Seastars

I like these tips! Dr. Gail, I do think I'm over-relying on shakes. I still have at least 2 per day. (Pre-surgery, I was similarly reliant on Protein bars - at least one per day.). Pre-surgery I was mostly vegetarian, with some low-fat dairy, eggs and fish a couple of times a week. I ate a LOT of legumes and whole grains, and some nuts, for my protein. Unfortunately, those are high in carbs (part of why I got obese) so I've had to cut them out except as a treat. Fish is my main "solid" protein source now, at least once per day. I try to eat chicken and turkey but am getting a little burned out on it. Ditto cottage cheese. So all that is to say: (1) my body may be adjusting to a new, low-Fiber part of dieting along with the low-carb part. (2) since I'm still relying on shakes to meet my protein goals, I might not feel as satisfied - mentally at least. Maybe adding more fat will help. What are some good,non-red-meat fat sources? I do get some from oily fish. I have my 2% cottage cheese (higher fat, harder cheeses are not tolerated now). I could add more eggs. I used to (pre surgery) have ground flaxseed and olive oil on popcorn - nearly every day - but I know popcorn is out for sleeve patients, and nuts and hummus have too many carbs. I had a little avocado yesterday. I haven't reacted well to salad dressing, so that's out.

Thank you so much, guys. Your encouragement and advice means a lot.

Thank you! I had two teaspoons of quinoa today but I promise, usually no grains (or pasta or potatoes). I usually eat cold-Water fish at least once daily, 2% cottage cheese and sometimes nuts, but that's not a lot of fat. I had a teaspoonful of avocado though today. I will have to brainstorm what I can do to add more fat - maybe eggs. And yup, no sugar at all! Reduced fruit intake to just a partial serving once or twice a week (I used to eat tons and got pre-diabetes - and obesity - as a result). sugar-free popsicles is my post-surgery go-to. And most Protein shakes and supplements are sweet.

My dietician just emailed back. She says: -stop weighing myself, be patient "since you have been very active you may need to add an additional mini-meal and add just a little bit of carbohydrates" So she says I'm not eating enough (maybe). Argghhh!

I can't get a dietician appointment for a couple of weeks (I've emailed her with no luck), so eh, you guys have convinced me. I'll eat less- back down to 800 cals, which was working to lose. I'd rather reduce food than add more workouts. And thank you for the explanation of reflux sounding/feeling like hunger! I do take a daily Rx acid reducer, but once I get a clinic appointment I'll ask if I should increase my dosage. If I could reduce those symptoms, it would be easier not to eat as much.

That is GREAT to hear! Around this board and in my support group - and from what my docs advised - I heard just the opposite: that the fastest weight loss happens first, tapering off after 3 and 6 months, until at ~18 months there's not much effect (body used to slower metabolism and sleeve expanded a bit). So I hope, like you, that my weight loss rate will INCREASE soon!

Well, I love SOME daily cardio - and lots more on weekends - as you say, fun stuff like biking or running daily (60-90 min) plus a few hours of hiking on weekends. Depending on the season, I've usually got squash or snowshoeing going on, too. So that's not a lifestyle change - I've always been fit and athletic (just fat, too). But I dislike being in diet mode where AFTER my usual workout (today: bike-commute, 90 minutes) I need to have another workout in the evening for at least another hour just to burn more calories. And I hate strength training. I know it's good for me, but I hate it. That's the overexercise that makes me miserable (no family time, overuse injuries, disordered thinking/obsession) and I thought I wouldn't have to do post-sleeve.

No offense to you and your surgeon's handout, but I need to follow my specific medical provider (dietician's) rules for me in particular. She wants me at minimum 800 but better 1000-1200 calories. She wants 100g (better 125g) protein given my particular muscle mass, and spread across 5 meals. 125g x 4cal/g is 500 cals just for protein; add in some legumes or the fat in canned fish and I'm at 800 cals easily - without any junk or refined carbs.

