Introversion

I didn't incorporate tortillas, bread, and rolls back into my diet until I reached my goal weight. Still, I'd tread carefully. I run an average of 30 miles per week, so I can eat plenty of carbs and maintain my weight. For those who are less active, eating carbs and sliders often spells REGAIN.

Your tastes may change as time passes. My go-to foods are boneless chicken breasts and thighs, tilapia fillets, salmon, flatbread pizza, cottage cheese, turkey sausage, turkey pepperoni, ground turkey, ground beef, and string cheese. My go-to drinks include unsweetened iced tea, coffee, water, and protein shakes.

Congratulations on becoming clean and sober. You have accomplished a great deal by acknowledging your problem and taking action. Bear with me...okay. People who are in the early stages of bariatric surgery research often ask, "Which surgery is the best?" when deciding between a lap band, sleeve, bypass, duodenal switch, etc. I usually want to respond, "The best surgery is the one that fixes our heads, not our stomachs." In other words, 90 percent of success with bariatric surgery is psychological. Until you conquer the depression, I conjecture you'll continue to self-medicate with food. If your head isn't in the right place, no amount of post-op care with a bariatric surgeon, dietitian, nutritionist or program director will do any good. There's a salient saying: "Bariatric surgeons operate on our stomachs, not our heads." Again, I commend you for slaying your drug habit. You overcame adversity. Now is the time to continue to work on taming your depression. Good luck to you!

If you're 5 weeks out you should be soon transitioning to regular foods (if you haven't done so already). Many of the following foods are appropriate for the soft phase. 1. Salmon croquets 2. Chicken enchilada casserole 3. Mackerel patties 4. Meat loaf 5. Chili beans 6. Blackened catfish 7. Burgers without the bun 8. Grilled chicken salads 9. Rotisserie chicken 10. Omelettes with ham

Each bariatric program has different rules regarding when their post-op patients can start/resume exercise. My program permitted leisurely walking from the first post-op day. All other exercise (weightlifting, moderate to vigorous aerobics) was allowed during the sixth post-op week.

I take over-the-counter Centrum vitamins and a generic store-brand calcium citrate. My nutritional lab work looks perfect and everything is within normal limits. I only take one Centrum daily, so a 90-day supply is about $10 at the most. The bariatric vitamins require you to take 3 to 4 per day and cost about $40 for a 90-day supply.

Prior to weight loss surgery, weight gain was easy for me. I could gain 7 to 8 pounds monthly with virtually no effort. You would only need to gain 5 or 6 pounds to attain the vaunted BMI of 35, so I really don't see why this is a dilemma. You'll lose the 5 pounds (plus more) during your pre-op diet. Right now, prequalification is king. Do what you've gotta do to qualify. Ethics be damned.

Everyone's poop stinks regardless of whether they've had WLS. Name one individual, bariatric surgery patient or otherwise, who defecates crap that smells like roses and honey. Obesity has a far worse impact on our lives than strong-smelling fecal matter.

I'll tell you how: it's water weight. Physiologically, it's impossible to gain five pounds of fat tissue in less than 24 hours unless you overate 17,500 calories. I assume you're a female of childbearing age. We're very prone to wild fluctuations in water weight; hence, I only weighed myself once monthly about a week after the 1st day of my period. Weighing myself more often was a blow to my sanity, so I didn't do it.

I now have a work-from-home desk job these days. However, I worked as an RN house supervisor at a specialty hospital during my first year with the sleeve. I'm two years out and continue to drink protein shakes and eat protein bars. While your surgeon's advice is solid, he doesn't understand the time constraints of floor/unit nursing. When I worked the floor I packed protein bars, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, beef jerky, baked chicken drumsticks, deviled eggs, string cheese, chef's salads, and canned soups.

I'm a 118-pound female who rests 1 minute between sets. Then again, I lift as heavy as I can since progressive overload is the only way to build muscle. A full body workout that can be done without machines or weights: 1. Walking lunges - 3 to 5 sets of 20 repetitions (body weight) 2. Squats - 3 to 5 sets of 20 repetitions (body weight) 3. Deadlifts - 3 to 5 sets of 15 repetitions (body weight) 4. Push-ups - 5 sets of 5 repetitions (body weight) 5. Calf raises - 3 sets of 15 repetitions (body weight) 6. Crunches - 3 sets of 25 repetitions (body weight) 7. Planks - 3 sets of holding the pose for 60 seconds (body weight)

I won't mince words: the duodenal switch is a grossly inappropriate procedure for someone who weighs 165 pounds with only 30 more pounds to lose. It is typically reserved for super mordibly obese people (BMI of 50 or greater) with severe metabolic issues (e.g. longstanding diabetes, PCOS). I would question the judgment and ethics of a bariatric surgeon who would perform a duodenal switch on someone who's only 30 pounds overweight.

Today's meals... Breakfast: coffee with half & half and sweetener Lunch: ground turkey patty, veggie macaroni & cheese Mid-afternoon: ground turkey patty, veggie macaroni & cheese Planned for later... Pre-workout: ground turkey patty, veggie macaroni & cheese Dinner: ground turkey patty, veggie macaroni & cheese Bedtime snack: ham slices, crackers, pickles, grapefruit

I concur. The original poster is not yet eating enough to properly fuel her activity level. Our bodies are astutely smart: in response to insufficient intake combined with lots of exercise, our metabolic rates eventually slow the hell down. For now it would be wise to stick to walking. I wouldn't incorporate any other exercise of a higher intensity until six weeks from now. At that point, the OP will likely be consuming more.

Yep. I typically do 4 sets consisting of 8 to 12 repetitions. You complete 10 reps, rest anywhere from 30 to 120 seconds, complete another 10 reps, then rinse and repeat a few more times.

