Berry78

Prenatal are usually very good. They have lots of iron and folic acid. It's always good to ask your doc what they recommend.

With bypasses, strictures are relieved by inflating a balloon in the tight area, stretching it open. Since you have a sleeve, the process might be the same.... but it could also be more involved.. like needing a temporary stent. Glad your surgeon is being proactive getting you looked at.

String cheese is a good snack. 5g protein. Limit it to one or two pieces a day. Follow your plan as to when it is permitted (I think I was 8 weeks out before it sat ok for me, since it's so dense). Nuts and raisins are ok when you get onto regular foods. They aren't soft. Make sure you have a scale that weighs the tiny amounts accurately. Digital that weighs grams is perfect. Limit nuts to one ounce (28g) a day, and raisins to 20g. These are TINY amounts. But it is nice for a bit of variety.

The weight loss difference between sleeve and bypass isn't big enough to really make a decision based on that. That last 10 pounds isn't what makes us sick.. it's the first 60. The diabetes, on the other hand, does respond to the greater metabolic impacts of the bypass. To give you a rough idea: 4 diabetics get a sleeve, and 4 get a bypass. 2 of the sleeve diabetics have improvement long term. 3 of the bypass diabetics have improvement long term. Those odds may or may not be a deal breaker for you. Diabetes can frequently be minimized through dietary choices as well, so by time you get surgery AND change your diet, things are bound to be better, regardless.

You could ask your surgeon's office whether it actually HAS to be liquid, or if you could have an occasional salad with fat free dressing or skinless chicken. Those things won't affect your weight loss, and might make the next week more tolerable.

The calories are fine. Make sure you're hitting your protein goals. (The shake might have 30g, but the soup only has about 18 g, if made with 2 cups milk).

Personally, from this list, I would have consumed the greek yogurt (plain), and protein shakes (if I could have stood them). The rest is pretty much trash. BUT, as long as you KNOW it's trash, and it's only temporary to get through this phase, then that's all right. I don't care about calories during the first 8 weeks.. I care about meeting the protein goals, and trying to learn how to read labels to tell which foods have the right nutrient "profile", and which ones don't. For example, go to the yogurt section of your store. Some yogurts have, I don't know... 5g of protein and 40g carbohydrate. Totally unacceptable! Another yogurt has 13g protein and 10g carbs.. that one I'd put in my cart. It takes time and work. But, doesn't everything that's worth doing?

Thank you for posting this. I'm concerned about your long term caloric restriction. The accepted daily minimum consumption is 1200 calories, you are pretty tall, young, and active.. so you probably need even more than that. Here's an article. It doesn't give a minimum maintenance, but is a good read, anyway. https://paleoleap.com/protein-sparing-modified-fasts/

It sounds like you are doing everything perfectly. Just keep on keeping on.. 3 week stall is a thing, and there will be more stalls to come. Don't let it get you down! If you are comfortably eating 4oz, that's ok. Just don't force it, and you'll want to keep to the 4oz portion sizes long term. (So even if you CAN eat 5-6 oz, don't do it... unless it's soup.. .. 8oz of soup is about right).

You'll also likely drop below goal.. but, again.. 150 is a healthy weight for your height (giving you 60 more pounds to lose before getting concerned).

So happy your incision healed so well! You look SOOO much more comfy! Did your fever ever go away?

Tuna can be dry and dense. But if you put mayo in it, it really loosens it up. Mash up a scrambled egg and add that to the tuna, and it makes it easier still. It's true that gently baked white fish IS much softer and easier to digest. If you can, try that first (as per your doc's recommendations). Have you tried home-made broth? (Simmer something like chicken legs for 8 hours.. maybe in a slow cooker.. with a bit of salt and herbs). There is about 8g of protein per cup of slow-simmered broth, and it fits into the clear or full liquid phase. Protein IS very important, so do really push to find a source you can tolerate, ASAP. Otherwise you'll be eating your own muscles, and that's the last thing you want.

BMI over 52? Sleeve or Duodenal Switch. GERD? RNY Bypass Significant food addiction? Counseling and RNY Bypass (or D.S. if BMI over 50) Type 2 diabetes (long term or insulin dependent)? RNY Bypass PCOS? Probably Bypass. None of the above? Sleeve. If y'all scratch your head at my recommendation for the sleeve for the heavier patients.. it's because the sleeve is a simpler procedure for the surgeon when there is so much fat in the abdominal cavity. Heavier patients are going to be the riskier surgical candidates to begin with, so the sleeve is safer for them too. Also, the sleeve can later be converted to bypass or D.S. if a revision is needed. (Granted, revisions aren't as powerful as the first surgery, but at least it's an option.. and if they get the bypass first, there is nowhere else to go).

