Kindle

December 2013

@@TamaraRae @@jane13 is right. You shouldn't compare to others. But feel free to compare to me.....at that 6 week mark I was down 17 pounds. Next time I weighed at 10 weeks I was still down the same 17 pounds. Now check out my ticker....over 100% excess weight loss and holding strong for over a year and a half. That's why I say your rate of loss has nothing to do with long term success. The NSVs are way more fun to log than numbers anyways!

How many ounces are you getting in? Like others said, don't worry about eating at this point if it's too uncomfortable. My postop plan had me on full liquids for almost 3 weeks, so eating food wasn't even on my radar at 13 days out. It's easy enough to drink your Protein.

Don't know. I weighed the same as surgery day 11 days postop and I didn't step on the scale again until 6 weeks out. Weight loss the first few months doesn't really matter in the long run. There are plenty of more important things to concentrate on at that point.

I suggest trying them preop first. Isopure was the only thing that made me gag after surgery.....horrible aftertaste. Some people say they are better if you dilute them with water and/or drink them ice cold, but IMO Syntrax nectar tastes MUCH better. Unjury chicken broth is another good clear liquid and warm stuff went down better for me anyways.

I'm grabbing drinks at convenience stores all the time....Vitamin Water, Life water, Milk, Bai 5 and/or G2 are always available. In the grocery store I get any of the previous mentioned as well as premier protein, sweet leaf water drops, Arizona water enhancers, almond milk, coconut milk, decaf herbal tea and coconut water.

There's never been anything proven that prevents post WLS hairloss. It's either gonna happen or not, it's just how some people's bodies react to the stress of surgery and drastic diet change. As for Biotin, it may help with regrowth, but won't stop loss from happening. Some studies suggest adequate Protein can help minimize loss, but again, nothing proven for sure. As for me, I never lost a strand of hair. In fact, it's thicker and longer now than it's ever been. I also never took biotin or used any special hair products. I was meeting or exceeding protein and Fluid goals by day 5 and I really never stressed over surgery, the pre and postoperative diets, stalls, two months of diarrhea, hairloss, etc. I actually planned to shave my head and wear cool hats but never had to. Mental stress can be just as destructive as physical stress, so maybe all that protein and positive attitude contributed to my keeping all my hair. But maybe it had nothing to do with it. Good luck and just enjoy the journey, whatever it brings.

No

Yes, you will be able to eat a more at 1 year postop than you could at 1 month or 3 months. But your stomach can NEVER EVER stretch to the 8-10 cup size it was before surgery. It is impossible....unless your surgeon is incompetent and didn't remove all of the fundus. If you are regaining it is because of the food and beverage choices you are making. I could eat a whole bag of chips and a pint of ice cream and a whole pizza if I had all day to do it. That doesn't mean my sleeve stretched, it just means I'm making really crappy decisions. WLS is a gift and a chance for a "do over". It's a shame if you squander it on poor choices and try to blame your sleeve. If you don't change the behaviors that made you fat in the first place, you will end up fat again.

SOTFS until you are at least three months out. The scale numbers mean exactly jack shit at this point. The only numbers you need to be worrying about are grams of protein and ounces of water. And if you are getting enough of each, you likely will have no room for carbs anyways.

No special routine different from before surgery other than making sure I had a Protein shake, tea or other Fluid with me 24/7 to sip sip sip.... Get up, sip, feed the cats, sip, feed the dogs, sip, feed the horses, sip, take a shower, sip, get dressed, sip, plow the driveway, sip, run to the store to get more stuff to sip. sip, get a haircut, sip. I went back to work 1 week postop and again, same routine other than make a huge protein smoothie in the morning and sip it all day in between appointments. Come home from work, sip, feed the horses, sip, do laundry, sip, watch TV, sip, feed the dogs, sip, go to bed, sip, wake up to pee, sip.

A heck of a lot less than all the food I was stuffing down my face.

Ask your surgeon....there are many different protocols.

I, too, have had several surgeries....6 different surgeons in 5 different facilities....and have never once been given blood thinners postop. The only clot preventatives I ever received were compression stockings and orders to walk a lot.

That is exactly what my therapist said. I was so far gone anything she tried to do to help would not be very effective. The Wellbutrin basically got me up to the starting gate. As for those amped, jittery side effects, I definitely felt them for about the first 10 days. The biggest one was I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I felt like I couldn't breath for 5-10 minutes about 4 hours after I'd taken my dose in the morning. But I don't notice anything anymore. Kristen, my pcp mentioned the vit d and Iron, too. But I had just done my 2 year blood work and everything was perfect. We have since discovered I have low testosterone, so I'm hoping once I get that back in the normal range I can wean off the Wellbutrin. Wishing you all the best, @@OKCPirate

Me too. I actually never received (or thought I needed) therapy for my food/alcohol addictions. Successfully lost all my excess weight and was maintaining easily. I was a strong, confident, invincible woman! Then I lost my best friend to suicide. By refusing to drown my emotions with calories like I'd always done before, I sunk into a very deep depression because I never learned an alternative coping mechanism. I was actually FEELING my emotions for the first time and it sucked. So I started seeing a grief counselor. Like you, turns out its helping in all aspects of my life and wished I'd done it long ago. Maybe that would have helped me from getting so damn fat in the first place.

