heidikat72

That's about the time I started struggling with cravings too and yep even for things I don't really like or that I hadn't eaten in a decade or more. So I can commiserate. However, just remember those feelings aren't actual hunger - it's our heads messing with us. Our stomachs had surgery, our brains didn't. We are in a major life change and the brain sometimes is a little slow to accept the change. Try to focus on why you had the surgery and then just try to find something to distract your attention away from the cravings. It isn't easy, but we have to power through it. It will get easier as our new lifestyle becomes more routine. You can do it!

It takes some getting used to but you will adjust. I would suggest to start practicing before surgery - but actually it is much easier to deal with post surgery. The not drinking for 30 minutes before a meal wasn't a problem for me but initially waiting 30 minutes after was harder. However, i did try drinking about 10 minutes after a meal and it didn't feel so great so now I make sure to wait. To help, I set the timer on my phone. For reference, I'm about 6 weeks out from surgery now and still use the timer on my phone as a reminder but it isn't hard to wait anymore.

Not sure what stage you are at so I'll base it on the guidelines my nutritionist gave me. At week 4 I was still on purees so Breakfast was typically greek yogurt but occasionaly I would have a soft scrambled egg or 2oz small curd cottage cheese. lunch was either tuna or chicken pureed with a little plain greek yogurt. dinner was the same or ricotta bake. I was still doing at least one but usually 2 shakes a day to meet my Protein goal. I'm now 6 weeks out and on soft foods. Based on my plan's guidelines (they vary widely amongst surgical teams), breakfast is 2oz cottage cheese with 1oz of either unsweetened applesauce or no sugar added diced peaches. i still rotate a scrambled egg or hard boiled egg in there too to break up the monotony. Lunch is 2 oz of low sodium/low fat lunch meat (turkey, ham or roast beef) wrapped around a low fat string cheese - I use about 1tsp of mustard to dip it in. Dinner has been 2oz of tilapia (it stays nice and soft when cooked, change up the flavor by using different herbs - i really like greek seasoning on it), 2-3oz shrimp or 2oz soft chicken with 1-2oz vegetables - so far I've had carrots and green Beans, again cooked really soft. I still have one Protein shake as a snack to meet my protein goal.

I've seen on some other posts and blogs where people who have trouble getting meat down, make a little bit of a dip to help moisten it - think greek yogurt with some herbs and spices added. Might be worth a try and the yogurt will give you more protein!

doesn't sound crazy at all to me. I'm 6 weeks out and i crave salt - like wanting to pour salt in my palm and lick it level of craving (haven't actually done it, but catch myself wanting to). I have definitely struggled since about week 3 with the "head hunger". when i find myself craving something - i stop and actually think about it and when I do, I realize I'm not actually hungry and it helps tame the beast in my head. then i distract myself by doing something else. It is getting easier now especially as I start adding more things to my diet - so hopefully you will find that is true too. Those first few weeks are just so monotonous and bland but it will get better!

For me, since I live alone I just made sure I had enough to get me through the first two weeks. Figured the last thing i would feel like doing is making a run to the store during that time. Personally, I'm not a fan of plain Water so I made sure I had a stock of crystal light. I would also suggest sugar free popsicles - it's august, it's hot and you can crunch on the ice a bit in your mouth before it melts (seems like an insignificant thing but when all you are having is liquids, a little crunch is nice). During that week before surgery (June 17th for me), I made sure my house was thoroughly cleaned, laundry all caught up etc. I also got a supply of magazines, books to read, coloring books etc - distractions to keep me from getting bored and to turn to when i was thinking about food. While I didn't have real hunger - i definitely battle with head hunger so it's been good to have distractions around.

oddly room temp liquids were the hardest for me to get down - especially plain room temp water. warm was easiest but if not warm, then cold. and i would agree with Kristen - if you are having trouble with liquids, cream of wheat probably not a good idea yet. I didn't even try yogurt until over a week out and and i was easily getting in liquids by then and the first time i did the yogurt, it was rough - only did an ounce and it felt very heavy. so basically my advice would be don't progress to anything thick until you can easily get in liquids

congrats! that is a major milestone! and one that i totally "get". I started at 442 and I was so thrilled when I first saw 399 on the scale. you are doing awesome! and you are so right about the discipline!

have you tried different temperatures? early out I found slightly warm broth went down the easiest. only 9 oz a day of fluids is dangerously low and will likely land you back in the hospital with dehydration. so it is critical to keep sipping. if it is truly too painful to swallow, call your surgical team.

First appoint with surgeon/NUT was December 8 2015 - weight 442lbs Had required 6 months supervised period where i really focused in changing my habits Surgery June 17th weight 364lbs Weight as of July 31st (I don't get on the scale everyday, intentionally) 335lbs

that had to be a great feeling being able to do so much! I am so happy for you. You are such an inspiration to so many on here, especially to me!

The surgical team had told me if i didn't have a bowel movement in 4 days to take a small dose of milk of magnesia - and i did need it even with taking colace daily. I had surgery June 17th by the way. And yes, walking is really the only way to get rid of the gas - and it still took about 4 or 5 days before I felt like the gas pressure was gone.

