PorkChopExpress

I think I exhausted Google of all its information on these surgeries before I even got to my pre-op diet. LOL Now my questions are more about others' experiences.

Keep up the good work!

That stuff is all good exercise, but bear in mind that it's primarily aerobic. That is good for a burn while you do the activity, and you may add a little bit of muscle that way, but weight training is by far the most efficient way to add muscle and thereby increase your calorie burning potential. And don't worry, you won't wake up in the morning looking like a pro wrestler

9/23. Over the last couple decades plus, I've become a bit of a subject matter expert on weight loss and weight lifting. I could just never actually lose all of my weight or keep it off, body put up too much of a fight every time. Hence surgery

Today was another fun milestone. I have been finding my shorts loose and baggy in the waist, so I finally decided to take out a box of clothes that I'd packed away in anticipation of the day I might actually lose weight and fit into them again. This is stuff I haven't fit into in YEARS. I tried on a pair of shorts I can remember wearing when I was dating my wife, five years ago...and I still remember when I was going through my clothes and putting them in the box, trying these shorts on and having trouble even pulling them up. They seemed miles away from being able to zip and button. Today? They fit perfectly. Then as I put my belt on, I realized that I unconsciously fastened it at the next belt hole. I spent maybe one week on the other hole before I moved on to this one. Unreal. My "starting weight" belt hole is now three holes away from the one I'm currently on. Just over a month into this process and I think I've probably lost as much as I'd typically take 5-6 months to lose, through normal dieting. Feels good, man.

You have to understand how the body loses weight. At the beginning, the easiest thing for it to drop is Water. That's why at the start of most diets, your first week is BIG. You didn't lose fat weight, you lost water weight with some fat. Also, remember that the first week or two, you're struggling to get calories in your body. The further along you get, the more calories you can get in. If your calorie consumption goes up, then your caloric deficit gets smaller. Also bear in mind that you're losing muscle mass due to the extreme calorie deficit (that's why Protein is so important, at LEAST the minimum requirement and more if you can). So when you lose muscle mass, you're losing a huge source of calorie burning potential, at rest OR in exercise. So that will cause weight loss to slow, as well. Really, the whole thing, regardless of surgery, is calories in vs. calories out. Always has been. One way you can boost the calories out is through exercise, and when you're cleared to lift weights, I strongly suggest you do it...and when you do it, be drinking your Protein shake DURING your workout, and after. You really want to keep those muscles up, to keep your calorie burning going strong. Otherwise, you'll find that you can just increase your calorie intake but your calorie burning suffers, and your weight loss will of course slow. One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories. Say every day you are taking in 1,000 calories less than your body needs to maintain its current weight (its TDEE). That means you'll lose 1 pound in 3.5 days, or an average of two pounds per week. If you have a four pound loss in one week, that means your caloric deficit is still pretty huge. On a normal diet, the recommendation is to shoot for 1-2 pounds lost per week. So four pounds is great.

Don't weigh every day! It'll drive you nuts. The body drops fat on its own schedule and the way it does it sometimes causes weight GAIN, because part of the process of the fat cells shrinking is that they take on Water, first. So you end up retaining water in your fat cells before they release it with the waste. If you're going to use the scale, use it every couple of weeks. Two days is not a stall. However, one thing you definitely need to do is get your minimum amount of Protein, no matter what. If that means you need to switch to a different drink (there are a ton of them) do it. Or even get some of the flavorless powder and mix it in with your crystal light or something. Just get that protein...it's crucial to the healing process and more importantly, you MUST maintain as much of your muscle mass as you possibly can. That muscle mass is what burns calories for you all day long. If you don't have that, your calorie-burning machine is compromised...and then no, you won't lose weight very fast, because you won't be burning many calories. Trust me, when you run the caloric deficit that we are in the weeks following surgery, your body is going to find that energy somewhere...and while being in ketosis will cause your body to seek energy from fat, it takes a lot longer to convert...muscle is a lot faster. So you WILL lose muscle mass if you don't protect it. Actually, you'll lose muscle mass even if you DO protect it, but you're going to lose a lot more if you aren't providing protein sufficiently. Nutrition is no joke, and post-surgery we have to take it even MORE seriously.

