JamieLogical

@@malvarez1210 If you are only three weeks out, you are likely not on solid foods yet, but maybe pureed and soft foods? Drink your Protein shakes and get your Water. As for other protein options in those stages, here are some good ones: scrambled egg soft cheeses cottage cheese greek yogurt refried Beans tuna salad chicken salad This site has some good recipes for this stage: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html

It common to have some nausea and headaches as your body enters ketosis, which usually happens between days 2 and 4. Vomiting does seem a bit extreme though.

I had a rough time figuring out how to cope with my emotions in the early months post-op, when I could no longer turn to food for comfort. I was a binge eater prior to being sleeved and once I was back on solid foods, the fact that I could only eat a tiny amount meant that eating no longer satisfied me the way it used to. My brain still wanted to binge for comfort, but my body was physically unable and it took a while for that desire to binge to go away. The good news is, it DID go away. My brain eventually caught up to my new physical reality. I would say I was a good 4 months post-op before I had full embraced my new emotional and physical "normal". It's a process and you just have to work on adapting day-by-day. Some days will be harder than others. But overall, it trends towards getting easier. As for complications, if you were sleeved, late onset complications are VERY rare. If you were going to have a leak, you would have by now. The only way you might develop one this late is if you had some food caught in your staple line from eating the wrong things too soon, then an abscess formed. If you stuck to your food phases, you have nothing to worry about there. The only other thing you might need to worry about in the future is ulcers or stomach bleeds if you take NSAIDs or acid-related issues. Are you currently on a PPI for acid? Are you experiencing any reflux or heart burn?

Guys, calm down. I am not exaggerating when I say that 90% of WLS patients go through this. I see this exact same post on these boards at least 10 times a day. Stick to your program. Get your Protein, Water, and Vitamins in. Get up and moving at least once an hour. And you WILL lose weight. I promise you. Everyone experiences stalls. You need to give your body a chance to catch up. It's just been through major trauma and it is reeling. It does this to protect itself and allow you to heal.

Search for Week 3 Stall. 90% of WLS patients experience a stall around 3 weeks post-op. It is completely normal.

Are you using your incentive spirometer regularly? It could just be fatigue. I found that after my surgery, I felt very physically exhausted. It was hard for me to even lift my arms to wash my hair in the shower.

One thing to be aware of is that much of the "protein" in New Whey comes from collagen (despite whey being in the name) and collagen is a poor form of protein for our bodies to utilize. You should try shakes where the main ingredient is whey isolate, as it is the best absorbed protein supplement. Also, your body can't process more than 30 grams of protein at a time, so shots or shakes with more than 30 grams are a waste and can actually damage your kidneys if used in excess.

@@tfarr Those people who are restricting to 500 calories 5 months post-op are the ones that are only going to be able to eat 1100-1200 calories a day in maintenance. You are MUCH better off consuming more calories and staying active, so you don't wreck your metabolism.

When I was on strained cream soups, I literally went down the soup aisle of my grocery store and bought every single kind of cream soup they had. My favorites ended up being Campbell's Condensed Cream of Shrimp and Progresso Chicken Cheese Enchilada. It was also always a treat to go to the hot soup bar my grocery store has in its prepared food section and get some Buffalo Chicken Chowder!

PS: I just want to say that getting my calories up and eating enough to sustain my level of exercise really seems to have kept my metabolism from doing a nose-dive. I'm now a little over 18 months post-op, having reached my goal weight right at the one year mark. I'm training for a half marathon and started wearing a FitBit Blaze with a built in heart rate monitor a little over 2 weeks ago. When I got the FitBit, I decided to track my food for a bit to see how my calories in versus calories out were matching up and I have to say, the FitBit site has shown that my metabolism is dead-on with their algorithms. I'm not trying to lose weight anymore, but it's tough getting in enough calories now that I'm doing this half-marathon training. In the time I've had the FitBit, I've had a total calorie deficit of 5992. And on the scale I've lost about a pound and a half, so that is right where it's supposed to be. I've read people on these forums who have to only eat like 1200 calories a day in maintenance. On days I don't do cardio, I need to eat closer to 1900 calories and on days I do my cardio, I have to eat 2300-2500! So my metabolism is obviously still going strong. I think if you restrict your calories too much for too long, your body becomes accustomed to the lower caloric intake and you will ultimately have to eat fewer calories to maintain once you are at goal.

I was never given any sort of calorie target, just told to get up to 100g of protein a day as quickly as possible post-op. At 2 months I was probably around 800 calories a day and working my way up as best I could so I could start exercising more intensely at 3 months. I really tried to get up around 1100 calories a day before I started running, biking, and strength training.

I didn't use the Vitaleph shakes, just the multi-Vitamins. I still use the vitamins, actually. I don't do their Calcium or B12 or probiotic (I use other brands for those), just the multi-vitmain. I buy the 4-bottle package once every few months. As for the shakes, I had the nutritionist email me some guidelines for calories, carbs, Protein, etc. so I could buy shakes locally or make my own.

