Kindle

Everyone is different in what they want to share and with whom, but for me I just kept it simple. When someone asks how I lost weight I respond that I had surgery. What follows is usually a brief conversation about what kind of surgery (most people only know about bypass and lapband), my experience of having surgery in Mexico and a little about the kind of food I eat (high protein/low carb). They say congratulation, I say thanks and then we move on to more interesting subjects. In the end I feel better about not having to hide anything and hundreds of people (literally) are a little better educated about obesity and WLS. Win-Win.

Neither I, nor my surgeon set any "deadlines" for my weight loss. He simply provided a general outline of a healthy diet and exercise plan and I made adjustments along the way to fit my lifestyle. The result was a stress-free, fun journey of losing over 100% of my excess weight at my own pace and on my own terms. I think focussing on the scale numbers and feeding patients a bunch of statistics is just a good way to set them up for failure. If you don't meet those expectations, you tend to get frustrated, feel bad about yourself and lose motivation. Counterproductive to say the least.

I keep a water bottle next to me everywhere I go. In fact, I panic if I realize it's not there and immediately stop in the nearest store to pick up something to drink. Whether it's decaf coffee, powerade, bai water, vitamin water, protein smoothie, plain water or herbal tea, I am drinking all day. Yesterday I got in at least 85oz, not counting the French onion soup I had for dinner. Had over 100oz the day before while out horseback riding. I now fill my My saddle bags with water instead of beer.

I went back to an active, physical job 7 days postop. I work 10 hour days. On my feet all day, lifting, bending, squatting, kneeling. I was on liquids for 18 days postop, then pureed then soft foods until 6 weeks postop. I also don't take a lunch break, so I just made sure I had plenty of Protein smoothies, string cheese, Quest bars, Greek yogurt, etc. to snack on in between appointments. Adding fruit to my protein smoothies helped with my energy level. I was definitely wiped when I'd get home, but had no problems working my regular shifts. I did have a 20 pound lifting restriction for 3 weeks that I had to work around, but then was back to lifting the normal 40-60 pounds. In fact, my work partner had a hysterectomy a month after my VSG and she had an 8 pound lifting restriction so I was pulling double duty for all the heavy physical stuff starting 4 weeks postop. And besides work, I was able to feed and care for 4 dogs, 3 cats and 2 horses without any help.

I tried to take the survey but it froze up at the 4th question. I went back and re-answered all the questions and it froze again at the 6th question. Sorry, not gonna go back for a 3rd time.

I never cared that much about the numbers on the scale...hell, I don't even own a scale. If you spend a little time on here, you will read dozens of posts about people making themselves miserable over those stupid numbers. Those threads get real old and I feel sorry for the posters. People obsess over the scale and forget to enjoy the NSVs. You will be a lot more successful, and happier, if you realize WLS is forever. It's not a race to see who "wins" So since I never weighed that often, I have no idea what I lost in the first month. But at 11 days I weighed the same as surgery day and at 7 weeks I was down 17 pounds. I couldn't have been happier!

I was allowed "normal" food around 6 weeks post. But I had varying degrees of tolerance to certain foods for 6-8 months. Eventually, however, I've been able to eat anything I want. Including pizza, Chinese food, fried chicken, desserts and everything else I enjoyed before surgery.

Yes, that all happened over a year ago. Turns out I had a C. diff infection from antibiotics taken for a dental procedure. NOT fun at the time and Ended up getting a fecal transplant to cure, but I've been AOK ever since! As for the Crystal Light, I couldn't tolerate artificial sweeteners for about 4 months postop..... caused severe pain. So that's why I was drinking diluted regular sports drinks and pedialyte. I also drank a LOT of decaf herbal teas....camomille was especially soothing to my tummy at bedtime. Hope you feel better soon!

I became severely dehydrated from diarrhea almost 2 months postop. I had to get IV fluids 3 different times. The worst one was when I barely made it to urgent care without passing out. Resting HR was over 100 and BP was 89 over 50. I had to beg them not to admit me to the hospital after it took them 4 tries to get in a catheter. 4 liters later I finally peed and then went home and sipped on pedialyte the rest of the night. I had always gotten 64oz+ of fluids every day since surgery but just couldn't keep up with the extra losses from the diarrhea. And it took less than 24 hours to go from fine to really bad. So yes, dehydration can cause all those symptoms you are describing and can sneak up on you. Loading up on extra fluids certainly won't hurt anything. The 26oz you've had is less than 1/2 of what you should be getting every day. And try to get in pedialyte, Gatorade or other sports drink to make sure your electrolytes are at a decent level, too.

So that means they are like chickpeas, black beans, edamame, pinto beans, and lentils. All very nutritious choices and I was eating them two months before I started eating nuts! And yeah, like Elode said, boiled peanuts are loaded with salt. But contrary to popular belief, salt does not affect weight loss other than water weight. Of course You need to be careful with salt if you have certain medical conditions.

