beautifuldaymonster

Not enough. I'm a bad girl, so my usual tactic is to not think about it, take my vitamins and hope for the best. I cheat sometimes by giving calories and calcium a boost with a few ounces of Meyenberg goat milk... When I get too low, believe me my body lets me know!

I hope this message isn't too late to be helpful, but I had those. It turned out to be a serious kidney and bladder infection. I had to really push all of my doctors and visit the ER three times to find out. The cause of the infection was gross and TMI: I'm overjoyed with my surgery results, but I have to be truthful and admit ultimately the gastric bypass surgery was behind the infection. As you know GBS requires you to eat in a way that makes you vulnerable to constipation. As a result I became very constipated. My stools became dense, hard, round, grayish and heavy like large smooth stones, around jawbreaker size. When these plopped down into the toilet bowl, toilet water containing stool and thus BACTERIA splashed upwards into my underparts. Over time, despite proper hygiene, this created a bad UTI. Moving to a new apartment with a taller toilet bowl helped, as did liquid Keflex, increased water drinking and cranberry juice. But the infection announced itself with sharp, stabbing bedtime pain worse than shingles, under my left ribcage. Later the pain traveled down my back and spine, then to my right side, then back again. It was a very stubborn infection. If you still are experiencing this pain, check for a UTI and kidney infection and make sure that isn't what it is! This was my experience and it started with pain identical in type, severity and location to yours.

I'd love to have a baby but I'm afraid I won't be able to "eat for two". Can you PM me? I need to talk to someone who has been there, to guide me through there...

Can't: prunes (dear God the dumping), dried fruits. Can: everything else. Avocados in moderation. Pouch LOVES: tomatoes, peaches and honeydew melon. When I'm thirsty between meals but I can't drink anything yet, a juicy peach or some bits of honeydew do the trick, and so far, Pouch thinks they're non-beverages and is completely fooled.

My procedure was April 1. The check in I just posted is absolutely for you

I had a bypass one month ago. Trust me girl: that Deli feeling will pass. The day comes soon you will walk through that Deli hot food area and wonder what you ever saw in it. It won't be a mental decision. It's physical. Somehow the surgery literally cuts off and ends whatever part of a person desiring those foods. The hot food section in the town I live in is a huge one. Ralphs in California. (Think the biggest Key Foods you ever saw. Now make it futuristic and put yourself in a dream where every single item you could want or think of is there.) I used to gorge on things from this section. Now I walk right on by. Straight to where the Brussels sprouts are. You'll look fondly back at salts, breads and sugars like you never knew them and then face challenges I'm facing: how to get 500 calories and vitamins into you daily. And what teeny tiny outfit you are beginning to notice you can wear. This morning I found crow's feet around my belly button. LOOSE SKIN is appearing! 😄 Welcome to the loser's bench!

