teastarxox

That crab cake with yogurt sauce sounds really good JerseyGirl68, I'll have to give that a try sometime!

The first two to three weeks are tough, I agree. Three days after discharge I was readmitted to the hospital for malnutrition and dehydration.
I'm only one week ahead of you and I can tell you it does get better. The swelling has finally receded and, last night, I was able to keep down a couple of saltine crackers for the first time (have not been able to keep down any bread products until last night).
After a short period of time, you'll be able to eat anything you want except in much smaller portions. If two to three ounces of your favorite food allow you to feel full, do you really think you are going to feel deprived because you weren't able to consume four times that amount?
The other day (with my surgeon's blessing), I was able to consume (and comfortably keep down) about 2oz of chopped meat. Normally, before the surgery, I could easily consume two 8-oz patties in a matter of minutes.
It's a strange phenomenon really because my brain is trying to process two conflicting messages: You are full, yet you only ate one-fourth of one hamburger! Hey, what's going on here?!
To be honest, I love the freedom this surgery is providing me with... and I see it as freedom, not deprivation. If I could have eaten 2oz of hamburger or 2oz of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and felt satiated, I wouldn't have needed the surgery.
It's okay to be limited to, for example, 2oz of lox if those two ounces leave me feeling comfortably full. For the first time in my life, I know that not only will I take the weight off but I know in my heart and soul that, this time, I'm going to keep it off.

Yes, weight can fluctuate by pounds in a day. I'm sorry to say this is very normal ... you are not unique.
Are you wanting to lose weight or lose fat? Stop using the scale as it only measures weight. Your real barometer should be how clothes feel on you, measurements and how you feel overall. I weighed myself once a month and always saw a loss so I didn't get that head-spin, what's wrong with me discouragement. That type of thinking will only sabotage your effort, so stop torturing yourself.
Your body converts calories to glycogen which is stored in your liver and muscles. Glycogen has weight. When glycogen is stored in your muscles, it must bond in a 4 to 1 ratio with Water, so if your body stores one extra pound of glycogen than it did the day before, with the Water, it will actually be 5 pounds. As far as fat and all that ... 1 pound of weight = 3,500 calories. If you burn 3,500 calories more than you take in, then you lose a pound. Eat 3,500 calories more than your burn, you gain a pound.
So, you gained 4 pounds in one day. Do you think you consumed 4 x 3,500 = 14,000 more calories than you burned? Most likely not. Do you believe that those 4 pounds are 4 pounds of fat? Most likely not.
If you have been reading the boards I'm sure you have seen this over and over again. Get rid of the scale. It can only hurt you.