catwoman7

^^^^ agree with everything she said. At seven years out, I've never dumped - and I know a lot of others who haven't, either. Unfortunately, I'm sure I could inhale a pint of ice cream and never dump.

check with your clinic. Surgeons are literally all across the board with this. There seems to be no consensus at all. Some people are drinking it even before they leave the hospital. Other patients are told they can't ever have it again, for the rest of their lives. Most seem to be somewhere in the middle - as in it's OK after a certain amount of time (one month, or three months, or six months..) and/or in limited quantities (1-2 cups a day, for example).

yea - I was told nothing but walking for the first four weeks, and no strength training until eight weeks out. as far as calories, no way you could be eating very many. We were told to just count protein grams and fluids when we were early out....no calorie counting.

re: no appetite - that's very common for the first few months after surgery. Hunger and appetite almost always come back sometime during the first year - mine came roaring back at five months out. To be honest, I wish it never had. Although it's very weird and a bit unsettling at first, it'll never be easier in your life to lose weight than it will be right now (and for the next few months), when you're never hungry and don't give a flip about food. Take full advantage of that!! in the mean time, you do need to keep hydrated and get your protein and other nutrients in - so if nothing else, eat and drink what you need to for those reasons.

yes - super common. I had buyers' remorse the first two or three weeks. No more! Best decision I ever made!

a week is nothing, really. Lots of people on here had theirs postponed for months because of COVID. That week should go by quickly...

the first few weeks can be tough, but after that, you're good. I, like a lot of people, had bouts of buyers remorse the first month or so (or maybe only a couple of weeks? It's been awhile), but that's long gone. No regrets at all - other than I should have had it done years before I did.

what's your BMI? The closer it is to normal, the slower the weight loss.

yes - it's not uncommon for people to have trouble with chicken the first few weeks or months..

I am in my 60s, and had been battling being overweight or obese for decades. I tried every diet known to man. With some, I'd lose up to 50 lbs (but most of the time, more like 20). It was just a matter of time before it all came back again. Over and over again - for decades. Surgery was the only thing that worked for me. the vitamin regimen is overwhelming at first, but it becomes old hat after awhile. I don't even think about it anymore. I'm pretty much on auto-pilot...

nope. Once you're a few months out, restrictions will be lifted. There may be foods that you find your stomach won't be able to tolerate, but there will be no restrictions. I can eat all of those things - cake, pizza, sherbet - even real ice cream. about 30% of bypassers "dump", so they have to limit their sugar intake (or for some, fat). But most dumpers I know can eat "some" sugar (or fat). 70% of us do not dump. I never have (unfortunately, I might add...if I did, it would have stopped me from eating that cup of ice cream last night (which is just an occasional treat for me now, but still...))

P.S. is this your PCP or your bariatric surgeon telling you this? If the latter, I'd be very surprised. I guess I wouldn't be as shocked at a PCP saying that, since they're not specialists in bariatric surgery.

it would be the exception, not the rule, for someone at your starting weight to lose 30 lbs the first month. If you weighed well over 300 lbs, then yea - but I'm very surprised she told you that with your starting weight. Not that it couldn't happen, but it's not very realistic. I hate to question your doctor, but I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for over seven years, and also volunteered at my clinic for about four years. As I said, that's definitely not impossible, but it'd be the exception to lose that much weight given your starting weight.

12 lbs in nine days isn't slow. Most "normal" WLS patients (meaning not the types on "My 600 lb Life") seem to lose about 15-25 lbs the first month after surgery (and it slows down after that). So you're right on track!

I use the Web version because I'm mostly on my laptop, so it always shows up there. I only use the cell phone app version when I'm away from home and eating something that's off plan, so I won't forget to add it when I get home. However, you can see the protein there (on the app version) if you scroll to the bottom of the food diary page and click on "Nutrition" (it gives you the whole breakdown). and yes - there are thousands of items in the database - and those would all include the protein in them. I almost never have to add anything manually.

I thought separating drinking from eating would be really hard for me - and it was at first - but i got used to it pretty quickly. I'm seven years out and still separate them.

I wasn't required to do that (I just had to work with a dietitian for six months, as my insurance company required it), but as someone else said, I know some surgeons won't operate if patients are over a certain BMI (like 60, for example - but that varies).

we weren't allowed to eat them early out because of the starch, but I eat them occasionally now. It's been a few years, but I think I started eating them when i was about a year out.

the only time I ever used anything like that was when I was in India because you sweat like crazy there. It's kind of hard to keep hydrated. Around here, you probably wouldn't need it.

for recipes, check the blog "The World According to Eggface". She's a long-time bariatric patient and is very active in the bariatric community. She also loves cooking and has recipes posted for every stage.

a lot of people take over the counter ones. I've been taking Centrum (or the generic equivalent) since I had surgery seven years ago - the chewables the first year or so, then the regular tablets. If you do over the counter, you usually have to take two of them, though.

I track everything I eat and drink in MyFitnessPal. It calculates all the macros for you.

I had my surgery several years ago, but I was only allowed to walk for the first four weeks. After that, I was cleared to do anything but weights. I could do weights starting at eight weeks out.

yes - I think it's pretty common to get hungrier when you exercise. Your body wants those calories back that it burned off!

I had to check my results because I wasn't sure if it broke the results down that much (i.e., whether they tell you how much fat is in your stomach). Mine does break it down into left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, and....trunk. So yes - it does. Or at least mine does (although trunk also includes chest - it didn't break it down further than that)