axlr8n

Thanks for the tip on the cheese Jamie - I had already been adding some Peanut Butter and nuts, but I really do like cheese so getting some exotic types is a really good idea. I changed My Fitness Pal to maintain my weight, being lightly active, and it says I need to eat 2600 calories. I've been trying to be "active" by walking a lot, taking the stairs, etc... but do not "exercise" because I know that will just create an additional deficit. Usually by the end of the day, with my activity - My Fitness Pal adds an extra 300+ calories to my plan. I can only imagine the additional calories needed if I were training for a run like you're doing! I know these numbers aren't an exact science... but based on the calories I'm eating and the amount of weight I'm losing - it seems likely that I'm going to have to get into the 2500-3000 calorie range to balance everything out. Just a few months ago, eating 3000 calories a day was absolutely no problem, boy have things changed, LOL. I use 2% milk, but whole milk or cream makes me dump. I haven't been able to tolerate eggs or avocado since surgery... any other suggestions for calorie dense foods besides cheese, nuts/pb?

I had bypass. When I drink, it's a very quick path from fine to drunk off my butt! I sober up pretty quick and haven't experienced a hang over. It's actually not that fun trying to keep a buzz going without getting too drunk... Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I was 305 and took 3 weeks off because I was allowed to, but I definitely needed 2 weeks. I think if I wasn't sent home with a drain, it might have been different... I felt much better on day 7 immediately after it was removed. There is no way I could have gone back that first week! Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I have saw my surgeon several times since surgery (2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, etc) - it's usually pretty quick... but I've never been rushed and always had the impression that he would spend as long as I wanted/needed. It's just that everything has gone exceptionally well and I haven't needed to ask him anything that his nurse or others on the bariatric team haven't already answered. The shoulder surgeon that I just saw was completely different - she has a great reputation as a surgeon so I wanted her operating... but I've only saw her for maybe 5 minutes and the rest has been handled by her staff. I'm okay with that approach too, having the right person holding the knife is more important to me than bedside manner.

That's exactly how I've lost my 140 pounds... nothing, nothing, bam!

So, last week I was on vacation with my family. We took a cruise to the Western Caribbean. The first few days were great and we were having a great time. On Tuesday, we stopped at Grand Cayman. I tripped and fell directly on my shoulder on asphalt! Lots of pain. I ended up back on the ship getting xrays and found that I have a grade 5 separated shoulder that will require surgery. Wednesday I flew home from Jamaica and saw an orthopedic surgeon. Surgery is coming up this week, and frankly I can't wait because not only am I fairly useless with just my left hand, but I'm constantly in pain if I try to move my arm. Anybody have experience with this type of injury / surgery (A.C. Reconstruction)? I'm hearing that I'll be in a sling for 8+ weeks and not back to normal for up to a year. In the back of my mind, I wonder if losing this much weight so quickly has compromised my soft tissue, or if this type of fall would have resulted in the same injury even before surgery? I'm really grateful that I didn't hit my head... could have been much worse.

Well, surgery went well today and I'm on the long road to a full recovery. So far, I've taken one dose of norco and have been icing it every couple hours. Maybe I'm still benefitting from the after-effects of anesthesia, but it actually hurts a lot less than it did before surgery even with the pain meds I was taking. Getting the bones back where they belong must be a good thing, LOL.

Thanks everyone! My other question is about pain meds. It seems like I metabolize things really fast since my surgery... doc initially told me to take a pill every 8 hours but I had to talk to her again because they were only working for 2-3 hours. Have you had this experience after RNY? Any pain meds you find work better than others? I don't want to be completely zombied out, but I don't want to be in tons of pain either!

Great job!!

