OutsideMatchInside

Nut butters are very calorie dense and the protein is basically equal to the carbs. Unlesa you very accurately track them you can consume a lot of calories with them and trigger zero restriction. So if you add them to your diet, be careful.

@sydneyjonno When you eat do you eat dense protein first, alone by itself then eat your other food if you have room? I find that eating protein alone is very filling. If i eat it with other food it is not as filling and I can eat 2x as much almost. You could try eating your protein. Then an hour or 2 later eating vegetables. I very rarely have physical hunger but I had to learn to reach my goals, it is okay to be hungry some of the time. Good luck

Yeah it wasn't muscles for me, they healed in a fairly normal time period. It was something else below the muscle. The pains never lasted long and were never super intense.

i randomly had pain on my left side for months. I assumed it nerves reconnecting. I has been a while so the memories are fuzzy but I am going to say at least 6 to 9 months

@sydneyjonno I'm not judging, you but what is going to be different after this surgery? Do you have a therapist to talk to about your eating? Do you have your metabolism and body composition tested? You realize even with your over stitch, eventually you will be able to eat more. What is going to stop you from eating more? Portion control is supposed to come with weighing and portioning your food before you eat it, not your surgery. I will never know if I can eat 2 cups of food simple because I never put 2 cups of food in front of myself. I eat my doctor recommended portions, 4 to 6 ounces of dense protein. You still have to use will power after surgery. You will always be able to graze, nothing is going to stop you from grazing (that is what eating 30 minutes after you have previously eaten is). I'm not discouraging you or judging you at all, but you could probably benefit from a more comprehensive solution than just surgery. After this you will really be at the end of the road with surgery, unless you have more of your intestine bypassed. What is your solution to your food issues beyond surgery?

Have better friends and associates? Like I seriously don't get these comments from people that know me. People will good manners and home training wouldn't talk to you like that. People just tell me I look good, nice, beautiful, whatever. When you make a big change in your life, you get to see what people are really like and how much they really love you if at all. I am on like my 3rd major life change, so I braced myself for possible issues this time, but it didn't happen because previously I already thinned the herd of the people that don't want the best for me or are in general trash.

Hopefully one of the guys chimes in but... If I were you, I would set my protein higher, at around 100 grams and get that protein all from real food, not protein shakes. And I would weigh all my food, unless you are weighting your food you do not really know how much you are consuming.

I have a schedule provided by my Dr. Basically taking things 2 hours apart. Vitamins really shouldn't make you feel sick, if they do, try a different brand.

Some people are just super responders and lose more. Are you weighing all your food and tracking it in an app? Are you sure your calorie count is accurate? How many grams of protein are you consuming in a day?

@smadams What state do you live in? A lot of states do no consider bariatric surgery a necessity so no marketplace plans will cover it either. Good luck if you live in a red state.

They start an IV as soon as they get you changed. Almost any time you are checked into a hospital they start an IV right away so they can administer meds to you as needed. Like the other poster said, they run a lot of tests. They check your blood type. They drug you so you don't freak out. By the time you are in the operating room, you are already all the way zoned out. You are awake but very mellow and chilled out. I want to say they give you xanax and some other stuff.

I never did purees. I'm texture sensitive and just the thought makes me want to hurl. I did liquids longer, skipped purees, and went to soft foods. There is nothing wrong with not advancing your stages if you are not ready. Just make sure you getting enough protein and liquids in.

Higher calorie protein bars? http://www.gnc.com/meal-replacement-bars-boxes/507501.html?product_id=507501&flagtype=nonbrand&vendor=none&channel=ppc&adpos=1o2&creative=189757865641&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQjwwLHLBRDEq9DQxK2I_p8BEiQA3UDVDvDgvHdsBwquTte8fh76qmbvYQf11QfrW4wOsFoHq4MaAjgq8P8HAQ I use these when I am burning a ton of calories because there is no way I can consume enough calories otherwise.

I can't imagine having a baby pushing on my stomach. If my bra is in the wrong position and the underwire is sitting on my rib cage in just the right position, I can get heartburn or have issues eating, Are you drinking protein shakes? You might need to have a few during the day to up your calories. They will also coat your stomach and help a little with the heartburn. What do the Drs say? How many calories are you getting in a day?

Bamboo tea is awesome. My friend that has waist length hair drinks it every day. Unfortunately if you are losing hair due to surgery and/or dropping weight fast. Nothing is going to stop is from falling out. All you can do is combat it by promoting fast growth. That means keeping your protein high, exceeding your protein goals and taking all your vitamins. Keeping your iron, vitamin d and zinc up are the vitamins you need to concerned with. Despite what people say biotin is kind of useless. Try using henna in your hair, it will make the stands look fuller. I lost a lot of hair but it was worth it. I also lost a lot of weight. The hair is coming back but the weight is not. My hair loss didn't stop until my weight loss slowed down to normal people levels.

Are you hypoglycemic?

Caffeine and coffee do not dehydrate. The only reason to avoid coffee post-op really is the acid. Anyway, I forgot about Syntrax. It has been a long time since I had a protein shake. I think Syntrax are the best immediately post-op. They are thin like water, mix super easy and you can sip on them all day like water. There are a lot of flavors. I like the Cappuccino lemonade and Caribbean cooler.

@SusieQ_RN How are you meeting your protein goals in a 4 hour window? I think intermittent fasting is great for learning discipline, but long term I think only 12:12 or 16:8 are sustainable. Go as long as you can at 20:4 then back it off to something less drastic. Also the best way to be full and fight hunger is to eat dense protein first, alone then eat the other stuff.

