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My surgeon had me take a stool softener after day 3. It worked (a little too well). Pain meds make you constipated. I did have to use a half dose of Miralax every few days fir the first few weeks. Important—get the sugars free Miralax. I git the cherry flavor which must of had sugar and it made me ill. I would call your surgeon and start with a half dose. Wait 12 hours then try another half dose.

Just a thought-have you looked into a VBRO rental. It may be less $ and then you can save your points for a vacation.

Re gallbladder-they may do an ultrasound and not see any stones. I (before surgery) had this and kept getting these attacks. I had a HIDA as an and it showed my gallbladder was barely functioning so I scheduled surgery. I asked if I could postpone surgery and was told I would keep getting the pain and end up with emergency surgery so I opted to be able to plan ahead and schedule it. The surgeon said it looked worse than he anticipated so I was glad I had it out without it being an unscheduled emergency.

How much in term of cups of vegetables is everyone getting through your the day? I probably get a cup of spinach (cooked with an egg) and a half cup of steamed veggies and that’s it. I feel like I need to get more.

Try lying on the opposite side. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence and time improved it but that seemed to help me a little.

Stay hydrated-have a timer on your phone or if you are watching TV make yourself drink an ounce every commercial or every 10 minutes.

Lots of short walks. If you are not up to waking just walk or march in place to increase your activity. If you go to the bathroom don’t immediately go sit down, walk in place or around the house. Don’t do a lot of bending over or be tempted to lift. It hurt to try and vacuum until week 2. If you take pain meds they mask the pain and you may not realize you are over doing it. I backed off pain meds during the day but kept taking them at night. You need to get a decent nights sleep to help recover.

If you have one sore spot that seems to be the skin/incision you can try an ice pack(with a towel so it’s not too cold). That localized and numbed sore spots so I could back off on pain meds. Sleep with 2 pillows, roll on your side and put legs off the side of the bed so you don’t use your ab muscles to get out of bed.

Unjury is good too, great for on the go packers for traveling. I bought the sample packet and it even came with a shaker.

I have also added some PB powder to the vanilla or chocolate to convince myself it was a milkshake.

Premier -Costco is cheapest. Initially they were too sweet so I added fairlife milk to keep the protein high but decrease the sweetness. Also add a dash of cinnamon to the vanilla—yum!!!

I'm wondering if you are constipated. That could explain looser stool getting past some stool that is stuck and causing the pain. I would assume if it was a full blockage the pain would continue to get worse. Just to be cautious I would call your surgeon and see what they say. Make sure you stay hydrated and see if drinking the extra fluids help. Maybe sticking to liquids and soft foods for a day or 2 would help? Do you still have your gallbladder? I had gallbladder attacks with pain but didn't have diarrhea so I don't know if that could be the issue.

I understand your thinking that if you gain now or stop losing at 1000 calories you will be stuck at that level forever but remember at the beginning only eating 400 calories and based on the calories we were burning we should have lost 5 pounds a week. Most of us didn't. From what I have read I think your body goes into a starvation mode and while you lose weight your body is efficient at trying to find a balance. You may gain a few pounds initially when you increase calories and carbs or be surprised and lose more than you thought. I have read that most people long term maintain at well over 1000 calories a day. You are so active at work and with exercise i wouldn't be surprised if in 6-12 months you are maintaining at 1500 per day. Doesn't that seem like so much food at this point? It's so crazy to think I could easily eat 3000 calories easily on a random Saturday a year ago. Now that thought makes me nauseated.

I wanted to slow down my weight loss back in August so I went from around 700 to 1000 calories and stalled for 2 weeks then went back to dropping a few pounds a week. It took purposely eating high calorie peanut butter, adding olive oil to food etc to get to 1200 and that slowed things down but I was still losing. Now i am at 1400 and seem to have slowed to only 2 lbs the past month but i can see a big difference losing fat from my lower back and waist. I think maybe the extra calories actually allowed my body to gain muscle or stop losing some muscle and that i actually lost more than 2 pounds of fat. So even though its been a few months of trying to maintain but still dropping if i see the scaled (I weight daily) move up 1-2 pounds i still get a little fear even though I am purposely trying to maintain. It is such a mental game. I also was afraid of carbs but the NUT said for me to go to a "normal" ratio of 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein. So that at 1200 calories I am still above 90 grams of protein. I usually end up higher on the fats (good fats) and hardly even get past 35% carbs. It was hard to mentally switch. I purposely chose carb foods like boring triscuts that are not desirable to me so i wouldn't mentally start to crave carbs like breads or cookies etc. Nobody is kidding when they say it is a process and is not just physical.

