catwoman7

I wouldn't double my workout. That's a pretty substantial change. Just make changes (if they're even warranted, which they might not be. I like the advice above that if you're eating to plan, you're good. If you're not, then get back to eating to plan) - anyway, if you're going to make changes, esp if they're warranted, then make ones you can live with long term. Yes - I could get back to my lowest weight - 138 lbs. But that would mean substantially cutting my current calorie level and/or really beefing up my fitness routine. Am I willing to do that, possibly permanently? I wrestled with this for a long time and finally decided no, it's too much of a struggle for me. My body seems to want to be where it's currently at. And I'm OK where I am. But it took me awhile to get to that point mentally. nevertheless, if you're eating according to plan, you may not be done losing. Those last 20 lbs are so are notoriously tough to get off. Remember I said I had months near the end where I was only losing 1-2 lbs a month, despite working pretty hard at it.

there are mixed feelings about pouch resets. Many say they don't really work, and also, they reinforce "diet mentality". Probably better to either wait it out, or else maybe drop your calories by 100 or so and beef up your activity. Arabesque is correct, those last few pounds are a BEAR to get off. I got to my goal, but it took me 20 months. After the one year mark, my loss slowed down to a crawl - there were months I only lost a pound or two. But I just kept at it. She's also right in that stalls are a part of weight loss. There were so many times during year 2 that I thought "well, this must be it...", and then a couple weeks later I'd drop another pound. Frustrating, yep - but that's the way weight loss works!

I was told to just walk for the first four weeks. At the four week mark, they said I could do anything but weights. I was allowed to use weights (strength train) at eight weeks out. I followed those guidelines.

I doubt it. Some surgeons don't even require pre-op diets (other than water-only fasting for 12-24 hours right before surgery). That said, just put it behind you and follow your clinic's directions from here on out. It's only day 2 - you still have 12 days left.

yep - agree with the others. We don't absorb vitamins as well as "normies" do, and we need more of certain vitamins than what typically comes in a multivitamin. In addition, I don't think I've ever seen a multi that has calcium citrate in it. They usually have calcium carbonate, which we don't absorb very well. We're supposed to take calcium citrate. you can ask your surgeon about their requirements, or check this list from the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (I'm guessing a lot of surgeons use this list). You have to scroll down a bit to get to the requirements. They have them for each type of surgery: ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

you'll be able to eat almost anything (including an occasional piece of cake) at some point- it's really just these first few months when you have restrictions. All of my restrictions were dropped at the six-month mark. I eat a lot less than I used to eat (c. 1600 calories a day vs. probably 3000+), but there really isn't anything I can't eat - including, as I said, the occasional piece of birthday cake! So you'll be in a very different spot on your next birthday.

I haven't had any since my surgery eight years ago, but the PA at my clinic said it was OK to use it very occasionally - for rare situations like the one you have - bad headache that Tylenol isn't touching at all. But if you're a bypass patient, you can't use it regularly (our clinic told the sleeve people the same thing - although I know some surgeons are a little less rigid with sleeve patients)

yep - most likely the IV fluids. Especially if you've been eating hardly anything. I wouldn't worry about it - that extra water will all work its way out of your system in a few days. if it's bothering you, stay off the scale for a few days. By the time you get back on, it should be gone.

yes - very common. Mine is always over 1000, and has always been met with a shrug. It was once over 2000, and I was just told to cut down on my supplement. I know several people who've had WLS who swear they feel better when their B12 is over 1000. So...don't freak out - it seems to be fairly normal. Your doctor will let you know if he/she thinks it's a problem, and at most they'll recommend cutting down on your supplement.

I think I was closer to six months out before I could eat them. Baby carrots still occasionally irritate my stomach, and I'm over eight years out.

I agree with the others. Plus this is the time to really work on healthier eating habits. That's not to say you can never have those things again (because you can, at least occasionally), but really use these first few months when you're not as burdened by hunger to "upgrade" your eating habits. It'll pay off big in the end - plus healthy food choices are good for so many things, not just weight loss.

never tried this (and not sure I've ever seen it), but I like the name!

I had my surgery several years ago, but we were told not to count calories, either - just to make sure we were hitting our protein and fluid requirements. that said, I ate around 800 calories/day from about 3-8 months out. Then I was up around 1000 until around the year mark - and maybe 1200 or so after that. Once I hit my goal, I experimented for awhile to figure out what I needed to eat to maintain my weight. That's around 1600 calories for me, unless I'm doing a lot of heavy exercising.

I agree with summerseeker. I was already post-menopausal when I had my surgery so the period changes didn't affect me, but I read on here all the time about screwed up periods and mood swings during the first few weeks or months after surgery. It eventually all settles back down and regulates. But yes - it's supposedly due to the estrogen in your fat cells being released during the rapid weight loss phase. I had very little hair loss (not enough for anyone to notice) which occurred during months 5-9. It does happen to most of us. It can range from none at all to lots of shedding - although not like it does to chemo patients. It may or may not be noticeable to others. I almost never hear about people having to get wigs. At most, those with noticeable loss usually get short cuts so it's not as noticeable. Although again, you may not lose any at all or lose very little. And there's really nothing you can do about it. As mentioned above, it's already dead, and the shock of surgery (plus the fact we take in very few calories the first few weeks and months) is just speeding up the normal growth/shedding cycle. your weight loss is going to naturally slow as you get closer and closer to your goal. In fact, those last few pounds can be a BEAR to get off. For some of us, the loss stops naturally. But if you're wanting yours to stop and it doesn't seem to be doing it on its own, you can always increase your calorie intake to stop it. Keep in mind that it's very common to gain 10-20 lbs after hitting your lowest weight, so you might want to factor that in. I intentionally went below my goal a bit to account for that. And also, it's more common to not quite reach your goal than to lose too much, so stopping the loss usually isn't an issue for many of us. But again - if you're in the situation where you need to stop it, it's just a matter of increasing your calorie intake.

