SuperDave

Excellent work! Keep it up! You will be at your goal in no time!

My 2 week post op diet basically consisted of 4 things. Cream of Wheat for Breakfast. sugar free Jello for lunch. Greek yogurt for dinner. Premier Protein shakes in between meals. I was only eating 1-1.5 ounces of anything per meal. I was lucky to drink any more than 1 Protein shake (30 grams of protein) per day for the first week. I sipped on Water constantly, but was only getting in about 40 ounces a day for at least a week. I just wasn't hungry and nothing really sounded good, but my nutritionist said it was important to eat something and try to get my protein and fluids in, so that it what I did. For Vitamins I use TwinLab Bariatric chewable vitamins and TwinLab Bariatric Chewable Calcium. They aren't the greatest tasting things in the world, but they aren't terrible either. I get them both on either Amazon or from Swanson Vitamins, depending on availability when I need them. They seem to be frequently out of stock on both sites. I think the important thing to remember the first 2 weeks is that it will probably be a struggle to get in your fluids and protein, but it does get easier. Just do what you can do and don't worry about it too much!

Happy to hear you broke through the stall! Isn't it funny how our brains trick us into thinking that nothing is happening? We can still be losing fat and dropping sizes, but if we don't see that scale move then we believe we are doing something wrong! It's a little silly, but I know next time my weight stalls, I will think exactly the same thing again!

I lost 150 pounds on my own before surgery, so the answer is yes I could do it. But even after that 150, I had 100 pounds to go to hit my goal, and losing was getting harder. So the surgery for me was a way to push through to the end and help keep the weight off once at my goal. I am happy that I lost a lot on my own, as it gave me confidence that I could do it and maintain. But at the same time, I have absolutely zero regrets about having the surgery when I needed more help. All that being said, wondering if this is the right choice is 100% normal. I would worry more about someone who jumped in to a completely life changing procedure without a second thought. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in that category as well, and they seem to be the ones who fail.

Awesome! I use the step counting feature on my smart watch. It definitely helps motivate me to get in extra steps whenever I can!

No need to be discouraged. Everybody reacts a bit differently to surgery. There are some major changes happening. Just do what you are supposed to do and it will happen!

Excellent work! Keep it up!

That is great! I am having the same problem. My wife tells me I need to buy new clothes, but I just bought new clothes! We are going to Las Vegas for our anniversary in March, so I keep telling her I will hold off until then. We will see if my pants stay up that long!

I had just left for a 2 week vacation when I was approved, so I scheduled for a month later. I could have done it in 2 weeks, but I didn't want to be on vacation and a liquid diet at the same time!

I was ready the day after surgery, but the nurses all said no.

Awesome! I'm happy to hear about your success! Keep up the good work!

I'm 8 weeks post op, I had half a roll on Christmas with no bad effects. However, I'm really not craving bread yet, so no reason to worry about it!

There are a lot of them on Amazon, both physical and ebooks. Just search for "weight loss surgery cookbook". I have also downloaded a couple but haven't tried anything yet. I'm not quite to the point where I want to cook anything. I'm sure I will get there!

I love love love dogs! More than people most of the time... I'm sorry for your loss, but it makes me happy that you could give another pup a loving home. Here is my baby. I got her from the pound a little over a year ago after my Black Lab of 15 years had to be put down. She is sort of crazy and still a little bitey, but we are working on that! This is Maeby:

It's not the end of the world! You know what happened and you know how to fix the problem. Now it is just a matter of making it happen. I would suggest going back to basics. A small portion of Protein and veggies for meals supplemented with protein shakes instead of Snacks as needed. You will be back on track in no time! No worries, you have got this! Oh yeah, and get rid of any of the holiday treats still laying around!

I also drink the ready made Premier Protein shakes. They are about as good as it gets, which isn't really saying much! I have tried several different powders. None of them are great, but I'm not using it for the flavor, (I have to keep telling myself that!) I just buy unflavored/unsweetened powder and blend it with almond milk, keifer (liquid yogurt), Torani sugar free vanilla syrup, PB2 (Peanut Butter powder) and ice. It actually makes a really good Protein shake. It doesn't really matter which powder you use for something like this because everything else covers the taste. It's is also a little labor intensive, which is why I also keep the Premier shakes around.

