Balance

I'm 3 weeks post op and I'm trying to create a routine I can follow. I just downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and it seems pretty easy to keep track of what I'm eating. I want to make sure I am getting in enough Protein and I think I may be too light on my calories since I am excersizing. Yesterday I felt a bit light headed. What do you use to keep track of your food intake? For exercise, I use my Apple watch. I was going to buy a Fitbit but it was $125 and I figured for $225 more I could get an Apple watch which does that and much more. I was upset to see on My Fitness Pal that I could have linked my exercise to a Fitbit but it had nothing for an Apple watch so I would need to enter that manually. My sister is on this WLS journey with me and has a Fitbit...it would have been nice to share progress. Any tips on ways I can use the Apple watch better? Any tips on best option for others looking to buy an exercise tracker? Any other apps or tools that are helpful? Thanks!

Absolutely! Everyone is different but... I'm 5 weeks out and I'm very lucky to have had no problems at all. With the exception of the 1st week post-op, I feel exactly the same as before surgery but now it takes a smaller amount of food to fill me up. They said hunger is supposed to go away but I still get hungry around meal time. I feel like I could eat anything (in a small amount) but I am choosing to pick healthy Proteins and they actually taste really good because I'm not eating junk and carbs anymore. I lost about 10 lbs on the 2 week pre-op and almost 20 more in the last 5 weeks. I never could have lost this without the surgery. I feel great and have had to shift to my smaller size clothing. Again, I'm lucky but I would still do it again even if I had some of the side effects others experience. Good luck.

You may want to try Premier Protein in the Chocolate flavor - I love it! Tastes like chocolate milk and is not too sweet. The Vanilla is too sweet for me too but tolerable, the Strawberries and Cream flavor is nauseatingly sweet and I can't drink it at all.

Don't beat yourself up...I was sleeved on December 14th and my doctor has his patients eating puréed/ soft foods starting the day after surgery as long as it's Protein. They gave me tuna fish in the hospital and I've had egg salad or a scrambled egg pretty much every day since then (both recommended by my doctor as meal options). The first 2 days it was 1 oz only but I'm up to 1 full egg or 3oz of egg salad. Also blessed by my doctor is white flakey fish and even ground turkey and I've had both. I've had no problems at all - no nausea and very little gas if any and I'm losing weight very fast. 2 deviled eggs won't hurt I'm curious why doctors have such different post-op restrictions. I've even seen some people on here at the opposite end where they are told by their doctor to be on Clear liquids for 2 weeks post op. I also completely agree on Premier Protein shakes tasting great. I have one every day which helps me reach my protein goal and also to feel full. Good luck - you'll do great because you are so concerned.

Went to the doctor yesterday for my 1 week post op. I told him I was shocked at how much better I've felt than I expected from reading lots of others on this forum...no nausea, able to drink and eat mushy foods fine, little gas. He said everyone recovers differently but told me two things that make his patients generally recover much better (He didn't say it in a bragging way).... 1) He has done so many of these and has state of the art equipment so his surgeries generally take ~45 minutes while some doctors take up to 3 hours. 3 hours of anesthesia is not good for the body and makes recovery much longer. 2) He gives some anti nausea medication right before surgery. It helps to avoid nausea right after and if you don't start with nasea, you will likely not get it later. I never thought to ask these things pre surgery and just wanted to pass on so others could ask. For those who had surgery already, how long was your surgery? Did quicker surgery time correlate to quicker recovery?

After reading posts and watching videos from other helpful sleevers, I brought... 1) Lip Balm - since you can't drink until the leak test the next day, your lips get very dry. 2) Biotene Gel - it is for dry mouth (also from no drinking) and I thought it was way better than the swab sticks the hospital gave. 3) Gas X Strips - I ordered them online and didn't realize the ones I got were peppermint flavored but that turned out great because you can't brush your teeth either until the next day. The hospital had to take them to their lab to verify the were ok but they returned the pack right away approved. I had not opened the box yet and they returned it unopened. 4) Comfy Slippers - you need to walk a lot and the socks the hospital gives you are great but you come back with lots of dust on them and don't really want to get into bed with dust on your socks. 5) Favorite Pillow - it was great for 2 reasons - I was more comfortable resting with my own pillow in the hospital bed and - also for the ride home under my seat belt. All were wonderful advice and hope it helps you. Good luck!