James Marusek

Congratulations.

When I was in the hospital after surgery, Water tasted like chlorine. It was totally undrinkable. Thank goodness for ice chips that did not have the same taste.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery.

How far along are you?

I found the transition to solid foods to be hard. I found that softer foods such as chili and Soups went down much easier than harder foods such as steak and chicken. So I rely primarily on softer foods. I am over 3 years post op. But my stomach is far enough along that I eat an occasional steak. I wrote a short article that included recipes at the end. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf As your meal volume increases, if you rely on high Protein meals, you can start to cut back on the Protein shakes. This is because your protein requirement is met by the protein from meals combined with the protein from supplements (protein shakes, protein bars).

Never heard of it and don't want to dig any deeper. After RNY gastric bypass surgery, I have undergone regular periodic blood workups to determine if I am deficient in any Vitamins or nutrients. As a result, my supplements are tweaked to optimize my supplement intake. So the idea of DNA optimization seems rather theoretical whereas the blood workups are actual measured data optimization. You mentioned that you are gaining weight again. There are two phases to RNY gastric bypass surgery. The first phase is called the "Weight Loss" phase and the second is called the "Maintenance" phase. These are distinctly different phases and require different approaches. Here is a short article that explains my approach to the "Maintenance" phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

I would recommend that you add Probiotics. Generally during surgery and while you are in the hospital they will treat you with antibiotics in order to minimize the possibility of an infection. This will destroy not only the bad bacteria but also the good bacteria in your gut. You need to re-establish colonies of these good bacteria by using a probiotic.

Looking at your stats it appears that you are approaching 6 weeks post-op. You are showing a weight loss of 38.8 pounds. If I assume 13 lbs of which was on the two-week pre op diet phase, then that would be a weight loss of 25.8 pounds post-surgery. That is a good weight loss for 6 weeks in. [Correct me if the numbers are wrong.] The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. Weight loss is achieved after surgery through volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as Protein shakes. According to my discharge directions I was told: Drink 64-80 ounces of fluids daily 75-90 grams of protein daily According to your surgeon, they required 60g of Protein and 48oz of Water a day. That seems like your requirement is on the low side. On top of that you are not even meeting those requirements. So you need to work on that area. With insufficient fluids your body can become dehydrated. This will affect your weight loss. Also as your fat cells dissolve, they will release hormones and chemicals that were stored in your fat cells into your system. These are flushed through your body into your kidneys and then expelled in your urine. It takes sufficient fluids to make this process work effectively. Without sufficient protein, your body will scavenge protein from other areas of your body, such as your muscles. Protein is extremely important after surgery, as its job in the body is to build and maintain tissues including your body's major organs and skeletal muscles. Protein deficiency, when continued over a long period of time can cause a disease known as protein caloric malnutrition. Common symptoms are poor healing, fatigue, hair loss and muscle wasting. Immediately after surgery, protein promotes healing of the staple line and incisions.

Good luck. It looks like you have a plan.

I am 3 years post-op from RNY surgery. This is my approach during the maintenance phase. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf RNY surgery is different than sleeve. In RNY you have to limit the fats and sugars for the first year or you will generally experience dumping syndrome. But after that time they can be introduced back into ones diet because the intestines learn to adapt and take of the function from the stomach.

Good luck on your surgery and check back with us when you are on the other side.

I found some a year ago that were on sale at the time and I really like these. They were made by Rubbermaid. They are similar to these but mine were blue. https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Premier-storage-plastic-FG7J11TRCHILI/dp/B000N3Z8HE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1473202019&sr=8-8&keywords=rubbermaid+food+storage+containers I like these for the following reasons. * When you put the lid on, you can pull a partial vacuum. * I bought mine individually rather than a set. The larger ones held 14 cups. The containers fit inside each other quite well for storage. * Primarily I would mix up a large pot of chili or Soups and use these containers to store the food which I would eat throughout the week and they worked good. Many times I would split it up putting one tub in the refrigerator and another in the freezer. There were no problems with freezing.

This is a common feeling before surgery. I suggest two things. 1. Make sure that you take a good before photo of yourself so that you have something to compare it with after surgery. Many of us do not truly see how obese we are prior to surgery and as a result cannot see the amount of weight we lost after surgery. You will need a means to evaluate you success. More than just the pounds that you lost. 2. Walk around 30 minutes each day (or equivalent exercise) until your surgery. This will help you recovery process go smoothly and will reduce the pain that you might experience from the surgery.

For the first few weeks after surgery, your body is in a major heal mode. Some individuals have a hard time meeting their Protein and Fluid requirements in the beginning. But it should get better. Keep working at meeting your daily goals. Some people report that drinking Water can hurt. It is important to drink really slow. They reported that if they drank fast it hurt. So take small sips. Some people put ice chips in their mouth to counter the dryness. This condition gets better with time. One individual reported that it wasn't until the 8 week mark, that the condition went into remission.

Congratulations on losing all that weight. What advice do you need? I put together a short article about my experience with the "Maintenance" phase. I am over 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery2.pdf Maybe it can help.

Good luck on beginning the process.

Congratulations on losing 100 pounds.

That is an interesting program. Dr. Brian Gluck, who has performed more than 4,000 bariatric surgeries over the last 14 years, also rode on the rides at the amusement park with his patients. Gluck heads Mercy Health's bariatric program. The eight bariatric surgery patients who took part in Mercy Health's free trip to Michigan's Adventure ranged in having their surgeries 10 months ago to 10 years ago. It is a nice personal touch.

Congratulations. I too found that fitting into smaller clothes was a good motivator. I would buy a pair of pants or shirt that was a little too small. You know the kind that you have to take a deep breath to fit inside and if you exhaled it might pop a button or break a zipper. Then a week later it fit like a glove. It was a wonderful feeling that was happening right before my eyes.

Dr. J. Carson Smith from the University of Maryland in College Park and colleagues wanted to know what happens to the brains of older folks who exercised vigorously and often; if they stopped exercising. The report of their study was published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. In particular, they investigated what would happen to the blood flow to two parts of the brain — the overall cerebrum (controls voluntary actions, emotions, etc.) and the hippocampus (area under cerebral cortex important for learning and memory). They recruited 9 adults (7 men, 2 women) -- master athletes from local running clubs — older than 50 years (age range was 50-80) who had been involved in endurance exercise for at least 15 years, and who had competed in endurance exercise events. On average they had participated in continuous endurance training for about 29 years (range 20-36 years), were running an average of 36 miles per week, and exercising 5 days per week. These participants were requested to cease training and abstain from any vigorous exercise for 10 days. Before and at the end of the 10 days blood flow to the cerebrum and hippocampus was measured by MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Analysis of the MRI data indicated that the 10-day exercise abstention resulted in significant reductions in cerebral blood flow in eight individual regions. Similarly, blood flow to the hippocampus region was also significantly reduced at the end of the 10-day abstention. http://acsh.org/news/2016/08/31/exercise-helps-keep-aging-brain-shape-9947

Fat is a good insulator. As I lost fat I was much more susceptible to the cold. Thank God someone invented the hand warmers, otherwise it would really be painful shoveling the snow during the winter.

Offhand, one of the symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection is frequent urination. http://www.webmd.com/women/guide/your-guide-urinary-tract-infections#1

Congratulations and good luck on your surgery. Check back with us when you are on the other side.