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My surgeon varies the approach based on the person. As I recall, women with under 50 BMI don't have to do the liquid diet (just healthy Protein and veggie diet), but all guys do. This has to do with the way most men carry fat around their abdomen, as opposed to women who often don't. I'm sure he adjusts this based on individual body type. I actually was excused from mine as I had lost 45 lbs in the 6 weeks prior and he examined my abdomen and said I could just keep doing what I had been doing. The moral of the story? Just follow the doctors orders and don't stress, there is no one size fits all approach. Every doctor is different.

Non Scale Victory

Hey @@Papiluv33, good luck! You'll do great. I am just one month post-op now (as of yesterday). I'm down 25 lbs since surgery (and that was with a 14 day stall). If you're interested in what my first month post-op was like, I did a fairly detailed write-up yesterday. You can find it here if interested: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/365863-one-month-post-op-thoughts/

I'm one month post-op today. I've taken some time to reflect on the experience to date, and thought I would share my thoughts for those of you that are interested (it's going to be fairly long): First, the stats: HW: 333 (February 9th, 2016) SW: 287 (March 21st, 2016) CW: 262 (April 21st, 2016) Experience: 1) This is a full time job. I'm surprised at how much of my day is consumed with planning and counting calories, making sure to be constantly drinking to meet liquids goals, and eating even small amounts takes a LONG time. If you are not completely focused on the task it can be hard to get your required Protein and fluids. 2) I do not enjoy eating at all. Adjusting to eating has been a roller coaster. When I first started on actual food (for me it was soft dairy, then eggs & Beans, then fish and nuts and finally chicken (not there yet)) I felt no restriction. I was very confused on how much I should eat (my surgeon does not provide quantity guidelines as he feels everyone is different, and you should listen to your body). All well and good, but my body wasn't telling me anything! Based on what I learned from you guys at BP, I tried to limit myself to more than 4oz, or 1 cup at any meal. I had no problem with these portions. Then after about two weeks, everything changed. I have MASSIVE restriction. I ate less than an ounce of fish, was in massive pain and vomited. I had about 3-4 TBSP of bean Soup and had the same reaction. I have had to re-learn how to eat. I take extremely small bites, chew very well, and wait between each bite of food. It took my almost 40 minutes to eat a single scallop (a little under an oz) the other night. 3) I'm never hungry. In the last month I have had not one sensation of hunger. It's weird. 4) The first stall sucked. My stall started just about two weeks after surgery and lasted for 14 days. It was really frustrating to be following every instruction to the letter, and not see the scale move. I know many people say to stay off the scale, but to me, getting on the scale after a week and seeing no movement would be devastating. The small disappointment everyday was easier to handle than a massive disappointment every week. I suppose if you had the self control to only get on the scale once a month or once a quarter, you would never know you had a stall. I'm a data guy and I just don't have that kind of self control! 5) The first stall was rewarding. Yes, it was hard mentally; however, it's true what people say, your body is adjusting, I dropped a pant size and a shirt size while I was "not losing weight". I'm not sure exactly what my body was doing, but it was doing something. More importantly, probably most important of all, I got through it. I would never have gotten through that on a normal diet. I would have been overcome with frustration, decided it wasn't worth starving myself, and gone back to old habits. I would now be well back to gaining all the weight I lost (and more probably). That wasn't an option this time. So instead of gaining weight, I'm through the stall and down another 7 lbs. I can not stress enough how life changing this is. This is why I had this surgery. 6) I truly believe my pre-op diet and weight loss has helped me tremendously. I had been eating very healthy and had lost 45 lbs in 6 weeks prior to surgery. Many of the addictions to carbs, sugar, etc had been broken prior to surgery. I really don't have many cravings, and I believe it's made the adjustment easier. Plus, how cool is it that I'm not "wasting time" losing those 45 lbs, but am so far ahead of the game. And I'm not sure that the pre-op loss has slowed my post-op loss much. I've lost 25 lbs in a month, and that was with a 14 day stall. Big Victories: I was taking 100-25 of Losartan HCL and 10mg of Amlodopine to control my blood pressure. I am now down to 5mg of Amlodopine, and my BP is around 120/70. I am confident with a little more weight loss and exercise I will be completely off meds (except my PPI which is prescribed post surgery for some duration, and Vitamins of course) I can shop in normal stores. For the first time in many, many, many years, I can walk into a regular store and buy clothes. Granted, it's still 2XL shirts and XL shorts/pant (wearing 44s, but they are a bit lose, probably about ready for 42s), but they are there and available. This is huge. I am also shocked at how cheap things are. I can get name brand (Polo, Calvin Klein, Izod) casual button downs for around $20. As compared to DXL brand for $60. I am no longer morbidly obese. As of this morning, I have a BMI of 39.9. I am "only" severely obese for the first time in probably close to 20 years. In summary, life is better now that I've lost 71lbs. I still have a long way to go to goal (77lbs), but I am highly confident I'm going to make it. Of course I have longer term concerns about maintenance, but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I plan on making the most of this opportunity, and am adamant about making healthy food choices. It's easy now, but my hope is that by the time I get to maintenance it's a habit (I started making extremely healthy choices over 2.5 months ago, so I am well on my way). This site has been an incredible wealth of information, and for the most part people are extremely supportive and encouraging. I appreciate all the information and feedback along the way, it has been invaluable to my success thus far.