You're starting at 197 pounds. You're considered a 'lightweight' in the weight loss surgery world. Lightweights generally don't lose at the speed of light. You are very, very unlikely to be one of those folks who loses 30+ pounds monthly until you reach your goal weight. You are unlikely to post a daily or weekly weight loss every single week, either. Weight loss after bariatric surgery doesn't take place in a linear, predictable pattern. We lose a few pounds, hold on to a few pounds, and stall (plateau) on occasion before losing again. Now, here's the big picture: when's the last time you lost 17 pounds in less than two weeks? I'm guessing the answer is "never before." You're doing better than most sleevers in your weight range. I never had a single month where I posted a 17-pound weight loss and I started out heavier than you, yet I attained my goal weight and have maintained my loss successfully so far. Slow and steady wins the race, while fast and crass doesn't last. Good luck to you.

If new post-op bariatric surgery patients require so much assistance to navigate life post-surgery, perhaps they should ask the knowledgeable professionals at their surgeon's office who are paid to help? If a person asks a question on an internet forum full of anonymous members, it is reasonable that a variety of responses will be received. Some are evidence-based. Others are not. Whoop-de-doo. Those who desire the most accurate consultative advice for their unique postoperative situations have the options of either: Asking the dietitian/nutritionist at their bariatric practice Seeking out peer-reviewed information from research studies on WLS You say it's not doing the person any service to advise them to wait until hungry or thirsty, while I say they person is doing herself/himself a disservice by not having asked the folks who are actually paid the big bucks to guide and advise bariatric patients (read: surgeons, nutritionists, coordinators). Good luck to everyone who is on the journey toward a healthier lifestyle.

Today's menu Breakfast: blueberry-flavored coffee with half & half and Equal Pre-workout: breaded chicken strip, veggie macaroni & cheese Lunch: breaded chicken strips, veggie macaroni (shells) & cheese Afternoon snack: mango, Quest protein bar Dinner: breaded chicken strips, veggie macaroni (shells) & cheese Bedtime snack: protein shake

There's no hard and fast answer to this question. Different people have different tolerances to carbohydrates. Some can eat more than others without ill effects. The dietitian at my bariatric surgeon's office never had me counting carbs, fat grams, or calories. I estimate I eat 150 grams of carbs per day, which would be considered a carb-controlled intake compared to the 300+ grams recommended per day by the U.S. government.

Some people use food scales for accountability and tracking purposes. I've never used a food scale and never will. Measuring, weighing food, counting calories and tracking intake are vestiges of the dieter mentality of which I refuse to participate. I reached my goal weight and have been maintaining it by listening to my body's cues: I eat if I'm hungry, drink if I'm thirsty, and stop when I'm satisfied. Humans are the only members of the animal kingdom who weigh, measure, count and track.

Really? Life is so much better as a normal-weight person. Health-wise, a body with less pounds reaps rewards immediately and in the long run. In addition, society and the public are nicer and more deferential to normal-weight people. Fat-shaming and weight discrimination are very real phenomenons that disappear once a person attains a normal body weight. Though I was a painfully slow loser, I have no regrets about having surgery. I was miserable when I was fat. Life is too short to not enjoy the best of both worlds.

I never said I had an issue with undereating. I merely suggested to the original poster that, if (s)he is not eating enough, perhaps increasing the caloric intake might make the difference. To be fair, the original post doesn't contain enough information, so I simply conjectured that the OP might not be eating enough to fuel his/her physical activity. Too much cardio exercise (read: lots of running) combined with too low of a caloric intake can lead to notorious stalls in some people that are difficult to bust. It might be the opposite problem of what I was thinking: maybe the OP is engaging in overcompensatory eating, which is common in many runners. So your idea of tracking is a good one.

I'll preface my comment by mentioning that I'm a runner, too. I run an average of 5 miles per day, 6 days a week, either on the treadmill or outdoors. Running will stall your weight loss only if you are not eating enough to support this form of exercise. When I started my running program, I gradually boosted my intake to 1700-1800 kcals daily. By 14 months out I was consistently eating 1800 calories a day. I now run and lift weights, so I consume in the 2000 to 2200 calorie-per-day range. I weigh 118 pounds and my weight has remained stable by giving my body what it needs. So if you're undereating, gradually boost those calories. Activities such as running need plenty of fuel. Without this fuel, your body will slow its metabolic processes the hell down (read: stalls). Good luck to you!

You aren't going to lose consistently. Ever, ever, ever. The sooner you face this reality, the less anxiety you'll have during the weight loss phase. Losing weight with a sleeve is not a consistent process. It doesn't occur in a predictable pattern. Weight loss isn't a linear event: we lose pounds, hold on to some pounds at times, and stall occasionally before dropping more weight. Moreover, certain groups of people may lose more slowly, such as 'lightweights' who started at less than 200 pounds, older females, menopausal ladies, racial/ethnic minorities, and those with metabolic issues (PCOS, hypothyroid, long-standing diabetes, insulin resistance). You may also weigh yourself too often. I only weighed myself once monthly during my weight loss phase to prevent disappointment from not seeing daily weight loss. Monthly weights were better for my sanity due to seeing the progress over a time period of 4+ weeks. Remember that you probably didn't become fat in a few months. Therefore, it won't come off in a few months. Slow and steady wins the race. Fast and crass doesn't last. Good luck to you.

Friday's planned meals/snacks... Breakfast: coffee with half & half and sweetener Pre-workout meal: chicken rice soup, apple Lunch: spicy garlic cheddar chicken Afternoon snack: Quest protein bar Dinner: spicy garlic cheddar chicken Bedtime snack: pickle, apple, turkey sausage stick