Tony B - NJ

Use an app like My Fitness Pal to track all your water and food intake. I find it a little easier to get water down when you do not think about it like "I need to get 64 ounces of water down". Think if on a micro level. You are up for approximately 16 hours per day. If you avoid liquid for a half hour before and after meals, that leaves 13 hours to get down 64 ouces. that is about 5 ounces of water in a one hour period. That is less than 1 ounce every 10 minutes. You will be able to do this easily and after a while you will be able to drink 8 ounces in a very short amount of time.

In any case, I wish this person the best of luck.

I think this person is trolling you all. I commend all of you for wanting to help this person if they are legitimate because that is what we do on here. This one seems too defiant and unwilling to consider any recommendations which just smacks of trolling. I wish this person the best if they are legit and implore them to get help right away if they are legit. But saying that they will seek help but it will not make a difference seems a little fishy. If someone does not think therapy will make a difference they simply do not go. If someone wants help they do not reject every offer of help that is provided. This post does not ring true for me. We have legitimate people on here that deserve our support and help.

I do not like chicken at all since surgery. It is entirely too dry and does not go down or sit will for me. The only way I can eat chicken is with sauce unless it is a chicken thigh which is more moist but more fatty as well. I do very well with a good cut of meat like a ribeye or filet. I think in moderation, like a 3 or 4 ounce piece it is fine. I do find I am going to the vegan meats more like the Gardein Ultimate Chicken Filet or the morningstar farms griller meat patties. These both have decent protein and taste pretty good.

That is a new flavor...I am going to purchase the onion soup right now. Thanks for mentioning that. I could definitely use some variety.

The leak will be normally apparent by pain, fever etc. You can find information on google. I had a leak test about a week later which they say if a leak is going to occur, it is usually in the first week. I drank some barium stuff and they x-ray looking for leakage outside the stomach. From what the Doc says, this is a rare occurence.

Great to hear. We all get a little worried when we get so close. It would be devastating to have the surgery denied after going through the process.

I tried the bariatric pal once daily multi vitamin with iron. It is so much more palatable than the bariatric advantage. The smell alone was worth switching. The Bariatric Pal does not have that awful smell and seems to be a little smaller...but that could be because the taste/smell of the others is so bad it is hard to get down.

There are plenty of meat alternatives from Gardein or Morningstar farms that you can eat with a good amount of protein. I am not vegan but I rarely eat red meat and do not like chicken too much. The most animal protein I get is fish. I really do like some of the vegan meats and vegan chicken options.

I have the same problem. I always ran a little hot but now I am always cold. Really weird for me. I just end up wearing a fleece or vest around all the time to stay warm, even in the warmer weather that we have seen. I guess I will be better off in the summer not sweating my ass off.

It could be that you are just having muscle pain if you have not done much physical activity before the surgery but you should check it out for a possible DVT. I had some pain in my legs the first couple days and had the DVT possibility checked out. I was fine. The reason for my pain in my mind was that I was walking in the hospital in bare feet for hours upon hours dragging an IV pole and walking differently than I normally do. The soreness cleared up after a few days and I am off to the races. Now, I have been getting pains near my hips on the outside of my legs. I have been doing 5-6 miles of walking a day and bike riding on weekends for 10-15 miles. I also do 100 squats every morning. I think it is just over use of the legs.

The best way to tackle this issue is to get up frequently and walk, walk and then walk more. You have to get that stuff moving around to get rid of it. The night of my surgery I walked on and off for hours. The day after I walked even more. Not only will it move along the gas, but it is going to help you heal faster. You simply have to move much more than you would think you needed to. I spent most of the first few days on my feet and shuffling around the house.

I think it is something that you have to challenge yourself mentally to get it done. The next year or so of your life is going to be hard. It is hard to get your mind wrapped around your meal sizes, not eating appetizers at restaurants, not drinking for an hour before a meal, exercising more than you ever have in your life etc, etc. Remember what you have heard 100 times on this forum....the surgery is a tool!! The real magic comes from your head...you have to mentally want to do the things that are going to make you successful. Find out ways that you CAN do things. Sugar free jello, bone broth, clear protein, popsicles, lots and lots of water etc. You can do it. It is going to be the most important change of your life but you will not regret it. Set your mind to it and do not let your guard down. It is too important.

I would not worry about it. I have Tricare as well and I was approved. The review is not going to be anything earth shattering, mine went through in a couple days. I paid less than 200 dollars total for my entire surgery. Hang in there...breathe.

