Diana_in_Philly

Look in the baby section of the store. I remember having one of those when my girls were about 6 months old and starting on solid foods. Walmart has this one. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lansinoh-mOmma-Warm-Plate-BPA-Free/20216240

Breathe deep. Your body is healing. It's going to take 6-8 weeks for your body to heal from the surgery. You had IV fluids and it can take at least a week for those to work their way out of your system. It's so east to step on that scale every day, but take a day off. Follow your plan. If you are on clear liquids - do it. If it's full liquids, do it. You need to take some deep breaths. We work ourselves up into a frenzy going into surgery and sometimes I think we expect too much. You will lose the weight. Just not all in the first month. In my first week I went from 246 to 238. 8 Pounds. I'm 9 months out an 93.9 pounds down at this point. Breathe deep. Follow your plan. Don't try to rush things. It will come off.

I know this is an older thread, so I don't know if you've found your solution, but most YMCAs have an Open Door program which allows people to join on a sliding scale to allow everyone to be a member. If cost is an issue for you, look into that and then you could have access to a pool all year.

My surgeon made his recommendation for the sleeve and I accepted it after research. Bypass leads you to run the risk of malabsorption of vitamins for the rest of your life. There are other medical reasons for one over the other. Neither is fool proof. You need to do the work and get your head in the right place. What has your doc recommended?

My team was fine with them or popsicles. They were a nice treat right after surgery and getting through the pre-op phase.

Shoot for 60-90 grams of protein at day. 64 ounces of water. What you need to realize is that your body is de-toxing from carbs. That can cause fatigue and nastiness. As in cranky, anger, PMS type attitude. It passes after about day 3. The other issue is that you are eliminating sugar, which also causes a withdrawal. I use My Fitness Pal to track my food intake -- have done so since long before my surgery. The database is really extensive, so it tracks calories and nutrients. Do weigh what you are eating. Did your team give you specific instructions for the diet? You can always reach out to your team for additional help. But my days pre-op were: B: Protein Shake (cold coffee, caramel protein powder, ice and sugar free chocolate syrup) 30 g. Snack - Oikos Triple Zero yogurt 15 grams Lunch - Grilled chicken (3 ounces) on a salad with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinagrette 16g snack - Mozzarella cheese stick or two 7g for 1 stick Dinner - Whatever protein I made for the family and a salad or a green veggie. Another 15 g Fairlife milk - skim 1 cup - 13g protein Drink tons of water. It really helps. I would flavor my water with fresh fruit (strawberries, lemon, lime) or crystal light or Mio. Good luck

@Kristen0912 You can do this. From your photo, I'm assuming you are way younger than I am and that will make it easier. I am 55. I have two teenage daughters - one headed to college in the fall, the other into high school. I was scared &$%!less, but I knew I had to do something. I had been struggling with my weight for my entire life. Think about new sports you want to try. I just started fencing -- as in en garde - stabbing people with a weapon - fencing. I tried running - hated it. I still work out regularly in the gym, but I love fencing. As in, 4-5 hours a week. Last night, 2.5 hours for 1308 calories. I was sweaty. I didn't smell nice. My face was red. But boy did I feel good. You know what else feels good. Size 10 jeans. The one's I'm wearing right now. Versus the size 22s I was in this time last year and busting out of. Keep repeating - You are fierce. You are Fearless. You can do this.

For my team, 3 weeks post op was purees. So I was on 60-90 grams of protein a day made up of: Protein Shakes Pureed meats Scrambled Eggs Yogurt Ricotta Cheese Tuna or chicken salad Mashed black beans or other beans Hummus My only goals at that point were eating my 60-90 grams of protein and getting in 64 ounces of water daily. I was allowed anything less than 5 grams of sugar a serving. Sugar free jello or pudding and popsicles. I could barely eat half a scrambled egg in one sitting at three weeks

Make a schedule and stick to it. Keep yourself busy. If you are a coffee drinker and its not allowed, do wean yourself ahead of time. Crystal Light or Mio in your water. Different flavors of protein powder (Quest sells individual packets so you can try a bunch of flavors.) Use Better that Boullion for your broth - it's yummy. Every time you want to grab for food, have a plan for something to do to take your mind off it. Read a book. Walk around the block. Climb up and down the stairs at home. Binge an episode of something on Netflix. Have a plan and stick to it. It's 7 days. Before you get a chance to start your new life. And a new life it is. Use the time to make lists of all the things you want to do as you get thinner. How do you want to mark milestones? First 20 pounds? 50? 100? Goal Weight? Make a list of things you haven't done that you can do at goal weight - zipline? acrobatic yoga (you know with the silks hanging off the ceiling)? Skydiving? Sort your clothes -- find those skinny clothes in the back of the closet. Pick out what pair of pants are going to be your "before" pants you save. Have someone take photos of you now, so you can have some before and after photos. Join a gym. I could keep going. But you get the idea. You got this. You rock. YOU ARE FIERCE. YOU ARE FEARLESS. Believe it. Hugs.

