Berry78

In general it's the intestines that do the absorbing both before and after surgery. The difference is after surgery the stomach doesn't produce as much acid and digestive enzymes, and food and meds don't sit in it as long (in the churning, acidy soup).. so some meds don't break down as well in order to be absorbed (sometimes extended release pills have to be switched for short acting ones). Discuss meds with your doctor and/or pharmacist.

11/22 201lbs.

I think my daughter is reacting to white flour. It doesn't look like stress eating.. I think it's true, unending hunger (cuz I did the same thing). At school they have pastries for breakfast and pizza for lunch. All this white flour is knocking her for a loop. I keep trying to rid the house of this stuff.. it's a process... we have a fruit bowl out all the time, in the fridge is milk and cheese and salad stuff. Freezer is full of bagged veggies and frozen fish. Cupboard has tons of canned beans and soup and fruits and veggies. But, if there is a box of mac and cheese.. that's what gets eaten. Sigh.

It's my understanding that these long term complications are less than 10%. (Which means over 90 people out of a hundred DON'T have a problem). The most common issues: Acid reflux happens regularly in sleevers vitamin deficiencies happen to almost everyone at some point. About 10% of patients need to have their gallbladders out, but that is an acute issue that can be solved (and possibly prevented with Actigall). It's good to know what you could be signing up for. Surgery definitely has risks, but fortunately the most dire of them happen only rarely (maybe 5%).

Kirsten.. sounds like you are right on track. It appears you are eating about 2oz of protein food at a time which is what I was doing at your stage. I just ate really frequently to meet my goals. Every 2-3 hours. If you don't like cottage cheese, then do something else. This whole adventure is much more fun if you like your food. Greek yogurt has the same protein as cottage cheese. (Too sour for me now but I ate it early on). Protein kefir was do-able early for me too. If you prefer chicken and other meat, that's fine too. Your job right now is experimenting to find your personal system/rhythm.

I went to go look. I had two weeks that I lost no weight (week 5 and 13). So, depending on your definition, no, I really haven't stalled. What I did realize is the first 6 months I only lost one pound one time. From 6 months until now, I've had 7 weeks where I've only lost one pound. So the losses have dramatically slowed. I've been more hungry after 6 months, and there is less of me to burn calories. If I want to boost my losses back up, I need to cut back on the calories or start hitting the gym. My ultimate goal is 30 or 40 more pounds, which will take a ridiculous amount of time at one pound a week.. so I've gotto get on the ball!

Tomorrow is turkey day which means I get a whole normal sized piece of pie (if I want). I'll skip my nuts tomorrow (and I skipped them today), so I can handle the extra calories. This is how I roll. Holidays and birthdays I get dessert. (Totally having 2 cookies on Christmas!). My 17 year old made pumpkin pies today, so I'll try her baking. As for check etiquette.. I'd get a separate check. So far I've rarely ordered more than $5 at a restaurant. Water and a cup of soup just doesn't cost much! (I still tip the normal amount though.)

I'm glad you've found what works for you, Bella. That is the hardest part for all of us. I think there USED to be rules that everyone followed. Society-wide. Not so long ago, there was no such thing as "fast" food or breakfast cereal (maybe oatmeal). There wasn't television or computers. Kids walked to school. People didn't eat pints of ice cream after a bad break-up. Bags of potato chips, gone in an evening... Nope, 3 meals, and maybe an afternoon snack. Kids after school might have gotten two homemade cookies and a glass of milk. I don't make rules for how my kids eat. My (physically grown) teenage daughter can eat a bowl of cereal, a ham sandwich, and half a box (maybe a whole box) of macaroni and cheese as an afternoon snack. Yes, she's crossed over the line into obese.

Look at you!! You did it! And you look fabulous! We are super-close surgery twins! Same height, same starting weight, and our surgeries were only 9 days apart! (And we're both down 100lbs!) Where have you been hiding?

The sleeve naturally can hold more over time. @OutsideMatchInside what did you say you do that results in your sleeve "feeling tight as a drum"? 4 ounces of solid meat fills me up nicely. I don't add veggies to my meat because it seems to make the meat slide through early. If you have more to lose, then make a plan that gets your fluids and protein up, and spend more time eating veggies. A lot of times if I feel like eating (not meal time), I get a big glass of something to drink instead.

I'm sorry if my post came across as harsh. I really just meant that it boils down to calories. Bella can use more calories than some of us, but if her appetite increases above caloric needs, then regain could happen to her too. Preop, "satisfied" ALWAYS came too late for me.

Yup, still in the honeymoon. Tru dat.

If an average, sedentary, female eats 2500 calories every day, she'll gain weight. I'm only 8 months postop and could easily consume 1800 calories a day (eating real, whole food..not even junk!). I may not gain much, but I sure wouldn't lose. In another year I'd be able to eat 2500, and then I'd be seeing regain like gangbusters. Yup. I'll have to follow rules to keep my calories where they'll need to be. (How many calories? I'll find out when I check my metabolic rate when I get to goal... I'll get a dexa scan or something like that).

This is going to vary as much as the patients. You don't want to get too tired or sore, so do what you can, and if your body says stop, then listen. A quick walk down a hall and back is enough to get some blood moving. Frequency of movement is more important than distance.

