Dub

I think all of us can relate to what is going on with you. I tried to starve my way out of a "stall" and the scale flipped me the bird. Not only did it not go down....it went up. Defies anything I know or understand. So.......I caved in followed my surgeon's suggestion on frequency and portion size. I've taken my own liberties with what form the Protein is in. Getting 5 small meals a day in has been the only way that I've seen loss since getting off the Protein shakes. It also fueled my energy level and has me up well over 50% on my daily step counter. An example of my 5 small meals yesterday & Tuesday: *4 bites of turkey sausage and eggs with cheddar *1/2 a Quest bar *beef Jerky (chewed on it forever.....jaws were actually tired from working that stuff into mush. Great flavor...lotta work, though) *1/2 a Quest bar *beef jerky again The scale moved two pounds. I am having daily coffee, however, I'm drinking at least 30oz of Water between each of the meals and at other times. Seems like all I do at work is walk around chewing on something tasty or drinking water. It's like my body is more busy eating & drinking than ever before. Quantities are much smaller than ever. The Quest bar and jerky travel easy. Tonight (night shift)....I started with 6 bites of turkey sausage with yellow mustard. I found some interesting new tuna flavors in the pouch and will be taking a couple of these (3 oz each....perfect size) along with some chili lime jerky. I'll be making coffee later at work and my water bottle will be close at hand. It's frustrating when the loss slows, stops and even adds a pound or two.....yet you know you are killing it on the calorie intake. It is counterintuitive on the surface. I'm not sure what your biggest reasons are....but I suspect when we go into the 300 calorie per day mode......and we were used to 3,000+ calories per day in our past lives......our metabolism gets freakish and stutters, sputters and struggles. I can't begin to describe the better feeling I experienced when I went from the 3-4 protein shakes to eating-chewing my 700 calories of protein. I feel like moving and covering some ground. I know you are really frustrated. It's a maddening scenario.....we've had this surgery and yet we are struggling with the vary thing we'd learned to do well in the past.....lose weight. I'm glad to hear that you have lined up the visits to discuss this with your professional team. As a member of your BP team, all I can offer is that I'm going through a version of what you've described. It'll all come out in the wash.......we're just in the spin cycle right now.

That sounds great !!!!!!!!!

Nothing says...."I'm awake" more than walking around and rattling around the Blender Bottle getting that morning mocha coffee Protein shake ready. I'm sure my family loved that time of the day...............

The end of my third week was very similar. I'd run out of gas really fast. Still on the liquid diet then. Found out my high blood pressure (taking meds for it) was actually running between 106/55 to 112/68. No wonder I was feeling like crud. I cut back on the meds and have been keeping it watched. I'll see my primary doctor on Friday to review. Also was able to add soft Proteins to my diet. The combination of these two events helped to get the energy up a great deal between the 3rd & 4th weeks so far. Good luck

The unpreppared......wow. I'd have been pissed off royally and gone on a serious rant......."You mean I gotta stay on this ridiculous liquid diet forever....just to lose weight........I want a refund and I want my old stomach back.....Now". Like that would have done any good, right ? It would have been a shocker. Another example of how the fine folks here have helped me tremendously. Time does fly.....it's been 4 weeks and one day. Thank you, sir !!!!!!!! This last year and a half I felt like a victim......out of control over things.....having to go from one specialist to another to get things addressed. Now.....now.....I AM IN CONTROL. It feels freaking great. The sleeve is done....other stuff corrected......healing up nicely and I'm in control of where things go from here on out. It is a liberating feeling. What's really cool is I'm now in touch with my inner carnivore. I have no problem living off salmon, tuna, chicken, beef Jerky, etc. There are no suprises. It's like the Atkins diet only better. This weekend I'm gonna fire up my trusty grill and cook up some whole chickens and make a batch of chicken salad and a batch of white chicken chili to enjoy for workweek lunches the following week. First thing that is going on that bad boy is a slab-o-salmon with a mild pepper glaze. Life is good. Lean life is gooder. That's a neat trick right there. I used to have one a few years ago when I was weight training like a beast. Always measuring my biceps. Couldn't help it, It was freaking addictive. Only type of measurment I've really taken note of now is the tag end of my belt which is growing. I like it. Only thing we can do is to nail down our behaviors and simply let it ride.........................................

