PorkChopExpress

I've been pretty bound up off and on since I started on solids, too. Haven't taken anything, hoping that it'll resolve as my diet expands...but yeah, the surgeon said Miralax or another stool softener if it becomes too much of a problem.

"Listening to your body" right now is actually "Listening to your mind." It has nothing to do with your body, you just want eggs and sausage and the "old diet." Nobody here (at least I hope nobody here) is going to tell you, "Go for it!" Seriously, if your surgeon hasn't cleared you for it, you don't eat it. Period. You may feel "all healed up" but you are NOT...and you won't be for another 4-5 weeks.

Lots of pillows behind your back and head, just prop yourself up at an angle. That's what I did, slept like a baby.

Just don't push it to where it's uncomfortable, you don't want to cause problems with the staple line or a leak. Take it slow and steady with the sipping. It will improve over time.

Preparation, preparation, preparation. Not having food prepared, or having a plan for healthy things to get while you're out and can't get home, is DEATH to weight loss. As you have seen, surgery didn't fix your mind. You are not a different person after surgery. The behavior part is on all of us to fix. The grazing is going to create so much calorie creep in your diet, you'll be shocked.

You don't have to do Protein powder as a shake. If the volume of liquid is a problem, start making it like a "pudding" consistency so it takes up less room. Get some of the flavorless GENEPRO protein that is 30g in a one TBSP size. You can mix it with a ton of things. There ARE ways to get the protein and I strongly recommend getting as much as you possibly can while you're healing, because it speeds recovery immensely. Not to mention helping you retain muscle mass so you can keep burning fat more efficiently.

The Duodenal Switch is the most aggressive of all the weight loss surgeries, so I reckon it'll have the toughest recovery physically...but I imagine you knew that, going in. What you're enduring mentally, though, pretty much everyone goes through in some form or another, I think. My first couple of weeks, I was pretty obsessed with food. I was watching Food Network a lot. I don't know why I was torturing myself but it was like my brain was raging against the fact that I had taken away its comfort, entertainment...whatever. It was almost like it was trying to punish me, reminding me of what I'd given up. Eventually I started to think of it that way; that my psyche had become so accustomed to using food in ways other than simply providing fuel, that it was rebelling against the change. But you know what? It passed. The obsessing about food passed, and each strange new wrinkle that I have to deal with mentally or emotionally has passed, given time and exposure. I just realized over the past couple of days that I no longer feel weird about my portions. I used to be dealing with the feeling that it wasn't enough, every time I put my little portion on a plate. Now it feels normal to me. You are going to go through ups and downs mentally, but be aware of them. Think about why you're feeling the way you are and ask yourself if it's rational. You know why you had the surgery, you know what you wanted to achieve through it. You knew what you were giving up, and the reasons for it. This is where the rubber hits the road...you've had the surgery, and now it's time to change. And I think most of us know that you're feeling the resistance to change that your "old brain" is putting up, because we've all felt it in some form or another. And the unfortunate thing is, we'll all probably be dealing with that for the rest of our lives...working to counteract those impulses. But you took a big step to get it under control...and that is what you've done. You have taken measures that will allow you to get it under control. The physical stuff will improve as you heal, a little better every day. The mental stuff will take time and conscious effort to change. But it'll come together, you just have to be patient and diligent. Just do what you can. As for the "doctoring" your Protein shakes, I'm afraid of what that means...but I am hoping it doesn't mean adding stuff you shouldn't be having, because you'll only be causing yourself problems if you do that. If all you can do is drink protein shakes and you need to skip meals, then do that - as long as you are getting your protein every day, and you are getting your Water, you will be fine. Over time, you'll get meals in too...just don't sweat it. One foot in front of the other. And stay off the scale for a few weeks. People obsess about the scale. It is your enemy, avoid it. I am only weighing once a month, personally.

Fortunately, I had mine out about five years ago already...so I didn't have to worry about it. I guess gallstone issues are common enough after WLS that some surgeons just take it out preventatively, you'll have to ask if yours would. Some insurance companies may not see it as medically necessary until you have complications with it though, so your mileage may vary.

That's awesome, welcome to the club

@@Barepigies3 I had the kind of depression that required 8 months of therapy and Paxil to correct a chemical imbalance. The therapy gave me the tools I needed to manage it and the Paxil helped reset my brain chemistry. I still have to be aware of my emotions, to this day. But for years, it was untreated and it contributed to my weight gain. But it was because I had come to use food as a coping mechanism that I gained weight, and I could have opted to make exercise my outlet instead. I just didn't. The fact of the matter is, it won't do any of us any good whatsoever to sit around absolving ourselves of responsibility and saying, "No it's my genetics, it's my depression, it's because I didn't get enough hugs as a child..." No...it's because we ate too much and moved too little, and we developed unhealthy relationships with food. That's it. I wasn't trying to attack you, I'm just pointing out the fallacy in your thinking. Nobody is helped by passing responsibility off onto someone or something else, we have to OWN this in order to fix it. I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me for where I got to and I don't feel sorry for myself. In fact I feel like I've finally taken control of the situation, and that's empowering.

What most people don't understand is that fat cells don't actually GO anywhere. They shrink and swell, they're just storage containers.

I don't coddle people. I try not to make them feel stupid, or insult them, but I'm going to call them on it when they are excusing their own behavior or seeking someone to enable them.

