lsheshequin

In the first 6-8 weeks it was definitely a challenge to eat anything more that 1/4-1/2 cup at a time. Now that I'm 12 (almost 13) wks out I am up to about 3/4-1 cup at each meal. I'm Canadian and had my rny surgery via a bariatric centre where I live. It has a whole team that has supported me throughout the process, and my dietitian has assured me that my intake amount is right on track. She stresses that when eating, the focus should be on getting the Protein consumed first. So I do just that. I've been eating a lot of peanut & almond butter lately, lol. I also love cheese so I try to have some of that everyday too. Tuna is something else I've been enjoying. My dietitian said that at this point any deficiencies from not being able to eat any or very little veggies & fruits should be balanced out by the daily multi-Vitamins and calcium/Vitamin D supplements that I've been prescribed to take. I stopped drinking the protein shakes (powder & liquid) at about 3 weeks because I couldn't find any that I liked. I then focused on Protein Bars (the soft, brownie consistency kind, not ones with nuts) and ate about 1/2 a bar at a time. Again, my dietitian said this was fine as long as they were sitting in my tummy fine. Now that I'm further along I make my own protein shakes using unflavoured Protein Powder. There are quite a few good recipes online - I just googled "high protein smoothies for gastric bypass surgery". One of my faves has soy chocolate milk, protein powder, 1/2 banana, 2 tbsp. Peanut Butter & ice. I admit that I don't really keep track of my protein count so I may be falling short. I have my 3 month follow up in a couple of weeks, and just went to get my bloodwork done for that this morning. So I'll be finding out where all of my levels are at - hopefully all is good!

BTW, just noticed that we have almost the same starting stats - weight, height & BMI. Let me know if you'd like to keep in regular contact.

I did cream of mushroom and cream of chicken (Campbell's) without any problems. On the recommendation of my dietitian, I mixed in a scoop of unflavoured Protein powder to them to help push up my protein intake numbers. Slow and easy was key for me - 30 minutes to eat 1/4 cup! Good luck!

I didn't do very many Protein shakes post -op simply because I couldn't stomach the way they tasted (either premixed liquid ones or "homemade" ones using powder) in the early stage. At about week 3 I simply gave up on them and started eating Protein Bars - not ones laden with nuts, but the softer, chewier (brownie consistence) ones. I just made sure they were low sugar (i.e. less than 5 g per serving) and I ate them slowly (starting with only 1/2 at a time) and they sat in my tummy fine. I discussed this with my dietitian at my 4 wk appt. and she said that was fine. I was also adding unflavoured Protein powder to whatever food I could (Soups, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, etc.) which she advised was an important thing to do. Another good add-in is non-fat powdered milk - gives a protein boost. I'm at 12 wks now and can do some protein shakes/smoothies depending on the ingredients. If you have a blender, I would google low sugar protein smoothies - there's quite a few that are tasty even with the protein powder added in.

I've had questions and worries myself - I'm 12 weeks post-op now and I am up to about 3/4 - 1 cup of food per meal. I actually called my dietitian (Canada) just yesterday to discuss the amount of food I'm able to take in and the fear of stretching my pouch. She assured me that as long as I'm at 1 cup or under, and paying attention to eating healthy Protein first and foremost, I will be fine. She said that the dreaded stretching of the pouch won't happen unless I am not being mindful and reverting back to old habits (i.e. eating junky, fattening food and in the kind of amounts I did pre-surgery on a regular basis). Initially I ate about 1/4 cup at one sitting and I think by 6 weeks I was up to about 1/2 cup. A gradual increase is normal and to be expected because the pouch will naturally stretch on its own (words from my dietitian) but the key longer term is to not eat more than 1 cup at any meal. I really feel better now having talked with her. Good luck!

About the walking - the hospital made me start walking on the first day post-op. Walking immediately after helps decrease the possibility of blood clots and alleviate gas. I experienced the worst of the gas on Day 2 post-op, but nothing too unbearable. I made sure to keep moving/walking, balanced with a lot of rest, when I got home (3 days post-op), and I was doing fairly vigorous gardening 11 days after surgery. Just take your pain meds like clockwork for the first week and make sure to drink water as advised, and barring any complications, hopefully all will be fine! Good luck!

I have a VERY high pain threshold and was definitely uncomfortable - same as Daisee68, take your meds like clockwork and walk as much as possible to help with the gas pain. By day 5 or 6 all was good. The pain is definitely worth the gain - I'm 12 weeks post-op and down 55lbs Take care!

I am 12 weeks post-op (rny). I am brand new to this forum and just wondering if there are any other peeps out there who may have had surgery around the time I did? Just wondering what your experience has been to this point. Of course I have questions, but don't want to bore anyone, lol. For the record, I am down 51 lbs overall, 40 of those post-op. Thus far everything has gone fairly smoothly, though I constantly worry if I will or maybe already have, stretched my pouch...

Hi there! I'm 12 weeks post-op and don't regret it at all. I also had second thoughts, and seriously considered cancelling the whole thing, but I'm so glad I didn't. As of today I am down 51 lbs and 3-4 sizes, but more importantly I feel SO MUCH BETTER! I spent this past weekend outdoors being very active (compared to 3 months ago) with my 3 young children and that alone is the reason I made the decision to go through with the surgery. Yes, it takes some adjusting to, and there is some trial and error in terms of diet, but so far, for me, the pros definitely outweigh the cons or any challenges I've come across. Good luck!

I'm 12 weeks post-op and I started Protein bars probably at about 3-4 weeks post-op (because I can't stand the taste of most of the protein powders/shakes). I haven't had any problems with tolerating them - but initially I stayed away from the nut heavy ones and went instead with the softer, Cereal type (e.g. Atkins, Pure Protein, etc.). In talking with my dietitian, the key is to make sure they have less than 5 g of sugar per bar. Now that I'm farther along post-op I eat the ones with nuts and they are fine, but I still adhere to between 5-10 g of sugar per serving (that applies to any food).