goblue9280

@@toasty @@Dub Thanks guys, appreciate the support and advice. Baby steps for me right now. I've been taking a mid-day walk at work for the past two weeks. Only 20 minutes or so, but it's a start. Hope to dust off my bicycle in the next few weeks when given the green light from my doctor... it'll be good to go riding with the kids again. I'm not sure when I can start weight training, but I already have a bench and a set of powerblock adjustable dumbbells from years ago. So I'm not sure how I will start... either in the gym with a trainer to get me going, or see if I can get a trainer to come to my house and set up an at home program. Regardless, I'm sure I'm a few weeks away from that as I was instructed to wait 6 weeks to lift anything over 10 pounds. One of the main things I was trying to research regarding lean muscle growth after gastric bypass was how to get in enough protein/calories to build the muscle. My lower body is plenty strong, so as long as I can maintain that I should be good. However, I know I need to build muscle mass in my upper body. Not looking to be a body builder, but I'd like some definition and overall better strength.

Hello, 35/male from Houston, TX. I've been in Houston for about 8 years now, originally from Michigan. My wife and I met in high school, both went to UofMichigan and have 4 kids (2 boys, 2 girls) ages 6,7,11 and 13. I had gastric bypass on October 1st after decades of struggles with my weight. I have been doing well thus far. I decided to pay for a VIP membership as a way of giving back to this site. I found this site as I was still deciding on surgery. This site got me through all of my initial questions, got me through the pre-op diet and all my fears regarding surgery. I'm very optimistic that this site will also see me through the 200+ pounds I intend to lose. Safe to say I wouldn't be where I am without this site and all of the great people contributing!

Love me some hummus right now... have a little every day, but I try not to go overboard as I know the store bought ones have a decent amount of fat/oil. I haven't had any issues, started with sabra classic and the thickness was fine for me in the pureed stage. Kroger had some tubs of Tribe Swirl on sal for $1.99 last week, so I picked up a roasted red pepper, a salsa and a siracha. The texture seems a bit thinner than the sabra, but the taste is great. My wife buys a edamame hummus (it's green) that I tried, and enjoyed it as well. It had some sesame seeds on top, so I just avoided those. I assume the spinach/artichoke is pretty soft in the hummus? I'd probably try it slowly and make sure it agrees.

I had my surgery on Oct 1st and I was absolutely terrified of going under... it was my biggest fear. Like you, I'd never had surgery with general anesthesia. I was worried that I would wake up during the surgery or even worse, never wake up. I had an awful time sleeping the night before. My stomach was in knots all the way to the hospital at 5am, and then waiting to go back for prep. My wife stayed with me all the way until they rolled me to the operating room. When she broke off to go to the waiting room, I had tears, I was a mess. I got to the operating room and I'm sure they saw the fear in my eyes. They had me get on the table, strapped my arms out to form a T, and put some monitors on. The anesthesiologist (who was not the one that came by and met me an hour earlier) never said anything to me until she said "I'm giving you some medicine now" at the same time the nurse had a mask over my mouth and said to breath... and that was all I remember. Next thing I know I'm waking up in the recovery room, completely at ease. I know where you are... before surgery, I laid my fear out on here just like you. It definitely helped to get everything out, and it was awesome to read the responses from everyone that it would be ok. Knowing where you are, I understand there isn't much I can say to put your mind at ease. You are going to be scared, and that's ok, but don't cancel your surgery over it. Roll with the fear and I promise you'll be laughing about it the week after surgery.

I always like cream of wheat as a kid with plenty of brown sugar. Has anyone tried the splenda brown sugar substitute... is it any good?

One other thing I was thinking off. If you go the mountain bike route, check with your local bike shop on which bikes have a lockout on the front shock. Many do, and this will allow you to ride the bike like a rigid until your weight comes down and then you can use the front shock as intended.

What is your budget for a bike? A few years ago, I went out and bought a bike to start riding for weight loss. I went to a bunch of bike forums for suggestions. Most will have a forum called "clydesdales" for big and tall guys/girls. They can set you down the right path. A couple recommendations, don't go cheap. You are not going to find a bike that will last at walmart. If going the mountain bike route, look for a fully rigid bike, i.e. one that doesn't have any shocks. Keeping your wheels/spokes well maintained is a must. At our size, we'll put a wheel out of true or bust spokes rather easily. If you have the budget for an upgrade on a bike, buying a beefer wheelset is probably the first thing you'll want to do and maybe a brake upgrade. I ended up getting a redline D440 mountain bike after some recommendations a few years ago. It's a fully rigid mountain bike, cro-moly steel frame that has held up well... but I haven't used it in 2 years. Hoping once cleared, I'll start riding again.

