PorkChopExpress

Congratulations, that's some serious weight loss! When I started, I needed to lose about 200 lbs. Always encouraging to me, to see people with the sleeve having such great success reaching their goals, because I initially thought I was getting the bypass and couldn't, because of the scar tissue they ran into from a prior surgery. Initially I was a little disappointed because it was always sold as the "gold standard" but I see a lot of folks on here having a lot of success with it, so I'm encouraged by that!

The Duodenal Switch is the most aggressive of all the weight loss surgeries, so I reckon it'll have the toughest recovery physically...but I imagine you knew that, going in. What you're enduring mentally, though, pretty much everyone goes through in some form or another, I think. My first couple of weeks, I was pretty obsessed with food. I was watching food Network a lot. I don't know why I was torturing myself but it was like my brain was raging against the fact that I had taken away its comfort, entertainment...whatever. It was almost like it was trying to punish me, reminding me of what I'd given up. Eventually I started to think of it that way; that my psyche had become so accustomed to using food in ways other than simply providing fuel, that it was rebelling against the change.
But you know what? It passed. The obsessing about food passed, and each strange new wrinkle that I have to deal with mentally or emotionally has passed, given time and exposure. I just realized over the past couple of days that I no longer feel weird about my portions. I used to be dealing with the feeling that it wasn't enough, every time I put my little portion on a plate. Now it feels normal to me.
You are going to go through ups and downs mentally, but be aware of them. Think about why you're feeling the way you are and ask yourself if it's rational. You know why you had the surgery, you know what you wanted to achieve through it. You knew what you were giving up, and the reasons for it. This is where the rubber hits the road...you've had the surgery, and now it's time to change. And I think most of us know that you're feeling the resistance to change that your "old brain" is putting up, because we've all felt it in some form or another. And the unfortunate thing is, we'll all probably be dealing with that for the rest of our lives...working to counteract those impulses. But you took a big step to get it under control...and that is what you've done. You have taken measures that will allow you to get it under control.
The physical stuff will improve as you heal, a little better every day. The mental stuff will take time and conscious effort to change. But it'll come together, you just have to be patient and diligent. Just do what you can. As for the "doctoring" your Protein shakes, I'm afraid of what that means...but I am hoping it doesn't mean adding stuff you shouldn't be having, because you'll only be causing yourself problems if you do that. If all you can do is drink Protein Shakes and you need to skip meals, then do that - as long as you are getting your Protein every day, and you are getting your Water, you will be fine. Over time, you'll get meals in too...just don't sweat it. One foot in front of the other.
And stay off the scale for a few weeks. People obsess about the scale. It is your enemy, avoid it. I am only weighing once a month, personally.

The Duodenal Switch is the most aggressive of all the weight loss surgeries, so I reckon it'll have the toughest recovery physically...but I imagine you knew that, going in. What you're enduring mentally, though, pretty much everyone goes through in some form or another, I think. My first couple of weeks, I was pretty obsessed with food. I was watching food Network a lot. I don't know why I was torturing myself but it was like my brain was raging against the fact that I had taken away its comfort, entertainment...whatever. It was almost like it was trying to punish me, reminding me of what I'd given up. Eventually I started to think of it that way; that my psyche had become so accustomed to using food in ways other than simply providing fuel, that it was rebelling against the change.
But you know what? It passed. The obsessing about food passed, and each strange new wrinkle that I have to deal with mentally or emotionally has passed, given time and exposure. I just realized over the past couple of days that I no longer feel weird about my portions. I used to be dealing with the feeling that it wasn't enough, every time I put my little portion on a plate. Now it feels normal to me.
You are going to go through ups and downs mentally, but be aware of them. Think about why you're feeling the way you are and ask yourself if it's rational. You know why you had the surgery, you know what you wanted to achieve through it. You knew what you were giving up, and the reasons for it. This is where the rubber hits the road...you've had the surgery, and now it's time to change. And I think most of us know that you're feeling the resistance to change that your "old brain" is putting up, because we've all felt it in some form or another. And the unfortunate thing is, we'll all probably be dealing with that for the rest of our lives...working to counteract those impulses. But you took a big step to get it under control...and that is what you've done. You have taken measures that will allow you to get it under control.
The physical stuff will improve as you heal, a little better every day. The mental stuff will take time and conscious effort to change. But it'll come together, you just have to be patient and diligent. Just do what you can. As for the "doctoring" your Protein shakes, I'm afraid of what that means...but I am hoping it doesn't mean adding stuff you shouldn't be having, because you'll only be causing yourself problems if you do that. If all you can do is drink Protein Shakes and you need to skip meals, then do that - as long as you are getting your Protein every day, and you are getting your Water, you will be fine. Over time, you'll get meals in too...just don't sweat it. One foot in front of the other.
And stay off the scale for a few weeks. People obsess about the scale. It is your enemy, avoid it. I am only weighing once a month, personally.

