Splenda

Sore in your stomach? When I first came out of surgery, it felt like someone was trying to blow up a balloon in my stomach behind my stitches. That feeling lasted for the most of the rest of the day. Can you feel your stomach and intestines? No. Is there a burning sensation? No, just a ton of soreness. Are you zoned out on pain killers or you can go without them just fine? I went without pain killers, which the nurses seemed to indicate was rare/unusual. But I also had no complications from my surgery, so who knows. Do you get gas pain right away? My gas pain was about having the gas bubble right underneath my stitches. Is it hard to move around? Moving around was not a problem for me -- I was able to walk around the hospital floor pretty easily (but slowly). I was most comfortable sitting in the hospital recliner -- it was getting up out of the recliner that was very hard. I had surgery on Monday morning and it wasn't until Tuesday night that I could get out of the recliner on my own. It wasn't until Friday that I could wipe myself after defecating.

I would phrase it this way: as a bariatric patient, my first meal of the day is the most important. I want to get a great start on getting my protein in. I think my body does best when I start with protein and I don't want to be playing catch up on my protein throughout the day. That doesn't mean my first meal is solid food -- it almost never is. I usually start the day by putting a Premier Protein premade shake (30g protein) in the blender and adding two scoops of Chike protein coffee (20g protein). This way, I start the day with 50g protein and some caffeine. It has made it very easy for me to hit my protein goals, gives me some energy and doesn't take up too much room in my stomach. On days when I don't do that, I feel off all day. But if your first meal is at 6 am, 9 am, noon, whatever....different strokes for different folks.

I work in an office and the only accommodation I sought was that I could wear yoga pants at my desk. The dress pants felt constricting around my waist, causing me pain/discomfort. I would wear the dress pants to work, close the door to my office, put on the yoga pants while I worked. Only annoying part was having to change in/out of the dress pants to leave my office.

First word of warning: a lot of people find that they either can't tolerate or don't like the same things after surgery that they did before surgery. A VERY common thread on BP is "I used [X brand] of shakes before surgery and liked them, but now I can't stand them, what other brands should I try." So don't think you need to find your brands/flavors and stock up before surgery. The better plan might be to buy those variety packs to try after your surgery. As far as protein shakes, I stick with the premade Premier Protein shakes (the ones with 30oz of protein). For protein shake powders, I like Keto Chow and just mix it with water and not add the fat source (like heavy whipping cream or butter). I also like the Protein2O protein waters. For salty/crunchy snacks, the Quest chips and Asha foods popped water lilly seeds.

I've been over 500 lbs in the past, but was around 480ish when I began my pre-op diet. As far as changing, I noticed my clothing sizes changing pretty quickly. I've gone from a size 62 pant pre-surgery to a size 52 within 5 months. I have a nice rain jacket that I bought when I was near my biggest. It was a 5xlt and pre-surgery, it was very tight in the shoulders. I wore it the other day and I felt like a teenager borrowing his dad's jacket, it just hung off me. I don't notice the changes in the mirror as much, but that is due more to body dysmorphia (VERY common in bariatric patients) than it is a lack of change.

I'm with most everyone else on this: if you know you can handle eating a food quickly with few issues and you know your general limits with that food, eating quickly is not a sin.

When I was in pre-op, a friend of mine who had RNY a year before I did told me this: you will need to show yourself grace and forgiveness after the surgery, because you will not be perfect. If you can show yourself grace, while also trying to fix any issues that cause you to make mistakes, you'll do just fine. If you need another way to get protein, check out Protein2O (I bought some at Sams). It is a thin, fruit-flavored protein drink (15g whey protein). The flavor is reminiscent of XXX Vitaminwater. You may tolerate it much better than some of the shakes.

Here is something that has helped me a lot... I watched an interview with a Navy SEAL trainer, where he talked about people dropping out of SEAL training. Roughly 75% of the people who start the training drop out. He said the people who fail have a "long horizon." They are miserable in this training -- wet, exhausted, hungry, angry -- and the people who fail say to themselves, "I can't handle five more days of this." They think that every moment will be like the one they are currently experiencing and they quit. The ones who succeed and graduate have a very short horizon. "I can make it until dinner break." "I can make it until they let me take a 20 minute nap." "I can make it through sundown." And when they reach that horizon, they set a new short horizon. Just tell yourself, "I can make it until I take a nap." Then, "I can make it until dinner time." Then, "I can make it until bedtime." Keep giving yourself short horizons until you've gotten through this stage. You can do it!