Hasn't been an issue for me. Been eating a lot of the goya refried black Beans and they are super soft out of the microwave. They also purée really well which takes care of the skin.

I was pureeing the beans and chili, but my surgeon has moved me to soft foods already so now I just chew them very well. When I moved to purée, first thing I went out and bought were some cans of refried beans... Added a little water and a slash of hot sauce and they were the most amazing thing ever!

I'm just over 2 weeks out and I've been on a pretty regular schedule. My daily diet is usually something like this: Breakfast - premier Protein shake lunch (noon to 1) - 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Beans or chili with a tablespoon of reduced fat shredded cheese. Snack - half a yogurt dinner - 1/3 to 1/2 cup beans or chili, or tuna salad Snack - other half of yogurt or another serving of beans I buy little disposable tasting spoons from Kroger and use those to eat. I will also add a tablespoon or so of hummus to a meal/snack when I feel like it. I get a bit of hunger/craving every now and then but it's nothing like the hunger is have while dieting pre-surgery. I also find I stay satiated longer than I ever did pre surgery.

2nd the Oikos triple zero recommendation... that stuff is delicious. I've never been a fan of greek-style yogurt before, but for some reason I love this stuff. Been eating a half of container for a snack just about every day.

I can with near 100% certainty, guarantee that you will try food again, lol. Hang in there. Probably just a too bit thick for you... thin it out more with skim milk.

Was on two BP medicines, came home off of both but on the first day home, my BP started creeping up and I got that feeling like when I would forget to take my meds... heart beating hard/fast. So I'm back on the atenolol for now and will continue to monitor my BP. I'm ok with it though as I'm sure I'll eventually come off of it as I continue to lose weight... as you will too!

I was terrified that first week after surgery that something wasn't right because I seemed to still have hunger/cravings. I was also having little issues introducing foods, and could eat 1/4 cup no issues starting around day 3 post-op. Today marks 2-weeks since surgery and for the most part the cravings/hunger have subsided. I still have not pushed to find my limit of how much I can eat, but I'm starting to recognize a sensation of "fullness". I think what I was experiencing that first week was primarily head hunger, and I'm slowly retraining my brain on filtering it out. The cravings have started to disappear, though I still find I have a bit more of an appetite in the evenings like before surgery.

Yes and no it changed for me. My temper shortened during the 2-week all liquid pre-op diet. I flubbed the first couple days due to traveling for work, but hit the diet hard the 10 days leading to surgery. No doubt about it, it's flipping HARD! Your frustration, temper, mood swings are all understandable. As I got closer to the surgery date, I became so focused on the surgery itself, that I feel like things mellowed out a bit. My advice: try to focus on why you are doing this, lean on your family, and come around here to vent as much as you need!

Had surgery on a Thursday... Fri/Sat at home were awful. Felt bloated and like I had been kicked in the stomach a bunch. Sunday/Monday I felt much better and no longer needed any pain meds. Tuesday I felt pretty much normal and went back to work on Wednesday for about 6 hours (desk job.) You'll start feeling better pretty soon, so hang in there!

Test often, if you get that feeling of your blood sugar getting low, test it and you may need to drink some skim milk to bump it up. I was on Lantus and glimepiride, but did not have my glucose levels under control in the months before surgery. I was on a two week pre-op liquid diet with Protein shakes. My blood glucose levels started going down immediately. I would test first thing in the morning and also around meal time. I ended up dropping the lantus completely and cutting back my glimepiride leading to surgery. My glucose levels were generally between 150 and 175 during this time. After surgery, my surgeon told me to follow up with my PCP and to stop taking the glimepiride. My blood sugar crept up a bit, so I reintroduced a small dose of the glimepiride (1/4 of the dose I was taking before) and my blood sugar levels have been right around 150. I anticipate they will continue to drop as I lose weight, and I should be able to come off of it completely in the next few months. I was also very worried about my glucose levels, but with regular testing it was pretty easy to adjust my medication. I'm sure you'll find it easier than you think.

I told my parents and of course my wife and kids knew... the only other person that knew was a close friend who got the sleeve last year and has lost 100+ pounds. I told work I was going to be having surgery, but never told them what and they never asked. Grandparents and brothers found out the week of surgery, and called and were all very supportive. Since the surgery, I've slowly let friends know. Again, they all know how I've struggled with weight, and are all supportive. "Easy way out" pisses me off like nothing else. My buddy that got sleeved would tell people when they asked how he was losing so much weight "I took the easy way and had my stomach stapled." I gave him so much sh!t the past couple weeks for those statements, lol. Nothing easy about this. Liquid diet for 2 weeks pre-op, surgery and feeling like you've been kicked in the stomach 100 times, the regimental post-op diet, cutting out all sweets and carbonated beverages. You can't go into this thinking it's the easy way out and be successful, and many outsiders don't get that.

