Alex Brecher

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Hi! Welcome fellow NY'er. Who was your surgeon at NYU? Alex Brecher | Founder BariatricPal Visit the newly launched BariatricPal Store at http://Store.Bariatricpal.com! Free shipping for all orders over $59! Our goal is to be the #1 source for all your bariatric needs: Protein supplements, high-protein meals and Snacks, bariatric Vitamins, and health supplements. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App!

Clear Liquid On a clear liquid diet, you only drink only clear liquids, that is, liquids you can mostly see through. Examples include water and flavored water (such as Crystal Light), sports and electrolyte drinks, diluted apple, grape, and cranberry juice, decaf tea, sugar-free juice drinks such as Kool Aid, broth and bouillon, and sugar-free popsicles. A clear liquid diet does NOT include protein shakes. It also excludes orange juice with pulp and carbonated drinks. Your surgery may ask you to go on a liquid diet a day or two before surgery. After surgery, you’ll be on a clear liquid diet for 1 to 2 days. Your surgeon may have you stay on it longer. When you get the clearance, you can begin your full liquid diet. Full Liquid The full liquid diet is more nutritious than the clear liquid diet. It can keep you nourished for weeks or months at a time. You may be on a full liquid pre-op diet for a few days or even weeks before surgery. A full liquid diet includes all the liquids on a clear liquid diet, plus milk. Your surgeon may allow watery cream of wheat and thin yogurt. A full liquid diet DOES include protein shakes. That’s key because it’s where you get most of your nutrients from. After surgery, you’ll stay on a full liquid diet until about 1 to 2 or more weeks post-op, depending on what your surgeon and nutritionist recommend. Then you’ll move to a pureed foods diet. The sooner you move from clear to full liquids, the sooner you can give your body important nutrients like protein. Still, don’t rush it! Giving your pouch, sleeve, or stomach more than it can handle is a sure way to develop complications, whether you’re shortly post-op or you just got a band fill. If you have the lap-band, you may be on a full liquid diet after a fill or adjustment. This may last a day or so. What’s the Point? Why go on a liquid diet? It’s a way of keeping you hydrated – and nourished, on the full liquid diet – without eating solid foods. Pre-op: It shrinks your liver, so the surgeon can see better and your surgery is safer. It also makes surgery safer because it helps you lose weight. Finally, it Post-op: It lets you stay hydrated without harming your surgery scars or getting in the way of healing. Your body uses some of the protein on a full liquid diet to help heal your wounds. After a fill: It lets you stay hydrated and get some nutrients even while you may be a little sore from the fill. What About Nutrients? Ask your surgeon or nutritionist what your daily goals are on the diet. You’ll probably be asked to have a minimum of 64 ounces of fluids, PLUS (if you’re on the full liquid diet) at least 65 grams of protein per day. You might be able to meet your nutrient needs if your protein shakes are fortified, but you might also be asked to take vitamin supplements. Liquid vitamins can help you get your vitamins without swallowing pills. Nearly all bariatric patients should take a multivitamin both before and after surgery. You might also need liquid iron, sublingual or liquid vitamin B12, and liquid calcium with vitamin D. If you’re among those weight loss surgery patients who are worried about losing hair after surgery, you might also want to consider a liquid biotin supplement. Ask Your Surgeon or Nutritionist! If you’ve done your research on liquid diets, you’ve probably noticed something: they’re all different! Ask five different experts or visit five different sites, and you’ll probably get five different sets of guidelines on liquid diets. They can vary in when you follow them and what you’re allowed to have. Why so different? For one thing, there’s a certain amount of risk and reward to weigh. Everyone agrees, for example, that you shouldn’t have celery and sunflower seeds the day after weight loss surgery. The risk of getting it caught in your band or ripping your surgery stitches apart are too great. But what about something less obvious, like decaf coffee? Some surgeons forbid it, claiming the acidity is too much of a risk. It can increase risk of heartburn irritate the stomach, which can slow healing. Other surgeons allow it. They may reason that the benefits of allowing it (hydration!) outweigh the risks of it doing any harm. There’s no single right answer; it’s a question of your health professional’s judgment. Another reason for different guidelines from different surgeons is that we don’t always know what’s best for YOU as an individual. Some patients respond differently, and there is no way to predict. So, some surgeons are conservative and forbid many foods, while others are more likely to allow you to experiment with a wider range of liquids. So, that’s all there is to it. The clear liquid diet is a short-term plan that can last a couple of days, while a full liquid diet can keep you going for weeks or more. Do your best to follow your surgeon or nutritionist’s guidelines, and you’ll be doing yourself a big favor!