Give a call to your doctor. If you can find a place to test your blood pressure, like at those machines in the grocery stores or Walmart, great! That will help you know what is going on. If you test it and it's low or normal, tell your doc, and they'll probably agree that you can decrease or cut out the meds. I stopped my meds the day of surgery. My pressure still isn't normal (runs about 135/85), but it's below the level to be medicated (generally that line is around 145/90).

You have to keep trying. Ask a doctor for anti-nausea meds. Explain how you are feeling. Write down everything you are eating/drinking, and how it made you feel, so they can get a true picture of what is happening. The best way to do this is measure out your portion ( i.e. 2oz cottage cheese), then eat, and if you didn't finish it, then weigh what you didn't eat and record that. Food and drink are required to live. So this is really important!

It might have been the tomato sauce or cheese. I couldn't handle either of those at 3 weeks postop. (Took me about 10 weeks to really get comfy with those). Try not to despair. You'll be able to eat real food again, just maybe not so soon. {Hugs}

Hey, Outside! Just one more pound, and you're half the woman you used to be!!!

I don't. I use a powdered one from GNC. Put it in coffee with some milk, and it's doable.. doesn't make me sick. I got some pills from my chiropractor, but have to be careful with them. Flintstones chewables do ok for me too. I kinda switch around what I'm doing when it comes to the vites. Do make sure your calcium is in "citrate" form.

I put my 6'4, 300lb husband on a 1200-1400 calorie diet. He lost 16lbs the first week! (No exercise, as he has a bad back). There could be a couple different things happening for your hubby. Either the calories just aren't low enough, or he has some underlying health condition that's preventing the weight loss (like hypothyroidism). First thing is to take him to his doctor and have a thorough physical to make sure he's healthy. Not sure how long you've been at it, but sometimes weight can simply take a few weeks to start to shift.

This is common. I've found some vitamins cause it for me, and others don't. Taking them with a meal can help. Spacing them out can help. Switching brands or types can help. Just keep playing around with it until you can figure out what works for you. Good luck!

I suffered through protein shakes preop. Postop, I just couldn't do it. My tastes had changed, and it just wasn't gonna happen. Stuff tasted like rat poison, and if I'd HAD to drink it, I would probably just opt for the rat poison and be done with it! Lol. Fortunately, I didn't have to endure it. A cup of milk or bone broth has 8g protein. A quart of milk, and a quart of broth each day, and I met both my liquid and protein goal in one fell swoop. Then I moved to high protein kefir, cottage cheese, and greek yogurt. Then pureed tuna and beans.. then on to solid foods. I never really had days that I didn't meet my goals. If I'd stressed about the carbs in milk or kefir, it would have been another matter. But how I looked at it.. the first 8 weeks is for healing the tummy, and if it meant taking my carbs with my protein, then so be it. I have another year's worth of "honeymoon" phase to worry about cutting carbs and "doing it right". And you know what? I lost at about the same rate as everyone else. (Keep in mind, I'm talking about the naturally occuring sugars in milk and dairy products.. not a bunch of added sugar). Sometimes people can't tolerate dairy, and that makes it much harder. Broth would have to be your bff if you can't tolerate dairy or protein shakes.

I also use smooth move tea.. got it at the grocery store. BUT, it's a stimulant laxative (like ex-lax), so it's not good to use daily for weeks or months. The body can become dependent on these types of meds. Miralax and milk of magnesia work differently, so the body doesn't become dependent. The best thing for long term is finding a selection of foods that you can eat daily and that will keep you regular. Everyone is different, so it's just a matter of experimenting until you figure it out. It CAN BE an ongoing issue. There for a while, I was as regular as clockwork. Perfect stool. Lately I've had to go back and use supplements until I can figure out if I changed something, or what... (I'm over 5 months out).

Ok, fine. I'll put my foot down. This bickering has GOT to stop on these threads where a member has asked for support! Pixie is probably the sweetest person here, and y'all are stomping all over her! STOP IT! Pixie.... {Hugs} You're in a tough spot, but you'll get through it! And don't forget, this is YOUR journey, and it's not about letting other people down. It's about you doing this for YOU. And you CAN BE as patient as your body needs you to be! Think of you as two separate entities. You ARE your mind. You have complete control over what to think, and can change your mind at any time, in the flash of an instant. Your body is kinda like a separate creature. It is there to serve you, but ultimately it has its own systems that you can't directly control. If you have a wrong thought, you can fix it in the blink of an eye. If you break a leg, it takes weeks to fix. Your body is working it's butt off (literally) to PLEASE you. It just has a process that it must go through to get the work done, and that can take time. What goes into your mouth, and the miles that cross under your feet, those things you do to support the body in its efforts to do what you want it to. So many of us think our bodies are our enemies. But they're not. They're on our team... they're just slower than we are, and if we treat them poorly and withhold their tools, then they never can do the work we require of them.

I would assume so since its on the border, but you might want to ask your coordinator to be certain.