I walk outside nearly every day (minimum 5, usually 6-7 days a week). I walk anywhere between 2 miles and 6 miles. My usual walking route is 3.25 miles and it takes me almost exactly an hour. I prefer walking outside to using a gym because it "traps" me. There comes a point at around 1.5 miles where my legs start to feel heavy and I'm a bit tired and I honestly want to quit. At the gym, it is very tempting to hit the pause on the treadmill and call it a day. But if I am walking outside, I am 1 to 1.5 miles away from home. Unless I want to call my wife to pick me up (which I did once when I felt like I might be close to dehydration/heat exhaustion), I have to suck it up and walk home. And then I keep telling myself this quote, "Everything you want is on the other side of hard."

I tend to use the premade Premier Protein 30g shakes (for convenience and because they have the right consistency for me), but if I do use a powder, I use Keto Chow. They have enough different flavors to keep me from getting too bored.

Do you have someone who will be looking after you for the first few days? I had my surgery on Monday. Until late Tuesday afternoon, I needed to have a CNA help me out of the recliner so I could use the bathroom and was unable to wipe my own butt. To me, walking was not the hard part (although, I had zero stamina -- it took everything for me to do one lap around the floor of a hospital). Getting up out of a chair/bed was insanely difficult for the first 24-36 hours and wasn't easy for the next week.

Random Thoughts/Advice 1. Once you are physically able to, walk as much as you can -- even in the hospital. It will help promote healing and work the gas out of your system. 2. Go to Walgreens tonight and buy a heavy duty cane. Mine helped me in two ways: (1) it was super helpful for pushing myself up out of chairs/off the toilet and (2) it gave me a sense of confidence in walking that I wouldn't fall (your stomach/gut will be so physically sensitive that even a mild fall would be excruciating and a more severe fall could burst stitches). 3. The night before the surgery was the most miserable part of the entire experience. You take so many laxatives that you are living on the toilet, you can only drink liquids, you want to sleep, but are continually pooping. 4. In the hospital, I found it much easier to sleep in a recliner than in my bed. Once the anesthesia wore off, I spent 99% of my time sitting in the recliner.

I was in a similar boat where my surgeon told me that either RNY or VSG would be fine and left it up to me. I also considered the pros/cons and worried about the effects of RNY. I ultimately went with RNY because I wanted the surgery that gave me the best chance to lose the most weight. If you know you will be self-accountable for your vitamins, you have already drastically reduced the chances of long-term bad effects. Obviously, there are no guarantees that everything will turn out OK (and that weighed on my mind when I was on the gurney, waiting for my surgery to start). But long-term complications are relatively rare in people who are committed to taking their vitamins, hitting their protein goals, etc. I can also attest that I had a nagging knee injury that has almost completely gone away with my weight loss. You're on the right path and you're thinking this through clearly. My overall advice/encouragement: if you believe that you have more discipline and willpower than your current physique reflects, go for the surgery that offers the greatest upside -- your discipline/willpower will be a big factor in reducing the downside effects.

I'm in the "Find an Alternative" camp When I have a craving, I try to identify what is about the food I am craving -- if I am craving chips, do I want salt or do I want something crunchy? If I crave ice cream, am I craving something sweet or something creamy? Then find a healthy alternative that will quell that craving. If I am craving something sweet, maybe I'll have a cup of fruit. If I am craving something creamy, maybe I'll have some Greek yogurt. It doesn't need to be spot-on, it just needs to be close enough to trick my brain/body into thinking it got what it wanted.

I also had RNY (5 months out for me). I built a routine that gets me to the first 4 and sometimes the 5th. Sit down, think about your current routine and how you can build a routine that hits all of your goals. Here is mine, maybe it will help. Breakfast: put a Premier Protein vanilla 30g protein shake in the blender, add two scoops of Chike protein coffee powder. Gets me 50g of protein with some caffeine to get me going. Get to work, take my vitamins for the day (primarily BariatricPal multi, probiotic, collagen capsules). Sip liquid (water, iced green tea, zero calorie Crystal Light, etc) while working. Drink another Premier Protein 30g shake (usually banana or cookies & cream) for lunch. Keep sipping drinks until I leave work. Drink another Premier Protein 30g shake on the drive home from work. At this point, I am at 110g protein for the day before I even consider what to eat for dinner. Eat a reasonable dinner. Take a long walk (I go a 2-3 mile walk almost every day). Sip some more liquids after I get back from my walk. If I need a snack later, I'll eat some saltines with sardines or canned salmon on it.

I made picadillo (Mexican recipe for ground beef with potatoes) and had no problems with them. Potatoes with skin on do have some moderate health benefits (high in potassium, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and fiber). I wouldn't make them a meal by itself, but eating small amounts is not going to harm you and will help some.

I had my surgery in August, when COVID was still bad where I live (South Texas). Surgery was on a Monday, but it was not confirmed until the Friday before -- they needed to make sure they would have a post-op bed available for me.

