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Love onederland! Congratulations! The further under that 200 number I get, the happier I am and the more sure I will never see it again!

Most of time time the first two weeks following bypass is: Week 1 - Clear liquids only SF Jello, broth, Water, crystal lite, watered down apple juice, SF Popsicles Week 2 - full liquids and clear liquids- same as above plus creamed Soups, yogurt, Protein shakes (no more watered down Apple juice) Week 3 - the will move you to puréed if all goes well. You should ask your surgeon for his/her food plan because they all seem to differ but they should give you some idea of exactly what to eat when. In terms of meds, you should try to get yourself the liquid versions for the first 3 months or chewable if you can. Otherwise you will be crushing anything that is bigger around than a pencil eraser. This improves over time but those first 3 months it is pretty swollen in there. I don't use a blender because I buy Premier Protein ready made shakes instead of all the powders. When I had the puréed stage I used either my food processor or I had a nutrition bullet. I have since given that nutri bullet away. The best of luck to you! I hope all goes well.

I had the same thing happen, it is usually the temperature of Water that makes the difference. Especially first thing in the am. I stuck to only room temp water in the beginning with the exception of the am. Then I would actually warm it a little bit. Now it is all I drink with the exception of a cup of hot green tea every once in a while. Even a year out that cold water first thing in the am can cause my tummy to seize a little. I know this because it just happened to me. LOL. It will get better.

@@sleevegirl1991 Definately not from bypass but it sure sounds like it could be fibroids in your uterus. I had that situation that went on for a few years before we decided to do a hysterectomy. We went that route because I was already done having children. Haven't regretted that surgery either LOL!

I had a friend quite a few years ago who had to have hers reversed because she became severely malnourished. (This person did not follow the food plan at all nor did she take her Vitamins ever) This was in the 90's and at that time they did only open gastric bypass. She actually got to a point where she could not keep anything down and would not listen to her doctors. She decided to have the surgery reversed. She weighed less than 100 lbs on the day of the reversal. She was 5'1" tall and started above 300 pounds. She had the surgery reversed and it went well. Within a year she was well over 200 lbs and on her way to back where she was. I only know all of this because I took care of her 5 kids for both surgeries. I lived in her home and saw the garbage she was eating and trust me there was never a Protein shake, or Vitamin around ever. She had a rather large family to feed so they ate a lot of preoackaged foods like Mac and cheese with tuna and Soup in it. (Yuck!) I swear I gained 30lbs in less than a year living with her. Honestly part of the reason I waited so long to move forward with bypass was because of what I experienced living with her. It took me going to classes and doing lots of research to realize how safe bypass is these days when you follow the plan.

This really is normal. Sorry to tell you that but as you now go through all of the changes with food plans you will likely go from diahrea to constipation once you are through surgery and on soft foods. Smile, it really is all worth it in the end. I promise!

This really is great information. I have been asking many people about this recently. My bariatric team does not focus on weight loss goals or BMI goals. They focus mostly on healthy nutrition and basically told me my body will slow down and stop losing (assuming I continue to follow the plan) when it wants to. That being said they told me that I am ahead of where they would have expected and if I stopped losing now I would am considered successful. I honestly have decided to simply continue the plan and whatever happens happens. I am still losing albeit very slowly. On a positive note my hair finally stopped shedding and has sprouted tons of new hair. Of course it sticks up all over like Alfalfa! LOL!

LOL! The things we are willing to do to get healthy! It is all worth it!

Hi there! Yes it is normal that you cannot possibly eat or drink everything they tell you to right out of the gate and get all the liquids in too. You are still very swollen. I remember fretting terribly about this and when I talked to my bariatric nurse and nut they told me to focus heavily on the Protein and Water and just do the best I could. By about 6 to 7 weeks I was finally able to get all of my protein and water but it required me to have that water cup in my hand constantly. My nut required me to drink 8 oz. of milk in between my meals and I never could get that in at all in addition to everything else. I just really focused on protein levels because that is what will help you heal properly. I promise it will get easier and the good news is you do have some stores in your body to hold you over til you get there. The other thing I had to do was literally set an alarm at mealtimes to remind me that I needed to eat. I was just never ever hungry, oh, how I wish I had that honeymoon again. Trust me down the road it definately changes if you had the bypass. Actual hunger does return but the good news is all it takes is a very tiny amount of food to be full again. Good luck and congratulations!

I don't, mostly because there is another ready made shake that packs 30grams of Protein, 1 gram of sugar and 160 calories. I then only use 1 per day and with the addition of my food I get to my protein goal very easy. In the end they cost less than Atkins brand and can be purchased in bulk packs from costco and Sam's. They come in 18 packs there.They are called Premier Protein. They have them in chocolate, strawberry creme and vanilla. The chocolate is my favorite. Because they are ready made, they don't have that nasty grit you get from powders and they actually taste great in comparison. If you want to give them a try they also carry them in 4 packs at Walmart and some Walgreens stores but of course they are not as inexpensive if you don't buy them in bulk. My surgeons office recommended them because I could not tolerate the protein powders at all. I do think Atkins is not a bad choice based on their nutritional info, I just think you really get a good kick start with 30 grams if you have one first thing in the am. Hopefully this makes sense, let me know if you have questions,

I will try every couple of weeks. In the beginning I did not tolerate beef or pork of any kind as well as eggs. With beef I even had trouble with ground beef in the beginning. I can now eat beef, ground beef, tenderloin and anything that is fall apart tender. I don't do well with the tougher, drier cuts of meat at all. I mostly stick to beef tenderloin, ground beef, pork tenderloin and again anything that is fall off the bone tender like country style ribs. Eggs are still ridiculously difficult for me however this week I tried one poached and it worked great. Eggs make me sad because I used to love them and they really are so good for us. I try them every couple of weeks and I have noticed that what might work this week may not work next week. I have done extremely well with chicken and turkey since the beginning but it is important that they are not overlooked and dried out. Fish of course works very well, again they cannot be all dried out. I love orange roughy because it is so tender, moist and non fishy.

