Berry78

Pity party? I don't think so! You are empowering yourself to become a healthier person! Someone that is wallowing in misery is gonna sob about that twinkie they are getting ready to shove into their mouth. (And then proceed to do just that). As you are experiencing, a dramatic change to your diet can drastically change YOU. The scale #, your illness progression, etc. That is the power of the surgery (plus a bunch of metabolic/hormonal changes as well). Good for you, taking the bull by the horns!

Day after day you aren't making your fluid goals. Can you drink milk? Take a day off of solids and just drink all day. Milk, tea (black or herbal), broth, etc. You are probably getting sick on the protein shakes because you are dehydrated. Shakes take extra water to digest. Aim for more than 64oz to help catch up.

Huh.. the chew and spit usually happens preop.... Use this as a warning about the strength of head hunger and how it impacts you. If this continues past the first month or so, you will want some counseling. No judgement coming from me.. this whole journey is TOUGH, and sometimes we may need a bit of help. Once you move on to purees and soft foods, it should get much better In the meantime, try making homemade broth.. that will give you a break from all the sweet shakes. Liquid yogurt and kefir might be a nice change of pace too. Herbal tea comes in a ton of different flavors as well.

My goal is 70g/day. My local surgeon has his patients on a 60g/day goal. (He wasn't my surgeon). To me, 60-70 is fine. If you are really strength training, or a tall, muscular man, or something else that I'm not.. you may have much higher goals. DS patients need at least 120g. I have been reaching my goal since week 3 without protein shakes (by relying heavily on dairy during the first couple months, now I eat meat and whatnot).

Of course you are confused. Your program tells you one thing, but others in the world are doing something else. My take on it: Because we had surgery, we CAN eat 9oz of food a day and get away with it.. from a hunger standpoint. But, we are still humans that need nutrition to function optimally. Sure, our fat stores give us energy, but there is more to nutrition than energy content. Vitamins are great, but those pills don't contain everything. The average sedentary female needs a minimum of 46g of protein so as to not become deficient. Please count your protein at least to make sure you are above this number. Here is an example of a "healthy" diet someone may adopt: Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal with 1/4 cup milk: 5g protein Lunch: 2oz chicken on a slice of bread with side salad: 15g protein Dinner: 3oz meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans: 15g protein Total: 35g protein.. less than the minimum requirement for anyone other than a small child. 3 balanced meals works for people that can eat more than 4oz at a meal.. so perhaps at a year out it might work. Your program is thinking long term.. get you used to eating the way you need to eat forever. But, they are letting you run short on things in the meantime. Why most of us are "low carb" is because after we meet our protein, veggie, fruit, and calorie goals, there simply isn't room for extra starches. We lose weight postop because we eat fewer calories than our bodies burn. Period. Our challenge is to fit as much nutrition into that limited number of calories as possible (and limited stomach space as well!). We still need as many proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water as anyone else... we just don't need 2000 calories during the losing phase.

I know that must have come as a shock! Sleep on it, and do some reading up on the bypass starting tomorrow. There are some differences, but the initial healing period is the same. [Hugs], everything will work out, you'll see!

Sleeping without undies can help with airflow.. depending on how your legs are positioned. I would be a little surprised that lack of airflow caused a uti. Sometimes they just happen.. but if this becomes a frequent thing, be sure to get evaluated by a urologist.

THIS, exactly. A food scale is your new forever best friend.

I aim for 70g protein and 60g net carbs. 1200-1300 calories. I'm 4.5 months postop.

DS patients have trouble absorbing protein and fats, but no trouble absorbing carbs. So they eat more protein and fats and get a "normal" amount of carbs (which may need to be limited during the weight loss phase and even after). What many people don't realize is that surgery helps, but long term success is up to the patient. We have to watch what we eat forever if we hope not to regain. The DS requires people "watch what they eat" even more than the sleeve. Not eating less, but making sure they get enough of the right things so as to not become deficient. A couple handfuls of vitamins every day, etc.