I'm fortunate in that I had my gall bladder out years ago, so it's just one less thing to worry about.

Well, my plan is to get as lean as I can before I do anything, because I know that the thinner your skin is, the better your cosmetic result and the quicker the recovery. So I've got a ways to go before I have to worry about it Then I'll have to hope I can get insurance to cover some of it.

I bought all of mine from Bariatric Advantage. They have chewables that work pretty well, and don't take up space in the stomach once you let them dissolve in your mouth. The Multivitamin chewable is pretty metallic and I'm not super keen on it, but it's not candy The Iron chew is not great either. But the Calcium chew (caramel) is like a piece of candy three times a day, so that's nice. Basically, I take the multivitamin twice a day (morning and evening), the calcium three times a day, the iron once, and I also take Vitamin D because my levels were low. I have a sub-lingual B-12 that I take once a week (melts under your tongue). Lotta Vitamins. I think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 for three months supply, and after that's all gone I can go with normal over-the-counter vitamins that you swallow. But while I'm healing, I'm going to use these.

Well, part of the process is to get your mind right, and that's just dedicating yourself to the process. If you're still afraid you won't be able to "stick to it," then you need to really make sure you're committed to this...because it's not something you can take back. That said, the surgery enforces the new behavior...you simply won't be ABLE to eat the way you used to, in any way. Your new stomach won't let you. You can either embrace that and be happy about it (because that's why you're doing the surgery) or you'll just be frustrated all the time and regret the decision. I'm just over two weeks out and I'm developing new, good habits with my eating...reversing the bad habits that made me obese, in the first place. Changing my mindset, and working through my mental issues with food. It's a lot of change, and a lot to work through. But the proof is in peoples' results, so that's what I keep in mind. It's not a question of IF I will lose the weight, it's a matter of how fast

Oh man, that's the worst. I'm so thankful that both of my folks are still with us and still in pretty good health. I've always been pretty close to them, especially my Mom...I'm not sure what I'm going to do when they eventually pass. I know I'm going to be an emotional wreck for a while though. Hang in there, but I know what you must feel and I empathize.

Yeah, while I was on my pre-op diet, I had many challenges...especially at work. I'd go in one day and there was a big box of donuts on the kitchen table for anyone to have. Another day it was pizza night. Every time, I just gritted my teeth, hustled by and reminded myself that I really wanted the best result out of my surgery and that meant I had to follow the rules. But man, when your stomach's growling and you're missing real food, it's brutal

How big are your bites, and are you giving yourself 30 minutes with no drinking, before you start eating? I'm just over two weeks out (9/23 surgery) and I'm on mushy foods, I can eat meatballs, eggs, and chili with no problem...but my bites are very, very small and I make sure they are pureed consistency before I swallow them. Then I wait a minute or so before I take another bite. I'd say my bites are around the size of a pencil's eraser, or just a little bit bigger. You gotta remember, your stomach is now basically the size of an egg or so and it's still probably inflamed from the surgery, still healing. You can also cause it to swell by stressing the staple line, so you may have some more swelling that is causing it trouble. My surgeon suggests that if you have trouble like this when you haven't been before, to go back to a clear liquid diet for a day or two and see if that helps. It may allow the inflammation to subside. Grab some of the clear Protein drinks like Isopure (40g protein per bottle) and drink two of those a day, plus another 25-30 oz of Water. You'll have met both your protein and your water requirements on those days. More important, don't FORCE anything. If you're not able to do three meals, do two meals and focus on Protein Drinks the rest of the time. It's just a process and you don't have to be perfect, but you DO want to make sure you get your protein and water needs met. If that means holding off on mushy foods a bit while you heal, then do that. It takes about six weeks for your stomach to heal up, so we are still in the middle of that. Right now, eating stuff is basically just to train your stomach and get it processing food again, it's not really for nutrition - you still have to get most of the Proteins from drinks. So if your stomach is just not dealing with it right now, don't try to make it. Give it a break.