That's the amount my NUT "prescribed" for me based on my exercise level (which is high). I checked in after surgery and she says to keep doing exactly what I'm doing and by three months they are "pretty sure" I'll see weight loss. But I know most people lose at their highest rate in the first month after surgery. The fact that I've slowed so much already scares me a lot.

Oh, I track diligently (and did so for years before the surgery). My nutritionist based my calorie range recommendation on the workout level I did pre-surgery (which I resumed pretty quickly afterwards). I eat 5 small meals, per her recommendations. What do you mean about the PPI? I do take a daily acid reducer (Rx), since surgery. I didn't need one before. I do track clothing fit/inches and believe me, it's a real stall - I'm not losing inches or gaining muscle. Just stalled. Still in my same, pre-surgery-sized underwear, you know? Ugh.

I am a little shocked at how many calories you are eating this early out. As I said, I am a bypass patient and if I eat 1200 to 1300 calories I maintain and do not lose. If I am closer to 1000 calories, I lose consistently. ....That's the calorie range my nutritionist prescribed based on my exercise level (which is pretty high). I was only at about 800 on the liquid diet, but once I could eat softs I could get more in. Nutritionist warned me never to go below 800, and if I'm doing my usual workouts to aim for 1200. No more than that, though. When is the last time you lost 3lbs per week? That is great progress and you should be very proud of it. ...The month before surgery, I lost 21 pounds in 4 weeks. 3 pounds per week is pretty usual for me in my dieting phases (and then 1 pound per week regain).

Oh, I totally agree. I always get 64oz "base," but hydrating enough when I'm outside working out to make up for the workout sweat loss, is difficult - especially because guzzling water doesn't work anymore, you know?

Of course that's a jest. But I didn't think I would have to go nuts with cardio, or feel (and ignore) hunger pangs, in order to lose. I thought it would be easier and more successful than other diets I'd tried.

Before the surgery I was exercising daily anyway, but had learned that in order to lose I had to go nots (like, 3 hours cardio per day). I was really hoping to put that kind of obsession behind me. Hunger. Like, stomach cramping, a little gurgling, sometimes feeling a little light-headed and weak.

I was sleeved 6/22/16. The first week I lost 3 pounds (okay, I thought, not great but maybe I'm still full of IV fluids). The second week I lost 3 pounds. (Okay, I thought, at least I'm losing SOMETHING.) The third week I really upped my exercise, hiking 4-7 miles per days. I lost 5 pounds. (I thought it would be more.) The fourth week I lost one pound. The fifth week I lost zero pounds. I'm in the sixth week now and have lost zero pounds. Other than the first couple of post-op days, I'm getting in ~125g protein per day (spread across 5 meals), very low carb, between 800 and 1200 calories. (800 was when I was losing those first 3 weeks.) Plenty of cardio, rotating among different activities (biking, hiking etc). Started up weight training. Mostly hitting my water goal. Yet I'm not losing weight (or sizes). And I'm huuuungry, especially shortly after shakes or soft meals. A little weak and a lot cranky. Basically this feels like the same old diet I always do. I'm emailed my clinic and they say a stall is normal, they are "pretty sure I'll lose weight by three months out," etc. But everyone in my support group, even the lower-BMIers, are dropping almost a pound per day. Versus me; I've lost only 12 pounds in almost 6 weeks. Help. This is the most expensive diet I've ever done - I am self-pay - and it is one of the least successful so far. (In the month BEFORE my surgery, I lost 21 pounds. Yet with a sleeve, in even more time, I've lost only 12.)