I had RNY in August and have a desk job. Here was my timeline. I had my surgery on Monday. Left the hospital on a Wednesday. I did some very minor work (respond to emails, etc) on Friday at home. The entire next week, I worked mornings from home, just a few hours so I didn't fall too far behind (I had worked with my boss to get ahead of schedule prior to the surgery). Two weeks to the day after my surgery, I went back to the office. My only issue was some minor stomach discomfort from sitting and wearing dress pants (I am/was a big guy and wear them around my waist/stomach). My boss said I could temporarily wear sweatpants at my desk, with the understanding I would change back to dress pants if I had a meeting to go to. That lasted about a week or two before I was fully back to normal.

I did not have any problems with any of those ingredients. I've used everything on that list except Isopure.

Here is a sweet tooth substitute for you that you can eat fairly guilt-free and will be reasonably full afterwards. Take a Premier Protein premade 30g shake (any flavor). Pour it into a mixing bowl. Add in a 1.4 oz packet of sugar free instant pudding (any flavor that will mix well with the protein shake flavor). Whisk vigorously for 1-2 mins. You can either eat it right there with a spoon (it will be the consistency of cake batter) or let it set in the fridge. It will taste sweet and has the following nutritional counts: 280 calories 8 g net carbs 31g protein 3 g fat

Obviously, I don't know which protein drinks you will find palatable/tasty. It's going to have to be trial and error for you. I would look into some of the protein shots. You can find some lactose-free ones and try them out. But in your shoes, I would buy all different protein shakes/shots/drinks/whatever at the store, but in the smallest quantity possible and try them out and see which one gives you the best results.

I remember that frustration well during my stalls. "Whaddya mean I gained a pound a half? I hardly ate yesterday!" A few tips: 1. Increase your water. Don't rest on "enough water." If you need to, buy some bottled water and set aside four 16 or 20 oz bottles and decide "I will finish all four of these bottles today." Increase your intake and do so very intentionally. 2. On some levels, stalls will happen no matter you do. But I think you can shorten them sometimes by shocking your body out of them. Medical research indicates that our brain has a weight thermostat where it thinks we should be at (i.e. a brain deciding that someone should be at around 275 lbs). For those of us who needed this surgery, our thermostat got messed up somewhere and decided that we needed to be grossly overweight. The surgery does alter your hunger hormones and your brain is now frantically trying to decide where the thermostat should be. Routines are great post-surgery because a routine is nothing more than developing/ingraining habits. But when you are in a routine, sometimes your brain thinks, "OK, this is the weight we should be at." So by temporarily changing your habits, you can shock your brain into thinking, "OK, this isn't going to work. Lower the weight goal." Take a day and really push yourself with your walking -- try going 45-60 mins. Or only walk your 15-30 mins, but walk as fast as you reasonably can. Take a day where you only eat protein. The next day, munch on a small handful of carbs (like mini pretzels or something). Temporarily push your body out of its routine and see what happens.

Here is something that has helped me a lot... I watched an interview with a Navy SEAL trainer, where he talked about people dropping out of SEAL training. Roughly 75% of the people who start the training drop out. He said the people who fail have a "long horizon." They are miserable in this training -- wet, exhausted, hungry, angry -- and the people who fail say to themselves, "I can't handle two more weeks of this." They think that every moment will be like the one they are currently experiencing and they quit. The ones who succeed and graduate have a very short horizon. "I can make it until dinner break." "I can make it until they let me take a 20 minute nap." "I can make it through sundown." And when they reach that horizon, they set a new short horizon. Just tell yourself, "I can make it until I leave work for the day." Then, "I can make it until dinner time." Then, "I can make it until bedtime." Keep giving yourself short horizons until you've gotten through this stage. You can do it!

Stalls can last a few days to a few weeks. The only thing that I have found that is moderately effective at busting stalls is changing your routine for a short time. For me, the routine is what keeps me on track (eating similar things at roughly the same time every day, having consistent exercise goals, etc.). But that routine can also lull my body into a false sense of security. So if I exercise really hard that day (or not at all), it can help break a stall. If I eat a few more carbs than I usually do (or eat almost no carbs), it can help break a stall. Here is a rough timeline of my stalls. Had surgery 8/16/21. Lost 24 pounds in the first 14 days. Lost 6 pounds over the next 19 days. Lost 41 pounds over the next 49 days Lost 11 pounds over the next 24 days Lost 8 pounds over the next 11 days. As you can see, I had times where you are losing almost a pound a day. And I had other periods where it felt like I was losing nothing at all because the scale stayed the same (or went up slightly) for several days in a row.

In February, I bought a nice water-resistant jacket on Amazon. When I bought it, it was TIGHT on me. I could zip it and wear it, but I had no room to move in my shoulders/upper back. When the cold weather hit us last week, I went to put it on and I looked like a teenager trying to wear his dad's jacket. I was drowning in it -- I knew I had lost weight, but that was one of the first times where it really hit me how much smaller I had gotten.