FluffyChix

LOL, I worried about this too. I take normal size bites, eat with normal size cutlery on saucers and in small bowls, and chew a normal amount of time...even dense protein. I never get the foamies, or feel nauseated from eating too quickly or anything. I average about 20minutes per meal. But I have a cast iron pouch.

I'm going to disagree. Yes, by all means, relax. Take a chill pill. But, that doesn't absolve you from your personal responsibility to try as much as humanly possible to follow your doctor's post op prescription (for food and exercise, ie protein goal). LOL. If he want's you eating x-grams of protein by 2weeks out or 7 weeks out or 3 months out, your's is not to question why, your's is but to do or die. He/she has his reasons for it that we may not be privy to. You def. have higher protein needs while you are immediately healing from surgery. And my RD said that healing isn't fully done for 4-6 months. So yeah. There's that. You need to figure out your schedule and how many times a day you are eating or drinking your meal. Then divide up the protein. So you know how much you need to get down per meal. It's not rocket science, it's just systematically portioning your protein off. And it can be done. I know, cuz there are millions of people the world round doing it. So find out what your doc's team wants you to have as you goal. Set that goal. Make that goal. It's as easy and hard as that. By the end of my first week I was getting in my 60g of protein. By end of week 2 I think I was at my 74g personal target set by the RD. My first 4 days I think I was around 48g of protein. Liquids only.

I think there are many opinions about this. I personally have to eat low carb because I still struggle with insulin resistance and carb sensitivity. So I focus on getting my lean proteins first. I am "protein adequate" for my size and try for 60-70g protein daily from complete protein sources. Then I go for veggies, especially green leafy and brightly colored low glycemic veg. Next is healthy fats like EVOO, butter, coconut oil, avocados, nuts/seeds. Last is small quantities of low glycemic fruits. I still usually start with protein. It makes me feel fuller. The veggies are kinda slider food for me...and too much fat makes me nauseated.

Also, do not depend on the malabsorptive aspect of RNY to allow you to eat crappy foods and "get away" with not absorbing all the calories. Why? Cuz depending on your doc, you may get a shorter bypass, or a longer one--you won't really know for sure. Nor will you know how MUCH malabsorption it actually causes. Studies are showing that it is less than previously thought. Also when the gut regrows microvilli, they become super-powered and scrubbing nutrients and energy from the stuff we eat. So there's that too. The surgery operates on the gut, not your brain...so cravings still exist. And they go whackamole on you to make sure you know they are still there post surgery -- regardless of type. Bottom line, if I hadn't "worked my tool" to lose all my weight to 1st goal, my tool wouldn't have worked regardless of tool type (RNY or VSG) and the surgery would not have "magically" gotten me to that 1st Goal line without herculean efforts. I had to work. Let me repeat. It was W-O-R-K. It wasn't magic bean surgery that allowed me to keep all my unbalanced habits and relationships with food--just cuz I had an RNY and separated an egg size portion of stomach and rerouted some intestines. I "can" eat way more food on any given day, easily 2000+ cals if I don't watch it. And that's POST RNY at 8.5months. But I know that I lose best in a caloric window of between 600-800 average cals per day. I KNOW I lose best at about 60-70g protein, 30g net carbs or less, 35-39g of fat or less per day with no cheats and no booze/wine/beer. LOL. Everyday is hard work. But everyday is also joy and pride. I can do things I haven't been able to do in 40 years! I got my life back thanks to this surgery. I think you can experience that success and joy with either surgery. But it is a mindset. And it takes fixing your diet, your exercise, your thoughts, your habits, your relationships with food and with people. It takes you, a support group, your RD, your doc, your doc's staff, maybe a trainer/gym, maybe a psychologist for success--not just one surgery over the other. Honestly the only thing in my mind to determine which surgery you have would be the state of your esophagus and tums and intestines. If you have GERD, honestly, I'd go right to RNY. I did and didn't want to roll the dice on a second surgery that will be more difficult, have more chance of potential risk, and may be harder the 2nd time around. But that was just me...

2 bottles. Impressive! Colon Blow 2000. But I swear, they wouldn't let me do a bowel prep before surgery. The bastages...I had concretions. CONCRETIONS. It was like giving birth to Rosemary's baby! With TEETH! LOL. It was truly gruesome. So I would have much rather dealt with the mag citrate before hand. Did you have any issues with constipation afterward?

Thanks! So does a full serving count as 1 complete Vitamin for RNYers? I presently use Celebrate chewables and have to take 2 per day. So it would be awesome to have this option sometimes for convenience!

It gets better. Swearsies. Just doooo eeeet. I chronicled it all here...from the first day of Liquid Pre-op until I had my "sea legs".

@Alex Brecher So do these taste like frappacinos when blended with ice? I used to love Big Train Mocha Mix.

https://www.angelcurves.com/products/buttlifter?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=18055033859&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2o_fBRC8ARIsAIOyQ-k8e8g3slhmIC5VLcw2rq2yYPiMwng00A5oGLjPnK_ODmm4G3EgJpkaAiDMEALw_wcB (Looks painful...) https://www.eonline.com/shows/kardashians/news/703381/kylie-jenner-shows-off-her-fake-butt-while-wearing-44-spanx-in-latest-selfie-take-a-look You're welcome. hehe

Bahahaha! (The scale moved down 1lb.) Congrats to me! New low! 🦄

I'm givin' this little guy (bottom right emoji) a new meaning. He doesn't look very sincere in his hugs. He really looks like he's saluting you by saying, "Look! Jazz hands. WTG, you!"