It's way too early to worry. At 3 weeks I would have said "I've only lost 17 lbs". But that's because I lost 17 lbs in about 10 days then went into a stall. My stall was 14 days and yet I have still lost 25 lbs in the first month. I'll take it.

Obviously check with your surgeon about Prednisone; however, Prednisone is a steroid and NSAID stands for NONSTEROIDAL Anti-Inflammatory Drug, so it's not a NSAID, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's safe for you. You should review all medications with your doctor(s).

That's interesting. It makes me wonder if there are perhaps regional cultural differences. Between my wife and I we've had quite a number of surgeries and we've always dealt directly with the surgeons pre and post-op. We also live in a large metro area (Detroit). It definitely seems as if we're in the minority however.

Wow. This surprises me. Not that I have any perspective but my own, but I've had a very different experience. I see my surgeon at every appointment, both pre-op and post-op. Even the one time I had an issue post-op, the nurse tracked him down at the hospital where was performing surgeries and he called me back personally. He never rushes and I have spent on average 30-45 min talking to him each appointment. I'm only sharing this to highlight that there are alternative approaches. I should also say that my surgeons practice does not use a NUT. He is the NUT. He takes nutrition very seriously, counsels people on non-surgical weight loss, and has published his own book on proper nutrition. This could be partially why he makes himself so available. Most of my questions post-op are related to nutrition.

And on day 14 the stall was broken. Ok, maybe on day 13, as I was down .5lbs from the lowest weight over the last 13 days, but I didn't believe it. Today, I was down an additional 2 lbs, now I am beginning to believe. Just thought I'd update you as I know I am always curious what others are experiencing. While it was frustrating, I knew that I was working the plan, and clothes were starting to fit much better over those 14 days, and that things were going as they were supposed to. But it's still definitely a frustrating experience. I'm sure there will be more stalls, and I hope they get less frustrating as time goes by. For me, the worst part was that I only lost weight for 10 days post-surgery (albeit 17 lbs) prior to going into a 14 day stall. When the not losing period was longer than the losing period to-date, it was hard not to be disappointed. I also lost 45 lbs in the 6 weeks prior to surgery (with no stalls), so that may play a part in my experience as well.

Perhaps herein lies the problem. Please repeat the test with the proper Colorado medication and report back. All in the name of science of course.

@@Crochet Queen, I'm not sure that embarrassment is the main reason, although it certainly could be for some and could be part of the reason for many. I have shared with a very small circle of people (doctors, family, boss, HR director and 1 friend). I do this because I am an extremely private person and don't wish for people to have a lot of insight into my personal health issues. I generally didn't share the fact that I had high blood pressure with people either. Part of the reason that I am so private is that I don't like being the center of attention or concern. I don't like the interrogations that often come with people knowing. I also am not interested, in any way in their opinions. The few people that do know are already driving me crazy. How are you doing? How are you feeling? How's the weight loss coming? How is your eating? Are you able to exercise? Whew! I tire quickly of answering these questions. And these people are genuinely interested and supportive. I have honestly only had one negative experience with anyone who knows, and ironically, that came from the nurse at my PCP. My PCP herself has been amazingly supportive and encouraging, but her nurse decided she should share with me that everyone she knows that has done this has failed and regained the weight, that people just need to change their behaviors, and then went on to tell me she had read about a new procedure where they inflate a baloon in your stomach, and added "maybe that one will actually work". Keep in mind, this was all said to me AFTER I had the surgery. I sort of wanted to punch her in the throat. Not because it impacts me personally, as I'm confident in my decision, but just because it was unnecessary and mean spirited. Once I am through the majority of the weight loss and am in maintenance, I may share more. Largely because at that point, people hopefully will not find the need to check on my progress continually. As others have said, I am much more likely to share with other obese people. I do not want to mislead anyone and give them false hope. Also, if (when) I am able to achieve success, perhaps it will encourage them to at least explore their options. This is similar to how I have handled other medical issues in the past. If someone came to me and was upset that they had just been diagnosed with High Blood Pressure, I was likely to share with them that I had been medicated for years and it was controllable. Anyway, that's my perspective. It has nothing to do with embarrassment or shame for me. This is literally the only chance I have to control my weight. After decades of dieting I know that. It would be embarrassing to not do everything in my power to regain my health.

