JamieLogical

@@Sleeved_Grace Glad to hear you are already feeling better! It truly does get a little better every single day. It feels like eternity when you are in the moment, but two weeks from now you will look back and not believe how much progress you've made in your recovery in such a short period of time.

@@Sleeved_Grace Glad to hear you are already feeling better! It truly does get a little better every single day. It feels like eternity when you are in the moment, but two weeks from now you will look back and not believe how much progress you've made in your recovery in such a short period of time.

I always love when I see posts from friends and family just wanting to support their sleevers. Good for you!
In the early days post-op, expect for your friend to be in some serious discomfort, if not outright pain. And expect some grumpiness and mood swings. Try to be supportive, but not put any pressure on her to recover too quickly. Definitely do NOT eat any real foods around her. And don't bring her any foods that she isn't allowed for her current food stage. If you can, ask her to give you a copy of her post-op nutrition plan so you can familiarize yourself with what foods she will be allowed to eat when.

@@blizair09 I wasn't cleared for more intense activity until 8 weeks post-op either, but I know some people are cleared sooner. I also know that some people start sooner whether cleared or not, because they are in some insane race to lose the weight super quickly. The OP did mention exercise, which made me think she might be doing more than just walking.

I did everything "right" through my post-op food stages. I followed my post-op nutrition plan like it was my Bible. I did my 60 total minutes of "brisk walking" per day. I got my Water and Protein in. Hit 100 grams of Protein daily before I was even back on solid foods. As soon as I was cleared for more intense exercise, I started Couch to 5k and strength training. I met my goal weight right at my one year mark and have been maintaining for almost 16 months.
I definitely don't do everything "right" anymore, but I do it well enough to maintain! Once you are in maintenance, it's about making good choices like 80-90% of the time.

I did everything "right" through my post-op food stages. I followed my post-op nutrition plan like it was my Bible. I did my 60 total minutes of "brisk walking" per day. I got my Water and Protein in. Hit 100 grams of Protein daily before I was even back on solid foods. As soon as I was cleared for more intense exercise, I started Couch to 5k and strength training. I met my goal weight right at my one year mark and have been maintaining for almost 16 months.
I definitely don't do everything "right" anymore, but I do it well enough to maintain! Once you are in maintenance, it's about making good choices like 80-90% of the time.

Cheat days once you've gotten past 3 months is fine but before then you need to remember that your stomach has just be violently abused. lol! You are only 3 weeks out, chicken would be a nightmare for you, tortillas would be a nightmare for you. A cheesy cream Soup would probably be the closest to OK.
sugar free pudding, that's a cheat item right now for you. Some mashed potatoes with butter is a cheat right now that's ok. And don't think of it as cheating, be very conscious of it. You are doing this to lose more weight so you want it to be smart about it. Also increase your Water and just walk more.
Finally, you are only 3 weeks out. You don't need to speed up your weight loss. What's happened is your body has gone through a trauma and needs time to heal. You are retaining Water and Fluid in your abdomen in your bodies natural healing process, your metabolism is in shock, your stomach is in shock.
It takes a few more weeks before you will find an equilibrium in your body. Don't rush it. If you follow all the guidelines and allow your body the time it needs to heal (And Protein. Protein protein protein) than the lbs will melt away at a speed that feels slow sometimes but is miraculously fast in retrospect.

I disagree with those who are saying 1100 calories is a lot. Especially if you are working out at all. I pushed hard to get over 800 calories post-op so I could do anything more intense than "brisk walking". I then pushed to get up to 1100 calories so I could start running. And I would estimate that I was around 1400-1500 calories a day through most of my weight loss phase.
If you aren't exercising at all, then 1100 calories is probably the upper limit of where you want to be, but if you are working out, you need to basically be "eating back" any of the extra calories you are burning through exercise, otherwise your metabolism is going to tank.

Are you still in your post-op food stages? If so, then definitely don't "cheat". That's not a diet, it's a prescription and you need to treat it as such to ensure safe healing and recovery.
If you are out of your food stages and back on solid foods, then it's up to you. I would caution that anything high carb is going to kick your body out of ketosis, if you are currently in ketosis. That means you will likely experience headaches and fatigue every time you transition back into ketosis after a cheat day.

You should pre-measure your food and eat the amount your surgeon/nutritionist recommends for your current food stage. I was told to eat 2 oz. at a time in the beginning, so I pre-measured my food into these little 2 oz. plastic baby food containers and ate out of those through my puree and soft food stages.
Once you are more healed up, you WILL get "full" signals from your stomach again. It is only in the first month or two post-op, when your nerves are still healing, that you can't rely on accurate signals from your stomach.

I did everything "right" through my post-op food stages. I followed my post-op nutrition plan like it was my Bible. I did my 60 total minutes of "brisk walking" per day. I got my Water and Protein in. Hit 100 grams of Protein daily before I was even back on solid foods. As soon as I was cleared for more intense exercise, I started Couch to 5k and strength training. I met my goal weight right at my one year mark and have been maintaining for almost 16 months.
I definitely don't do everything "right" anymore, but I do it well enough to maintain! Once you are in maintenance, it's about making good choices like 80-90% of the time.