I pooped twice today. (Dayum did I just say that out loud?...)

Good! Glad to help. Once you find "YOUR" routine, it will and does get vastly better. Why? Cuz you are back in control of your reality.

*Looks around casually and subtly to see if she's talking about me and if anyone's watching* Hahahaaha! I fear I have been manic posting this week rather than nutting up and actually getting some work done!

Good, use a measuring glass like a calibrated jigger. We have one that is 4oz. I have used it since surgery to measure water, my protein drinks, etc.

Cuz bottom line...we can live for a very very very long time without food at our former sizes. We are carrying a literal ass-load of fuel on our bodies. BUT you WILL die if you do not hydrate. If you don't hydrate, you have about 3 days MAX before death. And it's probably less cuz of the surgical stress on your body.

Protein drinks count toward your liquid total. But overall, you really MUST get the fluid in by hook or by crook.

Ok, so actually eating without fully hydrating is a kinda bad idea. And puree and soft foods do not offer the satiety that you will feel once you're eating solid dense protein. And you have to keep in mind, you are probably still a carb burner and you are having 2oz of food. It probably won't last you longer than 2 hours--3 at the most... But bottom line is, you SHOULD be addressing the hydration issue by finding ways to cope with getting fluids down your piehole. Once you fully hydrate, it WILL help suppress your appetite. And lessen your stress too. Right now cortisol is fueling you. You are in panic fight/flight mode. Deep breath. Drink. Drink warm fluids! Drink some more. Here's how my first week went. Swear to God. I woke at 4am to take my thyroid pill and I began drinking for the day...I would doze off about another hour and would wake to take my other meds. And I would continue drinking. I would drink all the live long day, every 15 minutes (by timer and with the 4oz shot glass), until 11pm. I was getting 64+ oz in of liquids including protein drinks. I WAS still on liquids at 1 week. And I did that every day. But I had to FIND and compromise on ways to make the liquids easiest for me to handle. Turns out warm or room temp were my friends.

You MUST measure. You can't eyeball this stuff. I drank out of a 4oz jigger until I graduated to measuring my liquids in 1pt bottles (16.9fl oz). I STILL 8.5 months out track my water. Drink warm liquids then. I liked "tea" made of warm water and a slice of lemon or orange floating in it. Also I would cut a round of ginger and let it float in it. I also was allowed to have decaff and celestial seasonings tea. ANY fluid you can take in, whether it's broth or whatever is good--but you need sodium free. I had Herb Ox Sodium Free broth packets and drank those frequently during the day.

Also, you're still on liquids. We ALL starved on liquids. LOL. Once you start progressing to more dense proteins, you will feel satiety once more. But again, gotta get hydrated first!

You are straight up dehydrated. You get fully hydrated and concentrate on getting your fluids in and your hunger will greatly improve.

Have you tried ice chips and popsicles? I know many friends who straight up had to get their fluids this way until their inflammation went down a little. Also, try varying the temperature of your water. I needed mine warm-ish or room temp. Ice cold or ice water, made my esophagus clamp up and spasm. I made popsicles and ice cubes that I could suck on (cuz you swallow a tiny amount at a time) made of protein water.

So you do kinda make things difficult for us... Can you list a couple day's of meals and calorie macro totals? Also, weight loss is not linear. There is the dreaded 3 week stall that happens somewhere between weeks 2 and 6. LOL. You just have to stay the course and ride it out. There will be lots of stalls. 24 pounds in 7 weeks = 3.42lbs/week. The average is a range at your stage of 2-4lbs/week. So you are on the better end of average actually. You need to log every bite and show your doc what you are eating to show him you are compliant. We cannot will our bodies to take the weight off. Make sure you are drinking MORE than you need in clear water (preferably plain, unflavored water).

@Alex Brecher Great article. I totally get where you are coming from and agree 1000%. Being almost 9 months out, I can now eat a significant quantity of food. So much so, that QUALITY of food and calories/macros consumed DO make a difference in whether or not I lose, stall, or even gain. And it's all cumulative, with Halloween and Thanksgiving leading the way to holiday parties, socializing with friends and family, the actual "feast days" themselves and just generally living life. Each bite that we "write off" as insignificant, impacts our daily total. I wish I wasn't one of those people who were sensitive to extra cals/carbs, etc. I wish I didn't have snacking triggers. Heck, I wish I didn't ALWAYS want to party, over saying, "Nah...we're just gonna stay in tonight and eat a salad." LOL. I will always maintain that this isn't magic bean surgery. Nothing "magically" happened after my RNY. It's all been very purposeful methodical dietary principals combined with exercise and moving more! It's been the easiest and yet the HARDEST thing I've ever done. And the RNY didn't "magically" take away my need to put effort, responsibility, and making good choices into the equation for success. I think because I DO plan and I plan for holidays so that I come back either the same, or a couple of water pounds up that are taken care of immediately when I get home, I've been able to reach my first goal in about 8.5months. I've exceeded my RD's and surgeon's WL goals and am already well on my way to achieving my 2nd goal--which I will hope to happen before Christmas! Thanks for the reminder to have a good action plan in place and the tips on making good substitutions and choices!! Mazels!

Lunch today. Had about 1/4-1/3 leftover and will now eat that for a snack this afternoon. God I love IF! (click to enlarge)