Fiddleman

That sounds incredibly scary what has happened to you coworker. You are doing all the right things by being the voice of rationale and reasoning for your friend. It really shows you care for her well being. Going to buffets is only asking for trouble, not only in terms of progress, but it can be downright dangerous if overheating too soon. This is not a medical fact, but is my opinion. I hope you are able to reason with your friend and that she will listen.

I lost a majority of my weight in the 1st 2 months, averaging between 2-4 lbs a day. I was also walking quite a bit and I think that helped. During the 3rd mon I have been hit by stall after stall. However, I am a man with a plan to ramp up the exercise! I have lost about 100 lb so far so it is time to kick my BMR in the rear and tell it to get moving.

Actually, that is funny you state that taste and smell diminish. I just posted a thread today asking others about the opposite. Different folks do certainly have different experiences. My sense of taste and smell has become so heightened post-op that I experience all the good and bad smells and tastes in a magnified fashion. I feel so much better not having a dull set of senses and makes me feel more alive every day.

Eating meatballs and pasta 2 weeks post-op sounds impossible. I was still trying to get my protein shakes down at that point. Of course, there are differences of opinion as you will read on this forum.

I ate Italian food during 2nd week post op if Olive Garden counts. Granted I had vegetable soup broth during liquids. Once I got to solid food (5 weeks), I was eating their chicken and sausage dishes. Only a few bites, mind you. My sleeve is a ninja warrior during eating solids for the most part. I only had trouble once when eating some fatty ham a week ago, but I learned my lesson. During this time, I have not eaten any noodles and probably will continue to abstain from noodles until reaching goal. Good luck!

A lot of people ask about coffee post-op and, as usual, there are many different answers depending on different doctors. My doctor, for example, said we never had to stop drinking coffee pre or post op with the exception of day before surgery. could someone give a sound medical reason why some doctors are telling their patients to abstain from coffee? I just don't get it other then coffee is a diuretic and may increase/decrease appetite. I have not been a coffee drinker since about 5 years ago (now 36), but so far coffee is a part of the day, that extra boost in the morning or just a comfort when it is cold outside,

Yup, get a blender bottle and try a different brand like syntax. They have a ton of favors under their nectar and matrix product lines. you may wish to go on my bariatric pantry website and order some sample packs. This will give you a chance to try several until you find a flavor that irks for you. I love the nectar sweets and matrix favors like chocolate truffle and cookies and crime, but I am not a fan of the fruity favors (I was pre-op!)

Have others realized heighten senses, especially related to taste and smell? It could be related to not eating sugar. My sense of smell is really alive post-op. for example, my wife made s one snicker doodle cookies last night ( for her of course). The smell of cinnamon and sugar was almost overwhelming all over the house ( 2500 square feet). It was really a heavenly experience. Everything tastes much better, especially savory foods like chicken tikka or masala. Food is so much more pleasurable then pre-op.

No problems with coffee here. After all, I live in Seattle - home of the latte. I started out by drinking single shot expresso a couple times a week. I am now also having cappuccino with Splenda once a week ( usually Saturday). Now I have about one coffee a day in the morning to help wake up.

1.5 a day is awesome! Do share your secrets if you can sustain this loss rate after 2 months. I starting hitting quite a few stalls in the last month. I am not certain, but I think it is because I hit my BMR boundary and need to push through it with some new exercise. I already eat low calories (between 700-900) and don't cheat, ever. Cheat may be too strong of a word, but I am trying to follow my NUT plan as much as possible.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that part of the hospital stay. My heart rate averaged around 40 bpm and at night it would drop to 35 or 30. I thought, wow my heart rate is getting low. The nurses had to reset the alarm threshold 5 times I think. The most annoying part was that the alarm would go off every 10 minutes at night and the nurses would stop coming in. I finally got the alarm silenced so I could get some sleep. Hand in hand, my o2 levels were also getting low at 75. Walking around the halls caused them to drop more. I finally got to go home after a week when the bpm and o2 levels stabilized. I did a ton of walking for the next 3 weeks, 3-5 times a day slowly improving my endurance. I think I felt myself again at about 1 month.

