Writergirl

I was hungry all the time right after my surgery, but to say that pretzels are killing you right now, at one week out, is more literal than you think. If you never take this seriously again, you need to be serious about an all-liquid diet right now. Leaks can occur for a long time, and you don't want to hurt yourself. This is the most difficult time. I was STARVED! I recommend cream Soups and puddings. This will pass. It really will. And once you can go on soft foods, like eggs, you'll feel so much better. Hang in there!!

Wow! I'm SO sorry for you. Of course, I have no suggestions as to a medical solution, but I do know this: Stress makes all illnesses worse. My advice is to take one day at a time. Stop worrying about the insurance and costs, stop second guessing your decisions, and stop living in any moment but the current one. The majority of people in the world are worrying about money all the time, and somehow, things always turn out ok. The money will be what it is. Money worries should never mean decisions that are made at the expense of your health. I know this sounds simplistic. A few years ago I had to shave $85K a year off my budget, and I thought it would kill me. In retrospect, all that worry didn't change a thing, and we have adjusted and gone on. Hang in there. I'll pray for your quick recovery!

Thanks, Dorrie. I have a snack in the evening because I'm one of those lucky ones who's hungry every 2 hours. Without a snack, I wake up in the middle of the night--something I have never done before. It worries me that I can eat so much at this point, although 250 calories a day are from my Protein drinks. I'll just keep plugging away here. I'm just impatient because I'm in so much pain and want to lose another 40 pounds fast so I can get my knees replaced! I appreciate all the encouragement from everyone! What would I do without this board?

What if I always weigh almost 300 pounds??? I had my surgery Jan 24th. At first I was losing about half a pound a day, but after a couple of weeks, that slowed, then stopped. This month I have lost 6 pounds. My nutritionist told me the first six months you lose the fastest. I've lost 31 pounds in 9 weeks, most of it in the beginning. It's always been so HARD for me to lose weight. I had this done to be able to have my knees replaced, and now I'm worrying that my metabolism has just stopped and I'll never lose much more than this. Is this irrational? I know all about stalls, but the idea of not being able to lose more than I did on diets before surgery really makes me sad. Any thoughts or encouragment are welcome. This is the point on every other diet where I'd say "forget this!" and go have a big meal. I'd really like to be able to do that right now.

Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm feeling a little better today, but still not wildly excited about things. Another day with no weight loss!I'm trying to vary my calorie intake a bit each day. My past week looked like this:Tues (sick): 397, Wed: 1091; Thurs: 1201; Friday: 522; Sat: 904; Sunday: 1009; Monday: 746. Do you think I'm eating too much? I swim laps for 30 minutes every other day. I can't do anything else because of my bad knees.I have two Protein drinks per day, Vitamins, and as much Water as I can get in. I know I'm a bit low on fluids (maybe 40-50 ounces), but that's all I can get in without feeling sick all the time. I start and end my day with water. My day is like this: Water; 2 soft boiled eggs; protein drink; soup; protein drink; water; protein snack, such as peanut butter; water; dinner--A quarter cup of protein and veggies; evening snack, such as part of an Atkins bar or more peanut butter; water, bed. Honestly, I don't think I can go any lower than this. I haven't been able to eat things I would typically eat, such as chicken, tuna, salmon, or any dairy products at all, since I've had the surgery. And I've been ruthless about getting rid of foods that seem wonderful but have no nutritional value, such as my beloved Ritz crackers! I'm trying to change my relationship with food, but it seems that between me and my body, I'm the only one putting any effort into this.Thanks for "listening."

That's amazing! Congratulations! And wow! You've gone down so many sizes!

I think a lot depends upon why you eat. If you eat for emotional comfort, then you probably won't be able to lose on your own and keep it off without addressing those issues. If you just went through a phase where you put on weight by eating with friends or whatever, then I think you owe it to yourself to try to lose without surgery. However, you can go through half your life thinking you'll lose it, and then half your life is gone! I was a lot heavier and older than you, and I gave myself one year to lose on my own. At the end of that year, I weighed more than ever. I was kicking and screaming, but I did begin the process and had the surgery in January. You're very young, and while I hesitate to say you should do it so you can live the life you really want to, I also think you're at an age where your body might really respond to a serious weight loss program. This is a procedure where it really helps to know yourself going in. Good luck with your decision!

I don't know what's going to happen here, but my husband is predicting my boobs are going to look like tube socks!