You are two months out, and almost halfway to goal. You only have 35 more pounds to go! You can expect the losses to slow way down and have lots of stalls (the closer to goal, the slower the losses). You should reach goal by 6 or 8 months postop.

This actually came up yesterday. My hubby said, "but, you always used to be my eating partner!" Surgery, dieting, getting healthy... any of these things will change your relationships. Activities you used to do together may not make any sense: i.e. running to Dairy Queen. Pick your biggest health concern, and explain the surgery is going to help you with it. That way it's not about obesity.. it's about diabetes or high blood pressure. My FIL has had at least 10 strokes, uncontrolled high blood pressure (while on 6 blood pressure meds), and uncontrolled insulin-dependent diabetes. All I have to do is point at him and say "that's what I'm trying to avoid, and going to DQ was taking me down that path". I'm 8 months postop. Surgery doesn't keep me away from fast food. Only I can do that. (If my hubby didn't have weight loss goals himself, then I could go to be sociable and just not eat anything. But he's trying to lose weight now too.)

You have goals. You need to meet your goals because the surgery does mess up your hunger, but the body still needs fuel. Fluid goals: at least 64oz Protein goals: at least 60g Vitamins (These are for everyone... your program should have given you your specific goals). Some of us don't feel hungry for the first year. Eat several times a day (as often as necessary to reach your goals).

Ok, so just to clarify, I couldn't tolerate protein shakes postop, thus using real food. Since you are 7 weeks postop, you've probably been on solids for a little while. What and how much are you eating now? My protein list is what I still eat, since it pretty well covers all the food groups. The nuts and cheese have a ton of calories, so are optional. If you drink a lot of milk make it low fat (1%). Too many calories, otherwise. Cottage cheese is the most concentrated source of protein (besides meat and fish). 12g for 4oz. Early on I got more protein in by concentrating on those concentrated sources. 4oz of tuna plus 8oz (one cup) of cottage cheese, plus a couple cups of milk, and you've met your protein goal for the day.

Like I said. Go get IV fluids now, and start watering down your protein waters. Fluids are more important than protein.

Fruit was allowed on my program. How and when I introduced it was when I could get all my protein in for the day through food, and still had room left over for a serving of fruit. In order to meet my protein requirement I had to eat: 4oz cottage cheese 1 egg 3.5oz drained beans (pinto, kidney, etc) 4oz meat or fish 2 cups milk 1oz nuts, peanut butter, or cheese As you see, I didn't have room for fruit right away... or even veggies for that matter. Before I could eat that much food, I drank a lot of milk (8 cups of milk meets protein and fluid goals during full liquid phase). I just exchanged milk for food as time went on. By time I was 9 or 10 weeks out, I was getting that list of solid foods in. Fruit or veggies came along around 12-16 weeks post. For me, naturally occuring sugar hasn't been a problem. Weight is lost through calorie restriction, not necessarily mattering from whence the calories come. Sometimes eating fruit messes with a person's blood sugar or sets up cravings or causes dumping. The acid may irritate the new sleeve or pouch. These are good reasons to avoid fruit. Fructose (part of the sugar in fruit) should be consumed in limited quantities. The fructose contained in one piece of fruit is about the daily limit. So, even though I could easily eat more fruit now (8 months postop), I keep it to one piece a day. I also only eat whole fresh or frozen fruit. No juice or processing.

Is it 20g in 20oz?

I agree. You might as well go get fluids now because you are already dehydrated and can't "catch up". The best you can hope for is to maintain once rehydrated. Do call your surgeon to let them know how you are feeling... but you can call after going for fluids. About drinking protein... make sure you get an ounce of fluid for each gram of protein you consume. Digesting protein requires a lot of water, and consuming more protein than fluid will dehydrate you more. (The body will pull water out of your tissues to work on the protein).

Baked white fish (covered while cooking so it doesn't brown.. stays tender).

The first week you lost 10lbs, but it wasn't 10lbs of fat. Probably 2-3 pounds of it was fat, and the rest was water. You have only completed 3 weeks of post surgical life, and the average patient loses 15 to 20 pounds the first month postop. You'll likely see the scale move by next Monday. But if it doesn't, you'll know that you are just a slower than average loser.. but that's ok! Remember the story of the tortoise and hare? The scale WILL bounce up by 1-5 pounds, especially the first few months postop. It's just the water coming and going. You know what to do. Keep to the program, and get checked out to make sure your bloodwork is ok (hypothyroidism WILL slow losses dramatically.. and weight loss won't change your thyroid status. You may need a different amount of thyroid meds, but you'll still need them). And keep on keeping on. We have to run on faith that the procedure will work. (Because the alternative is to NOT trust it, and how does that help? Just throws you into depression.. and what do we tend to do when depressed?) Instead of stepping on the scale, use this time to learn everything you can about nutrition. What we think about and focus on becomes our whole world. Don't let the big bad scale become your world... your energy is better spent elsewhere.

Even with a Duodenal Switch, it still comes down to calories in vs. calories out. DS patients can also out-eat their procedures over time. The DS very well may be a great option, along with dietary education and management. I agree that you need to get those tests Fluffy mentioned. Hormonal imbalances can make metabolisms pitifully slow. While you are checking into your options, start tracking. Weigh every morsel of calorie containing food and drink that you consume. See where you are at. It is possible to overeat on keto diets as well, so for some people, they STILL have to count.