There is a lot of science now that is demonstrating links to obesity not just in sugared soda, but also diet. It creates chemical changes in your gut and hormonal changes that contribute to weight gain. I'm a lifelong Coke addict and I swore of soda completely. I would recommend you do the same.
The point of getting this surgery is to make a permanent change. That has to include mental changes and if you think you'll just eventually go back to how you used to do things, you'll gain weight back. Commit to change. Let go of the soda. Just my two cents, I know I'm not a veteran but I DO read a lot.

Haven't seen a change in my hair since my surgery, around three months ago. Haven't been losing any, but I still have the same amount of grey that I always had!

There is a lot of science now that is demonstrating links to obesity not just in sugared soda, but also diet. It creates chemical changes in your gut and hormonal changes that contribute to weight gain. I'm a lifelong Coke addict and I swore of soda completely. I would recommend you do the same.
The point of getting this surgery is to make a permanent change. That has to include mental changes and if you think you'll just eventually go back to how you used to do things, you'll gain weight back. Commit to change. Let go of the soda. Just my two cents, I know I'm not a veteran but I DO read a lot.

The Duodenal Switch is the most aggressive of all the weight loss surgeries, so I reckon it'll have the toughest recovery physically...but I imagine you knew that, going in. What you're enduring mentally, though, pretty much everyone goes through in some form or another, I think. My first couple of weeks, I was pretty obsessed with food. I was watching food Network a lot. I don't know why I was torturing myself but it was like my brain was raging against the fact that I had taken away its comfort, entertainment...whatever. It was almost like it was trying to punish me, reminding me of what I'd given up. Eventually I started to think of it that way; that my psyche had become so accustomed to using food in ways other than simply providing fuel, that it was rebelling against the change.
But you know what? It passed. The obsessing about food passed, and each strange new wrinkle that I have to deal with mentally or emotionally has passed, given time and exposure. I just realized over the past couple of days that I no longer feel weird about my portions. I used to be dealing with the feeling that it wasn't enough, every time I put my little portion on a plate. Now it feels normal to me.
You are going to go through ups and downs mentally, but be aware of them. Think about why you're feeling the way you are and ask yourself if it's rational. You know why you had the surgery, you know what you wanted to achieve through it. You knew what you were giving up, and the reasons for it. This is where the rubber hits the road...you've had the surgery, and now it's time to change. And I think most of us know that you're feeling the resistance to change that your "old brain" is putting up, because we've all felt it in some form or another. And the unfortunate thing is, we'll all probably be dealing with that for the rest of our lives...working to counteract those impulses. But you took a big step to get it under control...and that is what you've done. You have taken measures that will allow you to get it under control.
The physical stuff will improve as you heal, a little better every day. The mental stuff will take time and conscious effort to change. But it'll come together, you just have to be patient and diligent. Just do what you can. As for the "doctoring" your Protein shakes, I'm afraid of what that means...but I am hoping it doesn't mean adding stuff you shouldn't be having, because you'll only be causing yourself problems if you do that. If all you can do is drink Protein Shakes and you need to skip meals, then do that - as long as you are getting your Protein every day, and you are getting your Water, you will be fine. Over time, you'll get meals in too...just don't sweat it. One foot in front of the other.
And stay off the scale for a few weeks. People obsess about the scale. It is your enemy, avoid it. I am only weighing once a month, personally.