14 pounds is 5% of your total body weight at time of surgery. Let's think about that -- 5% of your total body weight gone in 1 month. Keep in mind, you probably came home heavier than you went in to the hospital because of the IV fluids. It will take your body a minimum of 6 weeks to heal from the surgery. In terms of eating solids, keep your portions very small (2 ounces) and chew very, very well. As in chew it until its the consistency of babyfood but in your mouth. Don't eat the baby food, oatmeal and grits. Get rid of the applesauce. If it's coming back up, you are either eating too fast or too much. Start with a scrambled egg. It should take you about 15-20 minutes to eat the entire egg, if you can. Don't drink for 30 minutes after you eat. Period. Schedule your meals. Get those carbs out of your diet. Right now, your life should be about three things -- protein, water and exercise. But back to the first question -- think about it -- you have lost 5% of your body weight in 1 month. Let's think about how amazing that is. The pounds will come off. But you have to work the plan and get your head right. Eat slowly and mindfully. And you will be full and you will be able to get all your meals in. Work the plan and the plan will work for you. Best of luck

Trust your tummy, but, especially if you are exercising heavily, try to get some more protein in - even if its throwing in a shake. Last night I was at my fencing club for 2 hours and burned about 1,000 calories. I had consumed about 600 calories before going during the course of the day and ate a protein bar as I drove home to boost things. Today I will concentrate more on protein as well. Had a nice shake for breakfast and will have some yogurt pretty soon!

I told my husband and two teen daughters. I told 2 close friends. That's it. Work knew I was having an elective surgery and I would be out for a few days. I didn't tell my mother (who was amazingly judgmental) or my sister (because I didn't think she would understand.) I never regretted my decision. Obviously I've told anyone involved in my medical care. Otherwise, I tell people I keep careful records of everything I eat and log it and exercise way more than I used to. All of which is entirely true. Along with eating a high protein, almost no carb diet. If anyone pushes on whether I've had surgery (and it's someone I don't know well or an acquaintance) I ask if they had sex the night before in response. They look at me like I have two heads. Then I say that I prefer not to answer personal medical questions - and I consider that information private, just like my sex life. It usually shuts them right down and makes them laugh when the realize how rude asking that kind of question really is.

Getting through this is mostly getting your head in the right place. Please find a therapist to work with both before and after your surgery. It may help you get to the root of your problem. Best of luck.

Depends on the protein for me. I can eat less beef than I can poultry or fish. Eggs slide down like nobody's business. Beef and pork I'm at about 3-4 ounces. Poultry 4-5 and fish 4-5. Eggs - I can do 2-3 eggs. I'm almost 9 months out and about 30 pounds from goal. By the time I got to 4 months, my team said shoot for 1,000 calories, eat protein first, separate eating and drinking, chew well, eat veggies if there is room. I wasn't given a specific diet to follow once I was on full food.

So sorry you are having a difficult recovery. Do call your doctor's office about the swollen lymph node - they need to be aware of it. Just remember that these first few weeks are tough because your body has been through trauma (surgery) and is healing. It's going to be 4-6 weeks before you start feeling "normal." Hang in there.

If you are beyond the initial six to eight week healing period, one glass of champagne to celebrate your bachelorette party will not do a lot of harm. You may find, however, you do not like how it makes you feel.

Tasting less than a teaspoon of a sauce or a bite of something to make sure seasoning is right isn't a problem. I've been cooking for my family since post-op day 8. (My hubby grilled for the kids the first few days and I gave him some slow cooker set ups for the other days. Keep up the good work.

I'm 9 months out. I'm down 91 pounds. From the time I switched to soft foods right after surgery, I ate with my family. Your food should stay hot for the 30 minutes it takes you to eat. You do not need to be shoveling food in to try to eat while its hot -- in fact, that will physically hurt if you try to eat too fast. Let's talk about restaurants. We eat out. Frequently. Tonight, after we drop our daughter at her senior prom, we will be heading to a lovely restaurant for dinner. I will have a cocktail. (That's my out to dinner treat.) We'll order an appetizer and I'll have a taste or two of it. I'll order a main course that is likely a protein and veg. The last time I ate at this restaurant, I had one of their famous burgers - served topless. I didn't eat the bottom bun, but it makes it easier for the kitchen to prepare that way. I ate about 1/2 of it because it was an 8 ounce burger. The remainder came home for lunch the next day. I can have the occasional bowl of pasta or slice of pizza, but to be honest, they make me feel ill so I don't do it often. I'm Italian - I do miss my pasta, but I have it maybe once a month. We enjoy conversation during our meals. Really, it's not as bad as you are making it in your mind. You will find a way to make it work. But you need to change your relationship with food. Going out to eat isn't really about eating - its about spending time with your family and friends and talking and laughing.

