Andi

I only weigh myself once a week (unless I have a doctor's appt), but I had a loss on Monday 7 1/2 lbs finally down (I had been stalled since my 2nd week). I'm hoping that this means my body is ready to move on. Last week I had transitioned to "real food", so that might have helped. It could have been getting my protein from sources other than shakes too. I had my prealbumin tested the week before & got a letter on Monday saying that my protein levels were low. That really struck me as odd as I've been up to about 100g of protein daily for a while. About 75% of that had been from my protein shakes. I'm still having a shake or 2 depending on my levels for the day, but I'm trying to vary my protein sources.

I haven't tried it, but Optimum Nutrition has a cake batter flavor. I think it's 3 carbs though.

Pure Protein is pretty nasty I had Light & Fit yogurt during my full liquid phase. I was a little unsure if the little bits of peaches in there was ok, so I was spitting them out and putting them aside (as daintily as I could lol). I preferred using Fage 0, but greek yogurt isn't everyone's cup of tea. I strained some soups & had a canned lobster bisque that wasn't too bad calorie/fat # wise.

I stalled on my 2nd week, and I'm still not quite out of it. Monday I started my "rest of my life" phase (with some exceptions, no beef, pork, lamb and most raw veggies until the 3rd month). I'm hoping that this will help break the stall, but even with still getting a couple protein shakes in a day I'm lucky if I get 800 calories in. My measurements haven't really changed. I'm getting close to 100g of protein a day (approved by my NUT) and over 64oz of fluid in. I exercise daily (walking). My NUT & NP said basically just to keep at what I'm doing & the stall should break up.

To help prevent gallbladder issues, we were prescribed ursodiol (actigall) for 6 months after surgery. We were also advised to take 1 prilosec each morning for the first month to help with acidity issues. After that if we felt that we needed it we could continue (It helped at first, but I didn't need it towards the end of the month).

With my hospital it's 1-2 nights. I ended up being there 2 nights due to having a later surgery & not getting setup in my room until later. Normally I would have been scrambling to get out of there after 1 night, but honestly I was ok with the 2.

I need to wait 30 minutes prior and 60 minutes after. I've seen some folks say that their instructions say that they don't need to wait prior to eating at all. However, please stick to your doctor's advice. There's a reason why we were given these instructions. We committed ourselves to a change in lifestyle by proceeding with the surgery. I never thought that I'd be able to eat without a drink on the table & the time goes by quickly if you have something to preoccupy yourself with.

http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/find-help-support Call their 800# and see what help you can get.

That is something to discuss with your doctor. For my stay, they provided me with what I needed & if I had brought anything extra it would have had to be cleared prior to administration.

I didn't have to take a laxative prior to surgery (seems pretty common) so it was about 7 days for me and then I took something. During that time one of the bariatric NPs called to check in on me. She asked if I had been able to go yet, and said not to worry about it as there wasn't a whole lot in there anyway. Constipation is a bad issue for me with weight loss, even prior to surgery. None of my doctors seem to take it very seriously. I've had one say "Well the results justify theside affect right?". I told them that it depended on the day.

Thrift shops seem to be a pretty popular answer. I'm still at the point where I had some older clothes (some brand new.. from years ago) waiting around for me to catch up. I used to have a drawer full of jeans from various sizes that didn't fit. When I ran out of those I picked up a few sizes from a thrift shop last week. They're still too small, but it's good to know that they'll be there. $3/piece & they're both dark blue like new almost.

Due to a roller coaster ride with my insurance.. my 2 week liquid diet ended up being 10 days. My first week I lost 11 1/2 lbs & my 2nd week I only lost 3 1/2. I was on 3 shakes a day from New Direction (which we had to use & buy from the hospital). They were 200 calories each, included my vitamins & I never felt hungry on them.

If you're uncomfortable, just keep it vague. It should give them the hint that you do not wish to share the number. I've met some people that pulled that off very tactfully & I had no problem respecting it. There's going to be some that don't take the hint, for them you might just need to spell it out that you do not wish to discuss #'s & thank them for the compliment.

Straws are sometimes advised against as they suck up additional air. Everyone's post op instructions are different from each other's (well.. unless they went to the same doctor I guess :b ). Using the straw as an example there's a difference between posts that say "I drank using a straw, my doctor never said anything about it" compared to "I drank from a straw despite what my doctor said". If you flaunt that you went against your doctor's orders then you're probably going to find some people jumping on your case. Which in some cases is the desired effect of those posts in the first place /shrug..

Even though part of you recognized that this wasn't right & the problems that it can cause I'd recommend that maybe you should talk to someone about it. There's some bad potential for a eating disorder. Especially when your family that should have been a support system didn't support you in a healthy way.

It's sad.. but it seems like a reaction that people have in case things go wrong.. they can be like "I tried to stop them!". Overall, I try to believe that people like that have good intentions. They tend to also have bad listening skills when it came my turn to talk. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with fear. For myself, I balanced the "What could go wrong & how likely/unlikely it is to happen" versus "What is going to happen to me if I don't get this surgery & continue on like I have been".

They gave me morphine through the IV for the first night. 2nd day I orally took some oxycodone. After that I was given a script for liquid percocet, but advised to fill it only if Tylenol wasn't doing enough for me. However, I never even had to use a Tylenol. Everyone is very different from each other with this though!

Everywhere is a bit different with what's available to them. I've been using Trader Joe's brand vanilla soy. It's quick dissolve, and goes down way easier for me than the whey type were. It needs a bit of flavor syrup, so I usually hit it with a bit of DaVinci sugar free caramel syrup. I'll recommend avoiding Pure Protein. For whichever type you do try, my NUT strongly advises that the first ingredient on the nutritional list should be either Whey protein isolate or Soy protein isolate. These are going to provide you with the amino acids that your body needs to build protein. Sugar & fat content should be under 5g per serving. For the servings, you'll probably want to consult with your bariatric team. My pre-op diet we had a specific shake type that we bought through the hospital. I had 3 shakes a day, which added up to 600 calories. Some folks drink 5 shakes per day. It varies.

I think that happens in general with vitamins sometimes.

I use the Daily Plate on Livestrong. There's a place to track fitness & fluid intake. The exports, which you can then print, will show your protein & fitness, but it doesn't seem to show the water.

I use it & don't find it bad at all. They're a little large, and the cherry ones require a good tooth brushing afterwards (why do they have to dye these things anyways..)

Yogurt & Kefir were both on my "full liquid" phase. Yogurt is a great source of protein & something that I eat every day.

Prior to being sleeved I had gotten rid of most of the processed foods in my diet. It helped. I don't think people realize how much salt is in our diets without even sprinkling it on our food. If you're not already, I'd recommend using a food tracker to see what your sodium intake is looking like. I use LiveStrong Daily Plate. There's lots of free ones out on the web, but as I haven't used them I'm not sure about who tracks sodium as well. If you're keeping within your daily limits, I wouldn't worry about it so much. If not, you can use it to identify your biggest problem areas and consider alternatives.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That first night after surgery.. when I was so so thirsty & not allowed to drink yet.. I was haunted by dreams of iced tea lol. Good stuff