blizair09

I take 3 tablespoons. It works for me within 2 hours (usually faster).

I have struggled with constipation since the surgery (and I am 9 months post-op). If I haven't gone by the third day, I take a dose of Milk of Magnesia, and it always does the trick. I've just learned to live with it. It is par for the course with a keto way of eating as I understand it.

You were pumped full of air and fluids at the hospital, so it is natural to weigh more immediately post-op than you did when you went to the hospital. Everyone deals with that. My advice is to stay off of the scale for at least a month. Your body is desperately trying to heal, and any weight loss comes second to that. Good luck!

Honestly, you have to find the grit and drive within yourself to do what you need to do to be successful. There just comes a time when you have to ask yourself what is more important, you or food... You are worth it! Food is just food.

I am going to challenge this part. It is important to make this realistic. Planning your food, being detailed, weighing your food, etc. is all part of the responsibilities you need to take on to be successful long-term. And yes, it takes time, but it is time well spent. I have food prepped every single weekend since I was able to start eating meat again (about week 5 post-op if I remember correctly). I cook up several pounds of chicken and then separate them into baggies of 3 oz (the serving size for me). Same thing with hamburger. I also cook a big pot of green beans (with all ingredients measured and weighed). That way, all week, I can pull out what I need easily, and stay on track, even with things get busy (or if I have to travel for work). And you're right. Food addicts can't stop eating like alcoholics can abstain from booze and drug addicts can abstain from drugs. That's what makes this kind of forethought and hard work even more important. Otherwise, it makes it very easy to fall back on old habits and excuses.

My pleasure. Keep going. I know it's frustrating, but it is SO worth it!!

I am 9 months post-op. I eat the same thing every day: Meal #1: 1 scrambled egg with 2 oz of chicken breast Meal #2: 4 oz of cottage cheese with 1 T sugar-free strawberry preserves Meal #3: 3 oz chicken breast, 1 string cheese, and 10 ParmCrisps Meal #4: 3 oz salmon, 1 oz green beans, and 10 ParmCrisps Meal #5: 3 oz chicken breast, 1 oz green beans, and 10 ParmCrisps Meal #6: 2 oz hamburger steak (93% lean), 1 oz green beans, and 10 ParmCrisps Meal #7: 3 oz chicken breast, 1 string cheese, and 10 ParmCrisps Meal #8: 4 oz of cottage cheese with 1 T sugar-free strawberry preserves I hope this helps. Good luck!

Disclaimer: @MSinger, this has nothing to do with your decision not to tell anyone about your surgery. Your post just is the most recent post that helps me to make a point. Also, I believe that everyone has the right to tell about his/her surgery or to not tell about his/her surgery. My problem with the "it's not a lie" perspective is that while the divulged facts are true, the entire story is misrepresenting the truth because the observable results wouldn't have been possible without WLS. Yes, successful WLS patients have made lifestyle changes and adhered to an appropriate way of eating. But that isn't the entire picture. And that, in my opinion, adds to the undeserved stigma that comes along with WLS and gives people ammunition to say things like "see Jane over there, she lost her weight by eating less, moving more, and increasing her protein intake. You shouldn't have surgery; you should be like Jane. Surgery is the easy way out." (And all the while, Jane DID have WLS.) I have lost 205 pounds. Most of that is due to the hard work I have done redefining my relationship with food and eating and drinking exactly as I am supposed to every day. But I wouldn't weigh 192 pounds today had I not had WLS, and I won't have people thinking that I did it solely with diet and exercise. Tell or don't tell. But to make people think that one did it on his/her own when he/she had WLS is a misrepresentation of the truth...

Google "three week stall." That is what is happening. Just stick to your plan and the weight will come off. Nothing about post-op weight loss is linear. It is full of periods of loss, followed by longer periods of stall. That is just part of the process. Also, it is slow. I started my six month insurance-required diet program at 397 pounds, and weighed 298 pounds on surgery day. Even at that size, my loss in the first four weeks post-op was far from "dramatic." But I have followed my plan religiously every single day, kept my carbs below 20 every single day, tracked everything I put in my body every single day, and even with the countless stalls, I have lost 205 pounds and am 12 pounds from goal at 9 months post-op. Put the scale away if it bothers you and keep focused on what is important. Good luck!

Right now, your body is desperately trying to heal. The first month or so is much more about healing than it is about weight loss. My advice is to stay off of the scale for at least the first month, stick to your plan, and make meeting your protein and water goals your full-time job. The weight will come off if you do what you are supposed to do.

Stalls are a frequent part of the post-op journey. I have had numerous ones over the past 9 months. Aside from that, how many calories are you taking in per day? Carbs? Protein? How much water do you drink each day? Do you track everything that you eat and drink? What do you do for exercise? Also, how far post-op are you?

@kourtbourt, good for you! I lost 99 pounds during my six month insurance-required diet program (from 397 to 298 on surgery day). It was the best thing that I did for myself. You'll never regret all of this hard work you have put in before the surgery itself. All of the stalls that you'll face post-op (and you will, everyone does) are SO MUCH EASIER to take when you've taken off a good bit of weight pre-op. Also, it is easier to heal and deal with the food stages when you have already re-defined your relationship with food and conquered your food demons. Congratulations and best wishes as you move forward!

