AZhiker

Your wife might just be nervous about the whole thing and worried. Spouses of patients have come on the forum to ask about how to be supportive, and how to cope with the process. Fell free to tell your wife to lurk or log on and ask any questions she might have. Too bad we don't have a "Support Group" forum for spouses and family members who also need to have information.

And you will have all those foods again - just not for a while!

Agree with above advice. Let me also stess the need to cut your grain carbs for the time being. The grain carbs will raise your glucose levels which in turn causes your insulin to shoot up. The insulin drives the blood sugar down and then you are hungry again. This can cycle all through the day. Cut out the grains and never eat fruit without the protection of protein. A little fruit is fine in a protein smoothie, or as dessert with some yogurt at the END of a meal. But not as a snack. Ok, For part two: EVERY time you eat, insulin levels increase. Insulin drives calories into fat storage. The more often you eat or snack, the more insulin you have floating around, doing it's dirty work to store fat and not allow fat burning. You have to limit your meals to 3 a day with NO snacking. Just doing this alone (along with eliminating grain and minimizing fruit) will take the pounds off. If you want to amp it up even more, give yourself an 8-10 hour window to eat each day. Only eat your nutritious food during this window. This is one form of intermediate fasting (most people skip an early morning meal and start around noon.) It is very powerful and kicks you into a fat burning mode. Do your exercise routine during this fasting time, and you will get even more benefit. I am also very nutrition conscious. I was not allowed to eat any form of veggies for 8 WEEKS post op!!!!! I have a large organic garden, and this was just torture! (I ended up making filtered greens water that I added to everything. My doc was mad at first, but I showed him that it was CLEAR and was a heck of lot better than Crystal Light, Gatorade, pop-sickles, or any other artificial "food."). Anyway, you have to follow the plan and get your protein in first. Then add all the veggies you want (except starchy ones.) At 6 months, I was still only eating about 600 cal/day. But I made every bite count for optimal nutrition and my 6 month labs came back great. Do not worry about becoming nutrient deficient at this point. Your labs were fine and you can eat plenty of phyto-nutrient dense foods now. But you still have to get your protein in to protect your muscle mass. Sometimes overeating is from fear of malnutrition, resulting in OVER eating. An overweight person is NOT well nourished - they are over nourished, which leads to a host of other serious problems. You can do this. The "honeymoon" period can last a lot longer than 6 months. You haven't lost the opportunity to maximize the next 6 months. The whole first year is really important and now that you can eat more "real" foods, you should not worry at all about nutrition if you are eating a healthy balance.

Be sure to cook it some more after adding the veggies.

way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to be Debbe-Downer here, but I used my preop time to get RID of the addictive foods - alcohol, caffeine, sugar, processed foods, refined carbs. I cleaned up my eating a lot. I did not want to struggle with any of that afterwards when recovery itself would be hard enough. I figured I did not have to wait until surgery day to decide to make the changes for life. Just saying.

Some people actually weigh in heavier a week post op, so it is actually pretty good that you lost some. You gotta give this more time. There is soooooo much tissue swelling and internal fluid retention that you can't see. Those little lap sites are nothing compared to what went on underneath. If you broke your wrist, think of how swollen your arm would be for quite a while. Anytime tissue is injured it swells. Your surgery was a major insult to the tissues and they will react. It probably takes a good 8 weeks for all the swelling and inflammation to completely resolve, which is why you have to be on liquids and purees for so long. You don't want to put any strain on the sutures or staple lines. Hang in there! There is nothing wrong. The weight will come off - it just takes time for things to settle down.

This was probably not dumping, but simply a reaction to the texture and maybe the volume. Wait a week and try it again, but only 1 tablespoon at a time with at least 5 minutes between bites.