Excellent point about the adjustability. Thank you for the tip. I've avoided the side sleep thing for years. I asked my surgeon during Monday's appointment if it was safe to side sleep due to the hernia repair. He grinned and said absolutely okay. It's repaired and healing well. So......I decided to give the side sleep thing a try.....after all my wife says it's great on the mattress. I used some pillows around the hernia area and tucked them in there with my arm rolled over them.....very comfortable to my shoulder as it was also supported by these pillows (rotator cuff tear that needs to be fixed in it soon). Comfortable.....but just not 100%. I remembered the pillow between the knees deal and when I did so things seemed to line up much better with my back. Strapped on the C-PAP and didn't move for 3-4 hours. Wound up going to my back at some point. Felt better the next day. At least now I may have way to get by with the existing bed on the nights I do sleep on it. I"m starting to see the benefits now. Sounds really.....really familiar, man. I've got to sort this out for sure. The SN bed itself isn't so bad. The raise/lower is a hurdle......and the independent raise/lower is yet another big hurdle. I've got a pre-college teenager in serious want of a new car.....honor student who is just an all around great kid in every way. Huge proud of him and the way he's so responsible for his actions and maintains his schedule like a boss. So much better behaved than I was at his age. The sleeve surgery but a tremendous dent in my funds, too. Self funded the deal due to archaic insurance views on the wls procedures. The good news is there are some opportunities for overtime that may help pave the way. I heard a great quote the other day that resonates in my head: You should sleep 1/3 of your day. How well you sleep during that time determines the quality of life for the other 2/3 of the day.........therefore doing whatever it takes to ensure good sleep is crucial. I've got a doctor's appointment this Friday with my primary doc to get dialed in my lowered blood pressure. I will get his opinion on the matter. I've been seeing this doctor for the last 14 months after my prior doc closed his practice. The new primary has done more for me to help me get my health restored in that short time than the other doc ever did. It was a blessing that I found out about him. Both he and his nurse are amazing people who have been huge support for me. I"m also going to request a sleep study asap, too. My old C-PAP is outdated and it's time to get current on one of the models that OKCPirate has recommended. Thanks for reading the ramblings of a madman. A grateful madman. A grateful madman who is going to work tonight in 52/32 khaki slacks. Same guy was wearing 60/32 just two months ago. I bought a well made belt back when I started the bariatric process leading up to surgery. It has double rows of holes all around the belt...part of the design. I like it because I can wear it for a long time as my waist gets smaller. Right now the tag end is beginning to wrap around my side. Freaking love that felling. scale readings have been on lockdown the last week......however clothes are getting loser. I don't know what all is happening....but there is something good going on.

That is really outstanding !!!!!!!!!

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Yup. Good stuff, indeed. It was one of the few permissible powders on my NUT's plan. So grateful. This and the mocha version were much appreciated powders during my pre & post op liquid diets.

Howdy. Just had my sleeve done a month ago.....just turned 47. Only regret was not doing so sooner and avoiding some weight related wear and tear on the old body. Feeling younger already. You've got a great looking family and children that are young enough to TRULY benefit from your surgery. Proven fact that kids with healthy parents learn to eat better and grow up leaner and more healthy, too. You will be so much more active and able to keep up with them and life will be a ball. There are a few challenges along the way but they are good ones. They help you get focused and test your commitment to proceed. I truly feel that the better you do at these......the better you'll likely do on the other side. It's just my own thinking and I'm testing it now. Go for it. You have so much to gain in life and there is nothing to lose. Learn all you can now and put things into practice as soon as you can. The goal is to lose weight.......not to stay in a holding pattern until you've had surgery. Begin losing now and get the ball rolling. Once you gain momentum you will truly amaze yourself. Best wishes to you.

Well done. Welcome home and on the road to a healthy recovery.

I hear you. I know it sucks right now. No other way to put it. But......you aren't dead....which means you've got control over something....even if it's something small. Impose your will over the things you can control and dig your way back. One step at the time. Dealing with this will make that pre-op diet seem like a non-event that you'll take in stride......make easy work of it. Get healthy and get to.....and past your surgery and you'll feel like you are in the drivers seat in so many ways. That's the quickest way to ultimately get healthy and your employment fears will subside. I know it's easy for me to say all this......you're the one whose weak and feeling poorly.....and the one that has to rally.