@@lilbeanie The thing about C25k is even though it's meant for out-of-shape people, I don't know that it's meant for out-of-shape morbidly obese people. There's a big difference between starting from the "couch" with 10-20 pounds of extra weight and starting from the "couch" with 100+ pounds of extra weight. We put a LOT more strain on our joints and muscles by carrying all that extra weight. So it helps to build up endurance, lose a little of that extra weight, and THEN get started with C25k. The key is to always be progressing and not getting complacent. Even if that means you only run a minute at a time, 3-5 times in the beginning. As long as you keep pushing yourself a little harder each week, you can can get to where you feel comfortable and confident starting the official program. Another important thing to keep in mind for if/when you do start C25k is that you should feel free to repeat days or even weeks if you feel you aren't yet ready to progress. I've done the program several times now and never actually finished it in 9 weeks. It usually takes me more like 14.

Couch to 5k, here you come! That's how I got started. Could't even do C25k at first. Just alternated 1 minute of running and 4 minutes of walking and repeating that several times until I finally felt like I could take on the first week of C25k. And now, here I am, a year and a half later, training for a half marathon!

I am! It feels weird knowing that the "fat" part of my life is almost over. I've been overweight most of my life, I have no idea how it feels to be healthy. I've been humiliated and frustrated by my size countless times. I can't wait for my life to actually BEGIN. I can't believe how many great comments I've seen about OCC. I was really paranoid at first, so I researched like crazy, and they really seem top notch! Congrats on losing 100+lbs! That's INSANE! How did you find the experience? How was the transition to a new lifestyle? It definitely took some adjusting. I had the usual buyer's remorse in the first week or two, but felt a lot better once I could eat more solid foods and get more calories in. Then I had a little period once I was on solid foods where I was frustrated I couldn't binge eat to cope with my emotions anymore. I still wanted to binge, but I could manage so little food, that it wasn't satisfying. I had to learn to process my emotions without food. I'd say by about month 4 I was really in the swing of things and found my new "normal". Life's been really good since then!

Jeez. Which surgeon did you use that they didn't even give you a post-op plan? I had my plan emailed to me well before surgery so I could make arrangements and buy supplies ahead of time. If you PM me your email address, I'll forward you my surgeon's plan so you at least have something to go by. Definitely don't just figure it out through trial and error. You can do serious damage to your sleeve by eating the wrong things too soon. It sounds like you've already had a rough time, so you definitely don't want to put your healing at risk now!

Are you not allowed to just swallow regular pills by now? I was allowed to swallow my multi-vitamins at 7 days post-op. I'd think by 5 weeks you wouldn't have any issues.

You need to get some Protein in. If the shakes you had before are sitting well or don't taste, good, experiment with some other brands. A lot of people do well immediately post-op with the clear Isopure drinks (available at GNC) or Syntrax nectar powder that blends with Water to become a "clear" liquid. Are you on any meds at all? I was on a PPI, pain meds, and an anti-nausea med for the first several days post-op. The pain in your back when taking deep breaths sounds like heartburn to me, so a PPI might help with that. Did you not receive a post-op food stage plan? Most plans wouldn't have you on purees or soft foods until a week or more out. If you were just sleeved 4 days ago, you should likely be on clear or full liquids right now.

It completely depends on your policy. My own policy wouldn't pay for WLS unless I had a BMI over 40 for five years. I had previously lost 90 pounds "on my own" back in 2010/2011 and my BMI had just barely crept back up over 40 when I decided to pursue WLS in mid 2014. So it was either self-pay or stay fat for 5 more years.... I felt like they were punishing me for having at least TRIED to lose the weight on my own!

Glad you've figured out what works for you. The thing about WLS is that only YOU have to live the rest of your life. While I truly believe it is important to stick to your surgeon's and nutritionist's guidelines in the early months, while you are healing and adapting, eventually you have to find your own path that will let you live a happy and healthy life long term.

If you know what you are doing wrong but still aren't fixing it, then I think counseling is your best bet.

I went to OCC too and had a great experience! Congrats for making this decision to turn your life around. I think a lot of us can relate to having just completely given up for a while. The good news is, you didn't stay there and wallow. You found and committed to a solution and you are going to have your life back!

I feel like I might talk to my cousin about it directly, Maybe not even to try to change her mind, but just to try to understand what her concerns are. Once you have more information, you can try to figure out how to proceed from there. Just don't go into the conversation with your cousin thinking you are going to be able to convince her of anything. That will probably put her on the defensive immediately.

Yep! I am scheduled to run my first half marathon on April 24th! I started with just doing Couch to 5k around 3 months post-op. Did a bunch of 5k races last summer, while I was still losing weight, and this summer I'm aiming for half marathons and 10k races all summer long. The idea of a full marathon in September has even crossed my mind.... Crazy!

Just wanted to add that nearly everyone has a bit of "buyer's remorse" in the early day's post-op. It's a challenging time as you are uncomfortable or in pain, you're exhausted physically and emotionally, your hormones are going crazy as they are released from your fat stores, and you are wondering if you will ever feel "normal" again. I remember asking myself (and other people here on these forums) that question every day. I just ddin't see how I could possibly ever feel normal again and I was asking "what did I do to myself?!?!" But it really did get a little better each day. And there was a marked improvement with every new food stage as I was able to get in more calories, had more energy, and was able to eat more "real" food. Now I am 18 months post-op, maintaining my goal weight, blood work is perfect, and I'm training for a half marathon! Life is grand!