Syntax nectar is like koolaid...comes in grape, cherry. Lemonade, iced tea, peach, orange and apple flavors (probably even more). And all very yummy. There are also several other Protein powder options out there besides chocolate.....cake batter, vanilla, banana, piña colada, cupcake, coffee, etc. You can add various Torani or Davinci syrups to Vanilla protein for almost unlimited flavor options...... Hazelnut, almond, raspberry, gingerbread, pumpkin pie, English toffee, etc. Muscle Milk, Quest, Syntrax and BSN Syntha 6 are all brands I like. As for GENEPRO, it is a highly modified molecule put out by a company that also sells "male enhancement" and "miracle" performance supplements. I have yet to find any independent research study that supports the manufacturer's claims. I consider it just another fad like so many failed weight loss pills and supplements. I'd rather stick with products that contain real protein.

Ask your surgeon. I was allowed nuts and seeds after 3 months and have eaten mixed nuts pretty much every day since. And boiled peanuts....mmmmm.....drooool......Probably a good thing we don't have them around here or they would be my new addiction.

I was basically a functional alcoholic before my WLS. I drank every day for years. I used both food and alcohol as coping mechanisms. I drank with friends. I drank alone. Part of the problem was my tolerance. I could out drink a football team and barely felt drunk. I stopped drinking alcohol cold turkey the day I started my preop diet. It was simply part of what was required to be mentally committed to WLS. Postop I had my first drink of wine at a birthday party about 4 months out. Once In maintenance I've had a few cocktails 2-3 times/month. I was looking forward to being a cheap drunk, but alas, alcohol does not affect me any differently. At this point the thousands of calories in alcohol I used to drink just aren't worth the mini buzz I get. Having a drink now is more or less the same as the occasional desert or carby meal that I indulge in. So despite some horrible losses and the emotional trainwreck that is my life at this point, I am still choosing not to use food or alcohol for comfort. For me these choices are just part of the lifelong commitment that I made when I decided to have WLS.

I have an active, physical job with lots of walking, standing, bending, kneeling, squatting and lifting. I went back after 7 days with no problem, so for me your proposed schedule would have been very doable.

Protein shakes I like are Premier chocolate and strawberry (both diluted 1/2 and 1/2 with milk); Muscle Milk all flavors; Syntrax nectar all flavors; Spirutein piña colada and banana; Quest chocolate and vanilla; Raw Fit and Raw Protein all flavors. I also use Torani and Dasani syrups to add variety to the flavors. You can get single serve samples of dozens of different powders at Nashua Nutrition to try before committing to a whole jug. A lot of health food/whole food stores also carry single serving packs to try. As for Vitamins, I really never liked any if the chewables so I switched to Vitamin Code for Women capsules. They are a whole good based multi that I prefer over synthetic vitamins. Source of Life Gold is also a whole food based vitamin and it comes in both liquid and chewable forms.

I only get to tell animals what to do....I'm a vet tech. But they listen better than people

Tastes like regular milk to me. A lot of people use cashew milk or almond milk postop because of the lower calories. And while I like the taste of them OK, I wanted the higher protein of dairy milk and really didn't worry about calories (and still don't....I just make healthy food choices, get plenty of protein and calories take care of themselves)

Everything tasted too sweet and was too thick for me postop, so I diluted everything at least 1/2 and 1/2 with Water or milk. Premier chocolate with 8-12oz milk made it just about right. I added twice as much water or milk as what the directions said when mixing powders. (Syntrax nectar, Syntrax Matrix, Muscle Milk, Quest, Spirutein,, Syntha 6 and Raw Fit are my favorites) Added unjury unflavored Protein powder to every broth and diluted/strained cream Soup I could find for a welcome break from all the sweet shakes. I could not tolerate lactose, plain water or artificial sweeteners for the first 4 months so I drank a lot of lactaid, decaf herbal tea, dilute 100% juice, diluted Vitamin water and dilute pedialyte.

@@Oregondaisy @@woo woo I spent a lot of time here... http://www.spine-health.com/forum/treatment/back-surgery-and-neck-surgery

I had a neck fusion in 2009 (C5-C6) and it worked great. I never knew how much pain I was in for decades until I wasn't anymore. I could finally sleep normally and everything just felt better. Surgery in October and skiing by February. that surgery is tied with VSG as the best thing I've ever done for myself. A friend had a lower back fusion and he's done incredibly, too. He works in construction and drives big equipment and does heavy lifting everyday. Rides horses on the weekends. Unfortunately I know several unsuccessful cases, too. My sister in law still has lower back pain despite her fusion. I know two others with totally failed neck fusions. I think these things are just so individual, it's hard to judge your outcome on simple statistics and other's experience. I wish you the best of luck. I broke my back when I was 18 so I truly feel your pain.

Five days. It was my Christmas present . It also took 5 days after my neck fusion surgery. Seems to be my standard postop poo schedule.

My PCP took care of postop bloodwork. I had a severe C. diff infection from a dental procedure two months postop which my PCP, a gastroenterologist and an infectious disease specialist dealt with. The only dealings I had with my surgeon's team postop were phone conversations and emails concerning certain antibiotics and pain medications prescribed by my PCP. I was never involved in the support group or nutritional services they offered.

Water bottle and blender bottle for my protein smoothies.

No "exercise" here. But then again my job consists of bending, kneeling, squatting and lifting 40-60 pounds 5-6 days/week. I lift, stack and feed 80 pound bales of hay every day. I log 8,000-12,000 Fitbit steps on work days and closer to 20,000 on weekends. I kayak, ski, hike and ride horse on my days off. After all that I have no time nor desire to exercise.

You can also get single serve samples from a bunch of different companies from nashuanutrition.com