Are you able to get to your Protein goals given your change in diet? 1 gram of protein for every inch you are tall minimum. If you are getting protein and your Water requirements you are simply moving to the toughest part. Weight loss does in fact slow way down for most of us. I can tell you after I hit month 6, I was maybe losing between 7 and 10lbs per month. Now, 21 lbs from goal I am losing about 5 lbs per month. You may not be getting enough calories at this point. I know that I had to increase my intake to 1000 calories at about 7 months and then I started to lose again. You definately do not want to eat less, that doesn't help and in fact weight loss can stall. Your body becomes too used to that lower calorie count. Have you talked to your nut? They might also tell you to add an additional 100 or 200 protein rich, carb light food.

Yeah! Congratulations!

@@retzlpa, What you are experiencing is normal. It is the anxiety leading up to surgery day. You may also experience emotions for a short while after surgery as you muddle your way through. The important thing to remember is that this really is temporary. I too suffer from severe arthritis and had been on NSAIDs for many many years before my bypass. I have psoriatic arthritis. Ask your doctor for something if the pain gets too bad to tolerate and Tylenol doesn't do the trick. Once you get through surgery and begin losing, you will be able to move around more. As you know getting moving is the hardest but the best thing for those of us with arthritis. After surgery I found that Tylenol actually worked very well when I was up and moving. I slid a little backwards on the pain front these days following a recent spine surgery I had. It has been hard to get myself moving like I did between bypass and spine surgery. Now I get to have another back surgery on Nov. 16th which will set me back again. Ugh!

Yes, you are right having this surgery is a huge commitment and definately tries your patience. Stay positive and everything will work out. Let's hope you have a faster turn around from said insurance company with no bumps. It certainly could come faster than 2 weeks. After my 6 month process turned into 9 months the one thing that went very very fast was my approval. It got submitted early in the am and the surgeon called me back by 1pm with an approval and date. I was so happy I cried so hard my husband thought I was having a mental breakdown. It was simply all the emotion letting loose. I would suggest calling your insurance company to verify that they received your paperwork and that it is pending. Originally my doctors office dropped the ball and did not actually submitt it right away. I waited nearly 2 weeks before calling to check on it and they admitted it did not get done. I have also heard of others having this happen. For me the good news was how fast it actually was approved once it really got submitted. Good luck and let us know when you have a date.

Oh my goodness! I am so sad that you are going through this, I cannot even imagine how you feel. I am sending prayers for a speedy recovery. Do what ou have to in order to get this flare under control. Your surgery will still be there when you are healthy again. Please take care of yourself. Hugs!

Woot woot! Congratulations! You have to be over the moon. One bit of advice....keep trying those dense Proteins. As time goes by you will find that your body has healed enough and will ultimately allow you to eat them again. I promise! Happens to me all the time.

@@viaasskick From my personal experience you learn a lot more in said stupid classes that you do on line because there is two way communication and others in the class that may ask a question you have not thought about. Having WLS requires a huge commitment on our parts. This is why both bariatric centers of excellence and most insurance companies require classes, psychologists, nutritionists as well as some weight loss. I will say that my surgeons office did not require that I lose a set goal but show that I was losing some and certainly not gaining. I started at 315 and was down to 303 on surgery day 9 months later. As @@Dub stated, weight loss is required to get healthy and being ready for this surgery means you have to start building good habits months before you get to surgery. If I were you and wanted the best chance for success, I would recommend taking every advantage to learn more about what you are getting into.

Yeah! Hooray! This is what this life saving surgery is all about! Congratulations!

NSV for sure! You go girl!

James, I read your entire story and found it very interesting. Thanks for sharing it. I might have to try essential oils solution for both myself and my hubby. Hubby has not had WLS, however he is constantly dieting. Yo yo, I might add. He is considered morbidly obese and knows he needs to do something but he just isn't ready yet to take such a drastic step. Maybe this will help him. He does not eat out of hunger, he eats out of boredom and habit.

By the way, my six months actually was 9 because of their jammed schedules.

Honestly, I am not at all sure what she was expecting from us. I know this much, when I went to schedule my very last appointment with the team psychologist, he did not have a single appointment available for over 2 months. I was completely peeved that here I was at the end of my 6 month supervised diet and this guy decided he wanted 1 more follow up before he would sign off. I had never changed or missed or was late to a single appoinment in that 6 months because I was so ready to go and bummed that I had to wait so long. Given my commitment to moving forward, My surgeon, nut and bariatric nurse team tried to get him to do a last phone interview instead and suddenly his schedule opened and he found 15 minutes for me. I still had to wait 3 weeks but it was better than 2 months. I cried for a whole day because I was so sick and so ready to move forward. I just wonder how many of his patients did not bother to show up during that period of time. My appointment lasted 15 minutes and in my opinion was a complete waste of time. He just needed to feel important, I think. I ended up getting a different psychologist post surgery. Anyway, I have a very hard time feeling sympathy for people that don't follow the program. If you want a life altering change, you have to be willing to change. Or wait until you are so others that are ready can move forward.

This was a great article. Thanks for sharing!

Isn't onederland grand!!! Congratulations! Well done!