Beans, lentils and nuts - assuming they are on your plan. It maybe too early for nuts. These are not as protein packed as meat, but still very high in protein. Also, not sure if you're including fish in your definition of meat, but it's an excellent source of protein. However, you probably want to limit fish intake to once a week or so given the high levels of antibiotics (farm raised) or Mercury (wild). Either way, you will still need to supplement with protein shakes. My daily protein goal is only 60g, and that would still be like 4.25 cups of beans or 3.4 cups of lentils. Way more than I can actually eat right now (I'm 3 weeks post op). I think 3oz of tilapia or perch is over 20g though, so that's a good start.

I'm in the exact same situation. I am just shy of 3 weeks post-op and have been stuck for 8 days. Actually up a pound or two (just fluctuating right there). I know it's normal, but it's so frustrating to hit a stall so fast after surgery, I hardly got to enjoy the initial weight loss before it stopped. Just tying to be patient, and working the plan.

So I am officially 2 weeks post-op today. Thought I'd share my experience for those interested. We'll start with the stats. I've lost 18 lbs since the surgery, and 64 lbs since I started this process 8 weeks ago tomorrow. The surgery apparently went very well, doctor said it was one of the smoothest he'd had. There was awful pain post-op that lasted about 5 hours. It really was bad, probably the worst pain I've ever experience. It quickly subsided after that, and I have really had a pretty easy time with it since. I went home the day after surgery, and began adding Protein shakes and Water on day 2 post-op. Things went well, and I was able to get my required 60 grams of protein and 64 oz of water almost right away. The afternoon of Day 8, for what seemed to be no reason, I started feeling very nauseated, and extremely tired. By Day 9, I could not stomach the thought of Protein Shakes of any sort (which I absolutely hate since surgery BTW). Day 9 consisted of me just basically just getting in my water, and even that was a struggle. By mid afternoon I was feeling so horrible, and I thought I was having the beginnings of a panic attack. I was sweaty, dizzy, and felt like I was going to pass out. I decided to take my blood pressure out of curiosity, and it was 98/45. I was obviously a bit freaked out, and called the doc. He speculated that it was most likely that I had lost so much weight so fast that I was probably over-medicated now for my high blood pressure. I was taking 10mg of Amlodopine and 100-25 of Losartan-HCTZ. He had me stop the Losartan completely, and take half of my Amlodopine starting the next morning. I felt better (but not great) on Day 10, but by Day 11, I was 100% back and feeling great again. I had started a tiny bit of applesauce on Day 9, tried yogurt, but could not stand the taste. Day 11, I added in cottage cheese, and Day 13 started with some roasted sweet potatoes. food has been absolutely no issue whatsoever. With the exception of the BP issue, nothing has made me nauseous, and while I have no sense of hunger, I also have no sense of feeling full. I actually find the process frustrating as I feel I am trying to sort out quantities, frequencies, etc by myself. And while it's going very smoothly, I have a lot of self-doubt about rather I'm "doing it right." My doctor does not give quantity guidelines as he feels it varies so much from person to person. He also does not give calorie guidelines as he doesn't care about calories as long as people are putting the "right" foods in their bodies (I know this is VERY different from most). I reached out to the BariatricPal community and asked to see what their doctors recommended in regards to quantity, which has been helpful. I saw that there were recommendations not to exceed 4 oz per meal, so I have been sticking with that, but I can definitely eat 4oz of cottage cheese with no problem at all. Never get a sense of fullness (again, I'm also never hungry), never feel back pain/pressure, or pain/pressure in my chest or any of the other symptoms I hear about. All in all, I consider myself very lucky. Things have gone as close to perfect as possible. Even the blood pressure issue, while unpleasant, is exactly what I was hoping to get from the surgery. And while the food re-introduction is stressful for me, it couldn't be going better. Just thought I would share my experience to-date for those who maybe going through the same thing, or about to be! EDIT: Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, I'm only about 7 lbs away from not being morbidly obese for the first time since I can remember (probably at least 15 years). He's to being severely obese (for now)!

I'll let you know. I'm on day 7 of mine. I'm eating around 500 cals a day, and hitting my fluid and protein goals, so it can't last forever. Over 11,000 steps today and 9,000 yesterday so I'm doing what I can control!