I have increased my calories and slowed my weight loss. I am now at 127 fairly consistently at 5 ft 2.5 in. I know I could still lose more and be in the normal BMI range however I have muscular legs and have saggy skin with wrinkle above my knees and baggy arms etc. so I don't want to lose anymore. I would be happy where I am at but ideally would like to be 5-10 pounds heavier to fill in a bit. I am thinking I should try to maintain this 127 for now assuming I will regain the bounce weight at some point and still be in a good range. However, over the last few weeks I lost 1-2 pounds and I guess my fat has shifted or maybe I gained a little muscle and lost more pounds of fat. My butt is saggy like an old lady and flat so I don't have much padding. Now my bum gets sore sitting too long even on the couch. I also have to wear shoes or slippers on my wood floors since my heels feel sore. I have had to sleep with a pillow between my knees for a few months now since my knees are bony. Maybe I am just overly sensitive? So my question to those that are at normal BMI did you go through this? Did you just get used to it or did your weight or body fat redistribute? I am already forcing myself to get in 1400 calories to maintain but still lost a few pounds over the past month.

When I initially stated to have fruit with natural sugar I made sure I ate protein and fat with it. So I had my protein shake or a piece of lunch meat when I ate a bite of banana or berries. Now I can eat a few bites of fruit on its own at 8 months out.

So the light colored stool is fat? TMI but often mine is greenish or paler but the high dose multivitamins affects it too.

That is exactly how I feel. I have added some not so great carbs like granola cereal, triscuit crackers, and Bevita bars since it increases my calories to maintain. I am at least trying to not eat stuff I would have craved presurgery. So no muffins, cookies etc. I also worry about the all day snacking will continue and that I am building bad habits to maintain. My nutritionist told me to try eating more quantity but less often or at least a longer duration between meals to see if I could handle 1/2 cup of food at a meal to decrease snacks. I can sometimes but not consistently. I guess with time it will get easier.

Yes I forced myself to drink. You can mix fairlife milk with the protein shake to make it less sweet tasting. I would give myself a goal like drinking 6 oz in 45 minutes. so i set a timer and played a game on my phone or watched TV and made myself drink a sip or a shot glass full of the shake every 5 minutes. Mentally i needed that distraction. It was harder for me to drink in the mornings initially so i kept a themos of cold water on my nightstand and if i woke up during the night i would at least get a few sips in during the night. I was allowed to eat creamed soups (not potato but celery, mushroom, chicken but had to strain out the pieces the first week. I had unflavored protein powder (Unjury brand) that i would add to the soup to increase the protein, if you don't have that you could add some fairlife milk to it. Some people said water tasted bad so i bought a few different brands in case one seemed to be better. it didnt matter for me. I also had sugar free Mio and crystal light i added to water. Sugar free Popsicle were good, That forces you to eat the whole Popsicle before it melts and that increased my fluids.

I have finally gotten the weight loss to slow down. I think eating purposefully around the clock helped. I also purposely eat higher calorie carbs that get calories in and don't make me feel as full for as long. The crazy thing is it's the exact opposite of what we should do during the weight loss phase. The carbs I have are 1/3 cup of granola cereal over yogurt or mixed with 1/3 cup milk. It gives me around 150 calories and then I can eat yogurt, an egg or 1-2 oz. of meat 45 minutes later. If i only eat meat and veggies I am too full to get in other foods and only get 1000 calories max. I was loosing on that and wanted to slow it down. Granted I am not eating ice cream and cookies but still high calories and carbs and it does worry me that this could cause issues but mentally i still feel like eating is a chore and if I could I wouldn't eat a fraction of what i am now . I am hoping as I can tolerate more volume i can make healthier choices. I also can eat a 230 calorie packet of Bevita breakfast bars in under 10 minutes and eat again 45 minutes later. I have managed to get in 1400 calories the past 2 weeks. I also drink 2% milk and cook my spinach and egg in olive oil, and eat a Tbs of peanut butter, and have a RX bar during the day just to get extra calories.

i am at 8 mts. post RNY. I went lower than goal at 127 now and am trying to maintain despite knowing I will probably drop another 5 since it is hard to get higher than 1400 calories in now. I feel good where I am at, I have a muscular build and don't want to drop too low since it wouldn't look good on me. I feel like i had a saggy neck the first few months but that seems to either improved or I am used to it. My belly was saggy 15 -20 lbs. ago but now seems tighter. My legs have gotten much smaller and now I noticed wrinkles above my knees 10 lbs. ago but it seems to have stayed the same the past few weeks. My bum is horrendous and looks like a 90 year old and arms too. Ugh, i am hoping as things stabilize maybe it will improve some. I also feel like the first few months my cheeks were sunken in and now despite losing more weight i feel like it has gotten better. It's weird how your body adjusts. Did your weight shift around and settle in different areas? did your loose skin firm up even with loosing more weight?

You look like you are dropping fast lately. The scale may not always show it but your pictures are a big difference. Keep up the good work!

What is your experience with caffeine from tea? I am 8 months out and had maybe 2 oz of coffee with some milk for the first time. I was really tired and don’t plan on doing that regularly but I would like to have tea this winter. In your experience was the alcohol causing the ulcers from regular drinking? I would like to have a small glass of wine a few times a year but not tempted to even try it yet.

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Try adding milk to the shakes so they are not as sweet. Fairlife milk is higher in protein so that’s even better. You can try putting a dash of cinnamon in the vanilla flavor(pour some in a regular glass so you don’t waste a whole shake if you don’t like it. Initially I had to put ice in the shake as the colder it was the better. You can also buy protein water (Walmart has it) it dyes has a dry after taste so I added a little water and drank it over ice.