Gingerisgreat

If you are on Facebook, look up and request to join a group called "Rock's Kitchen". It is a mainly WLS community site that is dedicated to health and wellness, with a wealth of recipes and ideas shared DAILY about what to cook, eat, prepare, freeze....all geared towards healthy living, cooking, and smaller portions! It has been inspirational for me and they are at nearly 10,000 friends now because it is so popular. I meal prep every week and I utilize a lot of the ideas mentioned above. I also cook for a family, and I rarely eat an entirely separate meal. I too make a lot of meals now that contain meatballs because my family loves anything containing them, and its easy for me to just pick out two and eat them with a side of something else. If my family has spaghetti, I will have two meatballs and a small amount of ricotta. Last week I found a recipe on Pinterest called "meatball sub casserole". It is a base of garlic toast, made using fresh french bread, that has been toasted under the broiler, then placed in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Then you top that with a low fat cream cheese/mayo mix that has italian seasoning in it. Then you top that with meatballs that are already cooked and cut into halves so they lay flat on the bread. Then top with low-sugar marinara sauce, and top that with low-fat mozzarella. Bake in the oven on 350 until the cheese melts and is brown and bubbly. This meal was such a hit that my family fought over who got the leftovers TWO NIGHTS LATER!!!! They wanted it three nights in a row! I did not eat the bread part, I just took some meatball and cheese mixture off of the top. I ate mine with some cottage cheese because it made it taste like lasagna! Eating properly even with a family CAN BE DONE!!!!! My entire family has improved their eating habits because of my surgery. My husband is not a large man but he lost his excess 20 pounds over these last six months just by way of the environmental changes. I used to cook large breakfasts every weekend morning that we were all off and at home. NO MORE!!! Now we all enjoy fruit smoothies, or yogurt with homemade granola, or Breakfast burritos inside low-carb wraps. It is hard at first because you will feel like your list of "Cant Have" is bigger than the list of "Go Ahead" but you will find in time that the things you used to enjoy, crave, desire, are no longer important to you. You can do this:)

@@losing-it, I am glad that my story is now able to help someone else! That is the ENTIRE reason why I didn't feel right about keeping my journey a secret! I do take extra Vitamins, as I was found to be deficient in vitamins A and B1 when I had my three month labs drawn. I take one of each of those every day in addition to my multi, and I also eat chewable Biotin tablets because I have lost a lot of hair. The Vitamin A and B1, i was told, are deficient for me because I was unable to eat meat for so long after surgery. The nutritionist said that with time as I am able to tolerate more meats, or learn which meats I can eat, I may not need them at all as they are vitamins that are commonly found in meats. I do tolerate liver vert well, and strangely I do not mind how it tastes. It was on a list of recommended foods by my nutritionist because of my vitamin issues, so I try to incorporate that into my diet at least twice a month. I don't mind taking the vitamins, but I also try to follow whatever suggestions that I get from my nutritionist.

I also went to my first surgeons appointment with the mindset of having the sleeve. Throughout my appointments, we discovered that I had an ulcer as well as esophagitis due to reflux. My surgeon couldn't believe that I didn't have chronic stomach pains however I had been dealing with chronic pelvic pain due to a metabolic disorder, which masked the stomach discomfort. It was determined that my chronic pelvic pain caused me to use NSAIDs like Ibuprofen and Naproxen so often that it caused my ulcer. Due to those discoveries, and my metabolic disorder, my surgeon highly recommended that I have RNY instead of the sleeve. He stated that the RNY would give me a better chance at metabolic changes that I needed to get rid of the pelvic pain (the WHOLE reason for looking into the surgery in the first place), and that the sleeve would only be a riskier option for me because of the history of ulcers and reflux. I was hesitant and it took a few months of prayer and research before I finally made my decision. I will be three months out on Wednesday and I have NO REGRETS. I do feel that it is a personal decision for each person, but i know that the RNY was without a doubt the best option for me. I feel amazing, my pelvic pain is almost non-existent. I am off of ALL medications, including diabetic meds, reflux meds, and hormonal medications related to the metabolic disorder. I sleep 6-7 hours and wake up feeling RESTED!!! That never happened to me before. I am half way to my goal after only three months, and the changes that I have made are positively affecting both family and co-workers! Prior to surgery, I had an insatiable sweet tooth, and I was known for skipping meals to eat sweets with a coffee. No longer! The cravings are no longer an issue for me, and I feel wonderful. I even get comments on how great my skin looks!

I did have a drainage tube for RNY, as did my BFF for her VSG. They only stayed in for the two days that we were in the hospital. I heard that occasionally they will send you home with it if they feel that it is needed however this is very rare. Maybe all surgeons do not use this practice. I did not find the drainage tube to be painful or uncomfortable, or an inconvenience in any way. It was pinned to the inside of my hospital gown to keep it in a proper position and it wasn't much bigger than a tennis ball. The drainage tube was one of the smaller "issues" that comes with weight loss surgery. It takes about 15 seconds for the tube to be removed, and it is not a painful process. It is a strange sensation to say the least however not painful at all. I hope this helps.

