coyote

Agreed. I was a little unnerved that she flat out would not talk about it now but I understand that she's following instructions by the surgeon. At this point in my pre-op (7-ish weeks out) she says I'm not allowed to count veggie protein towards my daily goals - only meat.

I love seeing how different each program is! I just started soft foods yesterday and I was sleeved in July I'll be on soft until January.

Have you tried Genepro protein? It definitely has a taste but I can easily mask it with other flavors. I also love Fairlife milk and it will be the only brand I'll drink from here on. I too loved Premier while pre-op but can't stand it now. Tonight for "dessert' I'm making my own protein smoothie with Fage yogurt, Fairlife milk, sugar free syrup, and a little bit of spices. Will see how it turns out!

Aww Sassyprassy I'm so sorry to hear that. When I forget to take my Omeprazole I'll chew a Pepcid and it helps. They can be pretty pricey (about $12 for 25 and you can have 2 a day, I think) but it really helps with the discomfort.

Physically it was a lot easier than I imagined! The first couple of days were awful and the first 2 weeks I had to take things slow and I slept a lot. I shuffled around the house while crouched over so alleviate the pain in my stomach/incisions but it's mostly a dull pain. It feels like doing 300 sit-ups and everything aches. Don't be afraid to take your painkillers and rest your body! The mental struggle was the hardest for me. I had some some "buyers remorse" but what helped me was the realization that I couldn't get my stomach back even if I wanted to. Take good mental and physical care of yourself and you'll do great!

I wish I could help more Everything that I have eaten has went down without an issue. Sometimes after eating I'll get a "hairball" sensation where something feels like it's moving up my throat and pressing against my neck accompanied by a little bit of nausea. If I close my eyes and focus it goes away. That's really the only issue I've had. I'm not feeling hunger pains but what I do feel is acid moving around my belly that makes it hurt. Sometimes it will happen after a meal and I'll drink some water to settle it. I have meals portioned out through the day (which feel like snacks) but I realize that I'll make a point to eat the entire meal even after my stomach tells me to stop. I could have food easing up into my esophagus but I'm going to eat that last two bites. Leaving food on the plate and being satisfied is something I have to work on. Have you broken through your weight loss stall? I finally went from 256 to 248 then my cycle came to visit on Thursday. When I weighed in at NUT's office yesterday I was 254. I was super bummed!

Following this thread I went to my NUT appointment yesterday and we talked about my desire to phase out meat. I was a strict vegetarian for 8 years and I dropped the weight but couldn't keep it off...I turned into a carbitarian eating french fries, breads, etc. NUT says WLS and veg lifestyle doesn't mix but that she's welcome to talk about it at my 6-month appointment in January. I feel that we can make it work if we really want to eliminate meat from our diet.

I had to sip for the first 3-4 weeks. My stomach would get terrible air bubbles and it felt like I was dying. About 2 weeks pre-op I called to schedule my first Nutritional appt and the woman who made the appointment suggested to drink ice-cold water with little pellet ice cubes. I bought a bag from Sonic and it made such a difference. I'm also able to take in about 2 decent gulps of water but I can't do that more than once every 5-10 minutes. Sometimes it's easier to keep sipping.

I'm also having the same issue! I was super pleased at my 1-month appointment to find that I had lost 15lbs then found out that is on the lower end of things. I have PCOS and losing weight has never been easy but I keep hearing about the honeymoon phase and it's really messing with my head. My first stall was the 3rd week of post-op, dropped about 6 more lbs, then the scale has frozen. I am also struggling to make my protein and water goals and I'm thinking that's part of the issue... I'll follow your story and check in to see how you're doing. Hopefully we'll get out of this stall soon.

Hi beebee17, How far out are you from surgery? Does it hurt around your largest incision? My surgeon's office predicted 2-3 week healing time for my large incision but it stopped hurting last week around the 5-week mark. I had to splint my belly any time I stood up or got in and out of a vehicle on the passenger side. One day I woke up and it was gone. My surgeon says dull ache is normal but if you feel a burning or sharp pain or see any bulging in the area to go to the doctor.

