orionburn

My schedule is pretty much drinking anytime I'm not eating. Outside of trying to wait 30 minutes after a meal I try to consistently drink through the day. Whether I'm in the car driving to/from work or outside doing yard work I always keep a drink close by. In the early days I'd take a drink in the middle of the night if I woke up to go to the bathroom. I tend to reuse Powerade bottles filled with Crystal Light since they're easy to track. Since they're 32 oz. if I drink 2 a day then I know I hit my minimum goal.

This. It really is head hunger 99% of the time. People buy into the "going to stretch my sleeve" way too often. In time you will be able to eat more, but seriously...you'd make yourself throw up before you get to the point of stretching your sleeve. Pureed foods and those that are liquids at room temperature over time (like yogurts) pass through the stomach quicker than what solids will. Consistency of foods matters. I could get away with eating 2 cups of mashed potatoes if I wanted to, but if I eat a cup of solid protein like chicken I'd feel miserable for the next hour. Portion control is key as is tracking your food.

Why not ask your doctor? It's better to follow their instructions rather than an unknown person on the web. Ask him if you can use a pill splitter to make them smaller and take those with water rather than crushing them. The reasoning for it is likely due to 2 things - (a) not wanting you to take too large of a drink of water and (b) fear of the pill getting stuck depending on its size. I have no idea where you're at post-op, but one thing I tried was to put a pill in something like my greek yogurt.

I had terrible sciatica prior to surgery. I was looking at back surgery, but they wouldn't do it unless I lost weight, so I finally made the decision to do WLS. The first few weeks were fantastic, but lately the pain has started coming back. That's also in part because I had to get off my arthritis meds prior to surgery. I'm getting ready to get back on them so hopefully that will help. All in all I feel so much better now that the weight is coming off. My knees don't hurt like they did along with other joints. It has definitely made a difference.

I've seen some say that their doc told them being in the 40 oz range is okay, but 95% of the time I see 64 oz as the recommendation (and that's why my doc told me). I would definitely try to get it up as best you can. If you're having protein shakes remember those can add to your daily water intake. Doc always told me that they'd rather me sacrifice getting my protein in over not enough water. Obviously that shouldn't be a long term thing, but in the early days their biggest concern was dehydration. I also recommend keeping an accurate track of what you're drinking. Either buy a resuable bottle or two, or you can also reuse a Powerade bottle. Most of the time I use that to track my water since they're 32 oz. My goal is to get down 2 full containers a day of water (or something like Crystal Light). I usually get well past that, but it's my measuring stick so to speak.

Glad to see everyone doing well! Things have slowed down yet again, but the weight is still coming off. Weighed in at 264 this morning. My first big goal is to get down to 250. I haven't weighed that since I was probably in middle school, so we're talking damn near 30 years ago. Haven't been able to get to the gym much lately but still getting my walking in. Hoping that once I get back to the weights it'll help things get going again. Keep up the great work everyone!

As usual always follow your doctor's guidelines, but for me what helped was actually increasing my calories a bit to get the weight coming off again. I hit a wall about 6 weeks after surgery and only lost 2 lbs in about 2 1/2 weeks. At the time my calories were still around 600-700 and carbs were low (less than 40g/day). When I went up to 800-900 cals it seemed to get things going again. Stalls are normal. Do a search on the site and you'll get half a million threads on this topic. As the others said stick to your plan, get your water/protein, and be patient. It can be frustrating but you have to ride it out. Your body is still trying to figure out what the hell just happened

I second the recommendation of going with Powerade Zero. Flavors are pretty good and no carbs/cals to worry about. Another one to try are the Propel waters. Those are also no carbs/cals. More limited on the flavors but can be a nice change of pace. There's also Crystal Light or the Walmart brand equivalent (cheaper and you get more packs per container). About 2-3 weeks out I started mixing in some of the diet Cranberry Ocean Spray into my Crystal Light. I'd do 3/4 of a glass with the CL and 1/4 of it with the cranberry. Of course check with your nut to see if it's okay. I was approved for it in limited amounts, thus why I mixed it in with something else. I was one that had a big taste change after surgery. Things I loved prior to surgery tasted awful afterwards for about 2 weeks. Variety is a big help and I'd also avoid stocking up on any one thing/flavor.

