PorkChopExpress

It's kind of a crapshoot, I wouldn't risk it...try to maintain your BMI. Insurance companies are tricky that way. My wife is in the same boat, having to maintain at 40 BMI for the purposes of insurance covering it. Usually these six month programs explain to you up front that you're under no obligation to lose weight, it's primarily for the education and preparation.

I remember this feeling all too well...when my surgeon gave me the go-ahead to eat "mushy" foods I was thrilled. One month of nothing but liquids is a supreme test of will, for sure. I got a little bit of "chewing" during the liquid stage with my Popsicles, but that was it. Sinking my teeth into some actual meat felt really good. I didn't even mind that I had to chew it to paste, I actually enjoyed it

I kind of wish the producers of the show would start following them a little later in the process, because we generally don't get to see much of their post-surgery successes/failures. Too much of the one year they follow these patients is in the pre-op phase. But I agree, seeing the enablers and watching people drop out of their lives by the end of the show says a lot about the challenges the super-obese face. Sometimes they are their own worst enemies, sometimes they browbeat people into enabling them, they bully their loved ones who don't know what to do...but sometimes, it's the loved ones who want to keep them where they are. It's an interesting and sad show, but I always end up wishing I could find out how they ultimately ended up doing.

If it's tap water, it's probably the metals or possibly chemicals. What I'd suggest is getting some purified water (reverse osmosis) which gets rid of a lot of that, and has a much more neutral taste. I didn't end up having any weirdness with my taste buds after surgery, but I know a lot of people do. So chalk it up to that.

There isn't really much that's "restricted for life" with bariatric surgery, other than the fact that you want to make a conscious choice to start eliminating sugar and saturated fats, and focusing on complex carbs rather than simple ones. If you have gastric bypass, sugar is always going to be a problem and likely to cause dumping syndrome, so that's one thing that you do end up having to deal with minimizing for a lifetime, anyway. But that's a good thing, no matter how you slice it. But eventually, you will be able to eat relatively normally, you're just going to be eating phenomenally less than before. You will actually be blown away by how much less, honestly...I have been.

My pre-op diet was two weeks and it was 100% liquids, no solids no meat nothing...and I took great pride in making it through that entire program without cheating once. It put me in just the right mental place to handle life after surgery. This prep isn't just for a good, smooth surgery and recovery...it's for your mind, too. It's a commitment that you're making to change. Embrace it! There's a time limit on it, and then after surgery you will not care anymore.

Stop now and get back on track. You really must focus on the self-discipline that's required to follow through with this part of your surgical prep, it's important. It's not just important in terms of a successful surgery and recovery, but moreso for your MENTAL preparation for what's coming. You simply cannot be in the mindset of cheating anymore. Period. You will not have that option after surgery and if you try, bad things are going to happen. Let go of your old habits, it's time now to focus on reprogramming your brain and that includes maintaining your discipline, as hard as it is (and I know the pre-op diet is hard, it might be one of the hardest parts to this whole thing...but it's got a time limit on it). This one lapse isn't going to cost you the surgery, no. But when you do something like this, you open the door to MORE lapses.

Totally common. In your recovery, water is crucial and your body holds onto it. Part of the process of fat cells shrinking is that they absorb and hold onto water, before releasing it with part of the contents of the cell for waste. My advice to you is, stay off the scale for a month. If the scale is a source of discouragement to you, avoid it. Follow your plan, do what you know you're supposed to do, and the weight is going to come off. If you weigh once a month, there won't be much to be unhappy about, I assure you. The weight will be coming off.

My stomach capacity needs to go up a bit to do much better with protein from food. I think I'm probably getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-28g of protein from food a day now, and my goal is 90g. So I still have to rely on powder for 2/3rds of my protein every day. I could do more from food if I ate more frequently, but that makes getting my water very difficult. So it'll just take time. But I don't like having to rely on powder so much.