I used to think all broth was bone broth (since I always thought you made broth by boiling (and then simmering) bones and vegetables in a big pot for a long time, and then straining off the liquid (i.e., the broth)), but now I guess that's called "bone broth", because there's marrow left in the broth after you remove the veggies and bones. So evidently with "not-bone-broth", they don't throw the bones in the pot with it? I didn't even know you could make broth that way, but apparently so. But anyway, yes - that would be bone broth. Your grandmother's homemade broth would have been called "bone broth" today, but evidently the broth you get in the store is not unless it specifically says "bone broth" on the box or can. and yes on the Jello question, although we could only have the sugar free kind.

yea B1 really stinks. I get mine in capsule form because of that - I couldn't deal with the tablets. The capsules don't really smell. (I take B-complex since the brand I take has all the vitamin B1 we were required to take. This is the brand I take (see link below), but there are undoubtedly others that come in capsule form (this one says "serving size" is 2 capsules, but one capsule has everything we need, so that's all I take. Any extra vitamin B you take comes out a few hours later in your urine, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to take more than you need https://tinyurl.com/245a59nu

P.S. I just realized that by "accident" you mean #2. I don't think that's very common. We hear about it occasionally on here, but I don't think that happens to most people. Or at least, I rarely see any posts about that. Chronic constipation is a lot. more common.

OP - 1) the above commenter is correct about nerves not being healed yet. 2). liquids go right through you, so you're not going to feel full on those, healed or not. You'll start feeling some restriction once you move to solid foods.

It's been several years for me. I've never had an "accident" (either during the pre-surgery diet - or after), but I'm sure I was probably using the bathroom more than usual since I was drinking a lot. I would just get enough shakes for a week or so for now, because a lot of people's tastes change and shakes they were OK with before surgery they can't tolerate after. You don't want to be stuck with a bunch of protein powder or shakes (because you're right, they're not cheap) that you can't tolerate after your surgery. we had to drink only shakes that were 100% whey protein isolate the first couple of months - I don't know if they sell powders like that at Walmart or Target, but you can probably get them through Amazon (there are no pre-made shakes that are 100% whey protein isolate). However, not all surgeons require 100% whey protein isolate shakes - some are fine with blends. So if yours is OK with blends, then you should be able to find them at any of those places you mentioned.

it's hard to say how much you're actually burning that doesn't include sedentary/resting etc. I think Fitbits (and other trackers) give you a general idea, but they're not super accurate. And how many calories you burn in an hour depend on how much you weigh, your metabolic rate, what you're doing, and your intensity. I've been tracking my calories like a hawk for years, so I think the 300 kcal an hour I seem to be getting from fairly intense cardio is probably in the right ballpark. It takes about 1600 kcal a day for me to maintain my current weight, but if I'm exercising a lot during any given week (about an hour a day), I can eat up to 1900-ish without my weight starting to head up (of course, you have to take into account normal weight fluctuations, too - but at any rate, I do seem to be able to increase my calories by up to 300 or so if I'm doing a lot of cardio). also, the person who said that over the long run, strength training will increase your metabolism is correct. The more muscular you are, the more calories. you'll burn even at rest. So strength training by itself doesn't burn all that many calories, but over time, it'll boost your metabolic rate.

SomeBigGuy is absolutely correct. I remember sitting in Weight Watchers meetings before I had surgery, rolling my eyes (at least to myself) at these barely overweight women moan and complain about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs. And here I was, 200+ lbs overweight. But now I totally get it!! The closer you are to normal weight, the harder it gets to lose even 10 lbs - when pre-surgery I probably could have dropped that in a week or two! But it all comes down to percentages - and how close your normal calorie intake is to your normal calorie expenditure (which at normal weight, is pretty much even). You still have a ways to go, but those percentages have changed - so you'll lose the weight as long as you stick to your plan, but it's going to take longer to lose the same number of pounds that you could have lost when you weighed 300+ lbs. But keep at it - it WILL come off!!

WOW!! A huge congratulations!! Your life has really taken off these last few months - this is fantastic!!!

just wanted to add that strength training doesn't burn many calories (although it's great for your muscles!). Cardio does burn calories, but you have to do a lot of it to really torch them. At my current weight, it takes about an hour of fairly intense cardio (biking, Zumba) for me to burn just 300 calories (although I agree with the others that the calorie counters and machines as well as fitness "watches" are really just estimates)

weight loss does slow down the further out you go. There were some months after the one year mark that I only lost one or two pounds. BUT...it kept going, and finally stopped at 20 months out. So it's likely you're not done losing yet.

there may be no info on it because it could be that no one has researched it. However, I've never had an issue with prescriptions. I know we're not supposed to take extended release versions of pills, and I know some people have to switch or increase their dosage of some meds (e.g. antidepressants), but I've never run into any of this with any of the prescriptions I've had. I've just taken them using the general instructions.. Also, you're far enough out that you shouldn't have to crush pills. I haven't crushed pills in years - I've been able to take everything whole ever since about my third week post-op.