Go on line and look up their guidelines. Print a copy to study. That is the only way you will know for sure. My plastic surgeon told me blephoplasty was NOT covered by my insurance and I would have to pay out of pocket. Now it turns out my insurance DOES cover it, but needs visual field testing by an eye doctor first. This is what I read for myself, but the doc insisted the plan had changed. He was wrong! Now I have to start from the beginning since the procedure was denied, lacking the documentation. Doctors do NOT always know the details of YOUR plan. You have to look this up for yourself.

If you can eat soups now lentil soup is delicious and a good protein source. It's very easy to make yourself - lentils cook pretty quickly compared to other dried legumes. You can soak lentils overnight to speed it up. But basically, I put water, lentils, chopped onion, garlic, bay leaf in a crock pot. Cook until lentils soften up, and then add celery and carrots if you like. Salt, pepper to taste, or any other seasonings like tumeric. You can run this through a blender to puree it and it is still yummy.

My doc insisted on walking right away - 10,000 steps a day, which I was doing 1 week post op.

Wall pushups, walking, walking, walking. Light weights (like 2-3 pounds) for upper body routine. It's about reps, not how heavy the weights are. Might be too early for a leg routine, as abs come into play with squats and lunges. There are a lot of good arm and leg routines online. Start with a few and gradually add others.

See if you can download the Medicaid requirements. My insurance company had a lot of very specific stipulations and requirements. I read those papers so many times, and it was good to have a hard copy. Don't try to lose right now - not before you know the plan's requirements. Some people have to actually gain a little to meet BMI requirements for surgery. Once you have information from the insurance, see how your PCP feels about working with WLS patients. Even if there is not a prolonged PCP supervision program required, you are going to need your PCP support and most likely letter of recommendation for the surgery. You can also start researching surgeons and then checking to see if they are approved by insurance. The insurance company can certainly give you names, but you may find others that may also be approved, but the insurance list is not up to date (not unusual). You want someone who not only does a good job and has been doing these procedures for years, but also a program that will follow you for years afterward. For example, my program has 2, 4, 6, 8-9, 9-12, 18 month followups, with yearly followups for 5 years. You will need that support and supervision. Absolutely start going to free seminars that many programs offer. Even if not approved by your insurance, it will give you a lot of information and ideas of what will happen. It is a good place to start your education. Just remember that they are selling a product. Keep that in mind. Focus on facts and not the sales pitch. You can also start watching YouTube programs. Dr. Matthew Weiner has a ton of good information - all the way from choosing the right surgery and how surgery works, to long term maintenance. Bear in mind, his post op diet will probably be different from your own surgeon's (MW starts soft veggies very early on, while mine made me wait 8 weeks). But he does have a LOT of good information that is sound and will give you a good foundation. You want to go into this armed with all the information and education you can get. It's very sad when someone has surgery and then says, "I didn't know about such and such" or "why didn't they tell me this or that." You have to take responsibility for your own education on this - no excuse for ignorance with all the good info out there. So there are some ideas. It is a lifelong journey, not a sprint. It's great you are in a place where you are really ready to make the changes at such a young age - before you get all the degenerative breakdown and health issues that many of us have from decade upon decade of obesity. Keep us posted on your progress.

Your tissues will be healing for at LEAST 7 more weeks. I personally felt like I turned a big corner at 3 months. Like others have said, the restriction comes into play once you start on solids. And your surgeon gave you a bigger pouch, anyway, so you may never feel the same degree of restriction as others. Being a man, you are most likely going to lose quite quickly. Wishing you success on your journey.

You are losing just fine. Stick with your plan and don't compare yourself to others. Sometimes the fast losers like to talk about their "success," which can make others feel like they are doing something wrong. That is absolutely not true. Everyone's rate of loss is different. You could have 2 people of the same age, gender, starting weight, exercise and diet plan, and they would still lose differently. I am starting to think that perhaps fast losers may have more issues with malabsorption in the long run, which is not good. You have lost 24 pounds and that is great! Keep up the good work!