I bought all of mine from Bariatric Advantage. They have chewables that work pretty well, and don't take up space in the stomach once you let them dissolve in your mouth. The Multivitamin chewable is pretty metallic and I'm not super keen on it, but it's not candy The Iron chew is not great either. But the Calcium chew (caramel) is like a piece of candy three times a day, so that's nice.
Basically, I take the Multivitamin twice a day (morning and evening), the Calcium three times a day, the Iron once, and I also take Vitamin D because my levels were low. I have a sub-lingual B-12 that I take once a week (melts under your tongue). Lotta Vitamins. I think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $120 for three months supply, and after that's all gone I can go with normal over-the-counter Vitamins that you swallow. But while I'm healing, I'm going to use these.

The Duodenal Switch is the most aggressive of all the weight loss surgeries, so I reckon it'll have the toughest recovery physically...but I imagine you knew that, going in. What you're enduring mentally, though, pretty much everyone goes through in some form or another, I think. My first couple of weeks, I was pretty obsessed with food. I was watching food Network a lot. I don't know why I was torturing myself but it was like my brain was raging against the fact that I had taken away its comfort, entertainment...whatever. It was almost like it was trying to punish me, reminding me of what I'd given up. Eventually I started to think of it that way; that my psyche had become so accustomed to using food in ways other than simply providing fuel, that it was rebelling against the change.
But you know what? It passed. The obsessing about food passed, and each strange new wrinkle that I have to deal with mentally or emotionally has passed, given time and exposure. I just realized over the past couple of days that I no longer feel weird about my portions. I used to be dealing with the feeling that it wasn't enough, every time I put my little portion on a plate. Now it feels normal to me.
You are going to go through ups and downs mentally, but be aware of them. Think about why you're feeling the way you are and ask yourself if it's rational. You know why you had the surgery, you know what you wanted to achieve through it. You knew what you were giving up, and the reasons for it. This is where the rubber hits the road...you've had the surgery, and now it's time to change. And I think most of us know that you're feeling the resistance to change that your "old brain" is putting up, because we've all felt it in some form or another. And the unfortunate thing is, we'll all probably be dealing with that for the rest of our lives...working to counteract those impulses. But you took a big step to get it under control...and that is what you've done. You have taken measures that will allow you to get it under control.
The physical stuff will improve as you heal, a little better every day. The mental stuff will take time and conscious effort to change. But it'll come together, you just have to be patient and diligent. Just do what you can. As for the "doctoring" your Protein shakes, I'm afraid of what that means...but I am hoping it doesn't mean adding stuff you shouldn't be having, because you'll only be causing yourself problems if you do that. If all you can do is drink Protein Shakes and you need to skip meals, then do that - as long as you are getting your Protein every day, and you are getting your Water, you will be fine. Over time, you'll get meals in too...just don't sweat it. One foot in front of the other.
And stay off the scale for a few weeks. People obsess about the scale. It is your enemy, avoid it. I am only weighing once a month, personally.

