AEdoesRnY

I am not back to real food yet, but if you like browsing recipes and/or cookbooks, I HIGHLY recommend skinnytaste.com. She also has two cookbooks, one general and one that's called "fast and slow" - a collection of quick weeknight recipes and easy slow-cooker options. Back when I did weight watchers and lost 20-30 pounds, my husband and I used to cook her "Turkey Taco Mac and Cheese", "Santa Fe Chicken," "Cheeseburger Casserole" and others ALL the time! We still have several of her recipes as our go-to stand by options...I can't wait to try them out again!

Everything you wrote SO connects for me. This is how I felt the last several years of my decade teaching at the same small public charter school. From the self-soothing ("today was total bullsh** and unfair, I deserve pizza") to the being taken advantage of because of my dependability. Thanks for bringing up these issues, I think they're so important. This will be my 11th school year as a teacher, and my first school year not being able to self-soothe with food. It makes me nervous because I have used it so long as a coping mechanism that it's hard to imagine not being able to have that as a go-to. I think your point about when/why you gain and lose during the school year is exactly why my weight has been SUCH a yo-yo over the years. Sometimes I am able to lose 20-30 pounds, only to regain that and/or more over the summer. OR I am able to lose 15-20 pounds over the summer, only to regain that as soon as school starts. I'm curious what kind of strategies will help me stay focused on planning ahead. Trying to think about what things to have stashed in my desk and what kinds of things to try for self-care alternatives to eating. I've tried taking baths/doing facial masks before, and sometimes that works, but it's so easy to want to fall into the old comforting standbys. Your point at the end about what will it be like for you post-surgery is one that's stuck with me and been nagging at me with both positive and negative possibilities - who will I be without the weight? who will I/can I be if I'm not fat? what can I do without the weight?

Great idea!!

To answer my own questions - I’m excited about being back at work so I’m not as prone to spending all my time/energy obsessing about WLS and the scale. I’m excited to feel more comfortable moving around the classroom and between desks, etc - it’s a pretty tight space! I’m nervous about how to respond when people comment on my weight loss. I’m a private person and really don’t feel comfortable sharing that I had surgery, but I don’t like the idea of lying either. It’s frustrating that weight loss all of a sudden makes me feel like my body/health choices are up for public discussion! I’m also nervous about food prep and having everything I need to have on hand, being able to avoid the disordered eating that has always been a result of my school day schedule. Any advice on this front would be much appreciated!

I was prescribed Pepcid to take in AM and PM for thirty days post surgery

I was worrying about this too, both during my three weeks of liquids and now that I’ve hit the puréed stage. I’ve felt a bit of that uncomfortable fullness a few times, but it passes very quickly for me. While I am glad that with textured foods I’ll feel more of a restriction, I also think it is going to be important to recognize that vaguely satisfied/absence of actively feeling hunger as being “full”. It’ll be a challenge but I think being able to eat to just that point will be a huge success and a huge tool!

It sounds like a cozy getaway though, so I think just make sure to pack lots of options that fit your plan and anticipate no big hikes and things like that...

I was exhausted after surgery and was up until the last few days. I would be okay in the morning and then have a major crash around 12pm and feel totally listless for at least an hour or two. Walking even a little (5 min) felt like a lot of work...your body is recovering from major surgery and you’re not eating much, it really takes it out of you! I’m about 3.5 weeks out and feeling more back to normal, and I think the increased energy thing is true eventually, but it wasn’t something I experienced in the first few weeks!

Forgot to take a pic before, but I had less than 1/3 of this serving of ricotta bake before I had to stop. I’m excited to finally be eating (puréed) foods and able to contribute to this thread, so pardon my not very attractive picture! It was yummy though!

Have you tried Millie's sipping broths? Spicy tortilla and curry spice are both really good!

You do what feels right for your body! Are you also tracking body fat and inches? Do you have pants/shirts/dresses that were too tight/didn’t quite fit before surgery? I had a pair of pants and a few shirts that were too small for me before surgery, and trying them on every once in a while has been a nice way for me to track changes in what my body looks like even when the scale wasn’t cooperating. Just keep following your team’s plans and your body will catch up! Check in with your nutritionist/dietician if you’re able and share your concerns - maybe they will have some advice that will jump start you as well!

