bellabloom

Also it's only been a month. You could be constipated or retaining water. Give it some more time.

That is so rough. Are you eating carbs? I really can't recommend enough not eating many carbs, less than 20 grams a day. It makes a huge difference!! Also discontinue your Protein shakes and go to solid protein forms. It keeps you full much longer and it's less caloric. Start at the gym lifting weights and cardio. Start small and increase every week. Not only will you lose faster, you will feel more productive and in control or your life and body. You will feel empowered. Otherwise just hang in there! You will get there eventually. It takes time and patience but it will happen. Don't worry about what other people think. They all love you and they want the best for you that is all. They are routing for you. Express to them your frustration. Everyone!!!! Know s how hard weight loss can be. They will sympathize. In fact if you make it look to easy, sometimes people get jealous! Everyone wants to route for you when something is actually tough and you have to show your commitment I'm sure they only have your best interest at heart and if you just let people know it's coming off but slowly, no one is going to judge you. Communication is the key. Weight loss is a touchy subject Most people don't even say anything about my weight loss because they don't want to offend me! It makes me kinda sad when no one comments. People don't want to tread on feelings which is understandable. So just smile and try to stay positive

Thank you everyone! Great comments

It's really hard to get all your fluids in at first Take it slow

Be very very careful about carbs!!! They increase hunger and lead to more cravings for... Carbs!!! Protein is your best friend and should be 80-90% of your diet. It will keep you full and not increase your cravings. At this point eggs and cheese and low sugar yogurt are what you ought to be eating. I'm not a nutritionist of course but speaking from experience you don't want to be eating a lot of carb based foods!!

Did you have sleeve surgery? It's common with that. This is the gastric bypass forum

By day five I felt a lot better, you should be close soon. Take your meds and don't worry about eating right now!!!!!! Your probably realy swollen so trying to drink your food will (could) make you feel much worse. Measure out 1 tblsp of liquids per two hours!!! Seriously that's it for this stage. Some people can do more but not me and it was key to feeling better For the first week I craved food a lot. That goes away I promise. The pain is much better by 2 weeks out You won't regret you did this

A lot of members have been posting about how much time they will need to recover and /or take off work. I think a thread on this is a good idea. Share your experience on how much time you needed to take off work, how long you were in the hospital, how long until you felt healed. I myself want to say this : this is MAJOR surgery. Depending on your state of health and age to begin with, everyone's experience is different. So if someone says hey, I was ice skating two days later!! Well, maybe she was. But maybe she was 25, in good shape, and a low BMI without major health conditions. So what applies to her may not apply to you. This surgery for me was very intense. I spent three days in the hospital due to gas pain and regurgitating blood foam etc. your stomach and intestines are rerouted and your body can be quite shocked by this. I went home on the fourth day and felt okay, but I needed painkillers for several days because my stomach hurt quite a bit. Now, a week later, I could probably return to a desk job but I am still very tired. Lack of food, lack of Water, mental emotional feelings. All this takes time to process. I feel taking a week is a minimum requirement, two weeks very good, three ideal with any complications. I have five incisions in my belly and bruising all over my legs and arms from needle sticks. Here are some photos for you too see. The incisions were not nearly that painful, not anywhere close to a c-section. But the gas pain was much much more painful than a c-section. This is major life changing surgery and afterwards basically a fasting diet for a week or so. It is not a trip to get a cavity filled. It's a non reversal body altering major surgical procedure. Hope this helps!

How many calories do you eat a day when you up your protein? Do you only increase your protein but not carbs/fats as well? Because I worry so much about calories over all.

I've had guys come up to me and be like "girrrrrl, your thick!!!" Hahaha. There is a certain type of guy that likes big women and there is a guy that likes skeletal woman. I need something in the middle. It can be horrible to have that sort of attention focused on you. One time I was wearing my gym stretch pants and grocery shopping at food for less. This crazy guy started following me, staring at my butt. He started masterbating and following me around!!! I had to call security and I confronted him and cussed him out. The clothes we wear to work out in are very tight and there is a lot of jiggling and stretching etc. it's just not for everyone to have it be combined sexes.

