Bufflehead

I'm almost 2 years out and I still couldn't eat 5 oz. of chicken. Please be careful.

--there is no average, there's only what's right for you. As long as you are following your plan faithfully, don't worry about how fast you are losing or how fast other people are losing. I think you are doing great. --you have hit the "three week stall." Not everyone hits it, but close. Yes, your weight loss will pick up again as long as you are following a good program and not doing something like making your protein shakes with peanut butter and ice cream. --what are you eating? How much you can eat will vary depending on what you are eating. I am concerned that you are eating "way more" than four ounces of anything, though. Are you supposed to be eating that much? That's a bit different from most typical post-op plans that I have seen. Drinking more than four ounces, yes, eating more, that seems weird, unless you are eating high-carb slider foods like oatmeal or mashed potatoes.

Ketosis can definitely cause weird tastes in your mouth. Usually they are described as metallic rather than sour, but I have seen some people say sour taste for ketosis as well. Either way if it's an issue that goes unresolved after a few days, I think it's best to check in with a doctor.

A sour taste might also be ketosis? Definitely check in with your health care team though. If it is reflux, they can usually adjust your meds to take care of it.

I think it's more likely that she was talking percentage of excess weight lost. So, if at goal you would have lost 150 lbs, then they would want you to have lost 30 lbs by 3 weeks out. That said, I personally think that is an insanely unrealistic goal and I have no idea where they got it from. I think it;s crazy to have any sort of goal or expectation for weight lost at three weeks out! 25 lbs in two weeks is one of the highest numbers I've ever seen here. I don't often tell people to disregard what their medical providers are telling them but your NP sounds like a bitch and a loon to me.

As others have said, yes, it is absolutely possible not to lose all the weight, and to re-gain, if you aren't willing or able to commit to the post-op eating plan. That said, the vast majority of people find it much easier to comply with a strict diet after surgery than they did before -- that's one of the big reasons that weight loss statistics are so much more impressive for surgery than they are for any other option or method. Since you have Barrett's Esophagus, it seems like bypass would be a good option for you, as it can resolve acid reflux for many people. Or so I have heard,, I am not a medical professional! But you have "Gastric Sleeve" listed on your profile for your surgery and you are posting in the gastric sleeve forum, is that a mistake? Gastric sleeve isn't usually an option for people with Barrett's since it can often make reflux worse. I'm not trying to be unwelcoming, I'm just hoping you are where you want to be on this forum

I don't eat bread at all, and grains only on rare occasions, so it's hard for me to talk about hamburgers or burritos! I could eat a small hamburger patty (3 to 3.5 ounces) plus maybe an ounce or two of veggies. French fries are a slider food so I wouldn't go there but I bet I could eat a lot of them. My typical meal is 2.5-3 ounces of protein (maybe a little more depending on the kind of protein -- I can eat more soft fish and eggs than I can chicken breast or steak) plus a couple ounces of green veggies. This usually comes out to about a cup of food, maybe a cup and a half depending on the veggie involved. This usually leaves me quite full and not wanting anything more.

Another thing that gets tossed around a lot but is actually without any modern scientific evidence: coffee will dehydrate you. Actual scientific, published studies show that coffee will *not* dehydrate you and its diuretic effect is about on par with water. No one is suggesting we stop drinking water because it will dehydrate us. http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory Also, coffee (particularly black coffee) is just plain good for you: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/more-consensus-on-coffees-benefits-than-you-might-think.html?abt=0002&abg=0

