Djmohr

For me, everything changed. What I used to love, I no longer love. For example the description that the op made regarding that juicy cheeseburger. I loved cheeseburgers! I could not wait until I could have one again. Yep, I can eat them if I want to but honestly they no longer thrill me at all. I was a spaghetti fanatic ever since I was a young child. The night before I started my liquid diet we went to our favorite Italian restaurant and had a food funeral. It was so delicious! I have had spaghetti and have made it many different ways for my family. I cannot even stand the texture of Pasta which is what I once loved. I don't get sick but things like bread, pasta, rice make my pouch feel heavy. I now dream about a perfectly cooked filet mignon or salmon. A great piece of pork tenderloin or a juicy grilled chicken breast with some fabulous vegetables or a nice green salad. I cant eat much but boy I think about delicious food that is healthy and good for me. I do occasionally crave a good piece of cheesecake or a couple spoons of ice cream. Because I eat very healthy the rest of the day, I can occasionaly enjoy those yummy treats. I started living for real the day I had my surgery. I no longer live to eat but I eat to live. I make sure that everything I do eat is delicious and worth taking up precious space in my tiny tummy. Some people say they really don't care for food since surgery. For me, I love food. I love planning menus, cooking my food and enjoying it while I eat it. I never eat fast food and seriously do not miss it at all. In fact my hubby eats it and it really grosses me out. All that grease, fat and salt.....no thanks. There are times when I have made something absolutely delicious and wish I could eat more but then I just figure I can have the leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. My apologies..... I just logged back in and saw this was a male only site.......

I have been weighing daily since the pre op liquid diet. For me, it helps that I understand how my weight fluctuates throughout the week and month. It is motivating as heck for me even now 18 months post op and at my goal as of today. You do have to get it straight in your head that you are not going to see a loss every day nor even every week as you get closer to goal. I use the weight on the scale as 1 measurement tool only. If you cannot think about it as a tool, then you need to stay off because the stalls and fluctuation can be demotivating. I use this info everyday. No, I don't change my plan because of what the scale tells me but if I see an increase in weight which has only happened a few times, I look back at myfitnesspal to determine what I am doing to cause that increase. Most of the time I can directly relate it back to salt. If I eat too much salt, I retain Water. the scale is my friend, my guide.......there times when I argue with her. When I stall for longer than a week, I stay off for a week and then we can be friends again.

I had terrible gas pain. For me walking, sipping and the use of a heating pad really helped it dissipate. I also used gas x when my bowels began working again. That pain can be pretty uncomfortable.

@@Inner Surfer Girl Thanks!

I have tried just about every arm exercise known and because I had huge upper arms, I now have huge near empty bat wings. I have some definition below but I will have to have this removed. Believe it or not my arms bother me more than anything. When I raise my arms I can see the beautiful thin arm of the future but all the sagging skin is hanging off them. Ugh! I hid them when I was fat and I am now hiding them because they are really ugly. I just hit goal today so now I need to maintain for the next year and then I can think about plastics.

The best thing you can do for yourself is track your food. Until you do, you really have no idea of the macro nutrients. The Peanut Butter has some Protein however the jelly and bread basically turn to sugar. That in itself can cause you to crave that sugar. If I were in your shoes I would do the pouch test to simply rid your body of the sugar habit. And track what you consume in my fitness pal. When you begin eating again, follow the same plan you did after surgery. Start with soft foods and make sure you are truly high protein, low carbs. Not sure but I suspect you are truly not close to your protein goal which will help you lose weight. You are most definately upside down eating more grams of carbs and less protein will stall or stop your weight loss. What are your portions like? I am 18 months post op and could never eat a whole pb&j sandwich. I have had a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter on it and was only able to eat 2/3 of that one slice. Are you not drinking 30 min. Before and 30 minutes after you eat? If you have broken that rule you may find yourself hungrier as well. The good news is, you still have your tool. You just need to start fresh as if you had surgery today. I wish you the best of luck! You can do this! I know it's possible because I reached my goal today! There have been plenty of times where the rules start to slip for me and I stall out. The good thing is you recognize the problem and can do something about it!

