Djmohr

I also think based on your answers they provide a lot of good ideas on how to handle some of your issues.

Congratulations to both of you! The next phase of your journey will be very exciting!

Yes, absolutely. At about 6 weeks I was still only eating about 500 calories and I was exercising an hour a day burning over 200 calories. My body was in starvation mode and I stopped losing for 4 weeks. I was told to eat more and exercise less! First time in my life where I had been given that advice. LOL! Anyway, I increased my Protein even more, also got my calories up to about 800 and decreased my exercise to 40 minutes per day. My stall broke within a couple of days after I made the change. Good luck!

I was on soft foods by 3 weeks although every doctors office seems to be different. I ate a lot of yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken breast cut up very small and very juicy, fish such as salmon also not dried out, I was a,so eating cooked vegetables. I don't like canned vegetables so I either did fresh or frozen but cooked until very tender. I remember having to take things extremely slow at that time or I would get chest pain. Every week, things will get better and better. Good luck on the next phase of your diet.

There is something known as the 3/4 week stall. The best way to get past it is to stay the course. Get your required protein, water and keep moving. The stall will break! I have had several now the longest lasting 4 weeks. It is very frustrating. My doctors office also told me that sometimes people will linger at a weight they maintained for a while. For me it was 251lbs. I was at that weight for a couple of years and low and behold that was where my one month stall occurred. Not sure if there is any truth to that.

This is such a great topic! Congratulations on your progress! I was never good at exercising. I suffer from psoriatic arthritis and have had 5 back surgeries. I have a neurostimulator implanted in my spine to help control back and nerve pain in my right leg. These were always my excuses for not being able to exercise. It hurt! As I started to drop my weight post surgery I started small by walking to get rid of the gas pain. After a couple of weeks and the loss of 30 lbs I started noticing I had more energy and could go further. I also noticed I felt better after pushing myself a little further every day. Oh by the way, the weight started coming off faster too. Then The weather got too cold to walk outside so I decided I owed it to myself to get a couple of pieces of exercise equipment so I could exercise regardless of the weather, I wanted no excuses! I purchased a treadmill and sit down elliptical. I started using them every other day and I have never felt better! The moral of the story is you just have to get moving, take it one day at a time and don't be afraid to push yourself.

Welcome and congratulations!

The movies are the worst aren't they? My husband and I go a lot and I have to make sure I have eaten right before. If I choose to snack I bring a handful of nuts or a protein bar in my purse. It is really never about being hungry there, it is more about a habit one is used to. For me, I always snacked at the theatre. Thank heavens I absolutely hate popcorn. It's even worse now when I smell it, it gags me. For me, it was always movie candy, now I don't like the taste of anything sugary. I guess that is all good news. Anyway, I think most of us have made the mistake of grazing once or twice, just don't make a habit of it.

I agree jello is the way to go. Also sugar free Popsicles really helps because it takes a while to eat them. If that does not help, call your surgeon's office. Are you keeping what you are eating and drinking down? Sometimes people advance faster than others. I am surprised to hear you feel hungry. I did not start feeling hungry until about week 8. But everyone is different. I do remember feeling weak that first week and they knew I needed to move to protein and creamed soups which is what they did. However, I never got sick.

So sorry to hear you are struggling. What are you eating on your liquid diet? It might help to understand your current diet in order to help you.

Welcome and the best of luck on your new life! Keep us posted on your surgery date. This is when it really starts to get exciting!

At Costco, you get 18 in a case so that is a great sale price. I will go get my limit of 5 tomorrow! Thanks for the tip.

I also learned on this site that investing in a vacumn sealer is a great idea. I happen to like variety in my diet. The sealer allows you to portion and save your leftovers. You pop them in the freezer and then toss them into boiling water to heat up. The proteins stay nice and moist and your leftovers make a great meal for one if you don't feel like cooking.

This was a great post. If I miss anything I miss having sandwiches the most. This gave me a lot of ideas and I plan on trying them. I travel a lot and having a quick lunch out when I cannot tolerate eggs is hard. dinner is fine but grabbing a quick lunch and keeping things a bit different is much more difficult. Especially when you are traveling with others and cannot always pick the restaurant. It would be great to see some tips on the best way to deal with having lunch out. Thanks so much for the great sandwich ideas.

I also have hypothyroidism and take Levothryoxine.. I found that after the first 30 days I had started losing my hair. I knew right away that my thyroid level was off and went in for a test. Sure enough my rapid weight loss impacted my dose, I was taking too much at this point and all my other vitamin levels were perfect. They lowered my dose and it has been fine ever since. I do need to go in and get tested every 60 to 90 days though to ensure my levels are correct for me. So far no issue with malabsorption of the dose.

Gas pain is the worst part of this surgery. Honestly what worked for me was a heating pad, walking and drinking fluids. I also chewed a lot of gas x. It subsided after a couple of weeks but got better every day. I do think walking is what is most successful getting the gas out of your system. Good luck and hopefully this rough spot will be over for you soon.

I had a drainage tube for the two days I was in the hospital. It is nothing to be afraid of at all. It is removed usually before you leave and it does not hurt at all.

I told many people that are closest to me that I was having WLS. Once I was post op and losing weight rapidly I shared my story with anyone who asks. I am proud of what this tool has done for me and the very hard work I put into it. There has been so much bad publicity regarding WLS that I really wanted people to understand that if you follow the plan the plan works! If you choose to eat whatever you want whenever you want, you will not be successful. There is no easy road here, just lots of hard work and great success if you follow the plan. Maintenance will be that much harder......

I ended up choosing gastric bypass after learning the the sleeve can cause acid reflux. I already had uncontrollable acid reflux. I did have fears about malabsorption however learned from speaking with professors that as long as you take your vitamins and get regular check ups malabsorption should not be a problem. After that it was a very easy decision for me. The lap band was never even a consideration for me.

Hope you have a very speedy recovery! Get ready to start your new life! Congratulations!

Premier protein is a lifesaver. It is the only drink I can tolerate. I stick to the chocolate because vanilla tastes too sweet for me. I have used portions and kept the rest in the fridge. Just shake and drink. I usually won't last more than 2 days as I drink them.

It depends on the surgeon. If you are concerned give your surgeons nurse a call.

My suggestion would be to follow the plan. You don't want to risk your liver not being prepared properly for surgery. The primary reason they have you follow the liquid diet is to ensure your liver shrinks and they can execute a laparoscopic procedure. If they cannot maneuver around the liver, they may have to do an open procedure which can result in more complications and longer recovery. As hard as the liquid protein diet is, it is better for you in the end. You are so close, don't self sabotage yourself. Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi there, Sorry to hear you have a bump in the road but congrats on your plastics! It sounds like you did very well on the program to begin with. I would suggest getting back to what got you to lose the weight in the first place. It will be important to get back on track. There is a 5 day pouch test that I would recommend trying. You can google it and it will help you get back on track. Good luck and keep us posted!

Hello and congratulations on your surgery! Welcome to BP.