There is no normal when it comes to weight loss post surgery. It's only what is optimal for you. I can tell you that you lost more weight than I did in the first month and I did just fine. A week and a half without losing weight is par for the course and not anything to worry about. Focus on your protein and fluid goals. If you are unsure about how much you are eating or whether you are meeting your goals, it's not a bad idea to track, even if just temporarily, using a program like Myfitnesspal. I will say I think it is a terrible idea to go rogue on your plan and start snacking when you were explicitly told not to by your team. "I started snacking" or "I started grazing" are words I usually see when the post is headlined something like "Help, I've regained 50 lbs and need to get back on track!" -- please, please, don't be one of those people if you can help it. If you are struggling between meals, drink more water and tell yourself, "it's only two hours until I can eat again, I am not going to starve to death in the meantime. Hunger is unpleasant but it isn't an emergency." And if you still can't do it, check in with your team for help. You may need to be on a PPI, or on a different, stronger PPI if you are already on one. Acid and thirst can both masquerade as hunger. I'll bet if you track your intake, meet your fluid and protein goals, don't snack, and stay off the scale for two weeks, you'll see loss when you get back on the scale. Sometimes the easiest way to drive yourself nuts is to weigh every day and expect that you will lose multiple pounds every day. But the truth is, for most of us, if we plotted our weight loss on a graph, it would look like a crazy staircase going down rather than a smooth, even, downhill slope.

--how long has it been since you have lost weight? --when was your surgery? --how many calories per day are you eating? --are you hitting your daily protein and fluid goals?

I didn't have much luck with a blender bottle. Things didn't mix perfectly and they seemed to put a lot of foam and air into the shake, which I really couldn't tolerate. I ended up going with an immersion blender, which I love. That said, I know lots of people who swear by their blender bottles. Here's the one I picked: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-75BC-2-Speed-Immersion-Blender/dp/B00ARQVM5O/ It comes in a ton of different colors and is super easy to assemble, use, and clean.

For immediately post-op, the best piece of advice I got was be upright (sitting or standing) and move as much as possible. When they move you into your regular hospital room after the recovery ward, do not let them put you into your bed! Instead, sit upright in the loveseat, easy chair, rocker, whatever they have for you in your room. That makes it easier to get up and down for your walking and trips to the bathroom (unless you have a a catheter you will be making plenty of trips to the bathroom). When you are sitting in your room, you can gently rock your upper body back and forth with your arms crossed over your torso. Sitting, standing, walking, and rocking help get rid of the post-surgical gas and will make you much more comfortable. Lying around in bed will not help you. Don't even get into bed unless you are going to nap or sleep. Don't overpack for the hospital. It's surgery, not a cruise. The hospital will have virtually everything you need. Apps: Myfitnesspal (though I mostly use the website rather than the app) and Eat Slower. If you find yourself thinking, after three weeks on liquids, or only being able to eat yogurt, or whatever, "I'm bored with this food" -- remember that food is NOT entertainment. Find something else to entertain you and resign yourself to being bored with your food, at least for the immediate future. It isn't the end of the world. Do whatever you can to not compare yourself to other people. Don't weigh yourself every day if it is going to drive you crazy. It doesn't matter if other people are losing 40 lbs a month (they aren't), are told by their doctor to start eating solid foods 5 days after surgery, have to limit themselves to 8 grams of carbs per day, or are running marathons 6 weeks after surgery. What everyone else is doing and what their results are should be irrelevant to you if you trust your surgeon and his team and are faithfully following the program they laid out for you.

Myfitnesspal has a blogging function and some blogs there do get a lot of feedback. I think it helps if you have lots of friends there, in order to get feedback. You can also just use their status update function as a place to write your thoughts down and get feedback -- again, it works better if you have lots of friends. Make sure your friends are WLS people themselves, though, as many people at MFP are anti-WLS and will not give you the kind of feedback you are looking for!

I think your answer lies in the title of your post. Relax, step away from the scale, keep following your program faithfully, and resolve not to drive yourself crazy. You are doing fine.

You can't harm your sleeve with liquids. They will go through the pyloric valve. Take it slow and steady and you will be fine.

