JamieLogical

I would be a little cautious when choosing Genepro. They claim that a serving is the "equivalent of" 30 grams of protein, because you are supposed to absorb their protein better than regular whey isolate. However, there have been no independent studies proving their claim yet. So, I would err on the side of caution and still only count it as 15 grams of protein towards my daily protein target. Better to end up getting more protein than you might need than finding out you've only been getting half as much as you thought.

It sounds like you are committed to getting back on track. Take time to reflect on the things you can improve. you probably already know what you've done "wrong" but you need to work out how you are going to fix them moving forward. A lot of people have some success resetting themselves with the 5 Day Pouch Test. I haven't done it, but it seems to help people get back to basics and refocus. The good news is, your sleeve is still there! It's ready for you to start wielding as the tool it was meant to be once again!

It can be tricky. Things you liked pre-op might taste weird or not sit well post-op. You might have to take a trip to somewhere like GNC or VitaminShoppe and get some sample packets and just try a bunch of brands and flavors. Just make sure that anything you get is low carb and low in saturated fat.

Yes! It was so exciting to get my first regular physical blood work post-op. Everything was perfect and it felt sooooo good! Congrats on all of your success!

Were you working out a lot then as well? If so, then it definitely sounds like you might have done some damage. I would suggest really trying to focus hard on getting Protein in. At LEAST 100 grams a day. And if you aren't already, try doing some strength training. Muscle increases metabolism. Not by a HUGE amount. It might be a slow process. But in the long term it will help with your overall metabolism.

800 calories a day is great at 4 weeks. I was able to start getting that high once I was on solid foods. I pushed hard to get up to around 1100 calories a day when I started intense workouts and spent most of my weight loss phase at about 1400-1500 a day. Sounds like you are doing well!

Depending on the time of day and what clothes you are wearing, even the SAME scale is going to show huge fluctuations in weight. If that's going to drive you crazy, I suggest getting a scale for your home and weighing under the same conditions every time. For example, I always weigh myself in the morning before my shower. I do so naked, after I've peed, before eating or drinking anything. If anything about my schedule is thrown off, like I sleep in, or I eat breakfast before my shower or I am away from home, I don't weigh myself at all, because I know the fluctuation caused by the different circumstances will bother me.

It's not really a thing to "stretch" your sleeve. You should not be worried about that. People do experience some "relaxation" in their sleeves around the 9-12 month mark. That's why the first 9-12 months are often called the "honeymoon" period, where you have the most restriction. Weight watchers doesn't really seem compatible with a WLS diet. You should be having a LOT of protein and very few crabs. As far as I know, Weight Watchers allows for a fair number of carbs. If you feel like you need to be on some kind of structured diet, I would recommend Atkins or Keto.

How many calories were you eating in the first year when you were losing rapidly? I have read posts on these forums from people who seemingly wrecked their metabolism by having too large a calorie deficit in the early days and so they struggle to maintain/lose even on very few calories.

Most people start seeing post-op hair loss around 3-4 months post-op. Mine started right around 3.5 months out and lasted about two months. The causes for hair loss in WLS patients are anesthesia, rapid weight loss, malnutrition, and stress. Not every WLS patient experiences all four of those causes, but even one of them can cause some hair loss.

I never really understood people being afraid of anesthesia. It's the best! It's like magic! One moment you are pre-op, the next you are post-op. It's like time travel! One thing I always advise people who get last-minute cold feet is that you made this decision to have surgery when you were being logical and rational. You presumably put countless hours into research, learning everything you could, and evaluating if this was the right decision for you. Trust in the choice you made when you were sane! Don't let this last-minute wave of irrational thought and emotion deter you.

If you are on full liquids, you might be allowed strained cream soups. I loved it once I got to that phase because I could have some variety finally. I went and bought every single type of cream soup my grocery store had on the shelves and made a different one each meal. Didn't even care that I was wasting like 3/4 of a can of soup every time. I just loved being able to have some variety.

As others have said, getting your vitamins and protein in is the best thing you can do. I also cut my hair short about two months post-op so when my hair started falling out around 3.4 months post-op, it wasn't as noticeable. Biotin does help thicken and strengthen hair, but it probably won't do much to prevent hair loss or make it grow back faster. I had biotin in my multivitamin, but didn't take any extra.

You're almost there!

At 4 weeks it was definitely still tough to get in 2 oz. of food, especially depending on what the food was. I had no problem with cottage cheese or greek yogurt at that point, but something like tuna salad was still hard to handle.

@@Spiceyfrog For some reason, your mention of driving reminded me of a funny thing that happened after my tummy tuck. I came home from Mexico two weeks post-op and my mom was going to come up and help take care of me some, since my husband had to work. Well, it turned out that my mom ended up having to have a hernia repair right around the same time as my TT, so she still came up to visit, but was in no shape to actually take care of me. It was hilarious. She was allowed to drive, but we both had lifting restrictions. So one day she took me to the grocery store and we had to have the cashier pack each bag very light so we could carry them one at a time. And we realized that we couldn't buy a gallon of milk, because neither of us was allowed to lift it. It was such a ridiculous situation.

Yay! So glad to hear those last few required pounds are finally coming off. Sounds like you've found the winning combination to get the scale moving again. Really hope to hear some good news from you on weigh-in day!

My advice is, if you HAVE to cheat (you don't), then make sure you do so with low carb foods. Any carbs will knock you out of ketosis and you will have to go through the headaches and fatigue of transitioning into ketosis all over again.

There is definitely pain immediately post-op. Abs are sore where they spread the muscle apart for the instruments. Incisions can be sore and painful. Gas pain because they fill your abdomen with gas to make room to maneuver and that takes a few days to work its way out. Typically there is some amount of pain the first week or so. Some people experience pain while drinking or eating further out than that.

Reminds me of when one of the very popular Mexican surgeons was killed in a plane crash. A lot of scrambling to schedule with a new doctor. I wonder if your surgeon had some sort of family emergency.

Are you on a pro-biotic? I take a pro-biotic every day and eat protein bars with pre-biotic fiber in them and that seems to keep me pretty regular. Obviously things were out of whack the first few weeks post-op before I was back on solid foods. But since then, I haven't had issues.

Really depends on how you are feeling and how "active" you are in the process. I think I had sex around 5 days post-op, but definitely took it slow and easy.

What are you defining as "hunger"? Is your stomach rumbling? That's likely due to acid and gas. Are you on a PPI for acid? Have you tried GasX? Or is it "head hunger"? Like, do you see a commercial for food on TV and think "OMG, I NEED TO EAT THAT RIGHT NOW!" Even though you know that if you actually did eat that thing you'd end up back in the hospital? If it's head hunger, then there really isn't much you can do but fight through it. Try to eat the foods you are actually allowed for the food stage your in. Sometimes you can get kind of close to satisfying a craving that way. If you are in the pureed stage and craving pizza or italian food, try Shelly's Baked Ricotta. If you are craving Mexican, try some refried Beans and a little taco sauce and cheese.

Yay! Hopefully you will feel a lot better.

It's very normal. Your weight is going to fluctuate day to day and even throughout a single day. Think of this. We are supposed to be drinking 64 oz. of water a day. That's 4 POUNDS of water. If retain any portion of that due to high sodium, hormones, bloating, whatever... that can have a pretty big impact on the scale. But it's only temporary. It's not "real" weight in the sense that it's not fat being stored on your body. If you are going to weigh every day, you are going to have to accept these fluctuations that are about water retention and not actual fat loss/gain.