SilentBotts

Had the glue also no issues with it.

How is everyone doing? Just had my 4th monthly follow up with the programs APRN. We set a goal for me to be below 300lbs by my six month follow up with the surgeon. I'm super thrilled with my progress so far. Lots of little NSVs lately, fitting in chairs/cars way easier now, my thighs are starting to look noticeably smaller when sitting down. I had to add notches to my belts the other day.

What are you using? I was on the Bariatric Advantage shakes for my pre-op diet and it was the worst, couldn't finish them all each day. If you're on those I was told they are much better with milk if that's something you plan allows at this phase. Premier Protein is what I've used since surgery, the vanilla were ok, but the chocolate is actually pretty good. 30g protein for 11oz premixed shake.

I found chicken broth super satisfying. sugar free popsicles are amazing, I still always have them on hand.

I didn't worry at all about food until I was able to eat enough to get all my Protein from food. While I was on purees and softs I could do about 1/4 to 1/2 cup. I would try to eat one meal a day as food, to get used to eating again and to figure out what foods I could eat. The rest was just Protein shakes. At about 4 months now I can do about a full cup of food. I'm still planning meals solely around hitting that protein goal so some meals may be smaller than that and some may be larger. It doesn't worry me too much if there's a little left by the time I get full, if It's just a bite I'll eat it, if it's more I'll set it aside as a snack. I make sure to eat enough to get my protein but I don't push myself to finish it all at once. Since it's all planned out daily anyway even if there's some left over it's not actually extra food. My surgeon's office actually annoyed me a little in how quickly they wanted me completely off the shakes because I wanted to take my time in increasing portion sizes.

I can eat about two cups of Soup, but it's mostly Water. I did eat too much once and it was soooo uncomfortable. I plan my meals and portions around hitting Protein goals, I'll eat until my stomach lets me know it's time to stop, if there's any left I'll set it aside for later, but it's usually not more than one or two mouthfuls.

I was only hitting maybe about 600 calories for the first month and a half to two months. This was with one to two Protein shakes a day, and eating two meals, cottage or ricotta cheese, fish, eggs. I wasn't cleared for Solid foods until month three. I still feel it's weird for them to focus on calories, every meal plan I've seen emphasized getting your protein in as a priority and to do so with the most calorie efficient foods possible, and getting other nutrients through your multi Vitamins and supplements. A serving or two of Peanut Butter might help, it's calorie dense but still a good protein food. I find two teaspoons to be very satisfying. If you are hitting your goals though I wouldn't worry about trying to hit a calorie threshold until you're cleared for and able to take in regular solids. Long term 800-1000 is probably where we all want to be, but short term especially right after the surgery I think it's ok to come in under, it'll just end up helping you lose faster anyway.

My plan is to hit 50-60g of Protein a day. I just plan around that, not thinking too hard about amount of food or number of meals. I try to keep my food choices as calorie to protein efficient as possible, but sometimes I'll have some Peanut Butter or cashews that are a little higher in calories. I was instructed to try and stick to regular meal times as a way to build good habits, and avoid grazing behavior.

I'm not shy about talking about the surgery at all. For the most part anyone I've talked to has been supportive/curious. It's probably a good bellwether for continuing the relationship. If he has issues with you having had the surgery not sure it's someone you would want to stay with anyway.

You could cook pretty much anything and just run it through the blender. Cottage and ricotta cheese are also good. I was eating a baked ricotta recipe that was like lasagna without the noodles and meat. I haven't really been eating anything that isn't a Protein food, so during pureeds and softs I didn't do any veggies or cream of wheat type stuff. I leaned pretty heavily on the Protein shakes until I was on solids. I tried some canned Soup in the blender, anything with noodles was pretty miserable. Beef stews where the best. I was also eating scrambled eggs during pureeds, as long as chewed very well and they were a little runny I was fine.

I'm surprised they gave you a calorie goal. My instructions all revolved around hitting a certain Protein goal, no mention of calorie ranges at all. I imagine if your shooting for somewhere between 60-80g of protein a day you'll probably hit that 800 calories goal.

My Dr had me on Chewable Pepsid for the first few weeks post op.

Could be hormones, as we lose weight a lot of hormones get released. My testosterone has been way up. Increased energy, acne, waaaaayyyy more interest in certain extra curricular activities than I've had since I was a teenager. So aside from the acne all good.

For the first few weeks I was just drinking constantly almost all day. It would take me about a half hour to finish a Protein shake, I just kept taking sips until it was done. I continued to use Protein shakes as my primary source of protein until almost month three when I could eat enough food at one time to get my 60g of protein without them. Premier Protein is great only 11oz with 30g of protein so two of them should be enough to reach goal for most people.

Yes, this! I sat down cross legged the other day and didn't even realize I was doing it at first. Then I just had a "huh" moment it was great. I'm also able to go from laying on the floor or sitting to standing so quickly now that I get a little light headed, which I had forgotten was a thing that happens.