If you ask me, 1 psych evaluation isn't even close to what SHOULD be required for WLS. Post op therapy/counseling should be mandatory. Cause in the end, long term weight loss maintenance is 90% mental and maybe 10% physical. With very few exceptions of certain metabolic disorders, the folks that regain years after WLS do so because they never got to the bottom of why they got fat in the first place. And without knowing the why means you can't change it. Going back to old behaviors when life deals you shit is the #1 cause of regain. The sleeve/band/bypass doesn't fail, the patient fails because not enough attention gets paid to the psychological aspect of losing and maintaining weight.

I did 3 Protein shakes/day plus unlimited leafy greens. I lost 22 pounds in 16 days. But then I lost nothing the first couple weeks postop, so your body ends up sorting it all out in the end anyways..... Just PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE try and remember this is not a race. The rate at which you lose has absolutely nothing to do with your overall long term success. In fact, it is much healthier to lose slower. The only thing you need to do is follow doctor's orders, stick with the plan and toss the scale in the back of the closet if the numbers start dictating your mood and behaviors.

Not sure what I was getting in the day after surgery, but no one was concerned because I was so loaded with IV fluids at that point. I know it was day 5 before I was up to 60oz. But believe me, it took a conscious effort to sip all day long. I had a bottle by my bed that I started the moment I opened my eyes and didn't stop until I fell asleep each night. If I missed sipping for even one hour out of the day it was difficult to catch up. And if you are having a hard time, try different things. For me, I couldn't tolerate plain Water for about 4 months and warm stuff (broth and herbal tea) went down easier. Good luck!

As far as I'm concerned, this study left out the most important element to maintaining weight loss. Did any of the contestants receive any long term psychological counseling to address the reasons behind why they became obese in the first place? They were all extremely dedicated to the physical aspect of it, but did anyone put even half that much effort into the mental aspect? Because therein lies the secret to failure or success. Even if your metabolism is so efficient (efficient sounds better than slow) that your body only needs 500 calories to maintain healthy function, why do we feel the need to eat more? If people were wild animals, those that required less calories would thrive over those that required more. Pretty sure humans are the only species that develops life threatening health problems due to self induced obesity. (You can't count fat pets because that's the owner's fault) The rest of the animal kingdom eats what it needs to survive and never whines about not being able to eat pizza or drink beer with their friends. So IMHO Obesity really is a human psychological issue. But on a lighter note, this study confirms what I've known all along....exercise is bad for me

@@audaciousmarie and @@SkinnyDown I wish I could love your posts but there's only a like button.

The two biggest "stats" I noticed were 1) those that lost the most, the fastest had the biggest drop in their metabolisms (remember this, all you newbies that whine about being slow losers) and 2) the guy that had WLS not only relost weight, but his metabolism actually went up. I think this is good news to all of us lucky folks that had WLS. If you've ever noticed, WLS specialists, studies and organizations are often lumped together and labeled as "bariatric and metabolic surgery". Having surgery changes our metabolism in a way that was not discussed in this article. One example is the fact that so many diabetic patients get off their medications so quickly after surgery. Their insulin resistance/diabetes actually resolves long before they experience any significant weight loss. The surgery changes more than just restricting our capacity or creating malabsorption. We get extra benefits that traditional "diet and excercise" methods don't provide. I have no doubt that's part of the reason WLS patients are able to maintain their loss so much more successfully than those doing it the "old fashioned way". For some reason our metabolisms don't take as big of a hit.

1 egg omelet with bacon and cheese is my favorite breakfasts Quest bar or Natures Valley Protein Bar when I'm in a super rush Huevos rancheros sans tortilla..... Refried Beans, egg, cheese and green chilis. I make a crustless quiche out of eggs, unflavored Protein Powder, turkey, spinach, cheese and mushrooms. The protein powder kind of stiffens up the quiche so I can cut it into squares, freeze them, and then pop in the microwave for a quick, easy breakfast. I do the same with protein pancakes (just add extra eggs and unflavored protein powder to Kodiac Cakes mix)....make a big batch, freeze them and pop in the microwave for 30 seconds. Bobs Red Mill 10 grain hot Cereal two ways...."sweet" by adding vanilla protein powder and blueberries, or "savory" with unflavored protein powder, cheese and Hormel bacon pieces. Greek yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Cereal or All Bran cereal (gotta have my fiber!)

I guess I've got a below average capacity. At 8 weeks a could barely finish 2 tablespoons and then I'd be stuffed for 1/2 day. Even a piece of string cheese was two meals. Now I'm 28 months out and have been maintaining below goal for over a year and a half. If it's mostly liquid (like soup) I MIGHT be able to finish a whole cup of something. But anything with any density, I'm limited to about 1/2 cup. I get in what I need by eating 6-8 times/day. This has been my max capacity and hasn't really changed since about 14 months out. THANK GOODNESS! I'm a little confused.... Were your comments in response to my post? I assume so since it was quoted, but I am 28 months out, not 2 months. I can eat anything and everything with no problems, including steak, seafood, salads, and cheesecake No pain, no nausea, no GERD, no vomiting, etc. I can comfortably eat 4-8 oz at a time, depending on the density. I get at least 60-80g protein and 80-100oz fluids everyday and have since 5 days postop. Definitely no stricture, just great restriction.

My favorite bariatric "chips" are Health Wise Ranch Protein chips and Simply Protein Herb Chips. The Quest chips don't even compare. My favorite chocolates are Quest Double chocolate chip (warmed in the microwave 10-15 seconds) and Power Crunch chocolate mint (I keep them in the freezer and they taste like Girl Scout thin mints)