goodnuff

It's frustrating to have a team of people give conflicting advice. I was experiencing the same thing. The two things I decided to do were 1) listen to my body and what it tells me it needs, which changes frequently and 2) let the surgeon be the surgical expert, the dietician be the diet expert and the trainer be the exercise expert. Good luck!

6 weeks for both here. I needed to be released and to lift 75 pounds. Six weeks after going back I ended up popping an anchoring suture to my ventral hernia repair while moving a patient and had to wear an abdominal binder for the next 8 weeks. Wish I would have been told to wear one from the beginning, might have saved me a lot of pain. Good luck!

No nausea for me either.

Chewables from Bariatric Advantage.

I waited til 8 weeks and I can not eat them. Even 1/4 of one sits like a brick in my intestines and has me doubled over in pain. I'd try a few bites and see how it goes, most people I've talked to did not have a problem. Good luck!

I hope you are under anesthesia and getting your surgery by now but if not go light a fire under their behinds.

Wow, you have impeccable timing @misformimi. I have always been able to eat more than my bypass comrades admit to. I'd talked to my dietician about this around five weeks post-op and was reassured that I was "normal" but last night I was questioning whether the amounts I eat are because of my pouch size or my strong history of overeating. Of course hearing weight loss rates faster than mine hasn't helped how much I question my rate of success and everything I'm doing. All of this to say thanks for helping me feel normal and for giving me hope that weight loss will continue and may even speed up.

When I have too much to eat I no longer need to unbutton my pants, I need to undo my bra. True story. It's only happened twice since surgery but both times that's what got tight and uncomfortable. Bwahahaha!!

Taco Bell Mucho Grande Nachos. 1,300 calories 82 grams of fat. Weekly, until I found out they had that much fat. Or maybe until they were discontinued? Probably the latter.

I never had been a breakfast eater or a workout person before surgery. My instructions had been not to drink for 60 minutes after eating which would have meant waking up at least 2 hours before a workout so I could have 20-30 minutes to eat (fuel up) before a workout and be able to drink while exercising. My trainer was adamant about eating beforehand, my dietician was adamant about waiting 60 minutes to drink and I was adamant about not losing sleep just so I could do either. I decided to eat something small, string cheese, boiled egg, half a piece of whole wheat that with peanut butter, that only took 10 minutes to eat as soon as I wake up. Then I get ready, walk the dog and drive to the gym and drink. It's not always 60 minutes since I ate but it's at least 30. It seems to work ok for me.

Prior to surgery 75% of my diet was processed/sugar filled foods. Initially after surgery I had intense head hunger but stuck to the plan outlined for me. At 6 weeks I was instructed to focus on lean Protein and Water and that I could have all things in moderation. I didn't have a craving for sweet like I did pre-op and I listened to my body. I was afraid of dumping but more afraid I wouldn't get it as I had not had any problems with eating at that point. At 10 weeks I made a very conscious decision to share a dessert while out to eat. I had three bites, it was delicious and I was completely satisfied without feeling deprived or like it was an effort not to eat the whole thing. It was a phenomenal feeling. However, over the course of my four day vacation I had a few bites of foods that lacked any nutritional value; fries, a tator tot, an onion ring and some dark chocolate. All together it was about 12 small bites of food over 4 days. Two days after vacation I woke up thinking about the rest of the chocolate bar in the fridge. For 10 weeks I was not obsessed, nor did I feel deprived for not having processed sweets. Suddenly it was a challenge to pass them up. It was a miserable feeling that lasted about 4 more days before I wasn't craving/thinking about it constantly. So, the moral is be careful when you do decide to allow sugar in your life because it is very easy to slip back into old habits. The worst part was how I felt about myself, I don't want any food to make me feel like I'm good or bad for choosing it..it's just food. I had been seeing a therapist prior to surgery but after that incident I decided to work with someone that works specifically in the field of eating psychology. Ultimately my goal is to make healthy choices 90% of the time and to thoroughly enjoy that along with the 10% that isn't chosen based on nutrition. I didn't dump with 10 grams of processed sugar (the amount in the chocolate I ate) or 20 grams of natural sugar (the amount in my fruit added smoothie). A friend dumps with around 5 grams of either and it looks miserable. Be careful what you wish for.

Take 3 deep breaths between each bite. I use a timer and take a bite every 90 seconds. When I don't I get miserably bloated.

Amazing @@anaxila!!

Hopefully I figured out how to add full size pictures to my post? PS: Nope, guess thumbnails will have to do.

I feel so fortunate that the insurance coordinator at my office sent a letter that indicated in no uncertain terms exactly what Cigna required, including how it needed to be worded to get approved. Good luck to anyone jumping through those hoops right now.

To the best of my recollection the pain started two weeks ago. It's around my belly button mostly to the left and above. I had a ventral hernia repair during my bypass and my surgeon thinks I may have "popped" a suture that was anchoring the mesh. I've had times of relief and then for no apparent rhyme or reason it comes back. I thought for a bit that it may be stool even though I go most days. Or even muscle pain from straining to go. Just curious if anyone else has experienced umbilical pain this far out and if so did you figure out the cause?

Thanks for the responses. I did see my surgeon, he thinks it's my hernia repair coming undone on one part. He told me to wear an abdominal binder at work. The pain is not severe enough to be worth another procedure in my opinion and the surgeon didn't seem to think it was indicated. I just was wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar?

Cigna here too, I got a first letter of denial too, basically all of the t's weren't crossed. I was approved within 2 weeks. Don't worry about it, they are very picky about the appointments needing to be 30 days apart. I have no doubt that once you meet that requirement all will be a go.

Ditto. I've worked on it for years and realize that it will be a lifetime of work, but I know I'm worth that effort which is a far better place than my mind was just a few years ago. It's not a destination, it's a journey.

I can not do it daily, or even weekly. If it doesn't go down enough it throws my day off. And Lord have mercy if it goes up. Right now, while single digits won't make or break me I'm weighing every 3-4 weeks...it's a guaranteed loss from the previous weight and I haven't stepped off the scale without a Cheshire sized grin on my face yet. Once I'm at goal I'll probably weigh weekly to make sure I'm staying within 5 pounds of it. It's interesting how even this part of the journey is individual for each of us, what works for one doesn't work for another. We all have to learn what motivates and what discourages us.