@Kat410, I am amazed that you could return to a job working that many hours per week and including a subway commute after one week. Wow. You are tougher than me. @nevsmama, to give a different perspective, I work from home and travel about 50% of the time (airplanes, overnights, etc.). I took a six week medical leave from work, and I needed every moment of it. Physically, I was better after about 3 weeks, but my fatigue was a serious issue for a solid eight weeks after surgery (I took a "get under the covers" nap every single afternoon during those six weeks), and there is no way I could have dealt with my work (corporate publishing) and its associated drama and have been successful in both my recovery and progression through the food stages at the same time. I took the time to devote myself 100% to my weight loss journey, and I will always be thankful for that time. My advice is to take as much time as your personal, professional, and financial positions will allow. In terms of telling people -- that is everyone's personal decision to make. I told anyone and everyone about my journey (including the surgery) from the beginning of my six month pre-op diet program. I needed the transparency as it helped (and continues to help) keep me accountable. And, frankly, I had a significant amount of weight to lose (and have lost 205 pounds to date), so it wasn't like people wouldn't have known anyway. Good luck!

At 3 months post-op, I was getting 100-120 grams of protein per day (at around 1000 calories per day).

Google "three week stall" and stay off of the scale for the first month. Your body is desperately trying to heal, and weight loss comes second to that. Make meeting your protein and water goals your full-time job, and the weight will begin to slowly come off. Everything about this journey is a marathon, not a sprint.

You are likely feeling the way you are feeling because you aren't taking in enough protein. You have to get it in, whether your body "likes" the protein shakes or food or not. You won't heal, otherwise, let alone progress with ay weight loss. When you say that you can't drink protein shakes, what do you mean? If you drink the shake, does it come back up? Or do you just not like it. Trust me, I know that they aren't decadent or anything, but you have to get the nutrition you need. When people say that WLS is not the easy way out, this is a lot of what they are talking about. The journey is HARD and GRUELING -- especially in the first weeks post-op. Good luck!

The early weeks post-op are the hardest part of the journey, in my opinion. That's why every time there is one of the "when should I go back to work" posts, I advise people to take as much time off as their personal, financial, and work situations will allow. When you are relying on liquids and mush for any nutrition, it is hard physically and emotionally. It does get better, and in my case, it got better fast. I took 6 weeks off of work, and that allowed me to progress through the food stages with a little more ease. I can say right now, that had I had to deal with all the corporate drama that my work brings, I would have been depressed. It would have been next to impossible to work and be successful with everything (work and diet). The other thing that people have to accept is that what is "normal" will change -- even months and years post-op. That old life and way of eating is gone, and, frankly, it should be gone. That's what led to obesity in the first place. That's why changing the relationship with food is the real key to this journey -- not the surgery itself. I'm 9 months post-op. I've lost 205 pounds. I am 8 pounds from a "normal" BMI and 12 pounds from goal. I feel and look better than I ever have in my adult life. Life is wonderful, and having this surgery was the absolute right decision.

My approach is to eat specified amounts of food, not what I "can" eat and not eating until I am "full." With that said, I eat 4 oz of cottage cheese at one meal, 3 oz of chicken or salmon with 1 oz of green beans at a meal, 2 oz of hamburger steak with 1 oz of green beans at a meal, etc. I eat 8 times per day, about 2 hours apart. As I have moved along (I'm 9 months post-op now), I have added calories by adding meals, not adding food to existing meals. Everything for me is about oz of food, fl oz of water, and target macros.

One of my colleagues had to tie my shoes after we went through security at the Norfolk, VA airport. Since I have Pre-Check, I never had to take off my shoes, but their metal detector was extra sensitive (and I had never flown through that airport), so I had to take them off. And with the winter clothes on, I could reach the laces. Even though Jenn was so kind and sensitive, I was mortified. I got the ball rolling soon after. And seeing 397 on the scale at the doctor's office was also telling...

I would say that only you can determine when your weight loss stops. If you are making good decisions about food and drink, and have weight to lose, it will come off. After a certain point, when there isn't much weight left to lose, it will be slow to come off, but it will come off. Based on what I've read on here, people stop losing weight because they start eating like crap again, not because of some biological factor.

I'll just echo what everyone else said. You aren't making good decisions, and if you want to get back on your path of loss, you need to be more disciplined. I suggest that you cut out all of those carbs you are eating, get your macros at levels that support weight loss, track everything you eat and drink, and get some exercise several times a week. The recipe is the same, so get back on the wagon. And as @OutsideMatchInside said, you probably aren't going to lose the balance of your weight in 6 weeks. I'm 9 months post-op and need to lose 13 more pounds to reach my goal. The loss is slow at this point because there just isn't much more to lose (and I weighed 400 pounds 15 months ago). Good luck!

I don't find it to be. I have one 16 oz glass straight every day. The other two times I have it, I mix it half and half with water.

I agree. I'm over 9 months post-op and I still do this a lot.

I am over 9 months post-op and I might have a 20ish oz glass of unsweetened iced tea once a week, if even. I mostly drink water and PowerAde Zero. I was the hugest Diet Coke and caffeine addict pre-op, and I went with no caffeine for 3 months post-op (and I have yet to have anything carbonated). At this point, I like it just like it is. Having that monkey off of my back is very nice!

There is NO way that I could have done anything like that the day after surgery. By Day 3 post-op, I was feeling better enough to take a walk outside, but the day after was pure hell and I did good to walk up and down the hallway of my building a few times a day.