tappingmom

I certainly can relate to your fears. My sugar addiction was one of my reasons for choosing RNY over the sleeve. I knew there was a possibility of dumping when consuming sugar and felt it would be a good deterrent. I was right! Now that I'm 4 months post-op, I really do not crave sugar at all. I'm "lucky" that I actually do dump. I didn't intentionally test it, just didn't read labels and consumed sugar when I hadn't planned on it. The resulting nausea, racing pulse, cold sweats were enough to keep me away. Now I meticulously check labels and watch the grams of sugar.

Sometimes I'll see my kids eating one of my pre-surgery trigger foods and I'll get a little jealous, but I don't crave it at all. I may have a bite of carbs here and there, but I can leave it at a bite. That would have been unheard of pre-surgery. I don't eat rice, potatoes, Pasta, bread or any other refined carbs. I do have quinoa or wild rice once in a while. None of this has brought back my cravings or impacted my weight loss.

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I upgraded to premium so I could enter in my exact goal in grams for macros each day. I try to follow the ketogenic ratios, but honestly usually go over in carbs. The other advantage of premium is you can see which foods are highest in each macro, so when I do go way over in carbs, I can see immediately where it came from. I track every bite that I take so I find all this extra information very informative. But I also love data and am kind of a nerd about it.

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when did you guys start eating seafood, shrimp, scallops lobster is it hard to get down?

And steak too!

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I started eating scallops once I was on soft foods. I still eat them frequently because they're easy to get down and they're yummy! I'm 4 months out and still struggle with steak and shrimp. Used to like lobster, can't stand the stuff now. Fish, especially tilapia and halibut, are also frequently on the menu.

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I set my own goal to have a normal BMI. My thought is I didn't spend all this time, effort, and money to not get to my ideal size. I've been very successful in my weight loss (almost 4 months post-op and down 77 pounds, 70 or so since surgery). thus far and my surgeon sees no reason why I won't lose all my excess weight. I'm realistic and know that life happens and our bodies don't always cooperate, but I've totally shifted my thinking to becoming a normal, thin person and intend to get there. I'm not selling myself short anymore!

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I'm almost 3 months out and I still can't eat beef. chicken breast is iffy, too. I primarily eat fish. I have to be extra careful to chew thoroughly, meat getting stuck is NOT fun.

Freeze dried Edamame at Target is my new crunchy snack. It's their Simply Balanced brand and found with the other dried fruits and vegetables. I like these much better than roasted soy nuts - taste much more like steamed edamame.

I liked the flavor OK, but only if I closed my eyes. I couldn't get over the color.

My latest discovery is to use the unflavored nectar, mix one scoop with half a crystal light packet, and about 10 oz. ice and Water. I'm now able to get all my Protein & Water in everyday! I started using a SmartShake shaker and love it. Everything mixes up so much better.

You may want to ask for the liquid version at first. I tried crushing my meds and taking them with yogurt, Water, anything really, and I just couldn't get them down. The taste/texture was awful and I would just gag. Finally at 2 months out I can tolerate my meds split in half, but they do still get stuck sometimes.

Just looked at my BMI and it's 34.9. I'm no longer heavy enough to be a candidate for bariatric surgery (but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat). I will say it hasn't been easy. I still struggle getting enough liquids every day, but I can finally drink more than a teaspoon at a time without pain. I don't always get in enough Protein, especially on those days I'm running my kids all over the place. I'm trying to get back into exercise, but I haven't had much energy since surgery. But despite all that, I'm thrilled to be down almost 57 pounds.

It really is a personal thing. I'm 47 and took 3 weeks off. I really wished I'd taken 4. I was so tired and was really struggling with getting in enough fluids. I'm sure if I'd been able to drink more I wouldn't have been so exhausted. I do work a sedentary desk job, but I found it really hard to concentrate.

I ate a Power Crunch bar yesterday thinking I'd be ok with 5 grams of sugar. Nope! I didn't pass out, but I certainly had the nausea, heart racing, sweaty, crappy feeling. Passing out may be extreme, but I wouldn't say it's impossible given how crappy I felt.

This is going to sound really weird, but my bariatric nurse told me that those of us who have been carrying around all this extra weight for so long actually have heavier bones. Our bodies have adapted to be able to handle the stress. I'm not sure if I believe her yet, but I guess time will tell.

I bagged up 2 sizes of clothing to take to our local resale shop. For the first time ever I didn't hesitate thinking that I should at least keep a couple things in case I gain the weight back again. And then I dug through my box of clothes that I know I can now fit into and got rid of most of those, too. They were unattractive clothes that I bought as I was gaining weight to try and get by. No more! From now on I am only going to wear clothing that looks good and makes me feel good.

Does anyone have a source or recipe for a decent sugar free BBQ Sauce? I miss the smoky brown sugar taste and would really like to find an alternative.