Monster is checking in to report she is at 221 pounds so far (surgery was April 1, 2019), and I discovered today by going to the thrift store I can fit into size 12 Lululemon yoga pants. The black ones. You know the ones! They fit!!! Plus a gorgeous velvet dress I would have never gotten into two months ago, or even one: bought it today for $10 and........ IT. FITS. ~swoon~ A girl could get used to this 😄 Transparency: what I am able to eat now, one month into the pouch: Almonds and other roasted, salted nuts - the pouch loves them Brussels sprouts - boiled until soft, then salted and/or roasted - the pouch loves them Cooked beets - a little touchy but can handle them in moderation Those little protein packs that contain almonds, Colby Jack cubes and ham/turkey cubes at Ralphs - loves em Sardines - it likes them, can handle in moderation - very high protein though so I make sure to eat them Red Bull and I know I shouldn't - pouch likes it Red wine and I know I shouldn't - pouch OK with it but no buzz. Alcohol has no effect (disclaimer this is unusual, do not use alcohol unless your surgeon and nutritionist say you can). Very weird. Pouch treats it as Kool-Aid and I am unsure why. But I cannot overdrink. About an ounce is far as I can go before pouch fills and stops me. V-8 tomato/veggie drink: recommended. Almost nothing makes body and pouch both as happy. Cheese - pouch likes cheeses but finds cheddar a bit tough to digest, prefers Colby Jack etc What the pouch cannot stand: Prunes which is sad: they loosen me up and I like the taste. Pouch says firm no Eggs of any kind, again which is sad. I loved them Most meats, but I'm a former vegan, I can do without as long as I find sufficient replacement protein Most vegetables so far. This makes me ANGRY. Will continue to test, try, and gently adapt the pouch to em Things pouch looks sideeye at me if I even consider eating, so I have not and will not: Anything crunchy/salty with points and edges such as chips, pretzels and my beloved avocado Triscuits 😭 Milk of any kind Sweets, but then I hated those anyway, good riddance Eating more than about 400-450 calories per day. It's difficult. It is truly HARD. I have a big day of what I think is eating then measure everything, check the calories I had and find I just cannot reach 500 calories. Can't do it. This is a work in progress. Every day is an opportunity to trick the pouch into accepting a healthy food. It's very cunning. It knows what it wants (450 tops) and will manipulate to get it. Nobody warned me of this. Seems ideal doesn't it? Wait until you get here. The low calorie intake will worry you. Taking vitamins like crazy to help. Stuff I used to love but mysteriously do not crave now: Coca Cola/Pepsi and similar products, sugar free or not. For some reason the taste for this is just not there. Breads, chips, salty crunchies except nuts, or sweets. No desire whatsoever. Hamburger type meat, burgers, steaks, hot dogs, chili - no desire for em Sushi. This was my big one. My super crave. Now I drive right past a sushi joint and don't care. Scary But new yoga pants in skinny girl size FIT. Vintage 1950's cocktail dress at thrift store FITS. Everything fits. I'm over the moon. God bless this surgical procedure. Report out! EDITED TO ADD: And this is just 36 days after the surgery!!!!

Thank you and oh yes yes yes!

Free but checking in so others can see my progress! Starting Weight: 257 lbs Weight on Day of Surgery: 243 lbs Goal Weight: 180 lbs Current Weight: 225 lbs It's hard to believe. The pounds just disappear without any physical effort or dieting. This only lasts until the end of the honeymoon period though so I am exercising more and I plan to continue eating protein first at the top of all future meals. Things I notice and love: my favorite jeans are very loose in the back and especially around and under my butt. My bra straps keep slipping down: there is less to stick them in place! My cheekbones have returned. My neck is slimmer. I can see my shoulder definition. The moobs that were on my back are gone (goodbye moobs)! My thighs are developing loose skin and whole soft "chunks" of them are disappearing which has made their shape smaller and kind of gooey. When I put my hand on my side, I feel RIBS. When I lie down and rest a hand on my hip, I feel A HIP BONE there! Best of all: I do not have to suck my tummy in anymore and when I look straight down, past my breasts, I no longer see my stomach: I can see MY FEET! MY GOD! Not just in the shower but EVERYWHERE. Thank God for surgery. Things that take getting used to: It's hard drinking enough fluid daily while also spacing meals in between, so I find myself less inclined to even eat since I'm almost never hungry and meal prep takes so many extra steps. (I am eating, just nothing at all the amt I did before the bypass.) Today I had mixed mashed potatoes with a little yellow Thai curry sauce, and a nugget of pulsed pureed chicken about the size of a strawberry. Those and 1 1/2 roasted brussel sprout were all my pouch could handle, and at two meals six hours apart. Gosh did I love that brussel sprout. I always loved vegetables and it's been tough not having any. I pulsed a sprout today finally and it was heaven. I experienced my first dumping two days ago. I was a bit constipated so on my surgeon's advice I ate a prune. The pouch did not like a prune at all and I wound up parking on a side street and throwing up in a garbage can. It came up carefully chewed into mush but with no stomach acid. Vomiting is easier with no acid but is still unpleasant. Ondansetron and Zolfran are my best friends. Surgeon put me on it and said take it daily for a month. The pills are sweet like sugar, which I dislike. I'd prefer bitter like aspirin. You can't win them all I guess. Everyone is so surprised at how I look and people are asking me interested questions about the surgery. Lots of people want to try it but are afraid. I hope to rest their fears and do the same for those here who have not had their surgeries yet. It's so worth it. Not one day goes by I regret having my bypass. On an unrelated note... boy do men notice me now. It makes me sad they put so much importance on how we look, especially what we might weigh. I am the same girl I was 25 pounds ago and will be the same girl 50 pounds from now. It's weird. My boyfriend returns from overseas a month from now. I wonder what HE will say. I have not sent him one picture yet Continued good luck and happy weight loss to all April Babies and all the rest of you! Stay the course! It's worth it! (Edited to bold the prune story)