I call Chinese take out a treat and I budget for it in my fitness pal. Honestly take out is loaded with fat and carbs but because you eat so little of it and it's only once in a while, go for it. I love egg rolls, egg foo young, moo shu anything......and I absolutely love chicken or pork pot stickers. I stay away from the rice, noodles and pancakes mostly because they swell and make me uncomfortable. I do eat the won ton wrapper on the pot stickers. Honestly, I would rather make my own home made Chinese food but my hubby really loves this place so I will have it once in a while. I do however love hibachi dinners from Japanese restaurants and so does my pouch. I simply skip the rice and take home the leftovers.

I would ask your surgeons office for a recommendation on a PCP who supports Bariatric surgery. I would then switch PCPs. It is awful when you have a doctor who don't support it and you need a PCP who will follow you post op. I swear, there are too many general doctors that are behind the times when it comes to WLS. They seriously don't know how to connect the dots with a post Bariatric patient. You need someone who is well versed and will order the right blood tests down the road. My honest opinion is that you find a physician that is well versed in Bariatric surgery and supports it. It will ensure you have proper care both before and after surgery. Most important, after care!

I was told not to in the first couple of months while your stomach heals. This is because you can suck air which in turn causes pain. I have been using a straw everyday since about 6 months post op.

@@Pedro Valle-Inclan I am curious. How can you say that the sleeve is not a new stomach created? They removed 90% of a sleeves stomach leaving a long banana shaped pouch. There is a long staple line. But it is made from a portion of the old stomach. With bypass they simply take a portion of the old stomach to make the pouch as well. In both cases, the new stomach is part of the old stomach. Do I have this wrong? Or maybe I misunderstood your point?

It can be used by anyone. It is basically taking you back to the pre op liquid diet to reset yourself.

Protein is critical to weight loss. I am 18 months post op and I drink one every morning for Breakfast. I could not possibly get my protein from just food, I am very restricted. I have tried many different protein shakes and have found that Premier Protein ready made shakes work best for me. They have a whopping 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar and are 160 calories. They are ready made so no blender mess required. They don't have that nasty grit that comes from most powdered protein. You can buy them in bulk at Sam's and costco. Some Walgreens have them in small 4 packs and I believe Walmart carries them as well. Costco runs a sale on them every couple of months and I stock up. To your question about weight loss, yes protein is very very critical to weight loss and your nutrition. Having WLS can cause you to be malnourished if you don't get proper amounts of protein and Vitamins. You can get very ill. Please find a protein solution that works for you.

A bit of tough love here....are pancakes and spaghetti os on your approved list? Mashed potatoes? This is just my opinion but the choices you are making can lead to some problems with cravings. The more carbs you eat, the more you will crave them. eggs, tuna, chicken, turkey, yogurt, cottage cheese - items high in Protein will keep you more satisfied for longer periods of time while those carbs are actually the worst thing you can do in this early stage. Also eating processed pre packaged foods like spaghetti os is something my nut told me to stay away from forever. It may be why you are having so many cravings so soon. Half the battle is the head games. How much protein are you currently getting?

What's a 5.2 plan?

@@lifeofblair When I go shopping, I am going to pick some up. Thanks for sharing!