Brush a lot, keep it clean. Some of it is also that your immune system is going to be depressed for a while, because your nutrition isn't what it should be. That'll improve. As for things tasting different, a lot of people report that after the surgery. It didn't happen in my case, but I know it has for many people.

In my opinion, I can't resent anyone or anything when I'm the one that is abnormal and needs to be corrected. The world is not designed for the obese. I can't rage against the size of the seats in an airplane or in an arena, because they aren't made for me. They're made for the "normal" person. Obviously with obesity becoming an epidemic in the US, the definition of "normal" is kind of changing...but I don't think that's really a healthy or good thing. I cannot expect other people to modify their behavior to suit me, when it's ME that needs to modify his behavior. So I will do what I need to do in order to achieve my weight loss goals, and I won't expect anyone else to cater to me. I can control myself...especially now that I'm post-surgery and I have no real choice in the matter, and I'm not dominated by hunger. The diet you're on now pales in comparison to the two week, all-liquid pre-op diet most of us went through (some went even three weeks on it). Nothing but liquid or semi-liquid (sugar-free)...it's brutal, because you still have the hunger. Just soldier through it, because once you've had the surgery, none of it will matter anymore. You won't have hunger (only head hunger, which you can deal with) and you'll have to start focusing on re-training your brain to accommodate the new stomach. Nobody can really do any of that for you, it's all going to be on you. You're responsible for yourself, don't expect anyone else to change.

The surgical gas always takes 3-4 days to work its way out of my body, so that's probably where the burping is coming from. But the stomach's dealing with a lot of trauma right now too...so I think it behaves a little weird while it heals. Mine still seems to, over two weeks later. Lots of gurgling and noise. I'm told it goes away, in time. Just the stomach complaining, I guess I think you're doing pretty well on the fluids. Just remember that the Fluid in your shakes counts toward the 64oz right now, so make that your priority. The more Protein you get, the quicker you'll heal. Oh and as for the bowels, they'll start moving...and most likely they'll be black and kind of tarry. That'll be coagulated blood from the surgery. It clears up over time. But remember that you really aren't putting much of anything in right now, and won't be for a while...so the bowel habits are bound to change.

Gradually getting used to the new normal...every day gets better. I'm actually feeling really good physically. The incision sites are itching like crazy, so I know the healing is advancing. Still a mental disconnect with my portion sizes and what I "think" should fill me up, but I'm also getting accustomed to the new portion sizes. More to the point, I'm really eating slow, taking the full 30 minutes to eat even this little amount. That, in itself, is a massive change. I always wolfed down my food with reckless abandon. Now though, I find that I'm really enjoying the food I do get...just taking it slow, chewing thoroughly, enjoying the taste. I've just been doing it all wrong, all this time. Finally updated my photos on my profile, they need a "during" photo instead of "after" but I guess I'll just keep updating it whenever I weigh in. I'm going to stretch the weigh-ins out though, maybe once a month. I have always let the scale weight discourage me too much when it didn't say what I thought it should, so one month gaps should be good. I guess I'm also using this thread as a kind of journal I can look back on. But yeah...so far, so good! Baby steps, baby bites. Got to the gym five days in a row this week, gradually increasing my walking speed each time. Getting there.

Congratulations! My surgeon advanced me to mushy after just under two weeks, and that was such a relief. I was so tired of the liquid diet

Mine took longer because I went in for RNY but they converted me to the sleeve, due to some complications from a prior surgery and scar tissue. I think my total time was in the neighborhood of 1 1/2 hours.

This is what scares me silly about the idea of having skin removal surgery. I don't want to be deformed.