deedee

Any luck with protein yet? I tried the Inspire Sangria this morning and it was okay (the best non-milk one I've had). I mixed it with Crystal Light lemonade and it was a bit too much flavor. Tomorrow I'll try with just the half of cup of water they recommend. It's the only one I've tried (and there have been many) that does not have a strong protein smell to it.

Hi Angie, If you are not in pain, I don't think you messed anything up (but I'm not a doctor). You had surgery about 5 days before me and we lost about the same amount of weight in the first two weeks. I stopped losing weight about two and a half weeks out and actually gained a pound and a half, then bounced up and down on the scale with that same pound and a half for almost two weeks. I've read other accounts online where people didn't lose for three or four weeks after a big drop like we had. I decided when it started depressing me, not to weigh myself everyday. I did try on clothes and that was exciting to see that things were loser and others things fit that had not previously. Another thing I did was to try to increase my fluid and protein intake, but really I do not think this is what made the scale move again, I think my body was just ready to let go of a few more pounds. But by focussing on my protein and water (I was not meeting the goals for either by the way) it gave me something else to focus on besides the scale. I also think that down the line water and protein are the key for living healthy. Definitely contact your surgeon's office and/or nutritionist. After my weight stall I've dropped an additional four pounds, but I think my body is gearing up to stall again (been at the same weight for a couple of days). I'll probably stop weighing myself daily again if I weigh the same thing tomorrow. My surgeon said this is absolutely normal last week when I had a follow-up visit and told me to stay off the scale (once a week if I had to). Good luck! Dee Dee P.S. If you haven't already done so, you may want to post to the post-op forum to get more support and ideas.

It started Saturday after my first Jazzercise class. We went to Bob Evans (a breakfast like restaurant) I got eggs whites with sausage bits and cheese in them, and actually felt anger that I could only eat a few bites. The anger got somewhat worse over the weekend as I was throwing away leftovers from my fridge (both doggy bags and home cooked) from the past week. I have a couple of weight loss surgery cookbooks that I just love, but even when I halve the recipes it makes way too much to finish in a few days, and therefore I have to throw food away. My husband and I eat out 3-4 times per week, but since I'm on soft/mushy foods, I still have to order my own meal (soup, crab, fish, etc.) and then just let it go bad in the fridge as there is no way I can finish it. I tend not to be one to anger easily, but I'm also not one to hold emotions in, so yesterday when I got home from visiting friends and had to throw out food from Friday and Saturday, I lost it. I don't yell, but I just couldn't get myself out of this anger funk. My husband was trying to help by saying things will get better and although I didn't want to hear it at the time, I know he's right. Each week has been better than the last with learning my new stomach and getting in liquid, protein, and vitamins. I'm still learning my new stomach and how to eat and plan meals. My nutritionist says that I should be eating 2 oz. of protein at a time, but I find that I'm lucky to get in 1-1.5 oz if it's something like chicken or salmon. Usually pushing myself to get the 1.5 oz makes me feel stuffed and uncomfortable. She really stresses only eating 3 meals a day with two protein shakes for snacks, but I think I'm going to have to deviate from her plans because I'm only averaging 450 calories a day (but that's usually with just one protein shake) and really want to get more protein from foods throughout the day. I'm going to call her today to discuss. As I said to my husband last night, I am so very happy that I took this step and had this surgery and feel so fortunate that we could afford it. I think this is one of the best things I could have done for myself (right up there with earning my degrees). I'm blessed and in no way wish that could reverse the last couple of months. It's just that each day/week I seem to discover another food issue (mostly mental). I guess that's why I'm in therapy:-) One day I hope to be able to say that I'm over my food obsession and I don't even think about it, I just "eat to live." But I'm not there yet, I'm still working through the fact that food brought me so much joy and comfort and I'm missing that somewhat.