I used protein shakes before surgery so I kept using the same ones I used before. I like the Premier pre-made shakes. I hate protein powder because it is just a pain, the exception being the unflavored which is great in broth. The chicken soup Unjury is nice too but it has a really high sodium content.

Early on taking a stool softener every day helps.

Have you called your Dr? 10-12 days is NOT normal.

Try using Henna. It will tint your hair and it will thicken it. Well make the individual strands seem thicker.

I would go RNY if I were you. And also get a 2nd opinion on the Barrett's and GERD.

Today I am 24 month, 2 years post-op. I just went back today to read what I posed a year ago. At that time I was super happy with my weight loss at the time. 4 months later I was not as thrilled with my weight loss. I was fairly miserable and in the middle of a complete identity crisis. Now 8 months later I feel a lot better about everything. At this point I am pretty scared about long term success because there is so little support for long term “successful” WLS patients. If you are regaining or never reached goal that is a lot of support but if you are “successful”, it is mostly a pat on the head and “keep doing what you are doing”. The change from being super morbidly obese to being a “normal” size and under 200 pounds has been very mentally taxing. Like I said there is little support for it. There is little support in the bariatric community because most people never do it and there is virtually no support outside of it because it is a real rarity. I spent a lot of time and money trying to find a therapist that could help and there are basically zero with any experience, so I was left on my own to find my own plan to work it. Which luckily I was able to do. Everyone, even medical professionals (perhaps especially medical professionals) seem to think losing weight solves all your problems and that is really not the case at all. Losing created all kinds of new problems for me that I never even knew existed. Weight at 1 year post-op 231 Weight at 2 years post-op 186 If I was just going by the scale as a measurement, I would be disappointed right now because I have only lost 45 pounds in the past year and I wanted to be down 50 by now. I stopped eating for weight loss about 5 months ago, and while I am not necessarily trying to eat for maintenance, I am not eating to lose either. In that time period I have still managed to lose 10 pounds. The goal right now is to lose another 15 pounds total over the next year, and hopefully lose another 5 pounds before the end of the year. I could lose it faster if I tried but it is better for my mental health to stay weight stable. Physically I am already at a size I like. 8/10 is pretty perfect for my height/frame. I am pretty sure with skin removal I will be a 4/6. I have lost a lot of inches, and more interestingly my body shape has changed and adjusted a lot. I have a 34 band and I don’t even think my band size was that small in HS. I can’t ever recall buying anything with a 34 band, so that a huge shock, NSV for me. Last fall I really wanted skin removal surgery very badly. Now I see that would have been a tremendous mistake. The surgeries I would have picked last year and the results would have been lackluster. I definitely see the advantage of waiting for plastic surgery. Your skin, fat, body distribution changes. The body is amazing thing and watch it repair and rebuild itself is amazing to witness. I always took a lot of pictures of myself. I have never been camera shy even at my heaviest. Now I take multiple pictures a day as a way to become accustomed to how I look. Pictures and my clothing sizes are my size validation. My face is so different now, the shape is totally different. It has gone from round to square, which requires different makeup application and accessories. Inch loss I have lost 65.5 inches total since last year Difference Bust (fullest part of bust): 6 Pecs (just above the bust line): 4 Ribs (top of rib cage just below the bust) : 5.5 Waist: 10 Abdomen: 5 Hips: 8 Right Upper Thigh: 4 Right Lower Thigh: 4 Left Upper Thigh: 4 Left Lower Thigh: 4 Right Calf: 2.5 Left Calf: 2.5 Right Upper Arm: 3 Left Upper Arm: 3 Totals 65.5 I have so many NSV almost daily it is impossible to list them all. I appreciate the wonder and amazement of what I can do now. In some ways I look forward to when this is more normalized but I kind of hope it never is so I don’t forget. I love my new sports car, I worked hard for it, and I look great in it. I would have never been able to fit in it comfortably before or get in and out of easily. My lap dog really enjoys my lap now that I really have one. I can fit anywhere and shop anywhere. My total losses HW 377 SW 358 CW 186 Size 28/30 at Surgery Currently 8/10 Measurements Difference Bust (fullest part of bust): 26 Pecs (just above the bust line): 19 Ribs (top of rib cage just below the bust) : 26.5 Waist: 35.5 Abdomen: 28 Hips: 25 Right Upper Thigh: 12.5 Right Lower Thigh: 13.5 Left Upper Thigh: 12 Left Lower Thigh: 12.5 Right Calf: 4 Left Calf: 4.25 Right Upper Arm: 9 Left Upper Arm: 8.5 Totals 236.25

I mean it is really fun to be able to shop anywhere. Like on vacation this summer I bought a one size fits all skirt from a festival and it fit me fine, and I didn't even try it on before I bought it. I just got a cute little peasant skirt. That was a really fun purchase. When you are plus size you have a few stores to shop at and the sizing and cuts are all pretty similar and standardized. The variations in normal sizes are really maddening. I used to be able to just look at clothes and know they would fit and I don't normally have that luxury anymore. I almost always have to try things on. Recently like in the past 2 months I have got to the point I can look at things and know if they will fit and now I have enough brands I know well. Also rapidly changing sizes made me crazy. Something would fit one week and not the next. I lived with 18 months of constant changes and flux. It creates a lot of instability. It isn't fun while changing, but once you get stable it is a lot of fun.