It's really good that you can see it for what it is. I understand what you're dealing with. The last relationship I had been in before surgery was very emotionally abusive and manipulative. It took me months to see it for what it was. I realized that I was accepting so many red flags and terrible behavior because of two or three moments that I was holding onto. It was really hard to come to terms with the fact that everything she said and did to me was just about maintaining control, so she could use me for approval, sex, money.

I use calcium chews that are the consistency of startbursts and gummie Multivitamins with no issues. Been on the chews since right after surgery and switched to gummies after two months. So aside from the sugar if you aren't having issues with other solids I don't think the consistency texture is going to be a problem. One piece of candy every now and again is probably not enough sugar going to cause issues for your stomach, but you wont know until you try. I think the bigger issues is just that the primary goal post op is to meet nutrition requirements as efficiently as possible and also build better habits. I definitely go off plan every once in a while, I imagine every has their little indulgences. A spoonful or two of Peanut Butter, some cashews or peanuts, but I still try to make sure those things are helping me it my Protein goals, even if the calorie to protein ratio is less ideal that my normal meal choices. Candy is just sugar, it's one of the big things we are supposed to avoid. Just added calories. It can also be habit forming, you can't just buy five skittles, or one starburst. So if you get it, it's always going to be there. I see a lot of questions about "When can I eat "fill in the blank junk food/carb food". I'm pretty sure we all have those cravings. I almost had a panic attack pre op when I realized I wasn't going to be able to eat pizza or Chinese for at least a year/year and a half if ever. Once we hit goal weight and enter maintenance mode I think it's ok to experiment a little with those things and see if we can have them without binging, without affecting weight/nutrition goals negatively. But it's something to be very careful with I think. Building good habits during the weight loss period I think is important with building control for later on. So basically that's a long winded way of saying one or two small pieces of candy a week will probably not affect you unless your new pouch doesn't like sugar. Buuuuuuutttt it's probably a bad idea until you hit goal weight/maintenance mode and even then food like this should be introduced verrrry carefully and you'll need to pay close attention to how it affects you.

Good luck dude, you are making a great decision. I wish that I had this surgery done when I was younger. Pain isn't bad at all. I went home after two nights at the hospital, and even though I think I had more than the typical amount of pain I had no trouble getting in and out of bed, sitting and standing on my own. The surgeon will make about four or five small incisions, most will be about a half inch, one will be one to one and a half inches wide. The large one is where the removed portion of your stomach pouch is pulled out. If you have any pain post-op it'll be from that incision.

I was going to comment about the Meal Replacement bars and the crackers as well. My info packet included a chart with a list of high Protein foods, with the amount of protein and calories in one ounce. This is super useful, I've been using to stick to the most protein dense things I can find. Fish, chicken, eggs, cheese.

Stalls are normal. There could be a bunch of causes. You're about two weeks post op so probably still healing, that will affect what you see on the scale. If you've started exercising you may be building muscle at a rate that it's affecting what the scale shows, but you'll probably notice you've lost some inches, those are sometimes a better thing to track than weight. Our bodies also store fat differently for different uses. We have reserves for quick use that the body will use if there's a calorie deficit, which between surgery and the new diet you definitely have. Once those reserves are used up, the body will start burning normal fat, but it's also restocking those reserves, so while that's going on you'll still be losing but wont see a change on the scale. It's basically a bunch of normal processes taking place, as long as you are sticking to your food plan, hitting Protein and Vitamin goals, and exercising you're going to do fine. I'm three months out and have already had two stalls. First one was at week three, lasted for three to four weeks. Just passed the second stall lasted for about a week.

The surgery was actually super easy. I was really nervous while prepping, getting my hospital gown on, IV put in and all that. I was actually shaking once I got into the operating room. But man, that anesthesia is good stuff, totally calm after one or two inhales after the mask was on, then one or two more and it's lights out. Then you wake up and it's done!

As long as you're hitting H2O and Protein goals I wouldn't worry. You're going to be wrecked from your body healing, even if you don't notice the pain much, it's still a lot of trauma. I was sleeping most of the day for the first week, and wasn't at my pre-op energy level for about a month and a half.

I would check with the surgeon, but if you've dropped a lot of weight you should be fine. On my 2 week liquid pre op I dropped 20lbs. I cheated two or three times, there were a few days where I was just ravenous when I got home from work even after drinking all my shakes. I had a few bites of whatever was still in the house. The only full meal I ate was the day before surgery I had some boneless skinless chicken. I think everyone cheats once or twice during the pre-op, it's the first real hard cut-off between your old relationship with food and your new one. As long as you haven't been going off plan a lot you are probably fine.

I had a cold the week before surgery, got checked out by my PCP and the nurse at the surgery center. They told me I was fine as long as I didn't have a fever. Not sure if that's different for UTIs.

That was about my experience. I had some pain, the main incision was very tender, the surgeon had a hard time getting the removed portion of my pouch out. Other than that and some constipation no issues. I was getting all my liquids and meeting my Protein goals the first full day home. Home alone for two weeks, no issues, driving second week.