AliveAgain

Chill out on the dairy, #1 culprit of constipation. Drink plenty of Water or the Colace won't work well. Walk and exercise. I find sometimes drinking powder-form magnesium citrate helps as well. There is a brand called Calm I buy at Whole Foods, it dissolves and fizzes in warm water, then you add cold water and drink it after the fizzing is done. That makes me move in just a few hours. If you get really stuck, I highly recommend colon hydrotherapy. If you're at least 8-10 weeks out, it's totally safe since it only "affects" your rectum, and the first bit of your colon and large intestine. WORKS WONDERS FOR ME! For Fiber I eat a Metamucil wafer/cookie, and use Benefiber dissolvable powder in all my Protein shakes. Avocado, edamame, chia or flax seeds are all good sources of fiber that work well with our tummies! Best of luck!

I love the Syntrax nectar drinks, especially the lemonade, lemon tea and cappucino flavors. But then again, I don't like most others because they're all vanilla and chocolate (yuk). I use unflavored in Jello for more Protein. You can't use protein in liquids above 130 degrees or it will clump and foam. I make JellO like regular with 1-2cups of hot boiling Water, mix it, let it sit until room temp. Then take 1-2cups of room temp water and mix with a scoop of protein. Then mix it all together when it's not hot. Chill and then it's a treat later!

No worries, just a TV show Glad you're feeling better. I had that happen when I was super rushed and excited one morning, running all over the house, and all the bending over for shaving in the shower made me vomit. Funny how that happens. I really thought it was going to be Arizona. Can't wait to watch it and see the rest tonight!

Wow, you may want to mention that this post is also a spoiler alert. I'm in California and was not expecting that!!

Amytug, I'm halfway to goal at 3.5 months out from surgery. The scale is hovering at 201 the last two days, just waiting to hit Onederland soon!

It's funny that the one thing that worried me the most was the relationship with my husband changing. We had our favorite restaurants and loved to partake in cooking great meals. Granted he's been 5'11" and 160lbs his whole adult life. I was afraid we would not know what to do with each other anymore, how to have conversations when it wasn't over a meal or cooking. But we chatted just last week - on one of our many, many walks together - at how this experience has brought us much closer together. We walk and/or bike together once if not twice a week, we're back to exploring new things to do, and it's been wonderful. I had those same thoughts, as pretty much all of do. The doubt, the wonder if it's giving up too easily. Everyone knows their willpower and I say all the better if you can do it without the cost, recovery and risk of surgery. But in my case, my knees were within a year of more surgery. My PCOS was becoming more severe, and the years it would have taken to do this on my own would have been much harder on me and my loved ones. Sure, I was really good at dieting and losing 15-20lbs on my own. Then the scale would barely move. I'd have a stressful day/week and give up. I was tired of that yo-yo and knew I had to get serious. I just got back from a 12 mile bike ride I could not have done 4 months ago. I'd say that speaks for itself.

It's decently good, I used it quite a bit during my liquids phase. But I haven't used it since. The taste is fine, but I never liked that I had to eat it warm - not hot. Now that I can have real soup with chunks of chicken, I do that instead.

It was hardest for me because I spent 28 years of my life at normal weight, and most of my twenties quite athletic and at times, underweight. Then some bad things happened in my life, along with age, and the weight came on. Before I was obese, I ate normal meals and went on my way. Dieted at times for bikini weather and that was it. The stress and low self esteem of being obese led me to find comfort in food. It was a horrible cycle to be in. I had lost the activities I'd loved previously, shut myself out from friends because I was the big one in the group, and started eating larger quantities of food. No junk besides pop, but not helping my situation. I tried and tried many times in the 7 years I was obese to lose the weight and it was not like losing 5-10lbs for summer. I'd fail 3 months in and then feel worse, which just brought on more eating for pleasure and soothing. My stomach became my only friend, and not a good friend. Now that 90% is gone (yep, my doctor only does 90%) -- I have much more respect for what I'm sending down there. Can I eat pop and chips? Yep, I sure could. But I have such precious little space now, I don't want to. I want to give my body the healthy Protein and veggies, fruit from time to time. Yes, I have a piece of toast once a week or so. But it's 1/4 of the amount I used to eat in one meal. Yes, I have had Pasta. But I put two tortellini from my husbands plate on my fork, and that's all I need to savor the flavor. No more bowl of my own. I have had a few moments where I wish I could have my stomach back for just one meal. But I know it's more social pressure than actual hunger. I want to partake in the celebration of food for parties, etc. Because I'm rarely ever hungry now. And when I actually feel hungry, I know 2-4oz of food will take care of it and I'm satisfied. Also, stress can make me go back to those head hunger moments when I'd reach for food to calm down. But I'm human, I lapse into old thoughts. Instead I go for a walk or bike ride, and it's my new stress reliever!