There is some question of whether or not the science behind the limit of 30 grams of Protein per meal is actually scientific, or arbitrary. A lot of people in the fitness and bodybuilding communities find that it's not a reasonable belief, based on the experience of people who engage in intermittent fasting and consume all of their day's protein in a very narrow window of time, and are very successful at adding muscle mass through training, while dropping fat. food for thought, anyway: https://www.muscleforlife.com/the-truth-about-protein-absorption-how-often-you-should-eat-protein-to-build-muscle/

Started on the elliptical yesterday after a couple weeks of treadmill. Wanted to wait until I didn't really feel any kind of soreness in my abdomen, before I got on the elliptical. I had been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill at a fairly decent clip, but man...I'd forgotten how much the elliptical works your quads! I only managed 20 minutes and my legs felt like noodles afterward. Today, I went in there and banged out thirty minutes, no problem. Gotta love that...I was feeling good. Packed shredded beef for lunch tonight (I work graveyards) and it worked out perfectly, no issues. I had been a little nervous about it, because I've read people talking about having trouble with beef after their surgery and first trying it, but chewing it as well as I do everything else, it gave me absolutely no trouble at all. I've been really happy with my recovery. I haven't experienced anything seriously negative so far (knocking on wood as I write this) and no vomiting. I feel a little "gnawing" in my stomach sometimes that reminds me of hunger, but I know it's the acid buildup in my stomach. The surgeon told me that would eventually resolve. I guess the stomach needs time to adjust, too. Had a coworker laugh when he walked in on me in the kitchen eating my little bitty 1/2 cup container of food. He didn't mean to be rude (he knows I had surgery) and I know how comical I must look, 340 pound guy (or so, haven't weighed since my last doctor visit) sitting in front of that tiny little tupperware for twenty minutes, nibbling away at it. But hey, I'm doing great so far, so I don't mind

Sugar content. Fluid passes through your stomach into the small intestine quicker now, and juice has a lot of sugar. So you're risking dumping syndrome if a bunch of sugar hits your small intestine quickly. In general, I'd stay away from juices now, unless they are "diet" (like a diet cranberry I've had before) with very low sugar content. It's pointless carb calories and something to move away from with your diet moving forward, anyway. I am now getting my fruit servings in Dole peach fruit cups and squeeze puree packets from Trader Joe's. That works well. But juice I'd avoid.

He was! He does a good job with the surgical part, not so good with the bedside manner...but all I cared about was a good, complication-free outcome and he certainly provided that. I followed his instructions to the letter, and I have had very little to complain about in my recovery. But he really herds them in on surgery day, you'll find that you end up going in to get prepped for surgery at around the same time as probably one or two other people. But it was kind of cool in my case, because the people I went in with were people I met in the pre-op nutrition class, and we all recovered together, crossing paths while walking and checking up on each other. It was good camaraderie. Good luck! Just follow all of their instructions and you'll do great, I'm sure. His practice has a tremendous track record and very low complication rates. Technically mine goes into their complication record as a "conversion" but that was due to a screw-up by the surgeon who repaired my umbilical hernia, using the wrong type of mesh. My intestines grew into the scar tissue and mesh, making the Roux-en-y impossible. But the sleeve is working out just fine and in my further reading, and talking to some longtime gastric bypass patients, I feel like ultimately it may have been the best move anyway.

I'm just glad I don't have to date anymore, man. That's all I know.

That listed diet is all carbs, almost no Protein. I strongly suspect she is getting almost no protein in her diet at this point (especially not drinking shakes) and that means her body, due to her caloric deficit, is now catabolizing her muscle tissue. As she loses muscle mass, her body's ability to burn calories is compromised...so she burns fewer and fewer as she loses muscle mass. Eventually, she will wonder why she isn't losing any weight, when her diet has basically destroyed her ability to burn calories. There is a lot to this that people just don't seem to understand, or have ever learned about. You absolutely must have protein, 50 grams of it per day AT A MINIMUM if you're a woman, and more if at all possible. Protein is not stored as fat, so even eating more than your body can use will only result in it leaving your system after it is broken down. Shift your focus away from carbs and onto protein, where it belongs...and then start lifting weights, to try and maintain what muscle mass you can. It's important.

Don't be nervous, it's going to be over before you even know what happened!

This is probably a question for your surgeon, you may need to give your stomach a break for a couple of days with a liquid diet and then see if it resolves. If not, you want to rule out anything more serious.

