Baconville

This has been my only real down side to RNY. I am just over a year post op and this still bugs me. This early on there is very little you can do other than take Miralax. Get as much water in as you can, move as much as you can, and when you feel the urge to go, go. You are not eating much, so you are not going to go a lot. It does get better with time. The first three months were the worst.

Keep us posted on this. I am very interested as well.

The best one for post-surgery is Premier Protein (you see it on this site). You can buy them at Sam's Club and Cosco. They are very low in sugar, highest in good protein, and low in calories. I drank one a day for over a year. I will say that there were others out there that tasted better, but I could tolerate Premier Protein and I really liked the convenience of the ready made shakes versus the powders that you have to make up. I would strongly encourage you to buy a few different kinds to try. Make sure they are on your approved list though. Not all Protein Shakes are low in sugar or calories. Some really don't have much protein. Hopefully your clinic has given you the names of some that they recommend. Good luck! Carol

Make sure you leave with a good understanding of what your clinic offers for support. Will you have access to a nutritionist whenever you need it? How about psych visits - even after surgery. Do they have nurses on call to answer questions - because you will have them after surgery. Do they offer support groups after surgery? Do they ever pair up successful patients with patients who request a mentor? Some of this you may already know if you had to attend a class prior to your first visit, but this is all information that you need. My clinic does not offer mentors, but I have seen that mentioned on here and I think it would be a great thing, both for the person going through the surgery and the veteran/mentor. Obviously, questions about your health are important as well. But the clinic you have chosen will be your expert team. Interview them to make sure they are the right fit for you! Best of luck!! Carol

Absolutely Yes! Most people that have RNY are eventually able to eat at least 80% of the foods they were eating pre surgery. I am a year post op. I have eaten pizza. Normally I order just cheese pizza. I order thin crust in an 8" personal size and eat half. I don't eat pizza very often, I have probably only had it six times in a year. You might have to modify what your favorite is, but you WILL eat pizza again.

I would sometimes have a small gain (1 -2 pounds) just before a big loss. It was like my body was fighting to hold onto the weight. Extra Water and adding more exercise worked for me. Good luck! Carol

WAY TO GO!!! I remember when I hit that mark - GREAT DAY!! Do something special for yourself - get a massage or have your nails done, get a pedi. Mark this day, you have worked hard to get here. Keep it going - I am at a normal BMI for the first time in my life (I was overweight at 6 months, taken off formula and put on skim milk!). I can't tell you what a foreign feeling it is to wake up and not think about losing weight - you can get there too! CONGRATULATIONS!! Carol

It is very possible that your body has and will continue to change with the food that you are able to tolerate. That is why it can be very helpful to limit your diet to foods you know you CAN tolerate well and then add just one food a day back in, so you know what is making you feel sick. The doctor may be able to help as well since the test results might give you more answers. One question for you - are your BMs regular? This is something that I have struggled with. Constipation can make you feel sick as well and is VERY common, especially in the early weeks and months following surgery. Even now, if I don't go for a couple days, my stomach does not feel well. Finally, your depression should be evaluated. This journey is very emotional, with many highs and lows. You may need medication to help you with your depression. Make sure that your doc knows that you are struggling. They should be able to help you with this. Feel free to keep the questions coming. I am here. Carol

For the first three months I rarely hit 300 calories. With exercise my calories were always in the negative. At one year post op and on maintenance, I am to keep my calories at about 1000 per day. I have lost 205 pounds in a bit over a year. I would say that the low calories had no negative impact. Focus on protein and water, they are far more important. Follow the plan, you are doing GREAT!

I would like to be added, I'm only 11 days post op and I'm on full liquids. I think this would help me out a lot. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what I can have. It will also help me be more disciplined in logging my intake, knowing I have someone watching. Feel free to friend me. I am Baconville@q.com. I don't know how much help what I am eating will be. I am a year post op and currently on my maintenance plan. It is much different from what I ate in those first months following surgery. MFP is a great tool. I really believe that it is the key to my success to date and will be key to long term maintenance as well. Carol

