JamieLogical

Just a couple of thoughts, not sure if they will apply or not: 1. Try weighing your food versus measuring it in measuring cups/spoons. When I see something like "1 tablespoon of green beans" it makes me wonder how on earth your are realistically measuring that, unless you are pureeing them, how are you fitting green Beans into a tablespoon? 2. As someone else mentioned, make sure you are tracking accurately by reading the labels off the products you are actually using, instead of the "generic" estimates for types of food in MyFitnessPal. 3. Prioritize Protein over carbs and make sure the carbs you are getting are good carbs from whole grains. 4. Make sure you are getting enough protein. I see some people on these forums only aiming for about 60g per day, but my nutritionist said 85-100. 5. Try to eat 5-6 times throughout the day instead of eating all of your food in just three meals.

This is 100% normal. If you do some searching on these forums, you will find hundreds of posts asking this exact same question from people 2-3 weeks post-op. Everyone goes through it and it will pass on its own. Just stick to your plan.

What about state aid? I live in New York State and I know they offer some aid above the income levels allowed by Medicaid specifically for pregnant women and children. Your state might do something similar?

Cutting carbs puts your body into ketosis and that transition can cause headaches. The worst part though is that you have to go through the whole transition over again if you go out of ketosis and then back in again. So once you are in ketosis, try to stay there by keeping your carb intake consistently low. I went through the same thing on my pre-op diet when I had to start drinking protein drinks and nothing else for two weeks pre-op.

I'm only 4 weeks out from surgery and I can say that, this early on, there is no way I could get enough Protein without shakes. While I try to get protein from every single thing I eat, I just still can't eat very much. I'd say every snack and meal gives me at least 8 grams of protein, but my nutritionist wants me between 85 and 100 grams a day. Since I only "eat" about 6 times per day right now, that means there's just no way I could possibly get that much protein from real food. Unless if I was eating 2 oz. of tuna (my most high-protein real food at the moment) for every single snack and meal, which I am NOT prepared to do. I am having two protein shakes a day right now and I would love to get it down to one in the near future. I am moving up to ground meats and Beans today, so hopefully that will give me some more high-protein food options. But I think it will be a long time before I can cut out protein shakes entirely.

How many calories are you consuming and burning? What is your activity level like?

I did three Protein shakes a day (just like pre-op) and strained cream soups for lunch. The soup kept me sane. I got a whole bunch of varieties and looked forward to all the different flavors each day. Also, my grocery store has a hot soup bar, so any time I went to the store, I always got one of their fresh soups for that day and that was always a real treat. I was tired all the time too. There's really just nothing you can do about that. You are getting so few calories and you are still healing, so you are going to be exhausted.

I managed fine on my own the day after surgery and beyond. You shouldn't drive while you are still on pain meds, but if you are just staying home all day, you should have no trouble caring for yourself.

Are you allowed to have cottage cheese and other soft cheeses yet? I was allowed scrambled eggs and cottage cheese in my pureed stage, which really helped a lot with getting my Protein in. While apple sauce and such are a nice change of pace, the lack of protein made them seem like kind of a "waste" when I could eat so little to begin with and I needed so much protein. Hopefully you can at least mix some unflavored Protein powder in there. If you are allowed soft cheese, I highly recommend Shelley's Ricotta Bake (recipe on this page). It's got a fair amount of protein and it's almost like eating real food! I eat 1/6th of the recipe per sitting and it's 157 calories and 13 grams of protein.

Congrats on your huge loss so far! Your life must be 100% different than it was just a year ago. So many changes! So many great experiences! I can't wait to be where you are next year!

My room had a mini-fridge, but it was pre-stocked with mini-bar items. I had room to put a bottle of vitamin water in there and it was pre-stocked with bottled water, so I kept drinking the cold bottled water from the fridge, then replacing it with the free water bottles they gave me so I wouldn't get charged for taking the cold one.

Take all your meds, walk often, and keep sip-sip-sipping! You're doing great!

I can't wait to fit in the seats for all the roller coasters when I go to Dollywood with my entire family this coming Spring. We went this past April and I could only fit on two of them and I felt terrible.

I really enjoyed strained soups on my post-op liquid phase. I had to start with clear soups, but was able to move to cream soups and I usually had some soup every day for lunch. That allowed me some variety in addition to my protein shakes.

My favorite recipe so far is Shelley's Baked Ricotta (on this page), which is basically just lasagna without the noodles. So you could make a little batch without noodles for yourself and put noodles in a bigger batch for your family. Another thing you can do is cook things in a slow-cooker that would normally be served over rice or Pasta and just eat it without the pasta or rice for yourself. meat in the slow-cooker is very tender and easily shredded, so you can have it during the pureed/soft food stage. My husband makes a great Indian dish called chicken makhani in the slow cooker and i've just been eating it without the rice.

This thread is encouraging for me too! I carry my weight in my legs (see my gallery) and haven't worn boots that could go over my calves in my entire adult life. Even at my thinnest (165) I couldn't wear boots that went past the bottom of my calves. Hopefully that will change in the next year!

I am looking for a new Water bottle and wondered if any of you had any recommendations for brands/models. Ideally I'd like something double-walled, as my current water bottle sweats all over the place. I'd also like something large. I'd prefer 32 oz., but 24+ would probably be okay. And I really need something that will fit in the cup-holder of my car, which is a pretty standard sized cup holder (will hold a can of pop or a 20 oz. pop bottle, but not a SoBe bottle). Any suggestions?

If you try to drink anything other than water, drink it out of a cup with a lid (like a travel mug) so you won't smell it. That might help you at least get some calories and nutrients.

I always refer people to this article when this question comes up: http://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-get-rid-of-loose-skin-after-weight-loss/ The best things you can do as you are losing weight are: lose slowly (easier said than done with WLS!) stay well hydrated moisturize daily (preferably twice daily) strength training (muscle can fill in where the fat has been lost) supplement (there are lots of recommendations, that article mentions Vitamin C and Beef Gelatin, another one that gets mentioned often is Fish Oil)

You look fantastic! Congratulations!

I see some of the reviews on Amazon complain about the lid. Have you had any issues with that?

I had surgery on a Monday and didn't have a BM until Saturday. Seriously, when all you are doing is drinking, what would you have to pass? It wasn't until I was able to start on full liquids that anything needed to happen in that department. I have had very consistent BMs since then. I am almost 4 weeks out and go every day, sometimes missing one day, but not often.

I've been taking the Vitaleph multivitamin and I plan to stay on it. I bought the four bottle package, which is a 4 month supply for a little over $100. I had purchased one bottle of their probiotic as well, but I decided to switch to a brand I can buy locally that only requires one pill per day instead of two. I did not purchase their shakes or any of their other supplements. As for flying after surgery, I ended up staying an extra night in San Diego, so I could take a morning flight the next day. So I was in the TJ Mariott the night before surgery and two nights after, then I stayed a night at the Holiday Inn Express right next to the airport and took their airport shuttle for my flight the following morning. I had two flights with a layover in Chicago. It turned out to be a bit of a nightmare, because my flight from Chicago to my home city was cancelled! But I was able to get on a different flight and just made it home a couple hours later than planned. I got an aisle seat on both my return flights so I could get up and walk a little if I needed and I did lots of walking in the airports.

That kind of gain can only be water retention. Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating super high sodium foods? Have you noticed any swelling?

I had my surgery in a clinic and patients rooms were behind a door that required a keycode to enter and there were security cameras throughout, so I felt perfect safe leaving my things in my room while in surgery. If you are concerned, you should call your patient coordinator.