Omg that is insane. This is such a huge surgery I would have been shocked!!! I met my surgeon twice and made sure I new all his stats and all about him, and is also grilled him with questions. He also came to speak with me before surgery in the hospital admission area. If I was you I would be upset and give them my piece of mind about it.

Just remember it's very very high calorie food.

No problems with decaf. Go for it

Take your measurements. Maybe you've lost inches!! Could be constipation related as well

I find that I do best when I eat one to two times per day. I focus on the Protein first and have a few nibbles on tastier things with carbs. I'm five weeks out and still have never reached more than 500 calories and 30 grams of protein a day. It's a struggle for sure. I gave up on Protein Shakes weeks ago. Barf. Tmi but I used to be anorexic and bulimic. I went for months without eating at times and I never lost my hair or or got sick. On one level this worries me because I don't have a lot of fear of what could happen. I'm not very good at following rules. On another hand I am not really worried because I know it's going to get better and in three months I can swallow Vitamins which will make taking my vitamins much easier. I have so much naseau and pain in my stomach at times, tastes make me sick and I really struggle with the supplements and portions. I would rather not deal with food at all most of the time! I have lost 35 pounds since surgery and I have pretty low energy. I'm going to start working out this week because I think that will actually help a lot. It takes time! I'm happy to see you all doing well!!

My dream is to open a boutique style all woman's gym. For this exact reason. We all need a private place where we can work out and not feel eyes on us!!! Yucky

Sorry to be negative but do you really think smoking weed is in line with the healthy lifestyle you want? It slows you down, increases appetite, numbs you out, bad for your lungs. Just saying... Is it worth it? Not that I'm one to talk I know we all need our ways to relax.

Milk of magnesia. Start with half a dose. If no poop by the next day, take another half a dose. It works and it's not to harsh if you only take half.

This is me venting, but I just have to say my bullshit meter goes through the window when I read stuff like this. A lot of people on here and out there in the world say this is the case. But I just can't buy it. First off: my doctor and nutritionist have both said- the point of this surgery is, at first while losing weight, to eat VERY LITTLE. 500 calories now per day, 1000 for life max! They said I'm to have 3 meals a day ONLY, no liquid calories, period. Low carb, low calorie. No Protein shakes after month one. The 60 grams of protein is just a suggestion to shoot for. Have your nutritionist said differently? Am I missing something? Secondly: the eat more to lose more thing reminds me of a diet industry ploy. I remember in the early 2000's when the six small meals a day thing was all the rage. It was the newest diet fad to eat more often and STOKE your metabolism. I bought into that at the time and guess what? I just ended up eating more!!! And gained weight!!! Because for someone like me, once I put food in my Mouth it is very hard to stop!! And it created a habit of eating more- the more I ate the more I thought about food until it was all I thought about! Frequent snacking and increasing calories is not something I think should be encouraged on this site!! I keep reading posts talking about forcing protein or staying awake just to eat more protein or advising people to increase their calories to make them lose weight faster! WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU TELL AN OVERWEIGHT PERSON TO INCREASE THEIR CALORIES? Smile. I may be way off. Maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about? I do get that with low calories we hit stalls once in a while. But this surgery is our chance to be able to eat very small amounts comfortably. Over time we will need to eat more and be able to because our pouches will stretch. I see this as an opportunity to get used to small portions. I am thrilled to be able to eat so little. If my weight loss stalls, I would first increase my workouts and Water and then simply wait out the stall. It's proven fact that low calories equals weight loss. Starvation mode is a myth. I looked it up!! There is no such thing. Your body cannot hold onto weight if you don't give it calories, period. Example: people in countries without plentiful food. They starve! Their bodies can't hold onto the weight, not a chance!!Eventually, the weight will come off, and the less you eat the faster it will happen. I think we should stop supporting the eat more to lose weight gimmick and appreciate that this is a time we are no supposed to eat much. I'm afraid that someone whose weight loss is going slowly ( because they are eating 6 meals a day and getting in 1500 calories between shakes and food!) might think they aren't eating enough and might increase their calories!!! I also wonder if maybe it's hard to get the focus off of food in our lives, being obese, and that we shouldn't talk more about that instead of worrying about how much protein we are consuming!! Is there a larger issue at hand that maybe it's tough to not have food be a central focus? I could not stand to have my whole day revolve around eating every two hours. You may agree with me or not. I'm interested to hear thoughts on this. One more time: TO LOSE WEIGHT EAT AND DRINK LESS calories. that's what I think. Thoughts? Are your nutritionists yelling at you if you don't get your protein or something? Am I just missing something here?