Glad to hear you have some support. Gatorade was not on my acceptable fluid list either, but that's because my doctor is super diligent on the low-carb thing. You'll see lots of variation of what each doctor finds acceptable. Some docs don't care about carbs, but mine wanted me to be less than 20-30g for the first month -- still not above 40g daily now. The majority of my liquid was water, tea, soy milk, or broth those first few weeks.

Nope. I thought it was absurd as well, and somewhat against my loosely-based religious beliefs to get rid of something God gave me. But I also believe that it was my worst enemy in the battle to get healthy. There is a Bible verse that explains to cut off one's hand if that hand will cause the entire body to sin. I'm not that religious, but there was a lot of logic in that statement for me. Now, at 3.5 months out -- I feel completely normal, like nothing has changed. My life goes on like it did before, without the big portions of guilt.

It's funny how they used to tell you to stop and pay attention to your meals so you didn't eat "blindly" more than you needed and could pay attention to when you're full. But then after the surgery, I found that to be incredibly hard to do for the reason you just said: It's a small amount over 30 minutes. I will prep my shake or food then work on the computer or do housework and take a bite every few minutes. Watching a TV is great at night because I can pace my meal by where we are in the show. Eating out is the hardest because they expect you to woof it down and the wait staff tend to check on you a lot when it looks like you're not eating much. We tend to tip higher because we're sitting at the table longer than we normally would be

You should be aiming for a minimum of 64oz per day (eight 8oz glasses or cups). However, some people struggle to get above 48oz their first week. I had a few dizzy spells and it turned out to be low potassium due to the liquid diet. The gatorade will give you some, but not all of what you need. My doctor prescribed me some pills I dissolved in Water and they really helped. At three weeks out, my doctor told me to aim for 80oz of fluids per day. Do you have a good doctor and/or nutritionist to work with here in the states, to do labs and monitor your health?

Search the forum and you'll see this has been queried and answered many, many times. Make sure you supplement some sources of fiber (Benefiber, Metamucil - unflavored powders), drink lots and lots of fluids and walk/exercise!

I was told all of the above. Skins are tough to digest the first 2-4 weeks. Mine told me to keep them at bay because they are fructose sugar. While MUCH better and healthier than sources of refined and cane sugar, the whole point of this surgery is to give the liver and pancreas a nice long break and cut down on sugars OVERALL. They are a source of carbs, and if you follow the low-carb diet -- they can add up. Some docs focus on this, some don't. Plus, some patients don't have restraint and get a taste of sweet, decide a bite of candy won't hurt, then a donut, etc. Really it comes down to common sense and watching your intake in your food journal. I started out with blueberries and raspberries in my Greek yogurt, spitting out the skins the first month. And only eating 10 berries in a day. Google a list of fruit, you'll see bananas are one of the highest in sugar. But if you let them go past ripe to slightly brown, it reduces in sugar. I treat myself to about 1/2 a medium banana every week or two. Maybe a strawberry here and there. I'm sure when it's cherry season, I'll have a few. The key is small servings and moderation.

YAY! Must feel amazing! Did you do anything to break the stall? I've been stuck at 204-202 for a week and am ready to see that "1" myself, hopefully by Friday!

I recommend keeping to walking for another 3-4 weeks, just going for longer as you progress. My doctor gave me the OK to swim once my incisions were healed at about 4 weeks out. He said I could do some light riding on the bike, but to avoid lifting weights or anything that requires bending, pulling or squatting (your own body weight). I was told the rule was no lifting or pulling 25 pounds the first week, then deduct 5 pounds each week until week six when you can go back to "normal." By then the stomach and incisions should be fully healed. I was too nervous to do too much for the fear of injuring myself, so I kept mostly to walking.