It's so inspiring reading all the April Babies' reports getting ready for, undergoing and coming out of surgery. My surgery was April 1st, and now I am leaving this wonderful forum, but I want to leave you all some encouragement. WLS is a huge step. It's intimidating at first. There are so many tasks, so many changes, there is so much to do. It all seems "too much" some times ("too little!" at others). You may or might not be supported. But please let me let you know something: if you do what your surgeon and NUT ask, and trust your body, this. works. I'll leave it at this: only 10 days ago exactly to the hour I was flat on my back on an operating table under bright lights. My surgeon was bent over me with tools. So were her assistants and residents. I went under excited but worried a RNY gastric bypass might not work, that it might never stop me from eating and being so hungry. I was scared to be fat forever. I woke up in lots of pain and "retching", vomiting as my surgeon jokes with me. (She thought it was funny and keeps poking me about that, "You were really retching, throwing up in there! I saw you!") I went home. It was so hard following the pre-op diet. It's been hard following the post-op diet. But guess what. I have lost 12 pounds since April 1, and most of all, today, this afternoon, I had my first experience with a very eerie sensation. One I have not felt since I was a little kid. I am not. hungry. AT ALL. My stomach is there, I can tell it is. My body exists. It feels almost "weightless". I am still me. My life is the same (although I find I don't spend as much time indoors at my computer, I want to be outdoors in the sunshine every day, to not waste a drop of sunshine - !! - and I crave movement, activity, exercise, that alone is weird and I wonder where it is coming from, this has been gone since I was a kid!) and everything, everyone around me is the same. But my underwear is almost slipping off me, my pants are real loose with lots of new wrinkles, and most of all, I am just that. Simply not hungry. There is no. hunger. AT ALL. I can't imagine eating. If I was to try to, my stomach and my body responds, "Why?" That for me is enough. You want this surgery. You need this surgery. Believe in this surgery. It works. Thank you to my beautiful surgeon and her entire team You all saved my life. Beautiful Day Monster is free. ....... Free Edited to correct spelling

I had a bypass and I know that's different, but my procedure was April 1, and I didn't experience a BM until April 3rd. Gas preceded it by about 12 hours, then led it in, lol.

Before my RNY, nothing I did made me lose weight either. I want to reassure you, gastric bypass surgery does work. My surgeons, my nutritionist, my general doctor, all explained how, numerous times, and I wanted to believe it but you see nothing else worked before... so even though I badly wanted to believe it, I was mostly skeptical. Yet here I am losing weight, and even more amazingly, doing that without doing anything to do it! Not consciously fasting, not exercising yet other than walking, not even thinking actively about losing. The weight is simply melting off. If I didn't see it with my own eyeballs in front of me, I wouldn't believe it was real. But it is. It's kind of numbing at first to watch it happening. You think you're dreaming. Then you get scared it'll stop and that's where I am right now which is why sneaking ahead on my soft food diet hurt me so. The amazing weight loss WILL end. The first few months are called The Honeymoon Period, and there's a reason for that. We all have to remember that. And we have to do our part to help our surgery help our bodies KEEP the weight off. All a bypass does is reset your weight to normal, then give you a chemical advantage at staying there. But we all must do our active share to DO that staying there. The pounds fall off in a way that truly is a miracle. But if we screw up, they can return. All this said, hang tight, trust your surgeons and see. Pounds will start melting off you within days of that surgery. You WILL lose weight fast. You will NOT believe HOW fast. It's jaw dropping. But don't rest on those laurels. Without our hard work, they can all very much come back. Right now I'm in shock/disbelief period and so are my friends and family. My surgeon saved my frickin life. I can't believe what I'm seeing and I am going to work hard to support it. Weight loss just by breathing and existing? It's true... until The Honeymoon ends. And it will. Then it's up to us...