I was only required to have one bottle of mag citrate and it didn't work all that well for me, either. I let the nurse know in the morning of my surgery (5:00 AM) and she said it wasn't a problem, it didn't need to be as complete as when you have a colonoscopy. Your best bet is to call your surgeon's office to make sure.

I love the Beachbody workouts, especially Cize and PiYo. I also take a weekly dance class where we do tap and hip hop. I definitely prefer the "dancier" workouts. I strained my knee a while back so I do need to wear a brace when I do Cize and hip hop, but as long as I'm careful I usually don't have any problems.

Haha thanks for writing back tapping mom. I wear a knee brace also - more like a strap. It helps stabilize things. The dancy workouts are the fun ones.

What do you think of CIZE? It looks really good - my dvd will be here Friday but my surgery is the following Monday so I won't be able to try it out until after I'm cleared.

I get a good cardio workout with Cize and Shaun T is a great instructor. I haven't been quite up to doing it yet post-op (I'm about 6 weeks), but I'm hoping to this week. It definitely kicks my butt!

I love the Beachbody workouts, especially Cize and PiYo. I also take a weekly dance class where we do tap and hip hop. I definitely prefer the "dancier" workouts. I strained my knee a while back so I do need to wear a brace when I do Cize and hip hop, but as long as I'm careful I usually don't have any problems.

Are you going through UHC's bariatric services via Optum? My psych evaluation was one of the very first things that I had to have done prior to really even starting the process with my Center of Excellence. Once all my stuff was submitted to UHC I was approved in about 10 days. I was in close contact with both my Bariatric Nurse Advocate at UHC as well as my coordinator at the clinic during the submission process.

I went through Park Nicollet for my RNY and was overall happy with the experience. One drawback for me was that they were down to a single surgeon, Dr. Jones, for a few months and this drastically slowed down the process. I called to make my initial appointment in late April, didn't have my first appointment until the end of June. My surgery was submitted to insurance on September 6th, didn't get my pre-surgery consult until October28th, and my surgery not until December 12th. However, the end of the year is really busy surgery-wise due to everyone wanting to get their claims in before the end of the year. Dr. Jones was great and actually did my surgery on a Saturday for that very reason. They have since hired a new surgeon (who is also great by the way, I met him on rounds while I was in the hospital post-op) and I would expect the process to be back up to a more reasonable speed by now.

Other than that my experience has been great. The bariatric nurses you see have all been through the surgery and know what you're going through. The patient materials you get are very thorough and explain their approach to the process step by step. All of your appointments are at the Meadowbrook building attached to Methodist Hospital so it's all convenient.

My surgery and hospital stay went well. The OR staff were fabulous and went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. Methodist has nearly all private rooms now, and mine was at the end of the hall so it was pretty quiet. They all took good care of me.

Doctors don't make money off you being on a liquid diet. There are sound medical reasons to stick to that diet pre-op, primarily to shrink your liver so the surgery can safely be performed. Honestly, my pre-op liquid diet was a breeze. The POST-OP clear liquid diet for a week, then followed by another week of full liquids, then another 2 weeks of purées - now that's the tough part. If you really feel like you won't be able to make it through the pre-op diet, you probably aren't ready for the surgery.

Be sure to check with your insurance yourself and don't rely solely on what your surgeon's office says are your requirements. My office insisted that I needed 6 months of a supervised diet, but when I spoke to my insurance that wasn't the case. I have a fairly standard policy, but my company added a specific set of requirements.

Try using yogurt instead of Water, helps mask the awful taste.

If you don't mind me asking how did you get the Constipation resolved? How did you find out that's what it was due to?

I knew I was starting to get dehydrated so I really tried to sip as much as I could as I didn't want to end up back in the hospital. I also took Miralax and walked as much as I could. My nurse explained that since our stomachs are now so small that being constipated puts extra pressure on the stomach. Once I got that resolved, there was more room for the Water to get through and it's been more comfortable to drink. I still have to work at it, but at least I'm not so dehydrated anymore.

I'm not quite as far along as you, but I don't have an appetite either, and I don't expect I'll have one for quite some time. I have set reminders on my phone to alert me when I need to eat, drink, and take supplements. I make sure to eat what I've planned, not necessarily the full serving amount, but until I recognize that I'm full. I've tried a variety of Protein supplements to keep from getting bored - right now I'm using the hot chocolate from the Bariatric Pal Store, Isopure, Proti-15 drink, and Premier Protein chocolate ready to drink. Basically I look at eating and drinking as a prescription from my doctor that I have to take as scheduled or I'll face some dire consequences.

I was having the exact same problem. The only thing I could remotely get down was hot tea, but that was even iffy. I talked to my nurse and lo and behold it was Constipation. Once I got that resolved, drinking has been SO MUCH easier. Not gulps, but I was actually able to get down 40 oz. yesterday, that's a first since surgery.