I’m not sure if I’m reading your q right, but I think it applies to me. I started out at 282 pounds and felt like I’d be happy around 215-220 pounds. My surgeon and I agreed on the sleeve - my desired outcome was reasonably within the sleeve expectations, and we both felt that doing less invasive/less rewiring/less drastic was the way to go as long as it seemed to match with my goals. When I got home and shared with my husband, he was supportive and just asked “is it possible to stretch out your stomach sleeve?” That spurred another wave of research and consideration, and I realized that given my disordered eating and types of things that were the biggest problems for me, that maybe I needed the malabsorption and threat of dumping as additional tools. I also realized that I didn’t want it to be temporary, I didn’t want to have a few years of VSG honeymoon and then have it all be for nothing. I talked about it with my therapist, and when I discussed with my PCP she also recommended RNY. I let my surgeon know before the insurance approval process went through that I changed my mind and was able to proceed with my RNY surgery. I was glad for the six month interval between that first meeting with the surgeon and my actual surgery, because it gave me even more time to research and reflect. I find that the research and reflection time became more valuable as the prospect of surgery became more reality than day dream.

Also curious what your diet progression has been, I think the wide variation between different surgeons’ plans explains some of the drastic differences in weight loss in the first month, after that it evens out. I was on clear liquids only for a week, then clear liquids plus milk and strained soups for two week. I only yesterday started pureed foods and this morning I was up 1.4 lbs. I know it’ll even out and I’ll be losing again soon, but I think your body reacts to each stage too!

Also remember that you’re pumped so full of fluids and other stuff at the hospital that even if you’ve lost ‘only’ net nine pounds, you also lost probably multiple pounds of all that hospital weight. Bodies also heal differently and hold on to weight differently! Sometimes I find it helpful to multiply. If you’re averaging three pounds a week, that’s 12 pounds in a month. Even adding in a stall that would mean by Christmas you’d be 50 lbs down. That’d be amazing! Also, ask your NUT and team! Do they have my chart/medical messaging? When’s your next follow up?

Okay now I want to go on a goal clothing shopping spree...hopefully I don’t go too crazy! Going to try to stick to just one or two things on sale!

I have thought about this a LOT too. In some ways I’m lucky because I have been such a yo yo dieter for so long that I have a good amount of clothes for the first 50 pounds, including some things I’d bought as goal clothes then and never managed to clean out of my closet. I’ve been tempted when I see things on sale, but I haven’t yet. A big regional department store is closing all its stores (herbergers) and I’ve been thinking about going and picking out some super clearance items for goal clothes!

I’m not 100% sure, I can go look! VSG doesn’t have the same kind of malabsorption so probably less works!

Well, I think it’s four because they’re “children’s”, so doubling it would be a standard adult dose and then four of them makes up for malabsorption. Did you also have RNY?

Gas definitely gets better! Chewable gasx and lots of walking (no matter how slowly) helped me!

Same, that was how mine was too. My progression takes five weeks before I transition to solids/regular food. Puréed starts tomorrow!

Yay! Congrats! Seems like your progression is quicker than mine has been! In no time you’ll be joining me in puréed land! Thinking about having some cottage cheese or yogurt tomorrow morning...yum!

This looks delicious - what is it? Sorry if you’ve already answered it, I couldn’t find it!

Had surgery 7/30 and I’m VERY excited because tomorrow (three weeks out) I can finally have cottage cheese, yogurt, SF pudding, and puréed foods at long last! This whole liquids thing has been getting super old... Are you all going to yell at me in shock and horror if I confess that I’m thinking about starting a teensy bit early and making ricotta bake tonight for dinner?

16 pounds in 21 days is really great! That’s just about where I am too (I’m going to hit 3 weeks tomorrow). Multiply that out - 16lbs in 21 days means 23 pounds in a month. Even if that decreases proportionately to your decreasing weight, you’re still talking about 50lbs in 3 months - that’s amazing! Maybe next time you meet with your team/NUT you can ask them to set benchmark weight loss goals for you. That way you’ll have realistic numbers to be shooting for and can check in with team and recalibrate strategies if you’re not hitting those ###?

I had a BM on day four post op. I was taking prescribed stool softeners every day with pain meds, and I took milk of magnesia on the evening of my third day postop.