It sounds he's really suffering from food addiction. It's as real as drugs or alcohol. That's a shame that he's reverting to old habits so quickly. He's definitely on the road to regaining all his weight back if he stays that course. Did he go through any sort of required program prior to surgery? My clinic has monthly support group meetings and their own private Facebook page for support. This place is a great resource as well. He's not the only that struggles. You'll find a lot of stories of people falling back into old habits but looking to get back on track. You may want to nudge him this way at some point. There are some good apps out there to do food tracking. I use Myfitnesspal and there are some others specific for bariatric patients (can't recall the name but somebody will post it). It's hard to come up with a magic solution to his problem. The biggest thing I can think of is that the surgery is just a tool. You have to want to commit to the lifestyle change. It's no different than giving up alcohol or smoking. If you aren't mentally prepared for it then you're likely going to fail. The comments of "it's too much work" says a lot. Meal planning really isn't that difficult. That's just an excuse to go with quick & ready to eat foods (which most of the time means junk food). Good for you on reaching out to this group for info. Not a lot of friends would do that for somebody. Best of luck!

Unjury makes a really good protein powder. It's a little pricey but good. My only suggestion is not to stock up on any one product and/or flavor. Things may not taste as good for a while after surgery. I came to loathe some of the flavors I had. It passed in time, but for a week or two I had to choke them down. You may want to add a fiber supplement to your drinks like Benefiber. That might help with the bathroom issues.

You can do that. Then you also get to start all over again with a new office and make the wait even longer. If the surgeon is working 3 different departments then I can see the reason for the delay, but a month seems a bit much. If the office isn't that far away you might be better paying a visit rather than continued phone calls. Just keep in mind you're going to have to wait on your insurance company once it's submitted so you are going to have to be patient with them as well.

They either have no sodium at all or something like 1% of your daily intake. It's nothing to be concerned with.

Celebrating my first mini victory. Stepped on the scale this morning and finally broke out of the threes. Weighed in at 299.6. Haven't been under 300 in at least 5 years. My weight has always been a roller coaster but when I crossed back over 300 years ago it was really depressing for me. When I first started this journey in May 2016 I climbed back up to 354 lbs. I'm only 3 weeks post-op as of tomorrow, and despite having a bumpy journey the first two weeks I'm so thrilled to see the progress. I've lost 18 lbs since surgery and a total of 36 lbs since starting the two week pre-op diet. I'll take a 36 lb loss in 5 weeks! Long way to go yet but excited for the rest of the journey!

I was limited to no more than 25 lbs the first few weeks, but I've seen lower & higher numbers from others on here. Check with your doctor to be safe. Look at it this way - your doctor was the one that worked inside of you. I'd rather have their opinion than just going by what others on the interent were cleared for.

I think it's a good idea. I did some liquid only breakfast & lunches to help prepare for it. For me I'm glad I did it. The pre-op was still rough for the first few days but I think it helped take the initial edge off of it.

One thing I've been meaning to ask everyone - how long does it typically take for you to eat a meal? For myself it is largely dependent on what exactly I'm eating. If it's cottage cheese or yogurt I usually only spend around 10-15 minutes or so eating that, but something like chicken salad I've found if I eat a portion and don't give myself 15 minutes or more it feels like things are backing up and sits heavy. The only post-op "fight" I've had with my wife so far is over the length of time it was taking me to eat. It's difficult to sit at the dinner table because she'll be done with her entire plateful of food and here I am still working on my 1/2 cup of whatever. Anymore I will eat up until the point where she's done and leave the table and then finish later. Otherwise we'll just eat in the living room and put something on TV so I can take my sweet time with a meal.