And I looks like I've hit my first stall right on schedule (just about exactly at the beginning on my third week). 5 days, and I've actually gained 2 lbs. I'm getting all of my fluids and Protein, and consuming under 500 calories a day, so I'm not so worried about it, but like clockwork, there it is.

As mentioned above, I am absolutely freezing all of the time. And I was ALWAYS hot before. But it's not the lost weight, I believe it's the reduced calories. Sort of a byproduct of not putting as much fuel on the fire so it burns lower. I say it's not the reduced fat because it started immediately when I started my pre-op diet. Now, I'm sure losing the fat is only exacerbating the situation! I am looking forward to the day it started warming up here in Michigan. It's been freezing and snowing of and on the last week or two. I can't wait for summer. I'm tired of wearing around thick hoodies and constantly covering up with blankets.

I'm 3 days post op, and on my second day of full liquids. Yesterday it took me about 10 hours to drink a single Premier Protein shake. I was only able to get in 30g of protein yesterday, although I did get in over 60oz total of Fluid. I'm dreading this task again today. I have to really focus on constantly sipping this stuff. And every sip makes me feel really, really full and a bit uncomfortable. I'm sure it gets easier, and I know it's only been one day if this, but it's daunting to think about. How long did it take you guys until you could fairly easily get down 60g of protein and 64oz of fluids? All in all things are going well. Pain/discomfort is fairly small and easily controlled with pain meds. Getting up and down and moving around is no problem. I know I'm probably fortunate, but still feeling a little sorry for myself this morning as I face down this Protein Shake. Ugh. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I was wondering if you guys could share any guidelines you received regarding portions post-op. My surgeon provides a detailed plan of what food to introduce, and when, but does not give quantity guidelines. I asked him at my 1-wk post-op, but he said it varies so much from person to person it's hard to say. I said "are we talking a couple of tablespoons, a 1/4 cup, etc?". He said a couple of tablespoons would be a lot at this point. He advised me to pay attention to my body. Which is hard, given I'm not really hungry to start with. He said to look for other signs, like back pain, pain/pressure in the chest, hiccups, etc. but I don't seem to have any of these. I have moved from liquids to the "soft" phase (my doc doesn't really have a "puréed" phase) which includes sugar free applesauce, yoghurt and cottage cheese. So far, I've been limiting myself to 2 tbsp total per "meal", 3-4 times a day. Plus my Protein drinks and fluids of course. Any thoughts? Any guidelines in quantities you could share from your doctors? Appreciate the info, thanks.

I am following up with my general practitioner next week to let her know. I was on two different pills (which were actually a combination of 3 different medicines). I am now taking 1/2 of 1 of those pills. It just happened so incredibly fast, right at 8 days post op it just crashed (down to 95/48). I plan on discussing with her a plan to remove the last of the medication as my BP (hopefully) continues to drop. It's stable right now, and I'm feeling great again.

Thanks James. Yes, I've been getting all my fluids in since day 1, and all my protein since day 2 (with one exception due to issue with my blood pressure that was making me very nauseated). Really, just want to maximize my food based protein by eating what is safely possible. Right now via cottage cheese, and soon through eggs/beans and eventually fish/chicken and nuts. I'll still have to supplement through protein drinks, but the more I can get from food based protein and reduce the drinks, the better. Energy hasn't really been a problem for the most part (again, except a couple of days where my blood pressure dropped and my meds had to be adjusted). Getting these guidelines has been very helpful to let me gauge what is safely possible. I feel much better about it. Thanks again.

I have had it chronically. Whenever I get a flare up I go to the doctor and get a series of 1-3 cortisone shots, this helps it to go away. The longer you wait and the more inflamed it gets the more painful the initial shot(s), and the more shots it seems to take to go away. Mine are caused, in part, due to high arches. I have replaced all my shoes with new ones having high arches (sketchers have been great to my feet), and while I am in the house I wear the original crocs around all the time. Not glamorous, but effective. It's been many years since I've had a flare up after doing this. I'm hoping the weight loss will help, and I won't have to go to such extreme measures to prevent it. Also be nice to have more options in shoes!

I've kept my kids completely in the loop. My 11 year old was a bit nervous about how I would change. She just doesn't want her dad to change at all. And even told my wife "I just don't understand why dad is doing this. I mean, he's not even fat." The best part about that, is she honestly believes that. That's how she sees me. We had a lot of talks pre-op about how I will be the same, and that at 11, she might change more over the next 6 months than I will! Since the surgery (10 days ago) she has been great. She asks a lot of questions and takes a genuine interest in the process and my progress. We are generally very open with our kids, and it has never backfired yet. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App