NickelChip

Day 9 on the liquid diet. My greatest disappointment so far has been a batch of "natural" jello that didn't remotely taste like lime. My biggest treat has been tropical flavored Popsicle brand sugar free popsicles. I literally yelled at a robot when I had to call FedEx after they mis-delivered an order from Celebrate that had three new flavors of meal replacement shakes in it. Do not mess with me when I'm hungry and sick of fake cappuccino flavored shakes that don't actually contain caffeine! The robot transferred me to a human and I was much nicer.

Good point about the US/UK measurements. I have several UK cookbooks and they do pose a challenge, although most of our scales and measuring cups in the US offer both metric and imperial side by side, so it's just the temperatures that needs calculation. Took me forever to figure out what a gas mark was. I think the portion plate is probably only helpful for those who lean toward over eating during maintenance. Or if you happen to have a family member who preps your meals and needs guidance on the portions. I recall a friend whose husband got a sleeve, she just couldn't visualize the right portion when she would make up a plate for him. She thought she was doing a "small" portion, and it probably was compared to pre-surgery, but totally inappropriate for after surgery. (Why he couldn't just serve up his own plate like a grown up is a totally different issue.)

If you don't already have some bariatric cookbooks, I can highly recommend these three of the several I bought: Bariatric Meal Prep Made Easy by Kristin Willard The Bariatric Diet Guide and Cookbook by Dr. Matthew Weiner The Easy 5 Ingredient Bariatric Cookbook by Megan Wolf All three have sound nutritional advice as they are written by bariatric experts, as well as some really nice recipes. They talk about portion sizes and what to aim for nutritionally as you go through the honeymoon period and into maintenance, and even give you different portions for different phases. None of the books give specific calorie goals, but that's rather standard with many programs. The focus is often for you to discover what works for you and not get sucked into a dieting mindset by counting everything so closely you drive yourself crazy. But the basics are generally to fill one half of your (small, child or luncheon sized) plate with a 3-4oz portion of lean protein and no more than a 1/2 cup serving of starch/grain, and the other half with non-starchy veg. Consume 60-80g protein. Drink at least 64 oz water. (Apologies for not having the metric measurements). Using a small plate is a really great visual cue. Check out the Portion Perfection plates, which are 8-inch melamine and printed with exactly how much of each food goes where. If you need to retrain yourself, this is an easy tool to use. They have bowls, too. (All the books and the plates can be found on Amazon in the US). Going back to liquids is extreme. I would think it would be sufficient to go back to three meals per day as described above, and either no snacks or only fruit and veg or a protein shake as a snack if truly hungry, and make sure you weigh your portions and get all your water in every day. The other thing is to look for processed foods that have crept back into your diet and get them out of your house. You can't be tempted by what isn't there. Good luck to you!

I told everyone the reason I wasn't leaving my house during the two weeks of my liquid diet was so I wouldn't risk catching Covid, but I think a close second is to not accidentally run into the local Girl Scouts and their addictive boxes of delight. Thankfully, I no longer personally know someone I need to order from. But given that I've had nothing but protein shakes and jello for going on a week, I might seriously consider selling my soul for Thin Mint right now. Or a carrot. Seriously, anything crunchy right now would do.

Just be sure to take care of yourself while you're taking care of your MIL, too. I pray she'll find relief from her pain and that your family will have good moments with her while she's here.

Congratulations, and that salmon looks gorgeous! I love the bowl, too!

I have a local consignment shop where I may take a few things if they're still decent, but I have to confess, my wardrobe lately has been absolute crap. I had bought some cute stuff in a 1x back around 2018, but I gained weight and was wearing 2x and 3x when I moved in 2020, so I got rid of everything. I didn't want to buy an expensive new wardrobe at a higher weight, so everything I have now is cheap Walmart stuff that I'm happy to donate. Thinking about the future, though, I am embracing the idea of a capsule wardrobe, where you buy maybe 10 pieces of clothing that can all be worn mix-and-match, and you change up the look with accessories. When I think about how much clothing I will be getting rid of, it sickens me a little to contemplate buying all of it again. Especially since I only really wear a handful of things regularly. If I had two pairs of leggings, a skirt, a dress, 5 tops, and a lightweight sweater, that would pretty much cover me for 99% of my clothing needs each season. Now to remind myself of this when temptation rears its head the minute I can shop off the rack in all those stores that have nothing in my size right now.

There are two responses that come to mind. First, "So what if I did? You don't get a trophy for making your life even harder than it has to be, darling. Be a martyr in your own life if you'd like, but I have better things to do with my time." The second is a the classic quote from Saturday Night Live, "Jane, you ignorant sl*t..."