Cool. Thanks !!! Great ideas. Reminds me that I need a new crockpot.....a smaller one for the smaller batches of stuff I'll be making now. I really need to work on my chili game. I think I'll try to make some Carol Shelby's white chicken chili next weekend and see how it works out.....using ground chicken and ground turkey. Ohhhh chili, yes....I forgot that! That is a staple for me! :-) Chili weather is here, too. I'm going with the white chicken chili for now as it is less acidic than the good old red version. My surgeon encouraged me yesterday to experiment with various Proteins and see what I could tolerate. I'm not wanting to have reflux flare-ups if I can help it.

Great ideas. Reminds me that I need a new crockpot.....a smaller one for the smaller batches of stuff I'll be making now. I really need to work on my chili game. I think I'll try to make some Carol Shelby's white chicken chili next weekend and see how it works out.....using ground chicken and ground turkey.

I am very, very sorry that you are having to endure yet another blow like this. I can imagine it just beats you down further. Feeling like crap....over and over has a way of chipping away at our spirits. I get it. You already know what you have to do......embrace the treatment and do everything within your power to heal up....follow all their instructions to the letter and make some progress. You will come out of this and get your feet planted squarely on the ground and then be ready for the next step. Use this as extra motivation to get healthy......recover from this.....follow the plan......reach your surgery date.......follow the plan......recover......and then PROFIT from feeling better and better every day. You will progress much quicker by being upbeat and KNOW that you are going to heal up from this. Follow the medical advice your caregivers are providing and hold yourself accountable to getting better. Don't be a victim but take charge of you condition. Will yourself to get better. Get there one small step at a time even though it's going to take tremendous effort to get there. Be in total control of the things you can be in control off......don't waste valuable energy on fretting over the stuff that is out of your control.

My surgeon would do a test prior to surgery and cancel it if you weren't clean. It's hard as heck to quit......I know. Been there and done it. Cold Turkey. You'll feel a whole heap better getting that gorilla off your back. Clear breathing is a wonderful thing.

I'll see that I have notifications by the red number beside the flag, however, when I click on the flag it continues searching but never lists them. This is a recent development.....the past day or so.

Universal Nutrition's whey Protein is great.....low carb and tastes great. Chike Nutrition is great, too. unjury is good.....except their strawberry.....I tossed an entire can in the garbage. YMMV

There are many, many types of low carb-low calorie Protein shakes and powder. I'd try a few different brands and flavors. There's even unflavored by unjury. There are protein "waters", too, by Isopure.

Outstanding !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah.....today was that day. My surgeon advanced me to the next step with foods. Whew....I can eat, but it's funny how little I want to eat during these meals. A couple well chewed bits and bam...done for that meal. And so it goes.

7-10 was all I was able to muster this past weekend. Tomorrow starts another round. I'm going for full length runs this time. Surgeon's visit went well this morning and I was released to try new soft Proteins for 5 small meals per day. I think this will help my energy so long as I get my Water in, too. I apprettiate your confidence. I'm really wanting to get things right this time in regards to my weight and overall health. I'm trying to be patient and not take on too much, but I'm ready to get rolling along. Yep. Those are indeed the ones. I went by the Sleep Number store today and this came up. I may reserve a room and stay on one first to see.

Guilty as charged, my Dear. Drinking lots and lots of H20......sorry, I missed the posts beyond the OP. I'll say this.....I now see where getting all the water in daily is going to be a bit more of a challenge.....just a small bit. Up until today I was on the liquid diet....protein shakes and water with some occasional broth. Water was easy to drink around this type of "food" intake. Today, though, was my 4th week check-in with the surgeon. He transitioned me over to his next step.....the soft foods stage. I loved his quote, "What is hard to get down may not be bad for you and what is easy to get down may not be good for you". He challenged me to eat 5 meals per day. Flakey fish, bagged tuna & salmon, soft cheeses, even chicken nuggets (the idea being they've been ground and reshaped and if chewed up well, should be easy to get down) and etc, etc. He stressed not drinking just before, during, or 30 minutes after eating. Okay....taking the 5 slowly eaten meals and drinking restoration times surrounding them......really leaves no time to sit down and just drink water in between. I'll have to carry a water bottle with me and be working on it all the rest of the available time. He also suggested not drinking late in the evening as that can contribute to reflux issues. So today......I was schooled on some useful tactics and finally allowed to eat real food.

I had my 4 week check up with my surgeon today. He's perfectly okay with me having 1-2 cups a day. God bless him. It sure is nice. I use Splenda and a very small amount of Fairlife milk.

It's all good. I simply posted it here, thinking there would be more guys my weight who had been through this deal.