Hi Susan33, Not sure if I am anywhere near you however a lot of our stats seem to be in the same neighborhoods. I am also 33, I am 5'6 and my HW was 288, I believe date of surgery it was 272. I was a single mother to my daughter for the first 6 years of her life before I met my now husband. Single parenting is very difficult but you learn to just DO what needs to be done and not waste any of your precious time complaining about what needs done, and THAT is how things get done!!!! I try explaining this to my husband and he just doesn't get it.....I still sometimes just do what I want done because I wait for no one.....and that is because I had to for so many years. I am CONFIDENT that you will conquer this surgery!!! I had my RNY in November, I actually left the hospital on Thanksgiving night. Who is keeping your children while you are in the hospital?? You will be very tired when you are released home and you will not be able to lift more than 10 pounds, not sure how long your surgeon will leave you on lifting restrictions. I am here if you need anyone to talk to, Good Luck!!!

Congratulations, Its up and up from here (except for on the scales)!!!! I hope your recovery is smooth sailing! Keep us posted!

I too struggled with a LOT of exhaustion. I am now six weeks post op and am starting to feel more like myself, deep cleaning my house, walking, and catching up on everything that i felt suffered neglect while I was recovering. I did ask my nutritionist about it when I was last into an appointment and she stated that the extreme changes within the body caused different responses in everyone. She also stated that we essentially are being put into a medically induced and monitored state of starvation and that our bodies are constantly changing which can make us feel more tired while in the stages of recovery. She just stressed (as someone stated above) to stay on top of vitamins as well as protein and to write how I feel in my journal with my food and weight so that I could later look back and see trends if it doesn't improve. I did have a lot of trouble sleeping early on after surgery as I am NOT a back sleeper, and that is the only pain-free way to sleep after surgery. Also, before I was able to get in all of my fluids, I felt so dehydrated at night that I would wake several times in the night just to drink. I was so parched that I couldn't sleep! I can now sleep in any position I choose and I am doing great with my fluids so although I still wake for water at least once a night, it is only once. What a difference I feel. Be patient, I am confident that you will find the cause of your exhaustion and will be back to "normal" in no time. Best of Luck!

@anewme15: I feel like I am doing fairly well with my weight loss, I am currently sitting at about 43 pounds lost in 50 days which I feel is very successful. I had one major setback last week which was pleurisy around my left lung and hindered my workout for a few days as I had to rest and take pain meds......again. But I'm feeling good again and back into mischief! How are you doing?

This holiday season I was newly post-op so I couldn't participate in much....RNY on 11/25 thus on pureed/softs through the entire holiday. We made bean dip a LOT. I would section out a small amount for myself prior to adding sausage and seasonings for my family. I would add a little cheddar to mine for added protein and they would use theirs with chips, or on tortillas as burritos (my kids' favorite). It worked great for all of us, was high protein for me, and my husband always LOVES to have it leftover to heat up!!!

I was informed from a friend of mine that had surgery before me that the 30/30 rule does not apply to your Protein drinks. I was told that its not a wise idea to "wash them down" with Water or another beverage, however it isn't as important to wait the entire 30 minutes like it is after food. I have been making sure to stick to the 30/30 when eating a little something but I don't worry as much when I am having a shake.

Today my husband helped me recheck my measurements. We took them and recorded them in my journal two days after I started the pre-op liquid diet on November 17th, 2014 because a friend of mine had told me that she didn't take any measurements and that was one of her biggest regrets from preparation. Today, in comparison, each of my upper arms are nearly 3 inches smaller, my neck is a full inch smaller, my chest shows a five inch decrease, my waist is a full EIGHT inches smaller, and my hips are three and a half inches smaller!!!! Each thigh is three inches smaller, and each calf is an inch smaller. I am SOOOOOOOO thrilled with these results! Here's to dressing like a hobo for the first few months of 2015 as my clothes are hanging on me and i REFUSE to replace them as of yet!

Welcome!!!! You've come to the right place! This forum has helped me so much since i joined. I didn't join until after surgery because (I am only seeing this now) I allowed my life to be WAAAAAY too stressful and full prior to going off of work for surgery, and I wish I had joined prior to my operation. GOOD FOR YOU for actually writing down the WHY of what you are choosing to do for yourself. Now that I have had my surgery and some time off from work to reflect on what got me here in the first place, I am making a new commitment to myself to take better care of me and to love myself at every stage that I reach!!! I look forward to hearing about your journey in the future!

I am almost five weeks post op and I feel the same way. I am also on soft foods as well and really the only things that don't make me feel sick is soup that is ate very slowly, and I can only take in about 2-3oz. of the soup. Occasionally I do well with 1/4 c. of cottage cheese or about 2 oz. of a greek yogurt. I am just having to take it very slow. Every morning I try a yogurt to get me started, and I always think that I will finish it later but I never do, its always saved for the next day. I am still having to do protein shakes because I know that there is NO way I am getting in my protein off of foods. I can eat one scrambled egg, but by the time I get to the last bite of it I don't want anymore and I end up leaving 1-2 bari sized bites on my plate. This is definitely harder than I thought it was going to be. I don't crave any kinds of meats at all, I want vegetables again!

On MFP I have noticed that every day it is telling me that I am not meeting my goal for intake and that it could prevent me from losing. I simply CAN NOT take in what it says I am alotted, nor do I care to! Is there any way to tell it that I have a much smaller caloric intake goal now that I am a bari patient? Or do I just have to keep ignoring what it's telling me??