I started routinely adding turmeric to my diet last fall. I was a total skeptic but it definitely helps. I was at the point of taking 2 naproxen every day for my knee pain and knew I had to stop that because I wouldn't be able to after surgery. The turmeric will be a very gradual improvement. In fact I wasn't even sure it was working that much until i stopped for a few days and realized what a difference I had. Can't guarantee it will work for you - but work a shot. I just took about 1/2 teaspoon every day - sprinkled on my dinner or mixed into a smoothie (note it does have a bitter taste and will turn a smoothie a funky color).

that is similar to what mine was - i was simply told to stay under a thousand calories while getting 80g Protein and keeping carbs as low as I could. I ask if i had to do all liquid since I had seen that so many times on here and was told there was no reason to go all liquid but that a lot of groups recommend it because it is easy to meet protein requirement while staying under the calorie goal but that the main thing was to do high protein and low cal/low carb to shrink the liver. I have a friend in another state whose surgeon had her doing only 3 EAS carbvantage shakes a day and nothing else but Water - so under 400 calories, only 45 grams of protein and she was miserable. So i was quite thankful my surgeon took a different approach. The two weeks pre-op weren't bad at all for me.

you just did major trauma to your body. it is confused and reeling and trying to heal. let it heal. I had surgery June 17th and at my two week post op appt I had lost...nothing, not even a tenth of a pound. Nutritionist, nurse and surgeon all told me not to worry the weight loss would come. I'm now 5 weeks post op and 27lbs down - after losing nothing the first two weeks. WLS is not an overnight cure for obesity. It still takes time to get the pounds off. btw - 12lbs in 3 weeks is 4lbs per week average - which is pretty damn good.

What Kristin said - removing sugary drinks and significantly reducing carbs is what will help the most. Start logging just to see where you are - and it helps make it a little more obvious where you can make changes. and increasing physical activity.

Not necessary at all. I had someone drop me off. And another pick me up two days later. I just made sure they had the contact info for an emergency contact just in case (They'll ask for that). When you check in they will ask if anyone is with you and if you want them to call anyone once the surgery is over.

I don't know cost is the reason. I think pills are for people who need it long term/ permanently. I haven't heard of anyone using pills for short term post op risk.

I had to take the blood thinner injections twice a day for 2 weeks post op because my BMI was over 60. I got through it. it's quick (took longer to give myself the pep talk before each one than the actual shot took). It doesn't really hurt per se, just a mild stinging for a few minutes (at least in my case). and it is just a subcutaneous injection so not like you have to hit a vein or anything. not something i looked forward to but a necessary part of the process (avoidance of death by pulmonary embolism is a great motivator!). I didn't bruise too bad from the lovenox injections i did at home but the stronger heparin injections i got in the hospital first bruised me really bad (in fact a month out and still slightly visible) so maybe I just couldn't notice the lovenox ones (although i did try not to inject in an area already bruised). I did end up with some hard nodules under my skin that my doc said were internal hematomas and would gradually clear up over the next couple months. so you are not alone in not liking doing them, but in a year it probably won't seem like it was that bad and preventing blood clots is important.

my puree phase allowed soft scrambled eggs, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, pureed lean meats, etc. I pretty much lived on tuna or salmon pouches or canned chicken pureed with plain greek yogurt for lunch and dinner. breakfast i had an egg, or yogurt or cottage cheese (small curd). I think with the puree phase - you just kind of have to get through it and look at what you are eating as necessary medication to get your protein in.

I didn't lose anything the first two weeks. Nothing! Nada! Not even 1/10th of a pound! then in the next two weeks I lost 22lbs. Everyone is different. I'll tell you what my nutritionist and surgeon told me at my two-week postop appointment, you just did major trauma to your body. It is confused and reeling and trying to heal. Let it heal. The weight loss will come.

When I woke up - no oxygen, just an iv line in my arm (and oddly another one on my chest that wasn't connected that they had put in as a "back up" because i have a history of iv lines stopping). I just remember being VERY disoriented and kinda confused and the lights were SOOOO bright! I could hear them asking me how I was and I just kept saying I don't know how i feel. that only lasted for a little while - after about 15 minutes I was more alert. I wasn't painfree but not really in pain either - just uncomfortable for a while.

If you have to be all liquid - try the unjury protein powder and fairlife skim milk - i find those very satisfying. Also the nectar protein powders - fruity and i mix with crystal light to cut the "proteiny" factor down. Unjury also makes a chicken soup flavor you can mix with warm (not hot, it will clump) broth - try bone broth, more protein. This makes a satisfying nice savory change from the other protein shakes. sugar free popsicles are a nice "treat" and lets you crunch a little.

Welcome to this wild wonderful ride! The process varies by insurance plan and surgical team but you should definitely get more details at the first appointment. To prepare, try contacting your insurance company and asking for the policy/requirements for bariatric surgery approval. That should give you some idea of what will be needed and timeframe - for instance some require 3 months supervised weight management before, some require 6 months and some don't require any. I had my surgery June 17th (VSG) and here was what I had to do beforehand - some of this you may not need. First appointment with surgical team Dec 8, 2015. Found out insurance required 6 monthly weight management appointments, this visit counted as the first. My last was in May. Testing also needed included: Psych evaluation - to make sure you understand the surgery and are mentally prepared, have a support system etc Cardiac clearance - for me this meant ekg, stress test and echo chest x-ray upper GI (barium swallow test, i've seen others have to have an endoscopy) abdominal ultrasound (mine indicated an aortic aneurism so then I had to have an angiogram which showed my aorta was fine) Pulmonary function test sleep study - to check for sleep apnea Blood work I also had to take a nutrition class - 1 session, 2hrs long and my surgeon's team requires attendance at one support group meeting - they offer lots and these are great, i recommend finding one! It seems like so much to do - but they want to make sure the surgery will be as safe as possible and understand any possible medical issues you have. And trust me - the time flies! Good luck on your journey and keep us updated!

Hope it all went well! This is a crazy fun ride (i'm 4.5 weeks post-op). and jasminkw - not everyone has to do mag citrate before surgery - all depends on your surgical team, mine didn't want it. The purpose is yes, to "clean" you out.