You have received some great advice, and I'm not going to repeat it. There are many of us who were in your shoes and have gone on to have very successful surgeries and post-op results. My BMI was over 60, I weighed 331 on my first doctor's visit and I am only 5'2". Now, I was only asked to lose 20 pounds, but I lost 40 pounds in the three months leading up to surgery. I used MyFitnessPal.com. A free website / app that has become a very powerful tool for me. I am over a year post-op, and still use it every day. I have lost 205 pounds (I weighed 127 this morning) and for the first time in my life, my BMI is in the 'normal' range. I am not a kid - I am 49 years old - if I can do this anybody can! MyFitnessPal is an amazing tool. You use it to track what you are eating. It will help you set goals for how much weight you want to lose and how fast you want to lose it. After surgery I have found it invaluable to help me track how many grams of Protein I am getting every day. Now that I am on a maintenance plan, I am using it to help me keep my weight where I want it. Beyond that here are a couple more tips that helped me. Obviously, stop eating out - anywhere. No restaurant food is as healthy as something that you can make at home - you just don't know for sure what is in it. Wherever possible, replace carbs with protein. No more oatmeal for breakfast - or if you really love it like I do, then make sure that you are having something with it that has at least 10 grams of protein. This is a hard one, but one that you will need to do for the rest of you life post surgery - separate drinking and eating. Begin following the 30/30/30 rule. No fluids 30 minutes prior to eating, Chew every bite of food 30 times, no fluids for 30 minutes following a meal. It is really amazing how much fuller I felt when I didn't drink when I ate. Chewing your food more slows your eating down and you actually feel full faster as well. Finally, I also had horrible joint pain. My knees were so bad that I couldn't walk - not even 20 minutes on a treadmill. I joined my local YMCA and found a recumbent elliptical that I was able to do. You sit, so it isn't as hard on your knees and back. I saw a chiropractor every week for my neck and low back - it was hard to just stand for 20 minutes let alone walk. But I was able to do this elliptical. I started with just 20 minutes three times a week and worked up from there as the weight began to come off. I had a VERY easy recovery from my RNY. I really believe that the exercise leading up to surgery made all the difference for me. I think you have seen that this can be done! One thing the clinic is looking for is your level of commitment and determination - they want you to be successful. Setting up this roadblock is your test to see if you have what it takes to make this a life long change. It is not an easy journey - even after surgery - or after reaching goal. You have to be committed to doing the hard work. YOU CAN DO IT!!! Believe me, life on the other side is SO much better!! I never want to go back to the prison my old body was. Life is just too much fun!! Feel free to message me. I would be happy to help you in any way I can. Carol

I didn't lose on the pre-op liquid diet. I lost 39 pounds prior to surgery, but only maybe five the two weeks leading up to surgery. My NUT felt it was all the sodium in the protein shakes and soup. The purpose is to shrink the liver, it still works even if you don't see pounds come off. I let my clinic know what I was doing and that the scale was not moving, this was important. Stick with the program, you will get there!

I didn't lose on the pre-op liquid diet. I lost

Sure hope you are feeling better! Stomach pain after WLS can be a sign of a lot of bad things. RJ is right, be very careful. If something feels off, get to the ER. Better to make the trek than to have something bad that you let go on too long. Hopefully you are feeling much better and enjoying you Sunday afternoon.

Very nice!!! That is something I have never tried, but really want to. Like most Minnesotans I live within walking distance of a lake! I can even rent one at the local convenience store. Next free weekend, I might his be out there too!! Thanks for the inspiration! Carol

I am thrilled with my choices leading up to surgery and the experience that I have had. I lost 40 pounds pre surgery, began a worked out routine, began tracking on MFP, and made as many changes as I could before surgery. It made all the difference after. My only regret is that I did a very poor job of taking photos of myself on this journey. I always avoided cameras because I hated seeing how large I was. Now I wish I had a few. I think it would help remind me why I never want to go back to living in the prison that body was. Good luck! Carol

One tip for MyFitnessPal.com, go onto the actual website to set it up, not the app. I use the app all the time for tracking, but there are things you can do on the actual website that you can't do on the app. It's much easier to use. I am a HUGE believer in this tool. It has been a vital part of my success.

I had my RNY on 6/25/13. I was 291 pounds on surgery day. I reached Onederland for Christmas, so I can tell you it can be done! Go for it!! Carol

Well, I don't know how much help I can be. I am only a year out and have just hit my goal weight, so I am now focusing on maintenance. I live in Minnesota, about as far from south Florida as you can get! However, I do really fear gaining my weight back. I do relate that I think I can eat quite a bit more than I should be able to and I have never dumped. The combo scares me. So, I am being very vigilant about my diet. I record everything I eat on MyFitnessPal.com, this I think is key to my success thus far. Exercise is difficult with knee problems. Do you have access to a pool at all? Swimming or even walking in a pool is much easier on your knees and is great exercise. Resistance or weight training is also very beneficial. You don't need much equipment, just some light hand weights work great. Finally, I would get in touch with a bariatric clinic that is convenient to you. If you are still in the area where you had your surgery give them a call, otherwise choose a new one. Most good ones will take on patients from other clinic's. Set up an appointment for a complete work up and see where your levels are at. You might have better luck with some of the medically specialized bariatric Vitamins that you find on line if you are not adequately absorbing the nutrients in regular vitamins. The clinic NUT should be able to help you with an eating plan that will work for you. You have done amazingly well for YEARS! You can definitely get back on track and feel good again. The journey doesn't end with attainment of our goal weight. We will all face challenges, it's what we do about them that will determine true long term success. YOU ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR!! GO FOR IT! Carol