You have a lot of addictions, and you're in withdrawal right now. Trust me when I say it'll pass. I was big on sweets and a lifelong Coke addict. I resolved to eliminate all of that from my diet forever, once my pre-op diet started. The sugar detox I've been through the last six weeks has basically taken away the craving for sweets. I have tendrils in my mind left, those triggers of seeing something that I used to enjoy eating and thinking, "Oh I want one of those." Like seeing a box of donuts at work. But the fact is, when I really stop to think about it...I don't actually want one. My brain is just locked into a series of triggers and reactions that have become habit, over the years. The detox from caffeine and sugar has made Coke another thing I no longer crave. And you would've been hard pressed to find a bigger Coke fan than me, before I started this process. It's just that I've let it go, and I don't miss it now. You are mourning the loss of your old patterns and habits, and your brain is rebelling against the fact that you've robbed it of the ability to manipulate your behavior. It's a fight, and you're winning, so keep fighting it! This is why I tell everyone heading into the pre-op diet that it's crucial that you follow it to the letter, and that includes ditching whatever addictions you had beforehand. It's setting the tone, and it's baggage you don't need post-op.

Good luck! I hope it all goes very smoothly for you. You won't be feeling great when you wake up, but it'll pass pretty quickly. A few days after surgery you will be getting around pretty nicely and after a week, you'll feel like you're able to get back to normal life...with the new changes to your eating, of course! sleep when you need sleep, walk a lot, do your best on the fluids, and follow the surgeon's instructions. You are about to cross the threshold into your new life, which will actually feel pretty much the same as your old life, except your relationship with food will be radically altered

I went through this too, although a little earlier than you did. But it's part of the "letting go" process...it's kind of like your mind grieving what it has lost, in a way. You will find that you start to identify all of these ways in which food has dominated your mind and controlled your behavior, now. Take it as a chance to really analyze how you're feeling and how food has been your go-to in all of these situations. That's when you can start to find healthier ways to cope. Support groups are your friend, too - if your surgeon or nutritionist runs one or can recommend one, go check it out. Going through the mental process of change is super important, it's the majority of what will guide you to success. The surgery is only a small component of it, the mental change is the most important. When I really think about it, food wasn't so much a comfort as it was a distraction. I never really felt any better when I ate, it just took my mind off whatever was bothering me (or filled time when I was bored).

It's so nice to finally get to sink your teeth into something though, isn't it?! I'm on week four, heading into week 5...and I'm on shredded cooked meats now. Next week will be whole pieces, grilled or whatever (although technically, I've already had that and it was just fine). Then one more week and I'm cleared to try "anything" and see how it goes. That will be nice. I feel like I have to be so specific right now, when I get groceries. I guess in some ways I will still have to be, staying away from fried things and a bunch of bread and Pasta type carbs, but I could go get some Kung Pao chicken at least! It is really weird, the portion sizes. A coworker chuckled the other day when he walked in on me in the kitchen eating my little 1/2 cup container of meat and potato. Kind of comical to see this big dude eating like that.

The time that it takes to go through the prerequisites is valuable. You will get an education about every aspect of the surgery and life after surgery, and it gives you a chance to really start tackling what you're taking on mentally, as well. The process is worth the time and energy you invest in it.

It's going to be physically impossible for you to consume too many calories, unless you literally eat every time your stomach empties, and drink Coke between meals. I am eating four meals a day now, with two 30g Protein scoops in crystal light, and I don't break 500 calories. Then with my 30 minutes of elliptical, I'm burning about 200 calories. So when my TDEE is around 3,300 calories and my total input is 500 calories, I'm not too worried. Trust me, get an app like MyFitnessPal and start programming in everything you consume, in the exact quantities. You will see that it would be phenomenally difficult for you to eat too many calories. You'd have to actually work at it. Just follow your surgeon and dietitian's recommendations and you're going to be fine. Just never touch any drinks with sugar in them, or carbonation! I think Hormel chili is great, very easy to begin with (and also good to mix with a flavorless Protein powder like Genepro). I also liked Trader Joe's turkey meatballs, with a bit of mashed potato. Very easy starter foods. And scrambled eggs! Don't forget those. Just chew everything until you could suck it through a straw, before you swallow it. Let it sit for a while before you take another bite, because it'll feel funny at first. Get used to the feeling, and pay attention to how your stomach fills up. Eventually you'll know exactly how much food it takes to fill your stomach and you can pre-package it, which is what I do. Works perfectly.