Tufflaw

I'll second the chewables, my own kids have on occasion taken melatonin gummies, they said they taste delicious! But even the night of my surgery before I even left the hospital the nurse had me taking tylenol in pill form, so apparently it's OK to take pills after the surgery.

I've never heard of eating every 3 hours, I was recommended to eat three meals with two "snacks" in between, which sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I also track calories but for me it's always more about the portion size. I started at about 4 oz, now I do 6 or 7. I try to stay low-cal and low-carb if I can but I don't drive myself crazy about it. Typical day for me is breakfast of two scrambled eggs with 1 oz of shredded cheese (same breakfast since right after my surgery). Before eating usually an 11 oz premier protein drink - if I don't have it first I wait an hour after eating to have it. Usually no snack before lunch because of the protein shake but sometimes either an apple or 6-7 oz of cantaloupe. Lunch is usually a pre-made salad I get from Target, either the chicken caesar (360 cal) or asian fusion (270). Post-lunch snack is usually two sugar free jello puddings (chocolate/vanilla swirl). Dinner I mix up a bit but frequently it's a 4 oz piece of fish plus 3 oz corn, with 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce. Dessert is Halo Top ice cream. I drink Crystal Light sweet tea whenever I can remember to drink. That's pretty much it and it's working pretty well.

I eat quicker than I should, but not to the point where it makes me sick or in pain, and my portions are still small enough that I won't get accidentally too full and not realize it. I do follow the 30 minute rule before drinking, always.

I know it's not recommended but I weigh myself every single day, it's part of my morning routine now, and I track it in MyFitnessPal so I can keep an eye on the charts. This is really bad but I'll usually weigh myself at night too (I don't track it though), I've gotten good at predicting what I'll weigh in the morning based on my night time weigh-in (I usually drop about 2 lbs. overnight). I know the stalls and fluctuations drive some folks nuts but it works for me.

This thread was a wild ride. I also don't believe OP was trolling, but I think there are more issues going on here than just dealing with the weight loss stuff. If you're still reading this OP, I sincerely recommend you try to speak with a therapist about the issues you've been discussing. If you can find a bariatric therapist, great. Otherwise, any certified therapist should be able to help provide you with a caring ear. You seem to be carrying a lot more weight than just the physical pounds, if you get what I'm saying, and speaking to someone can help lighten the load. Regarding the specific things you've been discussing, a few thoughts. First, as others have mentioned, the procedure you chose is a tool like the other procedures, but it's a tool that statistically results in the least weight lost of the rest. That doesn't mean you can't be extremely successful, just that it might be tougher. You say you don't want to be one of those people weighing every gram of your food on a postage scale. Well, I'm one of those people and I've been lucky enough to have a lot of success so far. That said, I don't necessarily watch every gram, if I'm a little over it's not the end of the world. But most people have absolutely no idea what a portion of food actually weights until they actually weigh it. When I started out I was shocked on how small my 4 oz potions of food were, if I had been eyeballing them I would have had twice as much as I should have. So I would get a cheap scale (you can get them for $10 or less) and start weighing EVERYTHING. You say you don't have time, but it takes practically no time at all. Weighing all my ingredients takes at MOST 3-4 minutes per DAY. You just put stuff on your plate like normal, but first put the plate on the scale. I had some cantaloupe for a snack earlier, and I just put the bowl on the scale and watched the numbers as I filled it and stopped when I hit my limit. It took pretty much the same amount of time that it would have taken to put the cantaloupe in the bowl without using the scale anyway. You also mentioned you weren't interested in a sleeve because you believe the recovery time would be a month. I can only speak for myself but four days after my sleeve I drove 30 miles to visit with family, and I was fine. I took about a week or so off of work and went back with no problems. Everyone is different but from what I've seen posted by others, that's generally the experience most folks have. I'm not saying you need a revision, but don't let the potential recovery time deter you from a procedure if you and your doctor feel it would be appropriate. Best of luck.

Both my surgeries I brought a bunch of stuff I thought I'd need, including my tablet, ereader, even my cpap machine. Didn't use a damn thing, not even the cpap. I was too busy trying to sleep in between having to get up and walk every two hours. I did a quick video chat on my phone with my kids after the more recent surgery, they weren't allowed into the hospital due to covid rules, but that was it, everything else stayed in my bag untouched.

Can you post a list of what you've tried so far so we don't recommend something you've already tried?

Would you mind posting a recipe? All those ingredients sound great and I wanted to try to start meal prepping myself, I almost always prepare just one meal at a time and want to mix things up a bit.

Well I slowly stopped tracking, I started eating larger portions as well as unhealthy meals, and I started eating unhealthy snacks again, and eventually just went back to my old habits and it was as if I'd never had the surgery at all. It took several years but almost all the weight came back. This was for a variety of reasons, both personal and professional, but suffice to say now that I know what to watch out for I will be a lot more careful this time around.

I got my revision to bypass about 6 months ago and (knock on wood) never dumped. And I eat fruit almost every day, usually either an apple or cantaloupe. If I eat something which is sugary (processed sugar, not natural) I sometimes feel a little "off" but nothing really bad or incapacitating, that's the worst it gets.