This depends a lot on the type of job you have, specifically how physical it is. I am a secretary for the assistant superintendent in a public school district. I took two full weeks off and went back half days on week three. I could have easily gone back half days the second week. By week three I was bored and looking for things to do! It will also depend of your procedure and how you recover. I had a very easy recovery, laproscopic RNY, and only one night in the hospital. I planned for the worst and hoped for the best. Worked for me, best of luck to you! Carol

I hope it helps. It's not fun to crappy for weeks at a time. Anybody would start to feel depressed. Just know that it is all part of the journey and it will be worth it in the end!

I agree. My RNY was July 25, 2013, so I am a bit over a year post op. The more you learn and plan before surgery the more success you will have following surgery. My best tip is to begin using MyFitnessPal.com now. It will be a vital tool for tracking Protein after, and I believe that it will be the key to my long term success. I have lost 205 pounds, have reached my goal weight, and, for the first time in my life I have a normal BMI. LIFE IS GREAT!! Learn all you can and focus on you. This is a journey worth taking! Carol

Five weeks is not a lot of time, you are still healing. Are there any foods you are tolerating well? I certainly hope so. Stick with those for a day, then add in only one new food each day. This should help you determine what food or foods are not working for you. That way you can avoid those for now. It is also vital that you eat slowly, you may be getting sick because you are eating too fast. I know folks that actually use a clock and only take one bite every 30 seconds. Finally, small bites are also critical. I know it looks and feels silly, but use baby spoons and forks. No bite of food you take should be bigger than your fingernail. If you are getting sick with every meal you are probably not getting your Protein which would lead to you feeling tired and not healing well. You must get the protein in order to heal. Vitamins and Water are also critical to the healing process. Do what you have to to get those things in. As to exercise, keep it light for now. Walking is best for most of us, but also some light weight training is really good for you too. You don't need actual weights. Soup cans work great, look online for exercise ideas, there are tons. Feel free to ask more questions. Carol

I do attend my clinic's support groups when my schedule allows. I think they are very important to keeping me motivated and connected. We have two - one is for pre-op and recent post op patients, but vets are encouraged to attend. It is let by one of the clinic psycs and normally has a speaker. I always learn something new, and it is nice to be able to offer advice to those just beginning the process, so I really like to go. The second is for vets and is led by one of the clinic nurses. There is always a topic that is relevant to vets and I always get a lot out of the meetings. We cover everything from nutrition to exercise to keeping motivated. This group is much smaller, but I also find it very beneficial. We were told that the long term success of patients that participate in support groups is significantly higher than those who do not participate. I am determined to give myself every tool for success. It is therefore worth to me to spend the couple hours a month to attend. Carol

I am a 49 year old female. I am 5'2" and my high weight was 331. I was able to lose 40 pounds prior to surgery (RNY on 6/25/13), so my surgery weight was 291 pounds. I had the exact same concerns and my goal weight was 150 pounds as well. The surgeon told me that he thought I would "bottom out" at 180 and that anything beyond that would be up to me. I was determined to make this work, and get to at least the 150 mark. I am happy to report that my weight this morning was 127 pounds (my range is to maintain between 125 - 130). I have a normal BMI for the first time in my life!! It has taken work. I belong to the YMCA and work out nearly every day. I also do about a 2 mile walk nearly every day on my lunch hour. I have followed my clinic's plan as carefully as possible. I use MyFitnessPal.com to track everything I eat - even now that I have reached my goal weight. I also have a FitBit Flex that helps me track my activity and I really try for at least 10,000 steps every day. On my off days I still try to hit at least 5000 steps. I am not a work out fanatic - I actually hate exercise! I love to eat, love my carbs, love ice cream - non of that has gone away, and I have indulged on special occasions. I have lost a total of 205 pounds. I feel FANTASTIC! I had my one year visit with my bariatric doc a couple of weeks ago and she said that I can count myself as being among the 5% healthiest Americans. I take no prescription medications. My point is that if I can do this, anybody can do this! I NEVER dreamed I would reach a normal BMI and would have been thrilled to stop at 150 pounds, but the scale kept moving for me, so I kept going. Set the goal YOU want and go for it. You just don't know where this journey will take you, but I guarantee if you do the work it will be at a better place than you are at now! Carol