I love these! I don't have too much though since the brand I eat has pretty high sodium content.

Please let me know if this is still an issue. Alex Brecher | Founder BariatricPal Visit the newly launched BariatricPal Store at http://Store.Bariatricpal.com! Free shipping for all orders over $59! Our goal is to be the #1 source for all your bariatric needs: Protein supplements, high-protein meals and Snacks, bariatric Vitamins, and health supplements. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App!

Thanks for all the great ideas! Here are a few of my daily meals…nothing too exciting, but they seem to work for me. Breakfast: Greek yogurt with blueberries and sometimes oatmeal. Lunch: Greek salad with lettuce, feta, olives, vinaigrette, tomatoes, cucumbers. Dinner: chicken or tofu stir fry with vegetables, or fajitas with peppers, onions, and tomatoes.

@funky_monkey, Congratulations on your weight loss so far! I know it’s frustrating to stall before goal, though. Regarding workouts, I try not to think of them as something that will make a big difference in weight loss. I just try to focus on the immediate benefits – make me feel better – and the health benefits. For weight loss, are you still eating exactly as you’ve been told? Are you still hitting your calories, and measuring and logging every bite? If you are, the scale will go down when it’s ready, and unfortunately not a second before. Good luck!

@@Nurse_Lenora, My guess is the fat that comes with Italian sausage. Maybe you can find a lean version, either low-fat or turkey. Also, you might want to ask your nutritionist about tomato sauce – it’s kind of acidic and you may not be able to handle it for a little while. Regarding pasta: I know you’re not planning to have any. Maybe zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash can be a good substitute.

I was scared, too. I think everyone is their first time under anesthesia. It’s nothing, though. One minute the surgeon, etc., were talking to me, the next minute I was waking up from what felt like the deepest, most peaceful sleep I’d ever had, and it was all over.

@@anwen_ut, I agree with some of the others here. Do your best to follow your surgeon’s instructions. If it is physically impossible for you to do so, ask your surgeon if you should prioritize getting in your Protein (using protein shakes), or getting your food from real food (and not hitting those protein goals). Good luck!

@@salmon77, There are some people you just can’t tell off. They just don’t get it, and it’s like talking to a wall. They can make you feel terrible, and you can’t turn the tables because whatever you say doesn’t get through to them. I have a feeling your mother may be that type of person. What I’ve found is trying to “handle” anyone who makes inappropriate comments about weight is a waste of energy, and worse, it makes me feel even worse because I realize I’m never going to get through to them.. Sorry, I don’t have any good ideas for you besides to try to stay away!

@@Indieflickers, Congratulations on an incredible year! You must have worked awfully hard to hit 200 lbs in a year. That’s amazing! I would think 1,200 to 1,400 calories would be find if you’re still trying to lose weight. I would also just see how you’re doing: are you losing at the rate you want on your current 1,000-1,200 calories? Or are you losing too fast and feeling like you need more energy? If so, you could bump it up a little.

@@sweetiediaz, I (thankfully) haven’t experienced anything like that, but I want you to know we are all supporting you and wishing you the best!

@@Nurse_Lenora, You’ve lost 40 lbs in 3 weeks and you’re disappointed? What were you expecting? If you kept losing at the rate of over 10lbs a week, you’d hit goal weight in about 12 weeks! I’ve never heard of any weight loss surgery patient doing that! I know stalls are hard, especially when you’ve been losing so fast. It seems like something MUST be going wrong if you were losing every day and now you’re not. But it’s just your body catching up. If you’re doing everything you’re supposed to be doing with Protein and calories and Water, you’ll lose weight when your body is ready. I know four days seems like forever, but FOREVER is the rest of your life: years and years and years. It’s good to learn patience now, because unfortunately there will be a lot of stalls and other bumps along the way! Good luck, and congratulations on your surgery and weight loss.