I definitely don't regret this, it's still so worth it even with these mood swings...I had mood swings and funks before surgery too. I decided to channel my anger/annoyance and spent my day in a constructive way. I started going through both of my closets. I already have two huge piles of clothes to give away (I have one friend who is an 18 and I'm going to give her all of my 18's even though I'm just a 16). Good luck with your journey, hopefully you'll be scheduled soon and on your way!

This morning I attended my first jazzercise class in over 14 months. I didn't (couldn't) do any of the routines full out, but I worked up a great sweat and had some heavy breathing going on. I then went out for lunch and had some scrambled eggs, on the way home I laid the seat back some and just felt so exhausted. I even sat in the car when we first got home because I was so tired. I used to jazzercise and dance 4-6 times per week and remember I always felt so energized. Even had some trouble falling asleep if I had taken a couple of weeks off because my body would feel so energized and was not used to it. So I guess my question is, is the tiredness a normal thing for some people after they exercise? I've taken all my Vitamins (except Calcium, which I have to take later). Did I do too much maybe? Thanks for any insight you might have.

Thank you for the replies. I guess this is normal for me right now, so I'll just have to deal and do the best I can. I'm still planning on continuing with Jazzercise, and this Thursday night will be my first dance class in over 4 years. I don't start my Water running class until the end of the month, so hopefully by then I'll have a bit more energy. I'm thinking if I can do better with my Protein intake each day, that might help. Thanks again, it's nice to know that others are in a similar place and I don't have something seriously wrong.

That's terrific Daniel! It's inspiring to read about your success.

I am so with you on the protein. Currently I'm using Chike orange. I'm putting half of a serving of the powder (the size of the sample), 1 cup of fat free lactaid milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar free vanilla and 1 tablespoon of sugar free orange syrup, and ice into a blender and mixing. I then put whip cream on top and have it like a shake. It's okay, but I'm only doing this every other day or so. I did order some INSPIRE Protein Drink POM RAZZ SANGRIA from bariatriceating.com, but I haven't been able to convince myself to try it. I'm always just so disappointed. Good luck! The bullets might be a good answer for you. If you do find something you like, let us know.

Yesterday I had my 1 month post-op appointment with the surgeon and weighed 201. This morning I weighed myself at home and it read 201. I finally lost a pound after 13 days of bouncing between 202-203.5. The doctor was very pleased about the total loss, 37 lbs since pre-op diet and 21 lbs since surgery. He did lecture a little, as well as the nurse, when I confessed to not doing great with my liquid intake this week and now I'm constipated again. He wants me to stay on soft/mushy foods for another month. I'm okay with that, but I am getting a little tired of seafood (never thought I'd say that). He also cleared me for full exercise, which is great since my dance classes start next week. I am going to go to jazzercise tomorrow morning and do everything at a low level. I haven't been in about 14 months and am expecting a bit of a hard time, but I can't let that stop me. I took my measurements today and so far have dropped 3" in my waist, 3" in my hips, and 3" in my bust. I took pictures today and although they don't show a whole lot of difference, I notice some change in my hips. Overall, I am very happy with my results and the process so far. Every day is still a learning experience with eating, drinking, and protein, but as I reflect back I see just how much I've learned over the last month about my new stomach and way of life.

My acid reflux has become better since my surgery, but I think it's mainly due to the surgeon repairing a hiatal hernia. He was actually shocked that it was there because it did not show up in any of the testing I was required to have prior to surgery. He did notice quite a bit of acid based on the test I had to do when I swallowed the barium before surgery, but not the hernia. I am also taking Prevacid every morning, which was prescribed by the surgeon. I actually think I've read somewhere that this surgery can cause some reflux. I'm not sure and hopefully someone who knows more can give you insight. I just wanted to share my experience. Good luck in your research!

I'm glad you like yours and using it. My husband got me the wii fit last year and I used it for a while...it was really fun, maybe I'll have to try it out again.

Thank you everyone! I'm just so happy. I wanted to tell everyone I've run into today, but knew it wouldn't be quite appropriate. I'm really trying hard not to talk a lot about my weight loss in real life as I know it can kind of get annoying. So thank you all for your support and encouragement!

