Bufflehead

I didn't weigh myself for the first four weeks. Weighing yourself a lot and comparing yourself to other people will rob you of the joy you deserve in this process IMO.

When I was 5-6 months out, my plan called for: 3 meals per day of no more than 3 ounces each, no snacks other than protein shakes None of the following: grains, starchy veg (potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, corn), refined sugar/sweets, alcohol No more than 850 calories per day, no more than 60 grams of carbs per day minimum 64 oz of fluids per day minimum 75 grams of protein per day Track all meals, snacks, vitamins & supplements on a logging program or app (I used myfitnesspal and still use it).

I started taking my liquid calcium a couple days after surgery. Never used the chews, too many calories and carbs for my plan

I kept under 60 grams of carbs per day (total carbs from any source, not net carbs) and a minimum of 75 grams of protein per day. Those were the rules from my dietician so I followed them.

Did your surgeon give you instructions about when to start with protein shakes? I started mine the day after surgery because my surgeon told me to. Every practice has different guidelines for post-op progression of eating and drinking - be sure to check on yours.

I did not have my gall bladder removed. My surgeon says, and I agree, that it's unwise to remove a healthy, functioning part of your body just because it might start malfunctioning in the future.

1) HOW DID YOU KEEP YOUR ENERGY LEVELS UP DURING YOUR RECOVERY TIME? You can't -- you'll be tired. You can work on gradually getting your energy levels back to normal by hitting your hydration and Protein goals, resting and napping when you are tired, and being active when you are awake and not so tired. 2) HOW MANY OZ OF Fluid IS RECOMMENDED TO DRINK POST OP TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION? Check with your team for their recommendation. My team has us at a minimum of 64 ounces per day. 3) STAYING HYDRATED THE FOLLOWING WEEKS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CALORIES, WITH THAT BEING SAID---WHICH FLUIDS HELPED YOU OUT? PEDIALYTE? GATORADE? All fluids count towards your hydration. I drank a lot of G2 (Gatorade has too many calories and carbs), Powerade Zero, broth, Protein shakes, V8, and diluted/light fruit juice. 4) HOW DID YOU FIGHT/GET OVER YOUR NAUSEA BOUTS? I didn't have any nausea. Not everyone does. 5) CAN YOU WALK AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME (IN MODERATION OF COURSE) AFTER SURGERY? I was up and walking 90 minutes after surgery. Spent two days in the hospital and when I came home I was doing slow walks around the neighborhood, very short distances at first. Everyone is different in their recovery. A very friendly tip -- when you use ALL CAPS in online conversations, many people regard that as SHOUTING and find it off-putting.

I don't have children but I do have three cats and a big dog. I was on my own after surgery without any problems. I didn't need any help at home other than someone to change the kitty litter, due to the lifting restriction. My dog was very happy since she got to go for at least three walks each day, even though they were short. If your dogs are big and tend to jump up I would start training them out of that habit now, as taking a big paw to the stomach could be painful! You don't want to be lifting heavy bags of dog food so make sure those are positioned where you won't need to move them -- or make sure that your children are up to the task of taking care of the dog food for a couple of days. I did not need any help getting in or out of bed. If I had a recliner, I probably would have slept in it but I didn't need one. I was pretty tired but managed to take care of everything just fine. Depending on how old and how self-reliant your children are, they may need a little coaching to take care of some of their own needs for a few days I guess.

I know this sounds creepy and weird but the best advice I got for dealing with this issue -- and believe me, I have it -- is to spend a couple of minutes each day looking at yourself completely naked in a full length mirror. You will get more comfortable with your body and more understanding of what size you really are. I do still deal with feeling HUGE and DISGUSTING occasionally -- which I never really did pre-op, when I really should have, at least from a health standpoint -- but the mirror helps a lot. It's uncomfortable at first though!

If you haven't yet, check out the Mexico/Self Pay forum here to read about people's experiences, the different surgeons, etc.

I'm going to work late that night so I won't be home to give out candy. Since I won't be giving out candy, I won't need to buy candy and bring it into my house. Problem solved.

Yes they will do your surgery. You'll need to let the admitting nurse know so that she (or he) can note it in your records and they can provide you with hospital-approved supplies. But they do it all the time, every single day in every hospital and it isn't a big deal.