Oh, hon. My grandma was like that, too. It's so hard, especially if you get mixed messages. Mind you, I take after my grandmother 100% physically. She was a bigger woman from her tee years at least, and on a diet of some kind her entire life (died at 92, though, so despite the obesity, she had a good run). But my God, she would be one minute talking about my weight and the next breath offering me food. Her idea of a portion size was a full 1lb link of Polish sausage. She would put out enough food for snacks to feed a small army. But then, "Oh, you have to watch it or you'll get fat." I swear there needs to be a patron saint for people trying to be polite to their family members under trying circumstances.

Day 5 out of 14 on the pre-op diet and I've settled into somewhat of a routine. I do a Bariatric Fusion cappuccino shake at breakfast with a 20 oz decaf tea that has 1/2 cup Fairlife milk and a scoop of collagen in it. Oikos triple zero yogurt for a mid-morning snack. Bariatric Fusion chicken soup shake for lunch. Jello for snack. 2 scoops Syntrax Nectar unflavored powder in one cup of Pacific Foods tomato basil soup for dinner. Jello for dessert. Sometimes a Good Night protein hot cocoa before bed if I'm hungry. I also take my chewable Celebrate One 45 vitamin, 3 celebrate calcium chews, 2 scoops of Benefiber, Vitagut liquid probiotic, and a liquid omega 3. Believe it or not, all of those supplements add 160 calories and 14g carb to my day! I also drink three 32oz waters with a sugar free flavor packet in each. Total average daily macros: 850 calories, 105g protein, 11g fat, 50g carb Weight loss so far: 7lbs

@LindsayT It's just amazing what a transformation you've had in less than a year. So inspiring! I am counting the days (11!) until my surgery.

You are looking absolutely amazing! So healthy and happy! I can't even imagine what it must feel like to go from a size 18 to a size 4. Lordy, I haven't seen 145 lbs since I was 17. Congratulations! If you don't mind my being nosy (because I am close to your same starting weight and height, and probably age too), how is your loose skin situation? Have you posted your before photos on here somewhere?

Oh yes, I've heard of Dr. Puebla. Great reputation and the prices in Mexico are incredible. My starting height and weight and end goal are really similar to yours, actually. I swear, I just can't picture how I'll look at the end at all. But I guess if there's a chance I'll want skin reduction surgery, I should get going on Duolingo! I wonder how much Spanish I could learn in two years...

Three bits of advice if you can manage it: 1. Curbside pickup for groceries 2. Takeout instead of eating in for your restaurant meals 3. Hotel close to your hospital for the night before if poor weather is at all a possibility. For many reasons, my mom and I are staying in a hotel the night before my surgery, and Mom will stay the next night while I'm in the hospital. Traffic, early call time for surgery, snow. I live about an hour from the hospital and there is a nice Courtyard Marriott about 1 mile from the hospital on a very busy road that is sure to get plowed 24/7. Plus my mom hates night driving, especially to and from areas she doesn't know well, and she wanted to be sure she could come see me in recovery and feel safe driving by herself.

Yeah, so I chose the RNY gp because I liked that it has a stronger metabolic impact than VSG while not being too malabsorptive like DS. Based on the risk calculator, there was a somewhat higher likelihood of addressing/resolving my hypertension and blood sugar issues, and I didn't want to risk developing GERD and requiring daily medications or a revision. I need this to be a one and done surgery if possible for financial reasons. Given that a full 20% of my surgeon's practice is revision (mostly to RNY, but they also do DS), this revision issue felt like something that is common enough with sleeve patients to give me pause. Also, my brother had the sleeve 15 years ago and while his overall weight is still well under where he began, his weight regain has been significant. I wanted the additional threat of dumping syndrome to keep me in line where sugar is concerned. And also, the more I thought about it, the more I preferred the idea of rerouting instead of removing parts of my organs. As for not telling people, I was tempted to do that, too. But the more I thought about it, the more I decided to just own it. A lot of people out there mistakenly believe obese people can "just" eat less and exercise more to lose weight and keep it off. How many of their real life examples are people who quietly got WLS and then credited their diet and exercise for their transformations? I don't want anyone using me as an example in the future to tell some other obese person what to do. Thankfully, I turn 50 in a few weeks and have therefore reached the age where I officially no longer give a fig about what anyone else thinks and am happy to direct naysayers to a wide selection of their own body orifices where they are welcome to stow their unsolicited opinions. Also, luckily, my close friends and family are very supportive, which helps immensely.

This is my fear, too! Good luck to you!

