miiasan

sugar free drinks - not sodas - and if you haven't already, take yourself off caffeine - that will give you a big headache, too lol - but again, worth the effort

Hang in there! The pre-op diet is the pits, but really does get better with time. I remember that by the 4th day I was doing much better. Your first doctor's plan sounds about right. You can also eat sugar free Popsicles, drink broth or sugar free drinks. You will more than lose a few pounds - and once you have the surgery you will be on your way. I am 9 months out from surgery - at my doctor's goal weight (although I would like to lose a few more pounds. I feel better than I have in years. Just remember that this 'pre-op' diet sucks - but you will get through it - - take it one day at a time - keep yourself busy and away from stuff that tempts you. It will be worth the effort!

I had to crush them for the first two weeks and then was given the go ahead to take them whole at mt two week check up

Welcome! After what you have been through, weight loss surgery will be a piece of cake! This is a great website with a great group of folks. Feel free to ask any questions you need to ask and remember that we are all human in our answers and even though our surgeries are similar that we all have different bodies and things that work for some may not work for all. Good luck with your journey and your surgery. Take everything one day at a time, follow your doctor's and nutritionist's advice and you will have great success. Blessings!

Hi all! Just an update. My weight loss has slowed down dramatically - in fact, I went a little over 4 months not losing anything. Then I dropped another 10 lbs. when my NUT had me increase my calories from 800 to 1200 per day. At my last visit my surgeon told me he didn't want me to go under 159 lbs. He said 'for a woman my age (lol) and height that 159 was perfect. Well, I told him I would like to get to a healthy BMI which is 155 - even though secretly I still want to get down to 150. We will see how it all turns out. I am between a size 12 and 14 now and am happy as a clam! I just bought another swim suit and am enjoying the choices I have in clothing. I am still losing fat and don't have too much loose skin on my arms or legs yet. I just had my annual mammogram. Let me tell you - the difference between last year and this year was pretty phenomenal. Seems like two low hanging flat pancakes hurt a lot less than what I had last year! As I said before, my NUT put me at 1200 per day and wants me to go to 1600 per day when I reach goal. 1200 calories is still an awful lot it seems and I can hardly imagine getting up to 1600. I still eat 5 times a day and am really enjoying the large amounts of fruits and veggies available in the summer (even if I can only eat a few bites). I eat around 70 grams of Protein every day but still struggle with getting enough fluids in. Most days I get in around 55 or so ounces and I really have to push to get that! I still am not exercising like I was able to before my surgery. I walk every day and do Water aerobics 3-4 times a week. I don't have a whole lot of energy, though so I nap on days I can. A couple of months ago I started having night sweats. On the nights I have them I wake up several times fully drenched in sweat. I immediately thought of low blood sugar - but tested and it is always okay. My doctor ran lots of blood tests and they all came out fine. She did a chest x-ray and it was clear. I don't think it could be menopause since I went through that over 8 years ago when I had a hysterectomy. My doctor is theorizing that my body could be releasing hormones that were locked up in the fat. Hmmm - sounds plausible - anyone ever heard of this? Anyway, I follow up with her in a couple of months. Anyway, am enjoying reading how other folks are doing and hope that more folks will check in. We have all been on quite a journey; our challenge in the next part of our lives will be maintaining what we fought so hard to obtain. My best wishes and blessings to all of you.

@@foodfighter78 I always keep peanut butter and crackers around to use if my sugar drops - as far as the juice goes - .. try keeping diluted apple juice around - half water/half juice - cuts down the sugars that could cause you to dump, but should give you enough to braise your sugar a bit - then be sure follow that up with a carb/protein snack to keep your sugar from plummeting again. Hopefully everyone who is having low blood sugar episodes is following up with their doctor. Low blood sugars can be very dangerous -

Good Luck! This is an awesome site - if you have been lurking, you have probably found your way around the website pretty well. Lots of info here and lots of people that can share experiences.

yeah, I had it - it went away after a while ...but if it doesn't - call your office

I was constipated for about 3 weeks and have been pretty regular since then - but I think it varies a lot from person to person

does your PCP have someone in the office that takes her patients when she is gone? I feel for you. That was a requirement for me, too - but fortunately, my office told me on my first visit so I had plenty of time to get it done. Wishing you good luck with this and keeping fingers crossed

Congrats!