Had my first meal out with an old friend today, who was shocked how little I ate. We went to an old favorite Mexican restaurant which serves HUGE portions. The version of me he remembered would have cleaned that entire plate. So when I had a little side plate, eyeballed my portion of Protein and carbs on to it (Al Pastor and refried Beans with just a little spanish rice and guacamole mixed in) he looked at me in shock. I had to explain what happened, six weeks ago. He said he noticed I looked leaner when he saw me, and congratulated me for starting this journey. Although we've been friends for nearly two decades, he's only ever known me as an obese man who delighted in eating a lot. He was concerned about whether it was mandated or voluntary, I explained it was totally voluntary...I just had a lot of health issues cropping up and when my weight started threatening to crack 400 pounds, I decided it was time to pull the trigger. He was very encouraging though, so that made me feel good. And I still got to enjoy the food, just not a lot of it. I find that I'm totally okay now with my portion sizes. I don't struggle with the feeling that it's not enough, anymore. I am getting pretty good about putting the right amount on my plate, if I'm not able to measure it out. It's significantly more than it was around three weeks ago, probably twice as much...but still no more than about half a cup in volume, I would guess. I still feel the best part is that I spent $10 and it will last me three meals, instead of one. That's great.

My surgeon's office cleared me for pill-form vitamins after week four. They did suggest that I break the bigger ones in half for a couple more weeks, but I'm six weeks out and taking a full-size Centrum every morning, no problem. Thank goodness too, because the Bariatric Advantage chewables I had were making me gag.

I tried three different flavors during my "clear liquids" phase and I didn't like a single one of them. They have a very medicinal taste, to me. Definitely try them before you buy bulk.

You aren't going to need very much post-op, other than protein shakes...at least not for the first couple of weeks. So don't go crazy on buying a bunch of stuff for post-op. You will be doing mostly protein shakes for two weeks after surgery, most likely. You're going to find that you consume so little, it's ridiculous. The broth will come in handy when you puree chicken and stuff like that, but I don't think you're going to find yourself drinking broth post-op. It's mostly a filler for the pre-op diet, to keep your stomach full. It has very little in terms of nutritional content.

Go with sugar-free popsicles...those are great. Especially the tropical ones.

Make sure you are meeting your protein goals. Healing is slow when you are light on protein. I was good to go back to work after 10 days with almost no pain.

@@skinny_knees I mix it up between beans, potatoes and green stuff (green beans mostly).

Just about six weeks post-op now and I can get up to around 850/day if I work at it, but my water intake tends to suffer because I have to do four meals to achieve that. I'm wanting to get up to around 1,000 so that my metabolism keeps going and I have a bit more energy every day, because exercise is burning off a lot of what I eat. However, my stomach and body can only do so much, this early on...so generally I'm right there with you at around 600-700 calories, with 48-60 oz of water.

If you're only consuming 800 or 900 calories a day, and you're doing intense exercise daily for around 45 minutes, your total ACTUAL calorie intake is probably more like 400 or 500 calories (because you're burning the rest off). So you're starving your body and it is responding metabolically. What I would suggest is not just to up your calories a bit to like 1,200/day but start doing carbs (no protein) about an hour before your workout and save the Protein for after the workout. This will enable you to burn the carbs you just ate through exercise (it looks for that as a fuel source first), and use the protein for recovery after the workout. Also remember...the lighter you get, the less calories your body requires to function and therefore, the slower your weight loss will be. It's a curve.

You may have a genetic predisposition to putting on weight, but that is NOT what makes a person obese. Eating more calories than you expend, eating CRAP, and not being active over a long period of time is what makes a person obese. I am absolutely the architect of what I am, today...I take 100% responsibility for it and I know how I got here. I also suffered from depression in my mid twenties...and yes, as a coping mechanism I often ate. But that was because I had begun using food for purposes other than fuel - and that was, again, something I could have chosen NOT to do. But I didn't...I kept doing it, because it made me "feel" good, temporarily. Meanwhile, the pounds just kept piling up. When you reach a certain level of obesity, I will agree that it becomes almost an impossibility to reverse it based on sheer willpower and self-discipline, alone. Very few people are able to stick it out for the duration of time it takes to lose 100 pounds...let alone 200 or more. But it was the choices they made throughout their lifetimes that got them to the point where they had that problem. So no, @@Barepigies3, I can't agree with you. It isn't a mystery why we are all obese. We ate too much, and we ate the wrong things, repetitively, over a long period of years. I suggest you start taking ownership of your role in your weight and the behaviors that led to it, because you will find success in long-term weight loss very difficult if you don't.

You just discovered what anyone who's had the surgery already knows...the surgery isn't a magic bullet. What has to be fixed isn't your stomach, it's your brain. Making your stomach's capacity smaller is only a tool to help you "get over the hump" when it comes to correcting your behavior. You have to be 100% aware of what you're doing and why, starting now...because you'll definitely need to be in that mindset, post-op. Take this next couple of weeks as a personal challenge to discipline your mind, because it's going to be even more important after you've had the surgery. Make it a point of pride that YOU have taken control, and it isn't your "obese mind" that is at the wheel, anymore.

Yeah, without insurance you're going to get annihilated financially in the U.S. I'd do some research on Mexico, there are a lot of reputable surgeons and facilities there...and just see if you can get involved with a program where you live for follow-up support. It'll cost you a fraction of what you'll pay stateside. There's a reason so many people do it.

Well...those people are where the cautionary tales come from. So in a way, their failure can help future patients. I met a guy in one of the support groups I went to prior to surgery who had RNY, he must have weighed over 500lbs. He went in for surgery, lost about 100 pounds over the first six months, but when he was healed up he decided to go back to drinking Coke. Then his pouch stretched out and he started eating crap again, thinking "Wow, the surgery helped me lose 100lbs and I could eat pretty much whatever." In short order, he regained the 100lbs and then some. He was back in another six month pre-op program to have a revision...this time, with the knowledge of what NOT to do. I took his story to heart, and I knew that if you don't go into this with your mind right, you are SCREWED. I see a whole lot of that on this forum and others. Cautionary tales waiting to be written.