I've officially got the house to myself for the next 10 days! Since I have two kids in middle/high school and every illness known to humankind is running rampant, my parents have just picked them up and are taking them until I'm post-op. Let the self quarantine begin! I sent all the remaining food from the fridge with them, so now there's just yogurt and milk in there. And jello. I'm hoping to get a few organizing projects done while they're gone because it's so much easier to deep clean when no one is coming behind you to leave toothpaste blobs in the sink and drop their socks in the middle of the floor for some unknown reason. Seriously, why do they do that? I may start with cleaning the fridge shelves because now that it's empty, the grime is pretty obvious.

That is so wonderful, and I'm glad to hear you received such good care. Do you mind sharing which surgeon you used? Sounds like you found a great one. Speedy recovery, and enjoy that crop top!

I'm curious @catwoman7, how did you determine your 100g protein requirement? Has it just been trial and error, or were there tests involved? Also, this is why I added a scoop of plain protein powder to my smoothie every morning (I say this in past tense because I'm on my preop liquid diet now and smoothies seem like a distant, heavenly memory compared to protein shakes). I also got my teen daughter doing this because she's mostly vegetarian and I know the veggie meals at school are questionable in the protein department. My typical smoothie recipe packs in 40g protein so I felt good knowing I was knocking out a big portion of the protein for the day first thing in the morning. I imagine I'll return to that at some point when I have the capacity for them again.

Fun fact: the Bariatric Fusion chicken soup protein mix I thought was so disgusting I almost threw it out when I first tried it tastes surprisingly okay on the third day of a liquid diet. I'm glad I turned out to be too cheap to toss a $45 container of protein into the garbage without giving it another try. Pro tip: I used one of those plug-in coffee mug warmers with a small lidded travel mug to keep it just the right temperature for slow sips.

I'm on day 3 of liquids today and doing okay but trying to figure out what choices are working and which ones aren't. Oikos triple zero yogurt has been a life saver. I have learned I am not a fan of ready-made sugar free pudding. I'm going to try making a batch from a box instead, but if that doesn't taste any better, I'll cross it off my list. Jello, on the other hand, has been delightful. I may end up going through a box of sugar free Jello mix per day. Bone broth tastes nice but does not score high in the satiety department. I may save it for post-op. I'm averaging just under 900 calories per day, 130g protein, 10g fat, and 50g carbs. I get about 150 oz fluid per day.

There's a very high likelihood your weight stall has nothing to do with what you are eating, and it would definitely not have anything to do with too much protein. This is your body's natural reaction to severe calorie restriction. In a nutshell, when you are on liquids only, you rapidly lose mostly water weight as your body burns stored glycogen for fuel. Once the glycogen runs low, your body turns to burning fat, which is what you want it to do. This takes a few weeks. However, when you start to introduce solid foods again, and especially carbs, your body is very keen to restore those glycogen stores. So it burns fat while also replenishing glycogen. Glycogen is bound to water, which means the water weight you lost in the pre-op diet and right after surgery are regained, which is fine. You need glycogen. It's what helps us get through short periods of lower food intake, like when you have a bad cold and lose your appetite for a week. Your body is still burning fat because you have a major daily calorie deficit. It will show up on the scales in a few weeks when everything else balances out. My advice is to just do what your doctors tell you, stop tinkering with your diet, and don't weigh yourself for a few weeks. Your doctors have advised hundreds if not thousands of patients just like you. They know what they're doing.

How long has it been since you had the sleeve surgery? How much weight have you lost and how rapidly? How much food/calories are you able to consume daily, and also how much water? Are you improving slowly or getting worse?I think these details might help people with offering some advice, especially if anyone else on here has been through a similar situation.

I have my grandmother's silverware from 1938, which is so special even though it's just silverplate. The funny thing is, the cocktail forks pictured here were supposed to be in that pattern, but the seller on eBay sent me the wrong ones and I liked them so much, I offered to buy them too (she did end up sending me the correct forks, which I've put in the silverware chest). When I started looking for demitasse spoons, it turned out my grandma's pattern didn't have them, but the "mistake" pattern did. So it turned out to be a lucky accident, and they really complement the early 1900s china pattern (which is Bavarian, and not very expensive but looks gorgeous). I figured if I needed to use small plates and cutlery, I could at least make meals special by using the china that usually stays hidden in the cupboard. A way to shift from focusing on the quantity of the food to enjoying the overall aesthetic experience of dining.

Your figures from the other day seem spot on, just 1g over on fat. From what I understand, being over the protein goal is fine. But you might check your protein supplement and compare if you have more than one. For example, I discovered that one of the brands I have has 5g more carb in it than the other one, which adds up when you're having them 3x a day for a liquid diet. And even with the same brand, the chocolate flavor has more carb than the other flavors. But otherwise, I'd say you're doing really well with hitting the targets you were given.