@ Welcome and congratulations on making the decision to get healthy! You have done terrific on your pre op diet. What your are feeling right now is perfectly normal. What helped me get through it was 2 things. 1. Constantly thinking about why I made this choice. For me, I was sick with many comorbitities but also very severe arthritis. My body was breaking down literally. 2. Focusing on 1 step/day at a time which clearly you are. Don't fret about all the possibilities of what could go wrong. I know you are worried about dumping, but don't. Only 30% of people get it and if you do you figure out very quickly what not to do. In terms of post op pain, tell your doctor that you are worried about this and he will make sure that they give you proper pain control. The worst part of the surgery is the stupid gas they use in your belly. The best thing you can do for that is walk, sip Water and use a heating pad. It only lasts a few days. Just remember that the pain really can be controlled. As far as complications go. Try not to focus on this at all. Why worry about something that hasn't happened yet. Back to point number 2, take it one step at a time. I am very happy for you. If you have a similar experience to mine, you will realize this is the best decision you ever made for yourself! I am literally 1lb from goal. I no longer have pain in my knees and ankles. You are quite young which means maybe you catch this before it does worse damage to your joints. I say this all the time, my only regret is not doing this sooner! I am 52 and for me the joint damage is done. The best of luck to you and feel free to reach out with questions.

In the beginning Water did this to me and I learned it was the temperature that caused it. To this day I still only drink spring water and it has to be room temp. Occasionaly I do enjoy tea made with milk for my dessert but those are the two things I drink. I will say I am very picky about water though. I think some waters like Dasani and Aquafina taste dusty where as spring water is delicious. Weird huh?

@@lifeofblair Holy cow! They have this at my local grocery store. I may have to give this a try. Have you tried it?

I am 18 months post op from bypass. I have been able to eat whatever I want without dumping. I very occasionally treat myself to sweets. It is all about how how much of something you eat. If I have a small piece of cake, cheesecake, pie, scoop of ice cream, I don't get sick. I have only made the mistake once of eating just a little too much and it left me feeling crappy but I don't get sick. Now, I have had too many carbs and they can stall you so just because I can eat whatever I want, doesn't mean I should. Also, anything overly sweet just simply doesn't taste good to me. I try to choose a dessert that isn't overly sweet tasting. My favorite is cheesecake! I have a couple of bites and I am satisfied. Of course I never even attempted trying sweets until I was post op 6 months. I still have not tried alcohol but that is because I am on pain medication. I also don't do carbinated anything mostly because I didn't drink soda before and I don't need to start now. Life after bypass is pretty darn good. My only side effect that I truly complain about is constipation. My doctor recently put me on Linzess and it is working fantastic.

@@retzlpa Well, it happens! I am right there with you. Last week I did not make the best choices 3 days in a row. Unfortunately I gained 2 lbs! Now, I certainly didn't go completely nuts but I ate a lot of salty chips and crackers so I am guessing I gained Water weight. the important thing is that we recognize it and get back on track. Give yourself a break, we are human......

@@CowgirlJane You are correct. With bypass they do not remove the remainder of your stomach. I was also told that The larger portion of the stomach actually performs a function with digestion in the small intestine. There are digestive juices in that part of the old stomach. As food makes its way into the small intestine, the digestive juices in the old stomach mix with that food and it AIDS digestion. Bypass can be reversed if medically necessary. That is my understanding of how it works.

I have asked my surgeon this question and was told yes, you would likely be over the legal limit before you even notice the buzz!

@@_Laura_ I would be happy to share my experience and knowledge. If you are interested, message me directly. I have some ideas that might help get you started.

I don't usually get this frustrated but after reading this string now multiple times I really have to say this. Bypass patients are NOT plagued with malnutrition! It frustrates me when people do not educate themselves enough to understand the malabsorption process. It is intentional, not a side effect. It helps with weight loss. The reason some people end up malnourished is because they choose to eat the wrong things or they don't take their Vitamins It has absolutely nothing to do with having bypass surgery. You can end up malnourished with any weight loss surgery. As long as you follow the plan and get your blood work done regularly you will not end up malnourished. The reason I am frustrated by this is because I personally almost went with the wrong surgery because people were telling me that the malabsorption would cause me to be malnourished! It took 2 different doctors to help me understand that this is a false statement. I suffered from severe Gerd and would have chosen the wrong surgery had I not educated myself on these procedures. All I am asking is that you understand the advice you are giving and speak from your experience not from what you might believe to be true. To the OP, I wish you the best of luck and the best thing you can do for yourself is to leverage your medical team to guide you given your medical condition. Rant over......