Before I had surgery, I asked my doctor and nutritionist what weight I should be targeting. I started at 333 almost exactly a year ago and was 304 on the day of surgery in August. They did some calculations and said that based on average success rates with RNY, they would be happy if I were to get down to 220. That sounded like a really low number to me, and so that's what we went with even though a normal BMI would put me around 190. Well, today I weighed myself and I'm 220!! I'm still losing 10-15 pounds a month and now that I'm here, I don't think that the normal BMI weight is crazy or impossible anymore. I've decided to just keep doing what I'm doing and let my body decide when I'm done. I'm most happy about the mental/physiological changes that this surgery has given me... I'm no longer dominated by thoughts of food and cravings or dieting and then beating myself up for eating something I shouldn't. I just feel normal.

I like my fitbit aria scale. It's wifi and logs all of my results along with my steps and sleep in the app. It does weight and body fat percentage. I recently had a body analysis done on a very expensive machine and the body fat percentages were nearly identical.

At 2 months, I was allowed fruits without skins or seeds... think melon or peeled pear and apple. I stayed away from raspberries, strawberries, etc because the small seeds can be uncomfortable.

Greek yogurt has a lot more protein than regular yogurt. In fact, many of the things we think of as yogurt aren't really yogurt and don't even say yogurt on the container (Yoplait Light). Check the label for protein, fat, and sugar and you'll be surprised at the differences.

I make them with almond milk, works fine!

I also am active but don't "exercise" and have lost over 100 pounds. I was worried about muscle loss, and recently had a body evaluation done... my muscle mass is significantly above average. That is not true. Muscle breakdown happens only after glycogen/fat stores have been depleted or Protein intake is so low that the body has no choice but to seek out amino acids. While exercise is important for building muscle and has positive effects for metabolism, it is not a requirement for sustained weight loss. That is like saying hibernating animals would have muscles withered/atrophied, keep big bellies, then stumble out in spring too weak to support themselves. The body will not cannibalize its own muscles in place of fat simply if you're not working out; scientifically, that is incorrect. A fifty year old woman with different hormones, a slower metabolism, and a different genetic makeup may find herself unable to lose weight without exercise. But this has not been my personal experience, and I trust my own knowledge as a nurse who has extensively studied and taught nutrition. It doesn't work for everyone, but it's working for me.

I had mine for a week after RNY too. No pain when they took it out, in fact the exact opposite. I feel like I was very protective when it was in which made my muscles hurt and hard to sleep. I felt a ton better immediately after it came out.

As much as I hate me moobs, watching this show definitely freaked me out. I have been thinking about surgery in the future but I think I'll look into something less invasive for the nipple area, LOL.

I started using a straw occasionally at around 4 months, but you have to be careful because you can suck in air and that really hurts. I agree with the temperature of the liquid making a big difference.

They told me 4-6 weeks, but I begged to get back after 3 and they signed my release.

I don't go to the gym and "exercise", but I walk quite a lot just going about my business throughout the day (8-10,000 steps per day). I'm definitely a lot more active than I have been in the past. I'm currently eating about 1200 calories a day.

Look how far you've come already!! You've got this!

A wedge pillow is what made it bearable for me. It was a week or 10 days before any position besides my back was possible.

I get hiccups as a sign that I'm full, or if I haven't taken my acid reducer.

I started around 330 and am now 220... I eat about 1200 calories a day and am losing 10+ pounds a month with just a little exercise. This is a pretty close to what the formulas would predict (~2000 calorie resting metabolic rate, so 2000 - 1200 = 800 calorie deficit * 30 days = 24,000 negative calories / 3500 calories per pound = ~7 pounds per month). These are all formulas based on studies of many different types of people averaged out... the reality is that nobody is average and there are error rates for every formula. It's possible that for you 1600 is maintenance reality and you need to go lower to lose weight. I've also experienced times in the past (although not for 12 months) where I have started eating the same foods over and over and my body stalls. Have you tried mixing up your diet (throw in some red meat or liver if you don't normally eat that, change the veggies or fruits you're eating, etc)?

I'm on Fitbit too - amesterline@gmail.com