It's a great decision. Make sure you have them show you proper form, even if you're just doing machines. The thing with weights is, you need to be very focused on increasing the weight you can lift...so you'll want to look online for some programs that will have gradually incrementing your weight every session.
If your gym has free weights, and I STRONGLY suggest you do free weights (you get more complete range of motion and recruit more muscle in other areas with free weights) and do a beginner program like Stronglifts 5x5. If you search that online, you'll see that Medhi (the guy who runs it) posts instructional videos that show you exactly how your form needs to be on each lift. There's also an iPhone/Android companion app that will help you track progress. You'll get really, really good results with Stronglifts...and as you get more knowledgeable, you'll be able to move into other programs to lift heavier and get even better gains. The other good program I recommend is Starting Strength, but it requires you to learn an powerlift called the power clean, which is a little more advanced than a beginner should really attempt.
Before long, you're going to see that the weight training causes pretty massive changes in your body composition and shape, as well as burning calories like crazy. A lot of serious weight trainers almost never hit the treadmill except to warm up...the calorie burn all comes from the muscle.
Plus, I just think it's fun to hit new milestones of weight that I can lift

I think I exhausted Google of all its information on these surgeries before I even got to my pre-op diet. LOL Now my questions are more about others' experiences.

The weight has been coming off, although I think I may be experiencing a little bit of a plateau right now, as I near the 300lb mark. I do think I'm probably retaining Water more than usual, because I'm not getting enough in every day. It's been hard to achieve. I've been driving deliveries for Amazon Flex, which is a little like the "on demand economy" jobs like Postmates and such. In Denver, they only have "dot com" orders, so I get a four hour block of time every day that they pay me a flat rate for, I go to the warehouse, load up my car and then head out to deliver packages. So I've been doing that while I look for work in my field (video editing). It's a bad time of the year to be looking for work though, so I'm glad I have this type of stuff I can do...and it's having the nice side effect of getting me a significant amount of exercise every day, which I need. But it does make things harder when it comes to getting my Water in, etc...
My stomach's capacity has been gradually increasing as time wears on. I'm up to around 2oz of meat or so per meal, as well as several Tbsp of carbs. I've been mixing the flavorless Protein with many things, to boost my Protein intake...and I enjoy beef Jerky on the road while I'm out driving. My protein has been pretty good, I think. The water's just the challenge...that, and making sure I get all of my Vitamins. Calcium has been the biggest challenge, since it has to be taken 3x a day.
Punching new holes in the belt is a good feeling...I'm a LONG way from where I started, on that thing. But I know that ultimately, I'm going to end up having to hike my pants up to my ACTUAL waist, which I've already done with my jeans. It feels really weird and a little uncomfortable...I've got no memory of ever having worn my pants that way. But the nice thing is that when I do that, and put on my belt, I'm on the same notch that I started on at 385...but around my belly button now, instead of down below my gut, with the back hanging down like I'm some kind of gangster rapper. That's a good feeling.
Life's thrown me a ton of curveballs over the past few years and it continues, but at least I feel good about how this process is going. It has had the interesting effect of causing me to be interested in pursuing activities that I'd have never considered before, because they weren't realistic...like snowboarding. I really want to learn how, next winter. The fact that my weight loss feels inevitable now has made that seem totally realistic, whereas before I'd have just had to say, "Maybe someday." There are actually a lot of things that my weight made impossible that I am looking forward to being able to do. Even just something as simple as driving Go-Karts. It doesn't feel like an "if" anymore, but a "when." That's a nice feeling.

What most people don't understand is that fat cells don't actually GO anywhere. They shrink and swell, they're just storage containers.

You just want to avoid refined sugar. You aren't going to dump from the sugar in fruit unless you over-do it, and you won't be able to over-do it because the stomach won't allow it.
To be really honest with you though, you should really focus on getting your carbs from vegetable sources rather than fruit though. Not only is it going to help you lose more, but in general it's a good habit to be in.

No sugar, no carbs, everything non-fat. Protein shakes 3x daily (low-carb) for at least 25g/protein per shake. 64oz of Water a day minimum. Low-sodium as much as possible.
You WILL lose enough weight doing this. In fact, since I suspect this is because you slacked on what you were supposed to be doing and this is what has caused the big emergency, you probably have at least 5 pounds of Water weight that will come right off. So it's not as bad as you think. But you WILL have to be ultra-disciplined for the next two weeks and not cheat at all.