Okay, @@ssflbelle, There are a few issues here, all mixed up! Protein goes towards supporting your lean muscle mass. You have more of it when you weigh more. When you lose weight, you’re not just losing fat, you’re losing lean muscle mass, too. You try to minimize loss of lean muscle mass by eating a lot of protein and by exercising, but you still lose some. So, when you weigh less, you have less lean muscle mass than you did before. So, your protein needs go down. I think your new doctor may have come up with that number of 41 based on your absolute needs for survival and general health. People don’t need nearly as much protein as we tend to eat. But since you’re still losing weight, I would think you’d still be aiming for a little more to protect your lean muscle mass. Now, eating more protein than your basic needs (those 41 grams, say) can also be good because it keeps you fuller than if you got those same calories from carbs like refined starch or sugar. As for eating 3 times a day, yes, your body can absorb enough protein to meet your protein needs in those 3 meals. But if you can’t get in enough food/shakes/protein at those meals, you’d better add one or more Snacks. I’d either get the doctor to give me an explanation that made sense to me, or look for another doctor if that’s a possibility! It just seems strange that this doctor’s advice goes against what most doctors say. Good luck!

@@NatashaSaysRawr, Stalls and minor gains are SUPER frustrating and infuriating, but they’re part of the game. If you’re truly doing everything your doctor and nutritionist say, you will lose weight. That includes hitting things like calories and Protein and definitely fluids (lots of patients don’t drink enough, and that can really lead to a stall). The main things are to be patient, which is really tough, and to be honest with yourself, which is part of this journey. Good luck!

@@Elode, I don’t have any practical advice for you, but I do want to wish you luck and congratulate you on your upcoming procedures! I am so glad you have found a surgeon you like. What a nice NSV to be told by a doctor you can’t lose any more weight! You have worked so hard, and it has been a pleasure having you share every step of the way.

@Josey Quinn, Thanks for this great article. The training wheels analogy is a really good one! We need to learn to use our new tools properly without rushing them along. I agree, you are so right that cheating on the post-op diet by caving in to cravings can lead to continued cravings and more cheating later on, not to mention possible complications and safety concerns. I think there is another relevant point here: the need to build good habits. The pre-op and post-op diets last long enough for us to build new, healthy habits, and get out of the habits that got us to need surgery in the first place. It takes a few weeks to build new habits. If we cheat on the diet early and often enough, we will never have that chance to break the habit of having cravings and giving into them. Thanks for this perspective on why it is so important to be good post-op!

Thanks to all of you for sharing these fears! I know it can be scary to admit them even to yourself, much less to post them publicly! Still, once they’re out there, it’s easier to face them and to figure out what you can do to prevent them from coming true. Reading through your great answers, it looks like there’s good news – a lot of these fears are within your control! They’re about hitting goal weight and preventing regain, and those are things you can control. It’s about trusting yourself and having confidence. @@Eric@@ash, surgery and anesthesia definitely are scary…but they shouldn’t be. You’ll be out cold and in the hands of a professional. You don’t need to do a thing! Good luck to you. Complications are definitely a scary possibility, but even with complications, you have some control. You can at least lower your risk of complications from the surgical procedure by following the pre-op diet right and losing as much weight as possible before surgery. You can also lower risk of post-op complications by sticking to the plan. It helps reduce anxiety when you feel like you’re actively doing your part to stay healthy.

@Pandora Williams, Thank you for this article! It is a beautiful expression of how you feel! I can relate, since I don’t like to think of myself as being no more beautiful now than I was when I was 100 lbs. overweight. At the same time, sometimes I do appreciate when people say things like that, but only people who are very close to me. When my close friends or parents say something like that, I try to take it as an expression of their unconditional love for me, and not as a literal expression that they think I am the same person as I was before the lap-band. Thanks for your great description of your feelings and why you feel that way, as well as some tips on how people can better understand you!

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