So I gave the Nuwave a shot tonight, should have taken a picture but I forgot. I took the frozen salmon, put some olive oil on, and Mrs. Dash seasoning, then 25 minutes (from frozen) in the Nuwave, it came out pretty good! I put on some Teriyaki sauce when it was done for flavor and it was good. I think I prefer the pressure cooker though, it comes out more flaky and soft, this was a little tough although I might have put it in for too long. I had a side of corn (3 oz) also with teriyaki sauce, and it was a pretty good dinner!

Yeah don't beat yourself up, everyone has stalls and times they go up a little, as long as overall it's trending downward you're good. I'm attaching three charts I got from my MyFitnessPal app showing my weight fluctuation over three periods of time. First is over the past month, next is past three months, finally is the chart starting two weeks pre-surgery, just to make it easier to see the spikes. Unlike most here, I weigh myself every single day. I know it's not recommended but it works for me, and it lets me really see all the little fluctuations and stalls that happen all the time. I don't stress about it so it works. Give yourself more time, at least a few months, before you start getting worried.

I loved eating refried beans during my puree phase! Have you tried it with some shredded cheese on top? Also maybe mix in a little taco sauce for taste. This stuff - https://www.target.com/p/ortega-original-thick-smooth-medium-taco-sauce-16-oz/-/A-13388906#lnk=sametab - is awesome

I'll give that a try this week and see how it comes out. I just saw a youtube video where someone made frozen salmon right out of the freezer using a nuwave and they basically just brushed on some olive oil and Mrs. Dash and then cooked it for 25 minutes straight, Since I don't think ahead to what I want for dinner usually I might just do that I'll probably try both ways to see if there's a difference or if I'll just keep going with the pressure cooker. Thanks for the suggestions!

Do you use the grill on the 4" or 1" setting? Also do you use the regular high power level, so just put it in and hit cook time -> 5 -> start? Finally what seasoning do you use? I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit so might try this. When I use the pressure cooker, I put the fish skin side down on the bottom of the pot, pour on some teriyaki sauce, and that's it. I usually do 5 or 6 minutes total with quick release at the end and it's great, no additional sauce or seasoning.

I have that Nuwave! I've also had it for years, bought it replace the Flavorwave which I had many years before. When you're doing the frozen sockeye (that's what I'm in the middle of right now) how do you prepare it in the Nuwave? Do you thaw it out first?

I have been extraordinarily lucky in that I have never had any dumping at all, and I've occasionally eaten one or two things that I really shouldn't have. After eating something "bad" I always feel a little off, but nothing even close to the dumping symptoms I've heard of. I read that some people just don't get it, so maybe I'm one of the lucky ones.

You'll be fine, just don't do it again. It's 2 weeks of pain for a lifetime of health, just keep that in mind.

That looks delicious! Good job recognizing being full and stopping rather than just cleaning the plate! I love eating fish now and have been eating it regularly since the surgery. I get the pre-portioned 4 oz cuts frozen from BJ's, and have done salmon, pacific cod, and australian sea bass. Sea bass is the best. I can't cook so I actually make it in an electric pressure cooker with teriyaki sauce as the liquid base, and I have 3 oz of corn as my vegetable.

Protein was relatively easy, I drink a premier protein every day, it's just 11 oz but 30 grams of protein, and I get the rest of my protein in through meals. Immediately after my surgery I ate 2 scrambled eggs with 1 oz of shredded cheese for breakfast (still do every day), and for the rest of my meals the first month it was chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, turkey salad, etc. so no problem with protein. Fluid intake was always my biggest problem and it was a long time before I hit 64 oz, a day, and I still rarely hit it even several months later.

You can definitely eat "real" food again, just take it slow, follow the program, and after a few months once you're solidly on track you can start gradually adding in stuff you've eaten in the past. The key is moderation and portion control. I used to be able to eat a half of a pizza pie, now when I occasionally have a slice that's it - ONE slice. And it fills me up. I used to love eating Taco Bell and would eat several tacos, now I'll have one - maybe two - chicken soft tacos. They're low in calories and only a few ounces each. I stop if I feel full. When I was on vacation recently we ate out a few times and I was able to find something to eat at the Waffle House (I think I had a cheesesteak hashbrown bowl, but only ate about half), as well as Cracker Barrel (fried catfish with a side of broccoli and corn). As long as you eat your meals slowly and stop when you're full and make sure it's not too ridiculously unhealthy, you'll be fine.

Yeah my resting heart rate and BP dropped dramatically after surgery, this is another reason this will add years to your life.

Well that's always a possibility, that's what I did. I had the sleeve in Dec 2016 and lost a lot of weight quickly, then I screwed up and slowly gained almost all of it back. In Nov. 2021 I had the revision to bypass and have been losing it all again, and now I know what to do and not to do in order to maintain. That said, if you never lost significant weight in the first place, that might point to other potential issues. Maybe get a second opinion from another doctor.

You should make an appointment with your surgeon to discuss these concerns, they should be able to advise you about what changes you should make. Do you weigh and track everything that you eat?

Have you looked at local groups on meetup.com? Those can be a good way to meet some folks in person with similar interests.