Pure grit and determination, and focusing on the fact that it had a time limit. I kept reminding myself that I made this decision because I knew I needed to make some major changes, long-lasting changes, and so I started feeling like the pre-op diet was a test of my will and dedication to the process. I started taking pride in not cheating, after a while...no matter how much my stomach rumbled and ached. And sure enough, after surgery, it wasn't a concern anymore. I couldn't even imagine putting anything in there for several days!
One thing that I did do that helped mentally though was, the week prior to the pre-op diet, I went ahead and had whatever meals I would miss. I must have had buffalo wings 4-5 times. And after a while, I think it made something click in my mind and realize that I was being dominated by food. Why did I feel the need to do that week or splurging...wasn't it an acknowledgement that it was food that was at the wheel, and not me? So it ended up being a helpful part of my "letting go" process, which then had to continue for the first 10 days or so after surgery. But I'm in a much better place now, and am embracing change.

I wish I'd known about GENEPRO powder, I was so sick of chocolate "shakes" after four weeks of them...
Otherwise, I was pretty knowledgeable after all the time spent in classes and support groups, and reading the internet and such. I think there are unknowns that nobody can prepare you for because they'll be uniquely yours, because it's the mental component we struggle with that makes up the majority of this fight.

Thanksgiving was not bad, the food (what I could eat of it) was very good...my brother-in-law is handy with a smoker, and we had smoked turkey and pork loin. Had a little of each and it was excellent. A little bit of mashed potatoes, and I was done. I did feel good about it when everyone else was talking about being stuffed or having eaten too much, and I was feeling just fine...but at the same time, sitting in front of a giant spread did make me mentally wistful for the days where I could try some of everything. I had to be judicious this year and so I switched out the large plate for the "roll" plate, eyeballed my portion of meat and potato onto it, and that was that. A couple hours later, I had a tiny sliver of pumpkin pie, just because I like it so much and it's a Thanksgiving thing...but just enough to get three bites or so. Honestly, that was just fine...I got the taste and that was good enough.
Of course the subject of the surgery came up and how I'm able to eat like this now...I just joked that the surgery doesn't really allow you to do anything else! There's simply no room to overeat. But having lost about 73lbs now in the space of 2 1/2 months at last weigh-in yesterday...that's about all you need to say about the benefits of eating my little portion of food vs. gorging myself on everything at the Thanksgiving table.
Once again, it's a mental thing. Those old tendrils of my obese self and all his bad habits, sitting in front of that big Thanksgiving spread and saying, "I want to overeat, now." But I really didn't miss it. I might have had a little regret in not being able to try everything, but it was no big deal.
Hope everyone reading had a good Thanksgiving!

Congrats on the losses and being able to reunite with your family. I, too, don't like wearing pants that high. Even when I reached a weight of 240 in 2008, I wore my pants above my hips.
I'm anxious about resuming normal lifting and strenuous activity in a few weeks for the very reasons you cited. Though I wasn't lifting before surgery, it's a little depressing to think my strength and muscle mass will be worse off. Then again, stairs, hard work, etc. will probably be easier since I've lost a good amount since my pre-op diet (currently 42.6 lb.).
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@PorkChopExpress - BTW, when I went to In-and-Out, you can get it as a lettus wrap (I only ate half and one of my daughter's fries). So it is possible, and it was a nice treat.

I agree there is always healthier choices... We went to Braum's a while back, they were having their grill green chili chicken sandwich. I ordered it, without a bun (caused some confusion, but they got the point). Grilled chicken, a slice of cheese and topped with green chili, and I could only eat about 1/2 of it... It was a delicious meal, and I snuck an onion ring in as well.