I'm not going to address whether required participation in a pre-op weight loss program is good or bad. That being said, it is very likely your carrier has a requirement that you do a 6 month supervised weight loss program - they have a deal with Weight Watchers to do that, because you do meal tracking, log weight weekly, attend meetings, etc. Much of which is similar to what my team did (a bariatric center of excellence at a university hospital). BTW, your insurance company should not make anything a secret. The next time you call, as to speak with a supervisor and ask them to email/fax/mail the specific policy language regarding bariatric surgery requirements to you. You are entitled to see the language of your policy. The biggest part of being successful in this, in my opinion, is getting your head in the right place. It's about changing your relationship with food. It's about logging every bite you eat and getting regular exercise. It's about learning to not use food as a crutch or comfort tool. Weight Watchers addresses all of these. Although my insurance did not require supervise weight loss, my team did require three months of meetings with a registered dietitian and following a high protein, low carb meal plan; bariatric support group meetings and a psych eval. As I sit here 91 pounds lighter than I was this time last year, you can bet that I don't regret that 3 months at all. It got my head in the right place. Best of luck on your journey.

Every program is different. Check with your team. In my program, I didn't do a 2 week pre-op mostly liquid diet. Instead, I was on 800-1000 calories very low fat high protein for the two weeks prior to surgery with 60 grams of protein at day. I started using shakes well before surgery for breakfast and now, almost 9 month post-op, I probably have a shake for breakfast 4 days a week. I think as you get to post-op, after the liquid diet (I was allowed protein drinks immediate after surgery), I alternated between using protein powder and liquid protein. This morning is 10 ounces of coconut milk, 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder and a handful of frozen tropic fruit in the blender. That will hold me easily until lunch - about 230 calories and 25 g protein. If I want to beef it up, I'll use Fairlife Skim Milk for another 13g of protein. You may find post-surgery that the taste or texture of the pre-made drinks may be an issue, so don't stock up too much, You're tastebuds change in those first few weeks after surgery.

Oikos Triple Zero. For me, Coconut Creme. Love it. Also, if you can have milk, Fair Life Skim Milk has 13g protein in one cup. It's more expensive than regular skim, but tastes like real milk and isn't blue like skim is.

@Hadalis do you have access to a swimming pool? That will let you get some exercise without putting weight on that ankle (assuming you are not in a cast.) Or a recumbent exercise bike, maybe? Up your water intake. Drink every chance you get. Plan your meals/snacks so that there is always protein involved and don't let yourself get down. I know how hard it is when you start to compare yourself to others. Keep in mind that during the first six weeks, your body is healing itself from a fairly major surgical procedure. That takes energy. For what its worth, i have plenty of days when I read the boards and feel like I'm not doing as well as I should. Then I look at some old photos and do some math. As of today, I'm 8.5 months out from surgery and 13 months from my high weight. I'm down 90 pounds and have lost 75% of my excess weight. As far as my surgical team is concerned, I'm at goal because they wanted me to lose 70% of my excess weight. I have another 30 pounds I'd like to lose but we'll see. You are fierce. You are courageous. You are making changes for the better and change takes time. Be kind to yourself. Do what you can. You are not a failure. You are amazing!

Do you meet with a dietician or nutritionist at these visits? Pre-Op, I met monthly with my RD, my nurse practitioner and my surgeon for three months. Then 2 weeks post op, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. I can email anyone on the team at any time if I have problems or issues. It could be that they find they get better results if they keep patients accountable during that first year to develop good habits and keep you from straying if you fall off the wagon.

First, I'm not sure this early out your PA should be saying things like that - it seems like she's trying to discourage you, although she may mean well and not want you to be disappointed if you don't get to that weight. I don't think her method is great. That said . . . When was the last time you were successfully at that weight and what is your frame and muscle composition like? (Also, what is your age - if you are at an age where menopause is approaching or ongoing, that creates its own set of issues.) So there may be some reason she made her statement - maybe seek a clarification. I'm shorter than you are, but was an athlete before I gained all my weight. When I was competing in my sport at an Olympic level, I had to fight to stay at 125 on 2000 calories a day plus training 4 hours a day. I know I'll never see 125 again, and frankly, I don't want to because I didn't really like the way I looked at that weight. I've lost 75% of my excess weight but I'm still about 30 pounds from my personal goal. However, I blew through clothes I hadn't worn since before my kids were born (oldest is graduating high school in 3 weeks) because my body is leaner now than it was then because I'm back to being more athletic. My wedding gown is even too big. I know that I'll never see anything below 140 mostly because I'm putting on a tremendous amount of muscle right now. But, numbers aren't everything. You may realize when you get closer to what you think is your goal that you are happy with how you look at a different number. To be honest, this time last year I was squeezing into size 22 pants and right now I'm at my desk in my office in size 10 pants. Would I like to be less jiggly - sure, but I'm felling a whole lot better now. Best of luck on your journey.

Premier has both pre-made and powder. I love the caramel premade -- I throw it in the blender with ice and two shots of espresso and a touch of sugar free chocolate syrup for protein frappucino. I use coconut milk sometimes, which is a nice change of pace when using powders. I'm 8 months out and still drink quite a bit of Vitamin Water Zero. I like the orange in the mornings (instead of OJ) and the Lemonade flavor. Also, consider some of the Crystal Light type zero calorie flavorings to add to your water. Best of luck.