As soon as I got in the door after being released from the hospital hahah. I've been bad and weighed almost every day. It's served as a reminder to stay on track and when I stall so I know to up water/protein. I'm in a bad stall now so I'm reshaping my day-to-day to see if it helps.

How's everyone's weight loss looking? I've been in a nasty stall for over two weeks and finally lost 2lbs yesterday. I'm sitting at 255, down from 281 on surgery date and 295 at my highest a few months ago. That gives me a total of 26lbs post-op. I'm trying not to compare my experiences but I'm a little bummed! I have PCOS so I wonder if that's playing a part in it? Some days I don't get my protein in and I know most days I'm not getting water in. Going to focus on those two things and see if it helps. I've also rekindled my love for whole milk so I need to pull it back and stick with just plain water for a while.

It really is! It felt like SUCH a chore during pre-op but now I find myself finding a recipe and being so excited to try it out! I picked up a cookbook called Fresh Start Bariatric Cookbook: Healthy Recipes to Enjoy Favorite Foods After Weight-Loss Surgery which has some pretty good recipes in it.

I'm so sorry. I also drank so much pre-op and became sad and frustrated after surgery and could only drink with Raspberry Lemonade Crystal Light packets as water had an off-putting chemically taste. I found the trick for me is to buy a bag of Sonic ice (or any pellet/bullet ice), fill a cup full to the top, and use bottled water - I use Deer Park. It became easier for me as time went on and I can drink almost normally now as long as the water is ice cold. Ice cold water also doesn't seem to reflux as badly as normal water. I truly hope things get better soon. Dehydration is no joke and that must feel awful.

Hi MRH300, It may take about a month for you to drink more than a couple sips at a time. I'm almost 6 weeks out and I can finally gulp some water though still less than I could normally. Also, water tastes good again. You'll find that your taste buds change.

Hi cg89, I also regretted the surgery post-op day 1. Trust that this is normal and the feelings will subside once you get into a "new normal". Your stomach just endured a traumatic surgery and mentally and physically will not be hungry. Hopefully you are on an IV drip so you won't be dehydrated while in the hospital because you're not going to want to drink anything! I was in the hospital 2 1/2 days for my surgery and I was only able to take in 6oz of protein drink and less than 10oz of water the entire time. Walking really helps with the gas pain and it should go away in a couple of days. Here's my surgery experience: I found that once I went home I was more exhausted than in pain. About 7 days post-op I was able to stop taking pain killers and 10 days post-op I noticed a huge difference in my energy that I started to feel like "me" again. I went back to work after 14 days. My smaller incisions stopped hurting around 2 1/2 weeks and I am now just over 5 weeks post-op and my large incisions has finally stopped aching. I'm telling you all of this because I wish I had a realistic timeline after I got my surgery. My surgeons were great but painted a picture that it was going to be a cake walk and mentally I really, really struggled. Once you transition from liquids to puree it will be like night and day. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything, and hang in there. -coyote

You guys have got this. Your first 2 weeks will be the worst but everything will start looking up after that. I'm just over a month out and I'm thrilled with the results.

I take Wild Berry Bariatric Fusion which is a chewable and doesn't really taste chalky to me. It goes down easy and tastes like candy.

