annebqui

I'm 15 lbs from my goal. My doc says it will take a year to lose the last bit. It is frustrating.

Hi All, It has almost been one year since we have had our surgery. I've lost 95 lbs so far. I have 10-15 more and my doc says it will take me a year to lose that last bit. I need to start exercising more, but since April my job has been crazy busy, plus I've relocated to Las Vegas and the move has been crazy too. We are approaching the holidays. Is anyone worried? I've noticed that I've started craving a little bit of something sweet. I'm trying to figure out the best way to deal with that. Since the surgery I can't have any artificial sweeteners. They make me violently ill. I've been trying to fill the craving with a small amount of dried fruit. Anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks

Hi All Fellow December Surgery People, It is 6 months since our surgery (more or less). How is everyone doing? I've lost 76 pounds, 34 more to go. Overall I'm still doing well, though it is a constant struggle to get enough protein. Right now I'm really struggling with a lot of irritation on the loose skin on my belly and irritation under my breasts. I've had to buy a couple of wardrobes so far. I've not fit in this small of sizes in a long time!

They do exist (just do a search on Protein tablets). However, they only offer a very small amount of protein in each tablet (usually 1-2 grams) and are really not much use.

You can get pb2 at Costco too.

I hit 196 yesterday, down a total of 54 lbs. I just passed my three month mark after surgery. I'm thrilled.

It is thought that there are two kinds of RLS; one type that you have genetically and one type that people get after surgery, while pregnant etc. The second type most often will go away after time, or after correction of things like thyroid issues. Unfortunately, I have the other kind. I take medication for it every evening before bed, and that really helps me to sleep. There is a lot of good info here on medications, physicians who treat this, and more. http://rls.org/ By the way, they have now changed the name from RLS to Willis-Ekbom Disease or WED. It was felt that Restless Leg didn't describe the seriousness of the disease. I've had this all of my life, but was not diagnosed until in my 30s. Iron did absolutely nothing for me, and my thyroid tests are always normal. If anyone wants to chat about it, just let me know.

This has Stevia which is the only sweetener I can tolerate. I'm going to try this out.

I hit the 100s today. Barely at 198, but still below the 200s. I'm so happy.

My surgery was Dec 16th. Yesterday I was at 200.0. I didn't weigh today but I'm looking forward to the first digit being a 1.

My surgery was exactly 3 months ago, and I met my goal of 50 lbs in 3 months. I'm very happy with my progress.

bellabloom - That is terrible. Will your stomach pain go away some time soon? I wish you the best of luck with your healing.

Wow, I love the success stories. You people rock! I'm really impressed with what you have accomplished. My surgery was Dec 16 and I'm down 46 lbs. I'm feeling well and exercising. I've walked 2.5 miles at a time, and try to increase it every day. I feel good. For a long time I was losing weight but not a lot of size. About 3 weeks ago in a space of a couple of days I lost a bunch of size, so that was great. (Though I wish I'd lose some in my breasts, and have not lost any there yet.) My struggle is still to attempt to get enough protein every day, but other than that I don't have any problems.

I think that my problem is that I'm simply not able to eat as much quantity of food. In the example above where someone starts the day with a greek yogurt (and thus gets 10-15 g of protein), I can only get down about 1/4 cup of yogurt, or half of a container. With the best yogurt that I can tolerate, that gives me about 7.5 g of Protein. The same with any of my meals. 1/4-1/2 can of tuna is 7-13 grams. Even if I can force myself to eat that 5 times a day, that is only 35 grams of protein a day. Quite often I can't get 5 meals in. I don't see that forcing myself to eat more is a good solution, particularly when it is really uncomfortable to eat more than that.

I went into the doctor a few weeks ago because I had not had a period since I stopped by BC pills before my surgery. Turns out I went through menopause sometime without even knowing it. Yay me!

I'm not getting my Protein in either. When I talked to my nutritionist about this, she said to make the best effort that I can. I cannot tolerate the Protein drinks. They have sweeteners in them, where if I drink them, I can't tolerate any other food or liquid for the rest of the day. The only 'artificial' sweetener that doesn't make me sick is Stevia. I am still only eating about 1/4 cup of food at a setting, which makes it hard to get enough protein in a day. For Breakfast I have 1/2 container of Triple 0 yougurt. That is 7.5 grams of protein. For lunch, tuna or some meat. For dinner, the same. For Snacks, cheese, a small amount of nuts, a few crackers with some no sugar Peanut Butter. I'd love some other ideas of what to eat. Even with meats, I find that I can tolerate best ground meats. I don't know how anyone eats steak or beef. I tried once and it was extremely uncomfortable. I'd kill to be able to eat some veggies or fruit. But with only being able to eat 1/4 cup at a time and not getting enough protein, I've not eaten any. As a result, the only way my digestive system works is with a laxative pill every morning with my Vitamins.

I called my nutritionist about the amount of Protein I'm getting in because it is no where near the 60 g a day range. She told me that the goal is 60-80 grams and to do the best that I can. She talked to me about different options such as cheese, milk, etc. She personally would like me to get that much protein, but said not to stress about it, just work on it. I doubt I get a portion of that every day. I really struggle with protein drinks. If I drink one, it makes me nauseous and I can't eat anything the rest of the day, so that is out. Anything with Sucralose or any artificial sweetener makes me ill. The only one I can tolerate is stevia. Luckily I've found the new Dannon 000 yogurts which have stevia in them. I'm still only able to get 1/4 cup of anything down at a time. I can't eat any veggies at all because I have to pack the protein in. It is very frustrating. I'm going to try a protein bar (or portion) today for a snack.

I like it. They only have vanilla and coconut at my local store. I didn't like the coconut flavor but the vanilla is good. It has lots of protein. And it is made with Stevia which I find easier to tolerate.

I'm so sorry you are experiencing all of this. When we feel bad, everything becomes so much more difficult to deal with. I hope that you have some good support. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you.

Personally, I just decided to own it all. If someone asks, I tell them I had weight loss surgery. So far I've had really positive responses. People are interested, know someone who is thinking of it, have heard about it, etc. No one has told me anything negative, if they are thinking it they have kept it to themselves. But if they do, I will ignore it. I'm happy with my choices and weight loss. This is just my own way of dealing with things, and I'm not saying everyone should do the same. You have to do what is best for you.

I feel for you. Post surgery I really struggled with the taste of things. Particularly with any liquids. The best thing I found at that time was milk. It didn't taste as odd. I like the Dannon Lite vanilla yogurt. You could add Protein powder to it. What about Soups with Protein Powder added. My doc and nutritionist were ok with me having soft low-fat cheeses. I still really struggle to get in enough protein and work on it every day. It took me about 3 weeks for liquids to taste ok again. I can barely tolerate any kind of artificial sweetener and I have tried them all. That makes things really difficult.

My surgery was on Dec 16th. The last two days I finally feel like I am too exhausted to function. Yay! I've lost 34 lbs so far. I'm feeling better about things now.

My doc & nut recommended two chewable Flinstones Vitamins. I assume the chewable ones because they are easier to take. I keep having this bad taste in my mouth every day, and I just realized it is the vitamins. What are the rest of you taking?

Thanks Ladies. I'm going to take a look at some of these.

@berkeleycurves - I understand what you are going through. I have had hard days and still have some hard days. I think that to combat the tiredness you have to eat as per your doctor/nutritionist. You need some energy in order to be able to start in on some exercise. For now don't concentrate so much on the weight as on healing and feeling better. I think that the weight will come if you are following the doctor's orders. I hope that you start feeling better soon.