I'm so happy for you that your scale is alive and moving!

Great job, that's terrific!

Yay for you! What a great accomplishment! I can't help with the Protein because I'm really struggling in this area as well. Maybe try Chike if you haven't, it's the only one I like at all.

I am 4 weeks out tomorrow and for the last two weeks had been weighing myself daily. In past weight loss attempts I would usually weigh myself twice a day and look for an average pattern/range to see that I was losing weight. It seemed to work well and I was not one to get depressed by the scale, instead it motivated me. Well, I've been in a stall for about 11 days and decided yesterday to stop weighing myself daily for right now. I was starting to feel down about not losing (actually gaining a pound) even when I was adding more Protein, Water, and walking. I'm realizing this is a very different experience than any other weight loss I've had (as it is supposed to be), before, even during a plateau, I could make changes in eating or exercise to get the scale to budge, so weighing myself was a good motivator to make those changes. For now, I think it's just better if I do a weekly or twice a week weigh in. As for measurements, I measured the morning of surgery and took pictures. My plan was/is to do this monthly. I know how my clothes fit and if they are getting looser, so until I get to the point where I can't tell I'm shrinking by my clothes, I think I'll definitely stick to monthly for that. These are just the things that are working for me right now. I'm just at the point where I'm trying to figure out what works for me and plan on doing some brainstorming with my therapist as well. Good luck on your journey!

I did 2 days of clears and 14 days of full liquids. I then am to be on soft/mushy food for 4 weeks.

I'm not sure if I'm still stalling with my weight because I have not weighed myself in two days. I will say that if I am, my weight must be shifting because I wore a skirt today that I couldn't zip at the beginning of my stall. I'm still learning how to eat in different situations. Yesterday I went to brunch and had scrambled eggs with cheese. It didn't go down very well, felt kind of stuck, but I kept taking bites and tried to chew better. I only ate about 4 bites but I felt overly stuffed for a couple of hours. I got the hiccups sort of (this has been happening when I eat too much), but felt better later in the day after I took a walk. Today I sort of returned to work. I am a teacher, but will not start this year until mid October because I am taking over for another teacher who will leave and not return once she has her baby. I'm going back to my old job and school, so I went in today for their first work day back. It was great to see everyone and I got a couple of compliments. There is another teacher whose mother passed away yesterday so I will be going in this week to set up her classroom and do what I can for her. Well, not much else happening right now. I'm just glad that I'm finding other things to focus on besides the scale. I was almost about to get depressed over the stall and then I remembered some fitness goals I wanted to accomplish and decided to start on those. I signed up for a two hour per week tap and jazz class that begins Sept. 10. I'm hoping my surgeon will release me for full exercise when I see him this week so I can start back to Jazzercise (haven't been in well over a year), it's been four weeks and I think I'm ready as long as I don't push myself too hard.

I still have a couple of sizes to go through before I actually "need" to shop, but I totally get what you're saying about it being therapeutic. I might have to go buy just a couple of new things when I drop a size.

Good luck! My addiction was potatoes. I never thought I could give those up, but I did and feel fine. I actually had a couple bites of the inside of a baked potato (I'm on soft/mushy foods) and it didn't bring back the potato cravings like I thought.

My week of constipation has finally come to an end. I started taking Miralax (Monday or Tuesday?) and have really worked hard at upping my water intake and protein. I'm not sure what actually did it, maybe my body just decided that 7 days was plenty long. I don't really care, just super excited that it has ended. Now if only my body would decide it was time for the scale to start moving down again, but I know that will happen in it's own good time as well. I was actually a lot more anxious regarding the constipation than not losing weight...but now that I seem to be over that, I'll probably start fixating on the scale:-)

I'm on day 21 after surgery and the scale has not moved for 7-8 days (except to gain a pound :-(. I called today to make an appointment with the nutritionist to maybe get some hints on how to change things up and get the scale moving, but I think I'll cancel it and just ride this out. Wishing us all patience!

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!