Not everyone has pounds melting off. You have lost 34 pounds total and that is a lot of weight. Your body doesn't know preop from post op weight loss. It is healing and adjusting. Make sure you are getting your Protein, Water and enough calories in so your body doesn't go into starvation mode. I average 125g protein, no worries! Only 800-1000 cals (max 1200 on a heavy workout day), but that is per my dietician's precise instructions. Your take on "Your body doesn't know preop from post op weight loss" is interesting. I lost 21 pounds in the month before surgery, so it sure seems like post-op - with reduced hunger and forcibly smaller portion size, not to mention a two-week liquid diet - I'd be losing MORE than that, you know? I mean, the surgery is meant to make us lose weight, not just maintain it. But that didn't happen. The loss I had was mostly from crazy cardio. I just didn't think losing weight with the sleeve would be this hard. I read posts about the three-week stall, but that's AFTER someone loses, like, 30 pounds or so! I guess my frustration is exacerbated by the fact that I self-paid. This was a very, very expensive 12 pounds. :/

This thread makes me depressed. I was sleeved 6/22, lost 12 pounds in the first 3 weeks (mostly because of a LOT of cardio) but have been stalled for the last 9 days. I feel great and have zero side effects, but I keep waiting for the freakin' weight loss to begin! Everyone else has pounds "melting off" and I have to literally sweat it off to lower my weight, just like pre-surgery.

I'm jealous of your weight los, soccer girl! I've only lost 12 pounds in the 3 weeks since surgery. Phooey.

What do you mean, "popped"?

...and also because, like OutsideMatchInside, I didn't need to change my lifestyle. I was already very fit, ate high protein, no junk, had logged my food and diets for years. Didn't drink/smoke. So I had a ton of appointments (blood tests, EKG, dietician visits, psychologist etc) to squeeze in but I didn't have to, say, demonstrate weeks of months of diets, or high-protein meals. I just handed off my existing logs.

34 days for me. Self-pay so I didn't have to jump through insurance hoops.

I slept on my side from post-op day 1. It's been a week. No problems at all. I figure if back-sleeping was required or even preferred, my doc would have mentioned it.

Update from OP: I'm writing this from work on post-op day 8. I needn't have worried at all! I was sleeved on a Wednesday afternoon and discharged late the next day. I easily could have gone to work Friday - post-op day 2 - and almost did. I ended up taking it easy for a week and working from home, until today when I started back full-time. No difficulties at all. Brain was a little impaired for say 18 hours post-surgery (from aneasthesia; I didn't use the painkillers but they would have extended brain fuzziness if I had). As long as you have a desk job, and no complications, you can probably go back to work right away. But it was fun taking off a week and getting stuff done around the house. Hope that helps other pre-sleevers in their planning.

Thank you so much for the support, @@Pipergurl! I guess I could get jealous of the other campers - their weight, their food. I would have until very recently - before my surgeon's psych made me do some work on those feelings. Someone on this site said "I deserve all wonderful things in life, but they don't have to be food-related" and I am trying to live that motto! I'm grateful for the new tools to regain my health, and grateful for the opportunity to be in the forest and mountains, hiking - one of my favorite pasttimes. And I'm grateful for my buddies here to discuss it all with, because only a very few people in my life know about the surgery.

Day 8: the scale finally moved today! I had over 1000 calories yesterday, so apparently just like my other diets, it takes a higher-cal day for my body to let go of weight. I'm now "just" overweight, no longer obese! Hurray! Headed back into the office today at last. There are only so many TV seasons I can binge on and really keep down, haha. I'm excited to go camping for 7 nights (beginning this weekend) even though I'll still be on full liquids. (Yes, my surgeon cleared me for it.). The first 5 nights I'll have a cooler and stove, so plenty of premade shakes and broths with unflavored protein added. The last part will be a coûple-mile backpack in to the remote site: no cooler, refrigeration or blender, but I'll have my water filter and a stove. I will bring a bunch of low-sodium broth mixes (mushroom, vegetable, tomato, chicken) and unflavored protein powder; also Nectar sweet protein powders. I can cook regular dehydrated stews/chili/oatmeal for my teen, who's coming with me (and carrying most of the weight, haha). I will hike every day but I'm keeping the mileage low and superhydrating. I am so proud of myself for figuring out how to make this happen, even during surgery recovery! NO MORE MISSING OUT ON LIFE BECAUSE OF BEING FAT! Next summer I want to do a 10-day backpack, but I'll be on real foods then so will have more options, plus I'll be able to carry my full pack myself.