Of course having excess skin removed will result in weight loss. Exactly how much weight loss depends on how much excess skin you have. Also, you will most likely not feel like eating for a while after the surgery, resulting in some weight loss as well. It is important to remember, however, that your skin will continue to tighten for a while after weight loss. You will probably not see final results for up to a year after you reach your goal weight. And of course, everyone is different. Many factors play into how well your skin responds to your loss.

I like the Quest bars, and the Protein vs carbs seem to be better than most. They come in a ton of flavors, so I don't get sick of them too quickly. You can get them a bit cheaper on Amazon.

@@babytech82 - Welcome to the site. There are a lot of extremely helpful people here, like the two who have already posted. I can't give better advice than what they told you, but I wish you the best of luck with your journey! Please keep us posted with your progress. You will feel like a new person in no time at all!

Glad to hear the surgery went well. Good luck with everything!

As others have stated, it is simply a matter of keeping Water with you all the time. At 2 months post-op, carrying a water bottle and sipping regularly has just become second nature. I don't even think about it, I just do it. I buy cases of water in 16.9 oz bottles at costco. They come out to about 10 cents per bottle. It tastes much better than my tap water or even filtered water, and I can put a Crystal Light packet in if I want. When I'm done it goes in the recycle bin at home or work. I'm up to 5 a day at this point, or just over 80 oz. The point being, whatever you decide to do, it quickly just becomes part of your routine. I no longer have to remind myself to drink, it just happens. Plus, extended weight loss will reduce your risk of kidney stones.

Crap! I didn't even notice! Please continue powdering your noses, or whatever goes on in here! ::Slowly backing out of room::

Hello there. I’m Dave, 44 years old, from Arizona. I will apologize in advance, this might be long! I am 1 week post-op today, but my weight loss journey started almost 3 years ago. I knew my weight was out of control, but I had no idea how bad since I had long ago exceeded the max weight of a standard scale. I was walking out of work one night, through the warehouse. Nobody was around, so I decided to weigh myself on the shipping scale. (Hopefully I didn’t weigh more than a pallet of goods!) I was 450. I knew it would be bad, but I was shocked at that number. Definitely my “what the @#!*?” moment! I decided that night that I had to make changes, and I did. Bariatric surgery had not entered my mind at that point. Several months after that, I had emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia. By chance, the surgeon on staff that day was Dr. Podkameni, who also happened to be the head of the bariatric center at the hospital. There were complications that resulted in an 11 day hospital stay, meaning that I saw a lot of Dr. Pod. We talked about bariatric surgery, but I told him I was already working on it and having success, and I didn’t feel like such an extreme measure was needed. The truth is, I feared that I would have to give up food the rest of my life. I was raised in a food centered family. My father was a baker by trade. He owned several cake shops throughout his life. My earliest childhood memories are playing in the back of the shop while Mom baked and Dad decorated cake after cake. Family activities centered around food. It is just how it always was, and still is. I picked up the bug at an early age. I became an excellent cook, and still to this day nothing brings me greater happiness than cooking for family and friends. It is my escape from reality. It is what I love to do. So, over the next 2 years I worked at it. I had my ups and downs, but I managed to lose 120 pounds. Down to 330. A definite improvement, but not where I needed to be. And then I bottomed out. I hadn’t changed what I was doing, I just got to the point where it was no longer enough. I settled in at that weight, but in the back of my mind I knew I had to do more. The one thing that kept coming back to me was what Dr. Pod said on the day I was released from the hospital. Basically, I knew where to find him when I got to the point that I needed help. I did some research and decided it was time. I had my initial consult in March of this year. I started my medically supervised weight loss, as required by my insurance. The whole process reinvigorated me. I started losing again while the bariatric center and insurance company fought about payment. After 8 months I was finally approved and scheduled for surgery on November 10th. The morning I checked into the hospital for surgery I was 299.9 pounds. I truly do not remember the last time in my life I weighed under 300 pounds. Surgery went well, but the next few days were rough. At times I was sure I had made a huge mistake. I had extreme nausea for 3 days, including dry heaves several times a day. My pain level was much worse than I was expecting. I was unable to even come close to taking in the fluids I needed, and I am still struggling with that. But it gets better every day. I am down 12 pounds from surgery and ready to face the challenges ahead. I appreciate the information and support from the people on this site. I have no doubt now that I can finish the journey. Thanks for reading and for sharing the adventure with me!