I think you sound a bit resentful of the advice your doctor gave you. You don't HAVE to follow it, of course. I will admit to having a few cookies, crackers, and other bad foods since I was sleeved, and I enjoyed them. However, I then had an honest talk with myself. Did I do this incredible thing to my body to FAIL???? NO!!! So it isn't about following someone else's rules... it's about what YOU want. I hear the longing for a thin body that led you to this decision. That's what you need to focus on as you decide for yourself how you will live with food from now on. I've decided that every now and then I will have a sweet treat, but that I'll never bring them into my house and have them on hand. This is a really hard thing you've done, and it's going to take time to change. But if you don't embrace that change, it's just going to STAY hard. Try to find some peace with this.

I'd say that all sounds about right. I can definitely get in more when I eat soft things such as puddings or soups. I was told to eat 4 T of food 3 times a day. If all is well and you're losing, I wouldn't worry about it. Just enjoy your success! And congrats!

i just read an interesting article (but can't find it, unfortunately) that explains this type of hair loss. The doc said that your hair is always in 3 phases. One third old growth, one third new growth, and something else. Anyway, when your system sustains a shock, whether surgery, weight loss, a sudden death of someone close, etc., about 3 months later your one-third of new growth hair will just fall out. He said it's temporary and will grow back. I'm another one with very thin hair and am dreading this. I went through this about 15 years ago when I went off prednisone after being on a high dose for a year. The hair that grew back in was baby fine and silver. It's never been the same since. May have turned silver from being on prednisone, though, come to think of it!! I'm thinking I'll be wig shopping in another month or so, and am not liking the idea.

Glad to hear you're out and about! I wondered how you fared. If it helps, during the first few weeks I also had serious doubts and felt lousy all the time. Don't overdo it, especially with weights. It's a day-to-day thing at this point. Wish I had known about the Blossom pureed foods! I just got advanced to a full diet, and it's heavenly!

Hi, Debi... thanks for posting. I started at 367.8 and lost quite a bit before surgery. Since my surgery in late January, I have lost 28 pounds (doesn't seem like much for 8 weeks), and am now down to 294.4. (Yay! Under 300!!) So I'm down about 72 pounds all together. I'm down 2 sizes now, and wore brand new "skinny" jeans today to a party! For the first time, I got positive comments. I had only lost 2 pounds this month and was feeling pretty down, but when I got on this morning I had dropped another pound, so I'm praying my stall is over. I find I can easily eat 1100 cals per day with my Protein drinks, but I can also easily keep it at 700-800 if I'm strict with myself. I'm learning what I can and can't do. It's great that you're doing so well! I have quite a few clothes that fit me at a 5X (Catherine's size 34-36), and will have a TON of clothes in a 4X pretty soon. I have a huge wardrobe of work, casual, and dress clothes. I was going to sell most of them on e-bay, but if you're interested, just message me. I know how hard it is to find clothes in that size! I wore those sizes for a long time and have always bought beautiful clothes. Many of thems till have tags! So let me know if you want to find out more. Prices will be reasonable. Sorry this is so long! I, too, like the idea of getting a team of long-termer's together. This isn't going to come off overnight!

OMG, you poor thing. You don't deserve this. You have my sympathy. I started swimming two weeks ago and haven't lost since, so I would be willing to bet your body is just changing. Eventually, you're going to HAVE to lose weight. (I tell myself this about 4 times an hour.)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it incredible to be able to say, for the first time with confidence, "I will never be there again." I just went under 300 (down from 367.8) and it was so awesome! I'm really happy for you!

I can't tolerate whey protein. I tried a couple of other things, and I'm now drinking GNC chocolate soy protein. It's pretty good, and my nutritionist approved it.

If we all scream together, will it sound like music??? Seriously, I haven't lost anything in almost 2 weeks, and I'm only 7 wks post surgery. I'm down about 26 pounds. Yes, I know it took me years to gain this weight, but I really did want to have it off in a couple of weeks. I keep telling myself this is just part of the process, but it's definitely the hard part! Feels a lot like past failures, but obviously, this is a whole different game. Maybe we need to meditate or something.

Perhaps this thought will help you decide... I love fine dining, and my husband and I were eating out 5 nights a week, at good restaurants. I cried every day for 6 months as I struggled with this decision, but it all came down to this question: Is it eating that allows me to live my "authentic" life, or is it getting out and doing things that allows me to live my authentic life? As my joints deteriorated because of weight related issues, I was doing less and less. Eating out was my big social life. I finally had to conclude that I would be much more miserable sitting in my house dreaming of all the things I'd like to do than I would be just eating smaller portions of food I enjoy. I'm only 7 weeks out, but to my VERY great surprise, I'm not feeling all that upset over the eating changes. I thought I would be feeling SO deprived, but I'm not at all. At 55, I still have a lot of life ahead of me (God willing!) and I want to do things. I would picture myself on vacation at some fabulous restaurant, only being able to eat 5 bites of food and feeling incredibly sorry for myself. Then I would picture my (then) current situation... on vacation, sitting on the beach, unable to go into the water because my knees couldn't handle the shifting sand, and feeling incredibly sorry for myself. I decided being able to DO things was more important to me than being able to EAT things. So far, I've been out to eat multiple times, have enjoyed what I've eaten, and have no regrets! Good luck!