I remember three years ago when my best friend had rny and my weight was just going up. I was SO JEALOUS of her. I wanted to lose weight so badly and here she was getting her wish. Soon she was thinner than me, while I'd always been the thin friend. I'm not going to lie, it was hard. I even broke down and cried. But I love her so much. I was jealous but that didn't make me love her less or want her to fail. I was thrilled to see my beautiful friend doing well and getting healthy. She inspired me to do the same. It had nothing to do with her, my anger, jealousy and frustration. Only to do with me and my wished and needs. Three years later I had rny myself and now we are both skinny bitches. You can envy a friend for their success and chose to take it as an inspiration. I remember she lost a bunch of friends after her surgery who we're angry for whatever reason. Some people are friends with overweight people to make themselves feel better!!! That's insane. I truly love my friend and want the best for her. That's real friendship and real love. I admire her strength and while I do miss how squishy her hugs used to be, I am proud of how healthy and beautiful she now is!!! I'm so glad she paved the road for me to get healthy.

Fu%# those bit$&es. . Weight is a touchy subject. Kinda like politics or abortion. Our instinct is to scream it from the rooftops that we have lost weight and our doing great but it's better I think just to smile and let it be. Remember how much it hurt when you were overweight to see someone else success where you had failed? Sometimes friends just grow in different directions. It's a hard part of life. I'm sorry your going through this.

Better weight loss for rny. More control over portions. No heartburn. . I know air of people. Who have failed weight loss on the sleeve and it's not really recommended for people with a lot to lose. Your BMI qualifies you for sure. .

I'm a month out and have tried a few bites of salad and did fine

Honestly it's all just so confusing. I do worry about long term and I know that maintaining a 500 calorie diet isn't what I want long term. I just hope that these changes really stick with me and that food becomes less of a priority in my life due to this surgery. It's all about achieving balance and good health. I really love healthy foods but the diet industry scares the crap out of me. I become afraid that fad diets are all out there trying to make us gain weight!! I believe in rny and portion control and in some sense listening to our bodies cues and whether we are hungry or eating emotionally. I hope that this surgery helps me achieve balance and my thoughts are with all of you too!!

Good point made. I think the bottom line is that we should listen to our doctors of course. I think it's a given that taking advice off of here should be with a major grain of salt. But some of us may not have much support from our nut and doctor. My feelings go out to those of us who are struggling to lose weight, maybe losing weight very slowly ect. My feeling is that to encourage anyone on here to eat more is misguided and that there are many misconceptions it there about what this means! We all know that gastric bypass does work- that's why we did it! It's a proven process and it works by calorie reduction. It does work but one way it can fail is with the consumption of liquid calories and snacking! If you eat through your pouch you won't lose weight. Some of this is about battling mental hunger and emotional hunger. Even with rny one still has to deal with hunger sometimes and it's not something to be afraid of. I just want to make the point that yes, listen to your doctor. Discuss it with them -if your having to force your Protein down. That seems conter- productive doesn't it? I want to start a discussion about this topic because I think the eat more thing is soooo misunderstood. And it doesn't apply to us! We are not typical dieters. The eat more diet fad preaches to eat more fruits and vegetables- but we can't do that in the early stages of our surgery and I don't think Protein shakes are supposed to be consumed long term. Eat more bulk and less calories (junk food and carbs) that is what the diet preaches. Not just "eat more." I don't think anyone should force food they are not capable of eating or force down calories if they don't want them. I read up on starvation mode and they discussed that while ones metabolism does drop it isn't significant to stall weight loss. Not that I'm saying any of us should starve!!! We should allow our bodies to use our fat as fuel until we reach a healthy weight. Here is the link to the article. We should not be afraid of low calories. There are many articles out there like this. http://themilitarydiet.com/starvation-mode-is-a-myth/ http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm