Slow weight loss in the beginning... Is this normal?

[okelly44 10]

Oops! An Unjury Protein Shake made with almond milk is 22g Protein and with skim milk it's 30g. If I have 2 of those a day that's 60 right there.

If I eat a piece if fish for dinner, it's 21g. So right there I'm over my 75g requirement. I can also add a scoop of Protein Powder (21g) to any Soup or pudding.

Sometimes if I'm in a hurry or on the road I eat a Protein Bar at 14g. I'm supposed to get between 75 & 100 grams. Most days I make it no problem. Can also eat a piece of cheese.

Now the Water has been harder. I fill up easily with food, but then am also hungry sooner than before. shakes only hold me for 2 hours. If I eat 2 scrambled eggs (14g) or tuna salad (11) it sticks in my stomach longer and I'm good for 3 hours maybe. So I'm eating every 3 hours at least - 6 small meals or Snacks. I try to wait as long as possible before drinking water because I've found that it washes the food out of my stomach and then I get hungry. So it seems I'm drinking most of my water just before the meals, before I go to bed, and when I first wake up. I am struggling to get in 64 oz for sure.

My Vitamins are delivered to my house each month from a company my doc recommended. They're all chewable like Tums. So I eat those in the morning when I wake up.

You know, I'd recommend you download or buy the Big Book of Gastric Sleeve Surgery. I got it on my Kindle and it had lots if great info. I especially liked that it explained the why behind a lot of our rules and made it all easier to comprehend. I don't think I was given a great amount of info ahead of time and this was very helpful.

I'm still glad I did the sleeve because it does keep my from overrating like I used to. I dieted for 18 months pre surgery with a 1200 calories a day plan. Now I'm shooting for 800. So, it's still tough, but I'm actually able to do an 800 calorie plan with the sleeve. Otherwise I'd be starving to death- could never handle it.

Sorry for the long novel here. Don't give up! It's a great tool, just make it work for you. 3 weeks out it's still healing and smaller. It'll get better very soon and will be easier to eat what you need.

[Marygp836 12]

I agree with okelly- there are ways to get in the Protein, although I think 800 calories a day is low and might not help with weight loss, if your body thinks it starving. Sometimes you have to try and increase a little-play with it a bit and see if that helps the weight loss.

Okelly - what Vitamins are you taking that you only have to take once a day? Mine are 4 times a day which is hard because I forget to take a lot of the times later in the day.

[okelly44 10]

The name is BariActiv. Each month 3 bottles are delivered to me and together they make up all the required vitamins: Iron, Calcium, folate, etc. there's also a nasal B-12 spray once a week. The Vitamins I take in the am, and the calcium + is 2x a day so I take it when I go to bed too. There's a company that sends them Pro Care or something? I'll check on it, but my insurance covers it.

My toughest battle is staying at 800 calories. My nutritionist said 800 is not detrimental but since I work out consistently, if I'm hungry I should feel free to eat more, up to 1,200 a day. I just can't bear that although there have been days when that happens, usually if I am out of town or not at home where I can usually control what food is available to me. Overall my calories are somewhere between 800 and 1000. I just feel like I am working so hard that if I'm going to suffer, I might as well go all the way out and get the weight off sooner rather than later. But part of me does wonder if this is indicative of the old mentality. Maybe I need to change to a mentality reflective of long-term lifestyle change rather than pressure to do so much so fast.

Sigh. But I have this fear that I need to make the most out of the first 10 to 12 months, when the weight is supposed to really come off the most. After that I am afraid my body will get used to the small intake and just maintain it as normal. So losing as much as I can at first seems important.