Happy 1 month + day surgiversary! It feels like months since I've got my surgery. How is everyone doing? Some notable things from this past month: I'm down 25lbs from my surgery weight of 281. Wow. I checked MFP and the last time I was this weight was early 2015. I put on about 20lbs a year and now, in one month, I've lost that much. My highest was 295 and that was 3 weeks before surgery. I have PCOS and struggled so badly to lose the weight so it would come off then come back with more packed on. The only thing that helped was extreme Keto or just completely eliminating carbs and I knew that wasn't sustainable for me for the rest of my life. I buckled down for that 3 weeks. Food is now boring to me. I thought my biggest issue would be going out to eat with family and sipping on a water while my family ate something delicious but it really doesn't phase me in the least. I eat so frequently that my appetite is always satisfied. I'm down a size and a half. I started at a very tight size 22 and wore a 24 in some cases (I was in denial and kept squeezing myself into the 22's). My size 22 work pants are falling off of me and my 3x Ava and Viv sweater sleeves won't stay up. I'm doing some serious clothes shopping on pay day! I don't want to do too much because I'm losing about 5lbs a week. My edema is GONE. My legs and feet, especially my right foot, would swell like a balloon and I could never find shoes to fit. I had to wear Crocs (Kadee Flats) to work which I think exacerbated the issue. It was so bad that a woman at my last job would call me Macy, as in Macy's Day Balloon Foot (I wasn't particularly thrilled with the name but she had a lot of issues so I ignored it). My water intake is less now that I'm eating semi-solid foods. I feel so full all of the time that I have to remind myself to eat. Water completely fills me up after a few sips and I think I may be taking in 25-30oz a day. I have to get better with that. I had horrible acid reflux and heartburn starting about 2 1/2 weeks pre-op. I finally started taking those nasty Prilosec beads and stopped consuming tomato-based foods and it's been pretty manageable. My nutritionist said I could start having Wendy's Chili on puree and I was *so* excited that I ate a few oz every day for the first week and I think it upset my stomach. Haven't had a bite since then and honestly I'm okay with that. I've been able to keep my cravings in check, so far. My first day of puree I woke up with a taste for Taco Bell pintos and cheese on my mind. I became obsessed with it all day at work and my mouth would salivate when I would think about it. On lunch I went out and bought one, sat in my car and prepared myself for the taste of delicious, blended gold...it was horrible. I took two bites and knew I could make something better than this. That was the last craving I've had and anything else that pops up in my mind I can dismiss with ease because I know my head has on rose-colored classes and it's really not as delicious as it sounds. And last, but not least - I enjoy cooking again. I like finding creative recipes that gets in all of my protein and keeping it as low carb as possible. I don't really crave carbs anymore and I hope it stays this way for a while. My nutritionist is pretty lenient in the puree phase and allows us to make good, high-protein low-carb choices as long as it can be blended. I've eaten a lot of ricotta bake "loaves" that taste like little pizzas, homemade turkey meatballs...my partner loves it too. TL;DR - Everything is great. Hope you all are doing well.

My surgery is on Monday, July 17th and it's starting to dawn on me that this is actually happening. I'm starting to get cold feet (which i'm sure is normal!) so for all you that have went through this process: how has weight loss surgery changed your life?

Hi Sassyprassy! Sorry - I'm just now seeing this. So sorry to hear you've been having some troubles with the post-op eating. I admit I've also had some moments where all I've wanted to do was sink my teeth into something solid! I wasn't much of a regular cook before (which is how I found myself to be 295lbs!) so cooking has been a challenge. I went out and bought a mini 8-loaf pan and I make Eggface's Ricotta Bake in them. I double the recipe (16oz of ricotta) and it fills the whole loaf pan perfectly and I can eat on it for a few meals since each loaf is about 2 servings for me. What brand of vitamins are you using? Is it the taste or texture that's messing with you or just the vitamin itself? It's been some time since you've posted so I hope you're doing better!

Hi Jessilou! So sorry to hear you're frustrated. I can relate - I haven't lost a pound in a week but have lost about 18.5lbs since the 17th. I worry that I've taken in too many carbs since the only liquid I could stomach was watered down Light apple juice with 14g of sugar/carbs in 8oz. Not really my best choice but it didn't make me gag! I've since been able to drink plain water and crystal light. No more juice for me. What kind of things are you eating and how much have you lost? Try not to compare yourself to others since we're all different! I also have PCOS so with my big stomach 18lbs would have taken me half a year to lose.

Wow, that sounds delicious! I'm starting puree today and already bought a mini loaf pan for Eggface's ricotta bake.