artblitz

First let me say that I became dehydrated and ended up with low patassium and sodium, so salt intake wasn't a concern. The only broth I could keep down the first 3 weeks post op was from Raman noodles. I bought $0.28 cup-a-noodles, drained off the broth (do not eat the noodles) and lived on that to make sure I stay hydrated. The pounds still dropped off........no fluid retention from the salt content. I seriously believe if I hadn't found this broth, I would have been much sicker for much longer.

So I don't recommend if you have blood pressure issues, but it is a very tasty option if you can't find any other broth you can drink.

Oh, I love Ramen noodles (post college days) that is a great idea. Bet they are cheap at the dollar store. Did you really lose 45 pounds the first month? Yikes that is fast...but I guess of all you are eating is the broth from Ramen noodles...that would make sense. Must feel kind funny to have your body drop weight that fast. Did you do anything else...like workout? Are you on full liquids yet.

Which vitamins are you taking? Was it hard to keep fluids down or you just had no appetite? I bought some of that Isopure which has 40 grams of protein per drink...and is a clear liquid. I have heard it does not taste real good so I got several flavors to try them out...hopefully find one I like.

Keep me posted....I will be looking forward to your loss statistics.

Thanks,

Helen

I've lost 42 in 11 weeks. I had lost like 30 the first month. I had a hard time keeping everything down until the last couple weeks. I've now officially gone 8 days without throwing up! I think I started eating solid foods to soon after surgery. Things went to hell for awhile after that. Couldn't keep anything down, got dehydrated, ended up back in the hospital 2 weeks post op. I felt so good after surgery that I pushed my food I take and myself (it was the week of thanksgiving, family was home, Christmas decorations needed to be completed etc. etc.). I was exhausted and very sick. Went back to liquids for another week after that admission, but up until last week, I was still struggling. Funny, but the tide turned at week 11 and I've been doing great.

I just couldn't bring myself to drink the protein shakes. I just threw them up and just thinking about drinking one still makes me quizzy. But now that I'm on solid food, I make sure I eat two high protein meal bars (Quest brand is very good) per day. That's how I make sure I'm getting 60+ grams of protein. Plus I've learned to stop eating sooner.......before I feel like I need to throw it up!

I'm amazed at how much smaller I've gotten with 42 lbs gone. I want to loose 29 more to get to my goal......unless that makes me look too thin. I don't want to look "sick" just to look "skinny" if that makes sense.

I take One-A-Day women's gummie vitamin, a B12 sublingual since I had low B12 before surgery and Biotin which is supposed to minimize hair loss. Haven't lost my hair yet, but I guess it's still early in the journey. I buy my vitamins at Walmart. Nothing special and by surgeon and primary care docs are both fine with what I'm taking. I don't want to get into buying any special bariatric products if over the counter stuff is ok.

Good luck with your planning, buying and surgery. It really is pretty normal on the other side once you heal and figure out food quantity.

Take care,

Marsha