Congrats! Sounds like you are doing super! Make sure that gatorade is G2, not regular (unless your program specified otherwise).

Since you are only 6 weeks postop, it may simply be too early for "dense" foods. You still have swelling going on. If you stick with soups and the like for a couple more weeks, you may notice a difference.

Uhh.. right after surgery I took my time, but now I just measure out my portion and it's gone in like 5 minutes.

The closer you are to goal, the happier you will be with your finished product. But if your quality of life is suffering, then getting the panni now, with a possible revision later might work. The surgery is safer and easier when the patient has lost as much weight as possible. My MIL had a 30lb flap taken off.. she hadn't lost weight prior to the surgery. The scar looks good now, but her recovery was difficult. She didn't lose weight postop either, so I don't know what it would look like if she did. Her swelling was significant for 6 months or a year I think. (The fluid collected in her pubic-hair region.. looked like a half-cantaloupe under the skin). Don't know if being near goal would be helpful for that.. likely!

I went with Dr. Illan. Had a good experience.

It always is a good idea to get as much info as possible. Don't think I would use that surgeon though! Another option is a RNY bypass. Can be done after a sleeve and will likely help with your GERD.

I have to wait a couple hours if I eat something dense. So next time I'm ready to eat, I drink a glass of water, then wait about 5 minutes, then eat. The water leaves quick enough that it doesn't seem to affect my meal.

Hey, his surgery couldn't be on a better day. One of my daughters was born on August 14th! Hmm.. (best get to b-day planning...) During this week, be sure to get pictures. A professional photo shoot would be great, if you could swing it. (Make sure you are in there too). Extra bed pillows would be good for him to have, and get a few Fleet enemas to have on hand. Milk of magnesia and Miralax are good too. You can get a small variety of protein shakes for him to try, just don't stock up. A variety of non-caloric beverages is good to have on hand, and make some broth (freeze some in 8oz portions). If you fill your time with preparations, it'll go faster.

I second a work-up. Your sleeve should be checked, your gallbladder, vitamin levels, etc. Let us know if they find anything!

You are doing great! 145lbs gets you to a "normal" bmi. I bet you'll be able to get there if you want. That's what I'm doing. 180 is my initial goal, and if I make it there, I have 155 as my normal-BMI stretch goal. Congrats!

Ok, I admit I rarely eat salad. Protein fills me up so fast that I eat my veggies in a separate meal, and even then it's 4oz lightly cooked spinach. Before I cook it, 4oz of spinach is a HUGE plateful, but as soon as it wilts, it's just a normal looking portion. I am still having issues with the visual sizes of food. A big salad looks so intimidating that I don't want to touch it. So I actually split those 3 meals up into more smaller meals, same food though. It is simpler to write it as 3 meals for those that can eat more at once.

My daily meal looks like this: Breakfast: 1 egg and 4oz black beans Lunch: 4oz chicken with salad or veggies Snack: 1oz nuts and 3oz fruit Dinner: 4oz meat or fish and nonstarchy veggies I supplement with low sodium v8 or coconut water (for electrolytes). This is how to meet protein goals and low carbohydrate goals with real food and without dairy.

This is why we have "goals". You eat as many times a day as necessary to meet those goals. If you are eating 3oz, 3x's a day of dense protein (7g/oz.), then you are getting approx. 63g protein for the day. For example: 2 eggs weighs 3oz, but only have 14g protein, so it's not a "dense" meal. At 5 weeks out, none of your protein is likely "dense" except maybe tuna. This is why early on we drink liquid protein to meet our goals. You should also expect to need to eat 4-6 times a day long term (if you hope to avoid protein shakes).

I was gonna say it coyld be related to constipation.. plenty of intestines around that area too.

3 week stall is very, very real. Can happen at 2 weeks, or 4, but most people see the scale stop moving for a week or two around that time. AND, it's the first of many!