So last week I found out that the Special K Protein bars are pretty tasty. They contain about 8g of protein in each bar. I've had strawberry, chocolate Peanut Butter and chocolate caramel. That's a really small amount of protein for 170 calories and 25 carbs IMO. I guess it depends on what your plan calls for but personally I would not touch with those with a 12 foot pole. I haven't tried any real Protein powder yet. To be honest I'm a little afraid because I'm worried it will taste very chalky and have that definite taste of protein powder. Does anyone have any suggestions on which brands are best? I'm looking for something simple I can throw in a shaker and mix with fat free milk when I'm on the go. You can get samples here: http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html and here: http://www.jayrobb.com/protein/whey-protein-samples.asp and from unjury, just Google Unjury Starter Kit. My favorite brands/flavors are Chike (especially the iced coffee), Unjury chocolate splendor, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, Jay Robb whey Isolate, Syntrax Matrix, and Syntrax nectar Sweets. If you do decide to experiment with powders, make sure that you sample something after surgery before you decide to buy a whole tub or bag. What you like or even tolerate before surgery may very well change after surgery. Has anyone tried the Isopure drinks? I'm very interested In those because they have 40g of protein. How do they taste? Isopuke is a love it or hate it kind of thing. I guess you can tell I'm in the "hate it" camp. That said, I drank a lot of it in the first several weeks after surgery. At that point it wasn't about whether I liked something, it was about whether I could choke it down and if it helped me meet my nutritional goals. Isopuke is good for nutritional goals. To me it has a really strong taste and a weird, slimy and yet dusty texture. I had to mix it 50/50 with G2 or Powerade Zero to choke it down. Some people love it though! I'm also struggling with Breakfast. I'm always in a rush in the mornings to get out the door. I now know I can grab a protein milk, but what have you all found is easy and very quick in the mornings that has a good amount of protein? Meat! I usually have sirloin romaine wraps for breakfast. I buy the precooked sirloin from Trader Joe's, heat up a couple ounces in the microwave, and then wrap it up in a romaine leaf with some mustard and sugar free pickle relish. Tuna salad is good too. Or you can keep hard boiled eggs on hand. Since I know I will be losing weight rapidly, I've thought about going to thrift stores to find some clothing in a variety of sizes to prepare myself. I guess there's no real point in buying anything brand new right after surgery because I won't be able to wear it too long. Has anyone else done this? I get almost all my clothes from thrift stores and EBay. No point in buying in advance, though, since you don't know how fast you will lose or which parts of your body will shrink faster than others. Will I need a liquid multi-Vitamin or will the gummy kind be ok even while on the liquid diet? I suppose I will just crush my other medications and eat them in applesauce? You should get specific guidance from your surgeon and pharmacist with respect to medications. My surgeon has us swallowing small pills immediately. If the pill is too big, then we get some sort of alternative such as liquid meds. No applesauce of any kind is allowed (too many carbs, not enough protein). Many meds cannot be crushed at all without ruining their effectiveness, so be sure to go over each medication in detail with the professionals. My surgeon doesn't allow gummies -- chewables and liquids only. I was on liquid Multivitamin, as well as Iron and Calcium, for the first four weeks after surgery. After that I switched to chewable multi's and iron tablets, but I stayed with the liquid calcium since that seems to be the best option for me.

Acid reducers are great, but for most people what works best with nighttime acid reflux is to absolutely stop eating anything or drinking anything other than water three hours before bedtime. You may want to try some vigilance there and see if it works for you. It does for me!

You are doing great. Lack of restriction with liquids is very normal. Liquids go right through your pyloric valve. Some people struggle to get liquids in at first, but that's because their stomachs are so swollen and bruised. If you are not having that problem, congrats -- you have a skilled surgeon who did meticulous work and you have a body that heals well You will feel restriction when you move on to solid foods, I promise! Keep following your plan with respect to how much to eat/drink and how fast. You will have lots of success.

That's pretty similar to the plan I had. Not all surgeons subscribe to the idea that liquids have special properties before surgery. I was pretty happy about that -- four weeks of liquids after surgery was more than enough!

You are right, grazing is bad. You really want to confine yourself to set meal and snack times. However, if you are going to graze, put down the nuts! They are extremely high calorie and will NOT help your weight loss. If you are absolutely incapable of sticking to set meal and snack times, you should limit your grazing to green veggies only IMO. You can't do that much damage with a big plate of broccoli in front of you.

I ate tons of fish on the puree stage. Tuna, salmon, halibut, mackerel, shrimp, etc. For me the key was to puree it with a sauce or dressing that went well with the fish. Tuna pureed with sriracha mayo, salmon pureed with remoulade, mackerel pureed with curry sauce, shrimp pureed with cocktail sauce, stuff like that. You should try whatever appeals to you

@@iamblessed1225 I like roasted seaweed as a snack. Very low calorie. I also like making turkey pepperoni crisps: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pepperoni-crisps/ microwave version: http://www.mamalovesfood.com/2012/09/cripsy-pepperoni-chips.html I find the microwave version works best if you line the plate with parchment paper. You can also make cheese crisps (watch the calories on those though!): http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cheese-Chips

My dietician has us count all fluids, including caffeinated ones ("caffeine will dehydrate you" is a myth and there are plenty of published scientific articles to prove it).

I keep almonds in my kitchen safe. I have the safe set to unlock in the morning (when I am less likely to have cravings). When the safe opens in the morning, I take the almonds out, portion out maybe a half ounce, then put the remaining almonds back in the safe and lock it again until the next morning. I don't usually actually eat the nuts I portioned out until the evening though. That's the only way I can have nuts in the house. http://www.thekitchensafe.com/

I have tried both xanthan and guar gum and they work really well. Best of all is using both! Another good trick for thickening is to use fat free, sugar free pudding mix.

Feeling weak, tired, and light headed for weeks after surgery is completely normal. But check with your doctor if you are concerned.

I have mine set to: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, Vitamins/Supplements. I log water as a snack.

In my opinion, 600 calories a day is crazy as far out as you are, especially with all of your exercising. Would you be willing to give yourself permission to eat 1000 calories per day, as long as the extra calories come from high protein foods and low carb veggies and fruits? I make no promises, but I will tell you I have found that I lose best when I am eating between 1000 and 1100 calories per day, as long as I stay low carb. I really think that trying to stay under 600 calories per day might be what is driving you to eat 300-400 calories worth of crap. I am so, so sorry about what you have been going through. You are an amazingly strong person to be dealing with sexual assault and losing your job! I think 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers might be helpful. It gives you behaviors and strategies to use instead of eating to comfort yourself.