It's pretty hard to find any protein powder that is over 30 grams per serving, organic or not -- unless the serving size is huge, and the accompanying calories as well. It's probably better to look at the ratio of calories per gram of protein than "per serving." which really could mean anything. Tera's Whey has a pretty good ratio at 5.5 calories per gram of protein, but I have to say, I tried and thought it was the worst tasting protein I have ever tried. Like dirty dishwater. Some people like it though. Now Foods is lower calorie (unflavored) -- I haven't tried it, but it gets good reviews on Amazon. Good luck!

--Greek yogurt --scrambled or poached eggs --milk --kefir --cottage cheese --pureed meat (puree with broth or a flavorful sauce to make it tasty, heat it up a little and melt some cheese on top). --refried Beans I don't know if you can meet your goal but you should be able to get close if you focus on high Protein foods and don't waste valuable stomach space on grains or other high-carb foods like fruit or potatoes. On purees, I was allowed high protein food only. Everything had to be pureed in a food processor except yogurt, cottage cheese, poached or scrambled eggs, and refried beans. Every plan seems to vary though! --edited for spelling

You won't feel a real sense of fullness until you switch to solid foods. Then and now, you should plan how much you are going to eat and stop when you get there -- or before if you start to feel full, uncomfortable, or like you just don't want to eat anymore. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, "full" can be an emotional feeling as much as a physical one. Also, if you get to the point where there is so much food crammed into your tiny sleeved stomach that your vagus nerve is irritated (it runs along the top of your stomach), you can experience things like sneezing, a runny nose, or the hiccups. If you get those symptoms, it means you ate too much and you should be careful to eat slower and eat less the next time. Good luck!

Honestly I think it's hard to ask other people to keep your secrets. When I told people in my family about my surgery, I told them I wasn't asking them to keep anything secret but could they please not discuss it on Facebook, and they respected that, thank goodness! I know I would have been angry and hurt if I were in your shoes, but at least now you know for sure not to trust them with anything you want kept confidential.

Your stomach is still healing after surgery. Your nerves can't properly relay signals involving fullness, pain, etc. to your brain at this point. Over-eating might not result in pain or a full feeling but it could damage your stomach. DId your surgeon give you guidelines about how much to eat, presumably less than 3 ounces? If so, you definitely want to follow those guidelines. I was on full liquids at 19 days, not allowed to eat anything -- and when I was allowed to move to purees such as cottage cheese at four weeks, not permitted more than 3 T. per meal, total. Anyway, most cottage cheese is 8 ounces per cup anyway, so if you ate 3/4 cup, that would be 6 ounces rather than 10 I believe.

For the first four weeks I took a double dose of Wellesse liquid multi-vitamin and of Wellesse liquid calcium. After four weeks I switched to Trader Joe's chewable high potency multi-vitamin (double dose). I stayed with this program until six months out, then switched my calcium to Citracal Petites (or generic equivalent), At a year out I changed my multi-vitamin to a single dose rather than a double dose. I also continued with separate supplements of folic acid, B12, iron, and D3, just like I had before surgery. All of these options are cheaper, lower calorie, and lower carb than the specialty bariatric products such as Bariatric Advantage. And my labs have always been great.

I would stick with tuna packets, hard boiled eggs, cheese sticks, and chunks of chicken breast as snacks. Protein bars are way too high calorie and high carb for the amount of protein you get, and most of them are "slider" foods -- won't satisfy you, and may trigger cravings for other high-carb, high calorie snacks.

Put it in a food processor with some broth or sauce. Does your dietician really mean NO carbs or fat? Because that's not healthy IMO, or really even possible unless the only thing you are ever going to eat is extremely lean meat. Even that will have some fat in it.

No, as long as you are following your program faithfully, don't worry. Maybe step away from the scale if it is going to drive you crazy. It is perfectly normal to have a week or two without weight loss. It will pick up again as long as you aren't making your protein shakes with bananas, peanut butter, and ice cream. Have faith

I can only have the things like mints if they are sugar free. My dietician encourages berries once patients are cleared for all foods because they are high fiber and low carb (for fruit). Seeds are not an issue after your stomach is healed.