One product I am very happy with is Nutrasumma Fermented Pea Protein. Unflavored, unsweetened. Gluten free, soy free, Vegan friendly. 20 gm protein, 100 calories, Contains all 9 essential amino acids. I get it at Sprouts. I use this in soups and savory foods, as the flavor is slightly pea like, which blends really well in soups. Once my vanilla flavored Whey protein is used up, I will most likely use this pea protein in smoothies and yogurt bowls, as well. BTW - I have YET to find an unflavored Whey protein powder. Even if they are unsweetened, it seems like there is always natural vanilla flavoring added.

I know the rate of weight loss depends on many variables, but I am really wondering how much malabsorption plays into it. For example, I lost my weight very quickly, but I know I have fat malabsorption, and maybe that is an indication of malabsorption of all the other nutrients, as well. My poos are loose, frequent, and floatie, which means they are passing through quickly and allowing even less absorption. I have also developed ostopenia and I am struggling to keep my weight above 140. Sheribear, you are constipated and have been a slow loser. It makes me wonder if you are absorbing more nutrients and things are moving through more slowly, allowing for even more absorption. My situation may look exciting in the short term, but if I have long term nutritional deficits, it could turn out to be a real problem, especially with the calcium. Sheribear, although you may feel discouraged at times, the longer, slower loss may indeed be healthier in the long run, if it means you are absorbing more nutrition and avoiding deficiencies. I guess only time will tell. I sure didn't expect to look so gaunt and thin so quickly. I cover up my upper arms and chest to hide the ribs, bony shoulders, and protruding spine and collar bones. I am going to order some A cup bras, as the B is even too big now. I still don't recognize my body in the mirror. It looks like an old, old woman. In some ways, i wish my loss was slower, so my brain could catch up to my body. Oh, well, we play the hand we are dealt, right? It just goes to show how different we all are, and even though we may be following our plans, exercising, and doing everything "right," the individual experiences can be vastly different. Fast loss does not mean someone was a super hero in their plan, just as slow loss does not mean someone was slacking. It may even be related to pouch size and how much actual small intestine was bypassed - completely out of our control. Please hang in there, Feb buddies! We are all so close and our surgiversery is just around the corner!

That is called jaundice. You may have a blocked bile duct. Definitely something going on with liver or gall bladder. You need to get in right away and be seen.

NO! Never juice again. Way too much sugar. Much better to eat the food and get the fiber. You can put fruit into smoothies.

Smoothies. various soups with pea protein added, beans and legumes, squash (try spaghetti squash with pesto or marinara).

What are the carbs? Are these gluten free by any chance?

Get it out! A gall bladder can get infected just like an appendix. You can get very, very sick and toxic from an infected GB, which makes surgery more difficult, risky, and emergent, possibly even resulting in an open surgery vs laproscopic. You really do not want to go there. Open GB surgery used to be one of the most painful surgeries there was, with complications like pneumonia because of the long incision under the ribs which made breathing difficult. Laproscopy changed GB surgery like night and day. If you have already had multiple attacks, it is time for it to go bye-bye.

I think it is not uncommon during the immediate post op period. I had it, as have others on this forum. You are doing all the right things. Be sure to get up very slowly - sit, then stand, then walk. It will get better. The high heart rate is from low blood pressure when you stand up. Keep up your fluids and really try to find a protein supplement that works for you. Try mixing protein powder into your yogurt. Pea protein works well in soups.

PS: My cooked cereal contains teff, amaranth, quinoa, and slivered almonds, along with soy milk, so the oat carbs are getting somewhat balanced by higher protein grains, nuts, and soy. I would never try something like plain cream of rice. I used to have very bad reactive hypoglycemia to plain carbs in my former life, so I learned to never take carbs without protein. I shudder to think of the reaction I could have now after bypass.

I have read up on the maltodextrin in cytocarb and it seems that it causes dumping in some people. This just sounds scary to me. The RX bars seem to work, as long as I eat them in small increments and not overload my system with too many carbs at one time. On my next ride I am going to try some orange slices along with the bars.