The pain in your chest is likely a spasm or contraction of your esophagus. I had those for about two weeks post-op any time I took even the teeniest tiniest sip of Water. Marching in place as I was sipping helped a little.
As for feeling fatigued and run down, that is VERY normal. I probably napped more than I was awake in the early days post-op. Even once I was back to work at 15 days post-op, I had to go to bed as soon as I got home because I was so exhausted from just working my desk job. The fatigue improves once you are healed up and able to get in more calories.

Are you still in your post-op food stages? If so, then definitely don't "cheat". That's not a diet, it's a prescription and you need to treat it as such to ensure safe healing and recovery.
If you are out of your food stages and back on solid foods, then it's up to you. I would caution that anything high carb is going to kick your body out of ketosis, if you are currently in ketosis. That means you will likely experience headaches and fatigue every time you transition back into ketosis after a cheat day.

I did everything "right" through my post-op food stages. I followed my post-op nutrition plan like it was my Bible. I did my 60 total minutes of "brisk walking" per day. I got my Water and Protein in. Hit 100 grams of Protein daily before I was even back on solid foods. As soon as I was cleared for more intense exercise, I started Couch to 5k and strength training. I met my goal weight right at my one year mark and have been maintaining for almost 16 months.
I definitely don't do everything "right" anymore, but I do it well enough to maintain! Once you are in maintenance, it's about making good choices like 80-90% of the time.

Yes! Fertility can increase drastically. It is VERY VERY important to use back-up birth control in the first couple of months post-op. I was on birth control the whole time, but I also used condoms for the first two months.

I disagree with those who are saying 1100 calories is a lot. Especially if you are working out at all. I pushed hard to get over 800 calories post-op so I could do anything more intense than "brisk walking". I then pushed to get up to 1100 calories so I could start running. And I would estimate that I was around 1400-1500 calories a day through most of my weight loss phase.
If you aren't exercising at all, then 1100 calories is probably the upper limit of where you want to be, but if you are working out, you need to basically be "eating back" any of the extra calories you are burning through exercise, otherwise your metabolism is going to tank.

If you haven't already, you should look into Couch to 10k. That's a GREAT program that gets you up to running a 10k without stopping in 12 weeks if you stick to the schedule. You can also start a couple "weeks" into it if the first few week's workouts are too easy for you.The issue I see is that St. Patrick's day is only 8 weeks away, so you may not be able to get through the whole program unless you are able to start with Week 4 or so.

I promise you that you aren't gaining fat. If your weight is going up on 1100 calories a day, it is Water retention. It takes 3500 EXCESS calories to gain one pound of fat. At 1100 calories a day, you likely have a DEFICIT of close to 1000 calories a day, so you are definitely NOT gaining actual fat.
It doesn't sound to me like you are doing anything wrong. Weight fluctuates from day-to-day. If it is bothering you, then just stay of the scale and focus on your plan. If you stick to your plan, you WILL lose weight. Make sure you get your Protein in, drink your Water, take your Vitamins, and get up and move.

I promise you that you aren't gaining fat. If your weight is going up on 1100 calories a day, it is Water retention. It takes 3500 EXCESS calories to gain one pound of fat. At 1100 calories a day, you likely have a DEFICIT of close to 1000 calories a day, so you are definitely NOT gaining actual fat.
It doesn't sound to me like you are doing anything wrong. Weight fluctuates from day-to-day. If it is bothering you, then just stay of the scale and focus on your plan. If you stick to your plan, you WILL lose weight. Make sure you get your Protein in, drink your Water, take your Vitamins, and get up and move.

I promise you that you aren't gaining fat. If your weight is going up on 1100 calories a day, it is Water retention. It takes 3500 EXCESS calories to gain one pound of fat. At 1100 calories a day, you likely have a DEFICIT of close to 1000 calories a day, so you are definitely NOT gaining actual fat.
It doesn't sound to me like you are doing anything wrong. Weight fluctuates from day-to-day. If it is bothering you, then just stay of the scale and focus on your plan. If you stick to your plan, you WILL lose weight. Make sure you get your Protein in, drink your Water, take your Vitamins, and get up and move.

The sooner the better. The last thing you want to be trying to do is kick a soda addiction the same time you are trying to recover from surgery.

Just posted this in another thread this morning:
It's important to remind yourself that you made the decision to have surgery when you were in a logical/rational state of mind. Last-minute jitters are common, but they are emotional and irrational. Don't let them deter you from following through on a decision that you made after a LONG period of research and reflection.

The Dreaded Week 3 Stall is a real and there is nothing you can/should do about it. As long as you get your Protein, Water, and Vitamins in and are up and walking several times a day, you are doing everything right. You just have to be patient. Put away the scale if it is making you crazy. You should be focusing on healing and following your plan right now. The rate of weight loss should be the least of your worries.

Oh, as for the dry mouth, check out your tongue/throat in a mirror with a flash light. If it has a white coating on it, you might have oral thrush. That can be pretty common if you were given liquid antibiotics post-op.

This site has some great recipes for all of the food stages. I HIGHLY recommend the baked ricotta in the puree stage:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=the+world+according+to+eggface

Weighing is definitely more accurate. Measuring cups measure VOLUME, but most serving sizes are in grams or ounces, which are units of WEIGHT.