I'm 9 weeks out and have been drinking coffee off and on for the past few weeks. I was a coffee junkie prior to surgery. Post surgery I've noticed that I am much more sensitive to caffeine now. When I make my to-go mug it's 75% decaf and 25% regular. There's a lot of debate on here about the warnings doctors give on the acidity and dehydration issues. My doc gave me the same spiel. Personally I think a lot of things my doc told me to stay away from was out of fear that they'd become a gateway to other bad foods/habits. It's one thing to have a regular coffee with some cream versus a calorie laden specialty drink from Starbucks. Since so many people get into the trap of drinking calories it's an easy way to slow down your progress or eventually gain weight back. Unless you are cramming as much food down as you can every day you aren't going to stretch your sleeve. Even if you eat too much in a single meal it's not going to do anything. If you were overdoing it on a regular basis there might be cause for concern. And remember you are supposed to be able to eat a little bit more as time goes on. That's normal. I eat a lot of chicken but I do have to pace myself with it. The denser meats like chicken, pork, and steak sit heavy so I can't eat a lot of it in a single sitting.

Yikes...that sucks. I had complications as well, although nothing nearly as bad as what you went through. I had a spleen bleed on day 3 that put me in ICU for a few days. My supposed to be 3 day stay turned into a week. Luckily I was okay after that episode. I chose surgery not for the sole purpose of being skinny but to get through some horrible sciatica/back pain that I'd been fighting for years. We never want to be part of the small group that comes out with complications. This first few weeks can be rough enough as it is with a normal surgery. I can't imagine having to deal with everything else. Hopefully you're on the road to a full recovery and will get through all this soon. Best of luck to you!

My surgery was on Jan 25 so not far off from you. Only thing that has bothered me so far is drinking too much coffee. Even with doing 75% decaf and 25% regular if I drink too much it tears me up. That would happen from time to time prior to surgery but definitely more sensitive to it now. Denser meats can beat me up. I have to really take my time eating them otherwise it sits heavy & hard for the next hour. I've been working in more veggies lately and it's been wonderful to have greens again. Down 43 lbs as of this morning from my surgery. Hit a stall for about 2 1/2 weeks but have been making progress again this week. Congrats on your progress so far!

Most everyone is cleared for coffee early on as long as its decaf. People react differently, but for myself I've been more sensitive to caffeine since surgery (and I was a caffeine freak prior to surgery). I have to do 75% decaf and 25% regular. That doesn't bother me, but if I drink too much or do 50/50 it gives me an upset stomach. Might be best to start with decaf and see if that bothers you any and go on from there.

Second mini victory today - another 25 lbs done and down to 275 as of this morning! The past month saw a lot of slowdown but the scale has finally started moving again this last week. Long way to go yet but getting there slowly but surely!

I know you're only a few weeks out but 400 calories seems pretty low, especially if you're exercising. It takes some fine tuning, and what works for one may not work for another, but IMO I'd try to bump your calories up some and try to keep it as close as possible each day. Maybe you shoot for 600 a day and do that for a week. If you don't see a change you may want to go up a bit more. It can be annoying but it's part of figuring out what works best for you.

Can you better define feeling "bad"? Are you taking the meds with food? Lot of meds can wreck you if taken on an empty stomach. And to echo the others your water intake really should be higher. You can count your protein shakes towards your daily goal, but you should be aiming for 64 oz minimum.

It's common to see some slow down not long after surgery. 11 lbs still isn't bad for a 3 week span. I only lost 1 lb in a 2 1/2 week spell. When I upped my calories a bit that helped get the scale moving again. Do you do a food journal? Where are you at with carbs & calories for the day?

Wouldn't hurt to give yourself a bit longer. My doc gave me the all clear for the gym after 6 weeks and I started doing some crunches, but eased into them. It never bothered me outside of they typical muscle soreness after returning to lifting/exercising. Never hurts to just be on the safe side and give a call to your doc to see what they say. Give yourself some more time but you'll start to feel better after working out as you start to eat more and get used to working out again. The first few times back to the gym were really rough for me as well, but each workout things slowly improve.