I had a huge stall only one week after surgery - sometimes your body just needs to catch up. As long as you are following your doctor and NUT plan, everything will be just fine - don't stress. I am eight months out - and have actually spent more time stalled than losing - I would lose about 10 pounds - then nothing for weeks - then another 10 pounds. if you note my stats below, though - I am getting close to goal. Relax and try not to get discouraged - It will happen. A lot of times when I wasn't losing pounds I was shedding inches - Maybe that helps if you look at it that way. Good luck with your weight loss!

if you are not already - you might try to eat 6 small meals that are balanced in Protein and carbs - this might help to keep you steadier. It has been awhile since your surgery - have you talked with your NUT or doctor about this. Having juice around really helps get the blood sugar up fast, but be careful not to drink too much as you might cause it to swing way up and then crash later. Also remember to always eat protein after the juice - it helps to keep the sugar more level. My daughter and husband are both type 1 diabetics - so have had a lot of experience with low blood sugars. I don't know if you still log your food - but that might be a good idea for awhile - You also might want to keep a log of the low blood sugars and how you treated them so if there are any patterns they can come apparent. Then take all that info to your doctor and go from there. Low blood sugars can be dangerous - especially if they happen when you are sleeping. Good luck - and hope you can get this resolved soon.

wow...going to stay out of the fray - but will comment to say that this website is meant for us to be supportive of one another through this weight loss process. No one should be mean or cruel to another or shame another; we get enough of that in other areas of our lives. As far as the original question - I weigh myself daily - because it is right for me. I am 8 months out and still ecstatic every day about how much weight I have lost. I have been through many stalls and even weight fluctuations because of Water, etc. Knowing that I am following the plan helps to keep me from getting discouraged. After I reach goal, I will probably continue weighing myself daily so I can catch myself if I drift too far away from my goal. But that is because it works for me. Having said that, though, I can perfectly understand how weighing daily can really get into someone's head. As I said before - I have had many stalls - and some of them were really long ones - also, my weight fluctuates 2 - 3 pounds on a pretty regular basis. If that ever causes me undue stress, I will most likely move over to the other camp of not weighing daily.

there are several websites where you can input your recipe and it will break out all the nutritional information for you (myfitness.pal for instance) I have done this with several of my recipes. It is really a useful tool

I set my goal at 150 - but at my 6 month check my surgeon said that 159 would be the perfect weight for me. I was surprised because when I was younger I weighed 130 and looked great! We 'negotiated' the 159 down to 155 so I could be at a 'healthy' BMI - but to tell the truth, the closer I get to 159, the more I see that too much weight loss and I may not look as healthy. I lost a lot from my face, shoulders and legs - probably less around the stomach area (although I have lost 15 inches) - quite possibly if I go too far below 159 I will look gaunt and anorexic. I suggest that you will probably need to re-assess your goal from time to time. I've seen folks who have lost too much and they have bones protruding all over the place. Sometimes after being overweight for so long we just want to be skinny. Skinny doesn't always equate to healthy - so bear that in mind. Good luck with your weight loss!

I am pretty sure if you start logging everything, focus on protein first - and cut out empty calories and bad carbs you will be back to your new self really quickly. Good Luck!

Don't worry about the stall - we all have them - my first one was only a week after surgery. As long as you are following your NUT and Dr.'s plans - you will start to lose again. As far as the exercising goes, my surgeon did not clear me for heavy duty exercise until around 6 weeks. Walking yes - swimming, lifting weights or running a marathon race - no. I remember when my first stall came so soon after the surgery I even wondered whether they had actually done the surgery! lol - well, of course they had - over time I have learned to be patient. Just follow the plan - you will be fine.