What is certain is that the more positive the attitude is and the more a person gets up and moves early in the process the better things will turn out. Unless the patient is really, really obese in the 55-60 BMI or higher, then I think what I wrote here is entirely likely. If someone is just not able to get up and walk at all before surgery, then it will take longer of course but anyone who was relatively mobile before surgery and walks and moves right away after surgery should be fine.

Congrats....keep it up. Try to walk around as much as possible, it will speed up your weight loss.

Well...it is whey protein so it will have a scent to it. All the whey proteins do to some extent. It does not seem off putting to me. It is much better than some of the stuff I have tried. I just cannot take the faux chocolate flavors, where the aftertaste is off putting to me.

I have mentioned this product before and stand by it. UNJURY makes a protein powder with chicken broth flavor that is outstanding. It is 21G of protein and the taste is better than broth or bone broth. It is worth trying. I swear by it for that protein boost I need when I don't get it from my meals.

Pretty much anything you would fry or bake can go in there. Gardein makes the ultimate chick n filet that in the air fryer you would swear is a chick filet pattie. It is vegan and is very, very good and has a lot of protein

I am 7 and a half months post surgery and I am just now able to eat fried foods (which I do very little of by the way). I can only do small amounts because it gives me an upset stomach. I really don't miss it much anyway and have used the air fryer in place of fried in oil foods and it is very good that way and very much lower in fat and calories.

I tried but I cannot do fat free mayo....I would rather eat none. I tried this succesfully....I use real mayo and some greek yogurt. So in a can of tuna, I put about 1/2 mayo and 1/2 greek yogurt and it tastes pretty good. Much better than the fat free mayo which to me does not taste like mayo at all.

I don't usually count fat but I do watch protein, carbs and calories. I just looked at my history in My Fitness Pal for the past couple months and it looks like I am averaging around 25 g of fat per day. Still less than 1/2 the recommended daily allowance for fat. If you watch your calories and carbs, I think fat just has to come in pretty low or those numbers could be off. I try to keep my protein to lean meats like chicken and fish with little to no red meat so I usually do not see a lot of fat.

I guess everyone has their opinion on this but I think everyone can agree that being hydrated is good for the body and good for weight loss. I drink around 90-100 ounces of water a day and I credit my water intake for the weight loss I have seen. If I drink a lot of water I rarely if ever get hungry between meals. Remember that water also: 1. helps keep the skin hydrated which will help the skin contract so you do not have a lot of loose skin after the weight loss. I lost over 100 pounds and my skin is nearly back to where it was 30 years ago on my stomach. 2. Reduces water retention which helps keep weight off. 3. Dehydration slows down metabolism....scientific fact....so if you are trying to lose weight, that is something you do not want to happen. 4. If you are diabetic, plenty of water helps flush out waste and keep your numbers under control. 5. More hydration keeps the joints lubricated reducing inflammation and making it easier to walk and move which will improve weight loss. My advice to anyone that has WLS is to continue to force fluids until it becomes second nature to you. I do not think 64 ounces is enough, but that is my personal opinion on my experience. Most people are up 16-18 hours per day, so based on 64 hours, all you have to do is drink 4 ounces an hour....4 ounces....to get 64 ounces in a day. Challenge yourself and go to 6 ounces and you get up to 76 ounces of water. Anyone can force down 4-6 ounces of water in an hour...that is a one ounce shot every 10 minutes to get to 6 ounces. Force yourself to get this done and you will be glad you did.

The shakes tend to be very thick. I did not like them and when I need to supplement my protein, I use UNJURY chicken broth protein. It gives you 21g of protein and 100 calories. It goes down a lot better than a thick shake. The only down side is you have to be 140 degrees or less because it tends to clump if too hot.

You are going to start seeing the victories very soon after the surgery. You will start to see that your blood pressure, A1C and cholesterol will start to trend in the healthy direction assuming you stick to the plan laid out by your team. If you commit yourself to getting up and moving your body, you will also see your energy increase and find you are able to do a lot more things than before. Some of the NSVs I saw fairly soon were being able to easily cross my legs without pulling the leg up, being able to easily get up from a seated position etc. It is very important in my view to make sure you are not only dieting but moving....exercise as much as you can by walking and try to increase it as you become more comfortable with it. At this point, my non scale victories are far sweeter for me. I am able to fit into clothing sizes I have not seen since my Freshman year in College, I am exercising 1.5 hours per day, I have a resting heart rate of 50 and my blood pressure is well below average. I am healthier than at any point in my adult life and I am 58 years old. After not quite 8 months, my life has changed drastically and I am not going back to where I was. I have lost 101 pounds and am going to keep losing until I reach a normal BMI of 25 or lower.