Congrats! I know how frustrating stalls can be.

You might try the Celebrate multivitamin capsules with iron (I got mine from Amazon). I was throwing up from taking the Bariatric Advantage tablets every day and switched to Celebrate. You should not take the entire daily recommendation (3 capsules) at once. You will be back to feeling sick. I spread them out to take at the typical meal times (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and deliberately add in 2 hours before taking calcium chews. The calcium will cancel out iron, so don't take them together. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I have read posts from a number of sleevers that run and would like to know: 1. At what bmi or weight ratio (current to start weight) is good to start running? 2. What progressive plan did you follow to basically go from no running to being able to compete in a 5k? I have run before, but is has been years since serious running. Also, I have a treadmill but do enjoy running outside also. The reasons for the questions is to prevent injury. I am currently 3 months out.

@pdxman: when did your hair start falling out? I am not losing any yet, but do feel like my hair is getting thinner. I am not sure how to measure it because I do not see any falling out. I am 10 weeks this week.

I like to have 3 oz of chicken sausage (costco, target, etc). It looks like a big hot dog, but is a flavored chicken (spinach, garlic, etc) with some cheese chunks inside. Usually this is about 150 calories.

It is kind of strange. I am at 3 months and have been around the same weight +- 2 lb for 2 weeks. How often do these stalls occur? It seems like i have 1 week of losing and 2-3 weeks of stall since about 7 weeks.

I am eating about 3 oz at a time of dense protein like chicken.

How about maximum strength tylenol? Seriously, the doctor should send you home with oxycodone or something similar.

I am wondering if the following is considered normal for most folks post-op? My internal temperature has been on the cold side lately where my hands and feet get really cold. To warm up, I have been drinking some hot sugar-free caramel apple cider. For every gulp, i feel it going down until it hits bottom at which point I get a huge burst of radiating heat. It goes pretty low, almost 2-3 inches below belly button ( perhaps this is bottom of stomach or intestines, don't know). Do others get this sudden burst of radiating heat? This didn't occur prior to surgery. I am currently 3 months post-op and about 100 lbs lost. This is not a huge concern, but is a weird sensation.

Actually you would be surprised at how popular the zoo-doo is as compost for the garden. i guess it is a win-win for both the zoo (inexpensive way to get rid of the animal crap, still some costs to turn it into compost) and the winner (each truck load costs $60, which is still cheap for me). It used to be free for people to come pick up until it got popular and the zoo realized they could make lemonade from lemons (sorry, I could not resist!)

Want to know a good, effective and free workout? Shovel manure compost for 1-2 hours. I did just that both yesterday and today. It turns out i won zoo-doo from the zoo in the weekly contest for Seattle. So I rented a trunk from u-haul and shoveled dung for an hour. Two tons worth! Note to self: get a f350 instead of a f150 for this type of load. Driving home was an experience hauling so much weight not to mention tires were wobbly and burning. Kind of reminded me of me running a mile at my heaviest. Shoveled it back out of the truck this morning. With that much work, it feels like I should be on a strongman show or something. Try it out sometime. I am sure it will break any stall...

@ chimera- a fellow Seattle resident! Usually we are gray in the skies, but not since beginning of July. We may never see rain again! I do know what you mean about the Celebrate capsule making you want to yak. Same thing here and I have spaced them out to take at 6am, 12pm and 6 pm. After taking one I get this strong nausea that lasts for about 5 minutes. Even the back of my tongue starts to feel thick and the gag reflex comes on. It is not right away about 5-10 minutes after taking.

Some say the hair loss slows down or stops near the 1 year mark.

That's not only awesome progress, but very motivational and inspirational too.