Did anyone else have a Q Ball? It was so amazing, I decided I needed to make sure others know about it. Basically, it's a ball about the size of a Q ball that hangs in a pouch around your neck, or wherever you want to hang it from. It contains a numbing medication. Two teeny tiny tubes come out of the ball. During surgery, they are threaded into your abdomen to your incision sites. The medication just flows slowly and continuously through the tubes for about 5 or 6 days following the surgery. Meanwhile, the ball shrinks. Once you're home, when you see the ball has completely shrunk, you just gently pull the tubes out and throw the whole thing away. I did not have one moment of pain or discomfort from my incision sites. Not one! In fact, if I hadn't looked, I wouldn't even have known they were there. I needed pain meds in the hospital for the first two days, just because my stomach itself hurt without it. Once I got home, I didn't even need the pain medication they gave me. Here's a site with info: http://www.iflo.com/prod_onq_classic.php I would STRONGLY endorse this! In fact, I'd never want to have surgery without it again! Anyone else have one of these???

I was instructed to MEASURE 4 T of food (1/4 cup) for each meal. I have found that's about my limit anyway, although I can definitely eat closer to a cup of soup if it's mostly broth. I think that you should definitely start measuring out your food at 1/4 cup and see how you do with that. The other nice thing about measuring is that there's no guilt or worry over eating everything on your plate!

I was sleeved at a bariatric center for excellence, and I've had many appts with multiple nutritionists, so I'll give you the lowdown on eating at this point. I'm at 6 weeks... When I asked about calories per day, I was told they won't even discuss that until we're one year out. At this point, it's about protein and eating foods with nutritional value. I have to get at least 50 grams of protein each day from two protein drinks. They prefer whey protein, but I was intolerant so am drinking soy protein. I am supposed to have 3 meals a day consisting of a total of 4 MEASURED tablespoons of food (1/4 of a cup)--2 T should be protein and the other 2 produce, whether fruit or veggies or both. However, I was told that if I eat mostly protein at this point, that's fine. This is supposed to be the meal plan now and in the future. I do add a protein-type snack before bed because I'm one of the rare unfortunates who is hungry all the time. I'm also supposed to have 1000 mg of calcium CITRATE each day, 1 vitamin B12 sublingual, and 2 chewable Centrum vitamins. If I add fruit to my protein drink, I'm supposed to cut back on the amount I have with my meal. I should note that they were very specific about all this stuff, and provided reasons why, such as how the body absorbs protein, etc. They specifically forbade drinks such as Atkins, Ensure, etc., because they said they are full of junk and empty calories. The protein drinks are not to exceed 200 calories each. I use GNC soy protein and add water, so it's 115 calories per drink. Anyway, hope this helps. I couldn't imagine doing this without a nutritionist.

I can TOTALLY understand your frustration and dread the day I get to one of those long stalls. BUT...In what universe is someone who has lost 85 pounds a FAILURE??? You have lost an anorexic teenager!!! What baggage!! Cry for a little bit if you need to, but don't soothe yourself with food. Dry your tears and go buy yourself something new to wear in a size you could only dream of at this time last year. Then put your scales away for another month. Your body is adapting, and sooner or later if you do the right things it will start responding again. Hang in there!

That's fantastic! You're in the home stretch now, and this is the right attitude to begin your new life! I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday. Let me know how it goes!

DON'T EAT!!! I remember how very, very difficult it was to be on Optifast knowing what was ahead. How I craved a last meal! But every time I considered having "one last meal," my husband would remind me that I had a whole bunch of them (the restaurant farewell tour!) before starting the two week liquid phase. As I was wheeled into surgery, I was thinking to myself that if anything did go wrong, at least I wouldn't forever blame myself for maybe complicating things by eating. I think that you'll have much more peace of mind if you do the right thing. And I say this as someone who is still not back on a full diet at 6 weeks out. I know it's hard... But this surgery is so serious that I think it's important to try to be as perfect as possible. Having said that... while on Optifast I did have about an ounce or two of extra protein each day in the form of something carb-free and low fat, like one ounce of chicken. I was just too hungry otherwise, and I got the ok from my nutritionist to do so. Good luck! Hang tough!

I told my nutritionist that I can eat a lot more soup than anything else, and she said that's normal because it's mostly liquid. I am still eating only about 1/4 cup of other foods.