I didn't have the 'I'm full' sensation until about 2 weeks after surgery. Of course, I was only drinking liquid then, but could drink it really fast - - until one day when all of sudden I could not eat or drink even the 2 oz. I was supposed to - - so the struggle might come a bit later for you - just be aware of what it is when it comes - and be sure you eat and drink slowly now to practice - otherwise you might be up-chucking the overage of food or liquid - not pretty - or a good thing as - if you are like me - you won't want to go near that food or drink for a very long time!

there is a lot of good advice here - Premier shakes are an excellent source of Protein - low carbs and low sugar. Also watch your salt intake as it can help you hold on to Water. Try to make sure you eat 60-80 grams of protein a day - eat your protein first, then veggies, then any carbs - and as someone said - make sure they are good carbs. I put myself on a 1200 calorie diet about 4 months before surgery. --logged every single bite of food I ate - even if it was something I probably should not have eaten. In addition, I ramped up my exercise - 9000 steps a day is awesome - but sometimes you just need to change it up a bit. I did water aerobics - but whatever is fun for you would be great! My doctor didn't have a specified amount of weight to lose - but I feel sure that if I had gained during the liquid diet right before surgery that he would not have done the surgery. They are looking for commitment to a changed way of life. Fortunately for me, my 1200 calorie diet - with an emphasis on 60-80 grams of protein and 60-80 ounces of water a day worked for me. I lost 30 lbs. before my surgery. @@nyseness - the 30 minutes is both before and after you eat - you don't want to wash your food down; you will get hungry faster and want to eat more.

yes, I agree with everything that has been said: By time I decided to take my first steps toward surgery, I had already stopped drinking caffeine, but had to stop drinking sodas I walked 30 min a day at first and eventually added an hour of Water aerobics I put myself on a 1200 calorie diet - emphasized eating over 60 grams of Protein a day, drinking 60 ounces of Fluid and cutting out all the empty calories I could. Of course, there were days that weren't perfect, but doing all this really helped to get me ready for my surgery and I lost 9 lbs before seeing the doctor the first time and another 30 before surgery. Knowing that I would have surgery and finally be able to have a tool to help me lose my excess weight was a great motivator. Good luck with the process and take one day at a time.

I just saw the posts about the lack of energy. I did not gain my energy level back until a couple of weeks after the 6 month mark. I was getting all my Protein, fluids and Vitamins in - but I think it just took my body that long to get over the shock of the surgery. Your doctor will do blood tests at certain intervals to make sure all your levels are where they should be - in the mean time just make sure you do everything you need to do and everything should work out. I am 7 1/2 months out now - have all my energy back - am near my goal and feel great! Just take things one day at a time.

I had my first stall at 2 weeks - and have had plenty since then. Don't get discouraged. Stalls are normal and if you are following your doctor and NUT's advice they will eventually break and you will have another period of weight loss. My latest stall was a couple of months - but I found out I wasn't eating enough. Sometimes we can get so calorie conscious that we overdue it. As I said, follow your doctor and NUT's advice and don't get alarmed when you do have a stall. They are normal and often the body takes that time to 'catch up'.

sometimes it is hard to get back into the exercise routine - maybe you can find a buddy to exercise with? The accountability thing always works for me. I also arrange my workouts so that I do my least favorite thing first - and end with my most favorite (the pool). I guess it is like the carrot and the stick thing lol. I also remind myself how great I feel both physically and emotionally after I have spent a couple hours working out. One other thing I do is to wear an old t-shirt - size 3x - to exercise. I kept a couple of them. Since I am now a size 12/14 - it really serves as a reminder as to how far I have come - and exercising 5 times a week has been an important part of that. There are some good suggestions here - find something that works for you - happy exercising!!

yeah, nervousness is part of it.. Just keep on keeping on - the surgery is a great tool. I am so glad I had it