So my surgery is scheduled for October 1st, and my surgeon put me on a 2-week liquid diet starting this past Friday. I'm suppose to drink 3-5 Bariatric Advantage shakes a day and drink 72-96 ounces of Water. I made it through Friday fine but by Friday night I was having uncontrollable diarrhea to the point where I barely slept and had 2 accidents in the middle of the night. Saturday and Sunday I was travelling and in long meeting both days, so I did not follow the liquid diet... but did eat healthy (lean Protein, salads, veggies, etc.) I'm back on the liquid diet today and have only managed to drink one of my shakes because they completely disgust me. The smell of the powder by itself makes me want to throw up. I'm at the point where I'd rather not eat anything than drink another shake. Two questions: 1. Anyone know of anything I can do to get rid of the diarrhea, or will it simply go away after a few days? I'm choke down the shakes if I have to, but the thought of spending two weeks in the bathroom makes it harder to drink. 2. Is 96 ounces of water a hard upper limit? Is there any reason to limit the amount of water I drink right now?

I would use skim or almond milk. I tried using my blendtec blender, but it was awful... way too foamy. So I used the shaker for the remainder of my pre-op diet. Every now and then it'd come out pretty smooth... but other times too foamy. I never got the hang of it. One thing that seemed to help was to get it as cold as possible, seemed to go down easier. So maybe try shaking it up and then putting it back in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. I haven't used the BA powder since surgery. I've been drinking the premier Protein ready to drink shakes which have a much better taste with no aftertaste. One note though, the BA protein uses 100% whey isolate while the Premier Protein uses a protein blend with whey concentrate as the third ingredient. You can research the differences between protein's, but generally, whey isolate is considered a higher quality protein and may be better absorbed. In the end, I decided I'd be miserable using the BA, so better to drink the Premier Protein than nothing at all.

I've dealt with anxiety issues for years. Also ended up in the ER a couple of times. Haven taken paxil for a number of years, which I just found out from my surgeon isn't the best because it can increase hunger. I would often stress about left side pain like you describe. Sometimes feel like a quick stop, and then almost like I catch my breath... but EKG's blood work always come out normal. Anyhow, I have not any major issues since surgery (but it has only been 12 days.) Before surgery, during my endoscopy I found out I'm a GERD sufferer, and (although the biopsy came back negative) it looked like Barrett's esophagus. I've been on nexium since then, and it has me wondering if some of the weird pains I was experiencing in the past were actually GERD related.

@@Sande Also wanted to congratulate you on the big accomplishment of quitting!

This has been how my diet has gone the past couple days. I bought a few cans of hormel turkey chili with Beans and Goya refried black beans. I blend each with a little Water and hot sauce into a nice smooth liquid. I then divide each can into 4 small containers... so I have 4 servings of chili and 4 of black beans. I found each makes around 1/3 of a cup (not the 1/2 cup I thought I was eating per the label.) I can eat one of those servings no problem without feeling full. Yesterday my day went like this: breakfast: 2 tablespoons of hummus sipped a premier Protein rtd chocolate shake over the course of the am lunch: serving of pureed black beans w a small sprinkle reduced fat cheese (1 tblspoon)dinner: serving of pureed turkey chili w a small sprinkle reduced fat cheese (1 tblspoon)snack: half of a oikos triple zero greek yogurt a tablespoon or 2 of hummus Had no issues with any of these foods... did not feel overly full after any of it. Got in 60+ grams of protein and 600 or so calories which is what my Dr wants. Also took my Vitamins and had no issues swallowing those, including the large BA multi-Vitamin with Iron.

So I'm 6 days post-op (Oct 1st) and doing great. Went home around noon on Oct 2nd, felt awful the first few days home, but today and yesterday have been great. Went back to work today feeling physically normal. My concern right now is regarding hunger and fullness. I had my first post-op appointment yesterday and was placed on a stage 2 (pureed) diet. I've read through a lot of posts on this forum, and most talk about being physically unable to eat more than a couple tablespoons for the first few weeks even months post-op. They also talk about having zero hunger/cravings. I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I'm already able to eat in one sitting a 1/2 cup serving of either pureed black Beans, greek yogurt, or hummus etc without feeling overly full. I don't know what my limiting capacity is, as I have not pushed beyond the 1/2 cup yet. I'm also finding that my hunger/cravings are returning. Yes, a lot of it could just be mental hunger, but I swear some of it is my body telling me I need to eat more. Am i being overly paranoid? My doctor did not seem concerned that I'm able to eat 1/2 cup of food right now, but it seems like I'm abnormal compared to most on this forum.

@@Cervidae Helps a lot, thank you for the feedback and advice. This forum has been an incredible tool!