Your moment is coming!

Wow, CajunSam, it's done! You did it! We're all so happy and proud for you... you watched and were so kind to all of us as our dates came and went... and now you've had yours at last! Great report by the way. I had six incisions for some reason! And coming out of anesthesia was the most painful part of it. I'm amazed you were able to walk so easily so soon... I'm only catching up walking NOW, lol! PS what little hunger you're feeling is going to get lots, lots less

I went through that, too. It may go away in the next day or so. It did for me, and a calm acceptance came over me and I went in and had it done. I don't regret it. I kind of doubt you will regret it either. Last-minute cold feet are perfectly natural.

Congratulations, K2ye! Have you done "the nesting thing" yet (last minute house cleaning, getting 'big clothes' and 'skinny clothes' in order, like a birdy building a nest), lol? I did a few days before my surgery (Apr 1)!

Thanks, Mearas. I feel a little less bad now that you've given me a good talking to. I certainly won't be eating ahead of my soft food schedule again. That sweat and nausea thing taught me a lesson and it was back to strict chicken broth this evening. My tummy is a lot less angry now, haha! When again is your surgery? It cannot be long now... you're going to get through it and love the results. Ask me and the others any questions about the procedure and what to expect the first week. I am now officially one week in, and my friends and fam cannot BELIEVE how much my face shape, arms, feet and legs have changed already. The surgery really is kinda miraculous...

I fed the d%&$ food troll 😢

Yeah I was losing a lot fast, but sad to say I have probably messed that up, I was a bad girl today. I cheated, I sneaked some cottage cheese and pate (pureed meat) because I was so weak from low protein: I hate sweet stuff and sugar, so the shakes are like living hell. I think I dumped a little bit. Sweats and nausea for about 30 minutes. I deserved it. I won't do it again and I hope I continue losing pounds...

One extra thing: my panties fit very loosely now... we all know what loose undies mean! This is glorious! 😀

My RNY was April 1. It's a week later and I am almost off my pain meds and well into broths and sips. I've already lost weight (looks about 10 lbs) and my scars have become scabs. The liquid diet is boring and I fantasize about bad foods, but I reminded myself today that the surgery is working: without it, I would have eaten the things I was fantasizing about instead of just thought about them. I'm at more than 14 days now without solid food and it's more of a nuisance than the agony I know darn well it would be without the surgery. Ghrelin is being suppressed. So far, this really does work! Also, SO less pain in my knees and ankles my God... wow... so less...

Funny you mention that: I noticed my body shape is resembling the shape of my grandmother! I'm not tall as she was but I definitely see her shoulders, teeth and cheekbones emerging...

Your gas may move into weird places like your chest and shoulder. Mine did today. Later I burped and it went away. TMI but the worst part of it for me has been bowel movements: liquid spray, dark, the color of spinach, and the worst-smelling they have ever been in my entire life, haha! Egad do they stink. I woke with stinky breath this morning but they say that's a good sign, ketosis, you're losing weight. It's so exciting reading everyone's journeys! I can't wait until SuzieQ has hers! Thanks for yours!

Here's some more encouragement for all you April Babies: my RNY was Monday April 1. I went home the next day. And I am losing weight already!!! Where: face, neck, wrists, ankles/feet, and breasts. I am being careful as I can to keep my protein up because I have never lost pounds this fast. I sneaked behind surgeon's back and drove my car to the supermarket to buy extra Ensures, and walked laps around the store, and experienced no pain, just a little fatigue when a long term male cashier "suddenly noticed me" and started flirting and wouldn't leave me alone, hmm... I don't recommend store visits. It was kind of hard seeing so many foods that used to trigger me. But bottom line WLS does work, oh boy does it. Less than a week and my face is slim and men are "noticing" me and talking to me about "bikinis"? (Not joking either) I can't wait to see at the surgery follow up where my prediabetes is now. That's why I asked for the surgery... Hang in there April Babies... your turn is coming fast!

I ended up wishing I'd brought less! I didn't need a thing I brought, the hospital had everything except free smartphones, and I was so out of it that first night there I hardly had time or strength to use my phone! Everyone I love called the hospital!