the five day meat test is the way to go. Alternately, restrict yourself to meat and green veggies only, to add a little fiber in.

Thanks for your response! At this point, 2 years out...I am not even sure what my caloric intake should be and how it should be broken out in terms of how much Protein to consume etc...any advice on this? As others have said, you would definitely want to check in with your dietitian. But until then, here are some good starting points/rules of thumb: To maintain your weight, you eat your weight x 10 calories. So if you are at 225 right now, that would put you at about 2250 calories per day. To lose 2 lbs per week, you want to be at a 1,000 calorie deficit daily, i.e., eating 1,000 calories less than your maintenance calories. So a starting point for you would be 1250 calories per day to lose 2 lbs per week. To lose 1 lb per week, 1750 calories should do it. Again, these are all estimates -- you would want to test them out and see how they work for you. When I am in weight loss mode, I typically set my macros on myfitnesspal at 35% protein, 35% fat, and 30% carbs. Again, that is something you can play around with -- but in weight loss mode and eating that many calories, I would say for sure aim for a minimum of 100 grams of protein per day. Good luck!