Also, the emotions are totally valid. Between the shock to your system, the pain meds and the travel -- it happens to the best of us. It too will go away after the first week or so

Whoah, take a deep breath! Yes, this happens to almost everyone and the doctor should have told you. I came home 8 pounds heavier. It from all the fluids they pump in through your IV. It will retain for a few days, but if you keep sipping fluids and walk around it should go away quickly then you'll start seeing the REAL weight loss magically happen. Best of luck! Relaxation is key, this is a long journey :-)

I agree with the other posters to try lowering your calories a bit while maintaining your protein. According to my doc, 1200-1500 calories is where I'll be once I'm in maintenance and not wanting to lose or gain more weight. But definitely shake up the exercise routine, and don't forget to drink plenty of fluids -- especially water. Those serving sizes sound huge to me since I'm still only able to get in 3-4oz at best in my 2-3 "meals" per day, 1-2oz with my 2 snacks

Most doctors will advise you to stop because of the blood clot risk, and will recommend waiting a few weeks or month to start again. But do be sure to use a back-up method! Just losing 5-10% of your body weight can increase your fertility like mad

I am 3.5 months out and will say yes. If you want to lose weight and stay healthy, yes. But no it's not going to be "sip, sip, sip" forever. I was able to take pretty normal swigs by 4 weeks out, feels like it always did before.

Yeah, it's scary. But it was the 60+ hour per week, 15+ hours of commuting and high stress that made me gain the weight in the first place. So I really don't want to go back there - EVER. But I see people everyday doing the job I once did and they don't gain weight like crazy. After being "let go" from my last job because my old boss' boss did not care for my "physical appearance," I decided I needed to take some time and really evaluate why I wasn't making myself a priority anymore. I've had therapy and taking really big steps to gain a healthy balance back. But now, I'm overqualified for "easier" jobs and I can't go much longer without work. I'm seriously unable to sleep at night with the thought of not being capable to working again. Why do so many employers think this is normal and you should get used to it?

It's the French word for candle...

Veteran Sleevers: How do/did you handle stress post-surgery? I'm 3+ months out and have had the "luxury" of being unemployed since just before surgery. I definitely keep myself busy, exercise every day, and job searching is a job within itself. But today I had a job interview with 12 people over 3.5 hours, with an hour drive there and back. Plus the past two days of frantically searching for interview clothes that fit, I came home freaking exhausted. I mean SCARY exhausted. Just from the interview, not even a full day's work. I also got a bit of a headache part way through, which I think was slight dehydration. I had plenty of Protein and fluids in the morning, but after about hour three of not being able to grab a snack or truly drink enough (they gave me a small cup of water) -- I was hurting. Thankfully I'd packed a kit in the car knowing I'd need something on the way home. The interview wasn't even that daunting or tough, but just sitting for that long was work! But now I'm really worried that I'm not going to be able to keep up with the pace I used to once keep. Long hours, long commute, while trying to stay motivated to hit the gym and prepare healthy meals and Snacks. It's not the first time I've lagged in energy since surgery, but I was hoping it would be better by now. I'm really scared and not sure what to do.

Yes, it's normal after surgery. But no, it's not normal. Our new diets lack the Fiber we need to keep things moving. Add things like dairy products and pain meds, you get constipation. If it goes on too long you can get other problems like hemorrhoids (believe me). Not sure what stage you are in, but my doctor had me add the dissolvable Benefiber powder to my Protein shakes. Make sure you get the unflavored stuff. By four weeks, he had me munching on Metamucil wafers for added punch. I eat one a day when I feel like I need it. They come in Cinnamon or Apple flavors like Cookies. By six weeks I was adding small amounts of avocado, flax or chia seed, and edamame for their fiber content. Make sure to drink plenty of fluids, exercise helps a lot, and my gastro doc said that taking an occasional stool softener like Colace or Phillips is not harmful -- just don't use it every day.