Finally weighed myself during a visit with my family over the Halloween weekend...what a trip, seeing numbers on there I haven't seen in nearly a decade. I'm averaging five pounds lost per week right now. More shocking to me is that I'm down 60 pounds from my high weight when I started, and I've done that in two months. The best I've ever done on my own is around 55 pounds, over a period of about six months.
I'm now in week 6 and my program has given me free reign to try anything I want to try, of course avoiding sugar and excessive fat intake. Took my wife to a great new steakhouse and it was delicious. Weird to leave such a huge amount of food to be boxed...very weird. But I ate on that meat for three days! Not quite as good reheated, but still very good. Funny how I now feel like I'm getting a lot more value for my money, because it lasts so long

I went to a local Thai place and picked up an order of chicken satay today, now that I have finally graduated to "whole pieces of meat." It's one of my favorites. I chopped it up into small pieces, tossed it in the peanut sauce and then separated it out into 1.5oz servings with my little ziplock containers. What came with the satay was fried rice with shrimp in it, which I didn't realize (I should have just ordered it alone, but apparently they misunderstood and gave me the dinner order). First of all, looking at that giant portion of fried rice and then the 8 skewers of chicken, I found myself going, "This is a dinner...for how many frickin' people?" As it is, the chicken alone is going to last me three days. My how times have changed.
So I decided I'd eat the shrimp and the egg in the fried rice, which was good. Shrimp seems to be agreeable. I took a couple small bites of the rice, and realized that I wasn't very interested in it. Another change...because I really used to like fried rice! I just knew that it was only going to swell up in my stomach and rob me of space for "the good stuff."
It's weird how bread, Pasta and rice have all sort of fallen into this category of "pointless foods" to me, now. It's great, it feels like I'm adapting, but it's a strange feeling. Or being at the stores and knowing that in the checkout aisle pre-surgery, I'd have been tempted by a candy bar or something...and now I look at them and think, "What is the point of these things?" I'm surrounded now by stuff that makes me realize how much food = entertainment in our culture, now. Go to the movies and you HAVE to have treats, right? Candy and goodies, and wash it all down with a sugary soda or a slushie. But for what reason? It's not for fuel, it's not to feed your body...it's just to entertain yourself.
I'm realizing that I'm not just the product of my youth and low self-esteem, but I'm also a product of conditioning...social behaviors and marketing have helped create an environment where you will really struggle to succeed without help, as an obese person. Now that my eyes are wide open, I can see how we're doing all of this to ourselves in American society...the messaging and the culture are all creating an environment that encourages obesity. It's hard to fight against that machine.

Started on the elliptical yesterday after a couple weeks of treadmill. Wanted to wait until I didn't really feel any kind of soreness in my abdomen, before I got on the elliptical. I had been doing 30 minutes on the treadmill at a fairly decent clip, but man...I'd forgotten how much the elliptical works your quads! I only managed 20 minutes and my legs felt like noodles afterward.
Today, I went in there and banged out thirty minutes, no problem. Gotta love that...I was feeling good.
Packed shredded beef for lunch tonight (I work graveyards) and it worked out perfectly, no issues. I had been a little nervous about it, because I've read people talking about having trouble with beef after their surgery and first trying it, but chewing it as well as I do everything else, it gave me absolutely no trouble at all. I've been really happy with my recovery. I haven't experienced anything seriously negative so far (knocking on wood as I write this) and no vomiting. I feel a little "gnawing" in my stomach sometimes that reminds me of hunger, but I know it's the acid buildup in my stomach. The surgeon told me that would eventually resolve. I guess the stomach needs time to adjust, too.
Had a coworker laugh when he walked in on me in the kitchen eating my little bitty 1/2 cup container of food. He didn't mean to be rude (he knows I had surgery) and I know how comical I must look, 340 pound guy (or so, haven't weighed since my last doctor visit) sitting in front of that tiny little tupperware for twenty minutes, nibbling away at it. But hey, I'm doing great so far, so I don't mind

Doing good so far, although to be honest it's SO hard for me to go slow. I have had such a bad habit all my life of wolfing my food down, taking tiny bites and thoroughly chewing them is a bit of a struggle. However, I have definitely learned that if I DON'T do that, I get too full too fast. My new stomach needs time to register what's in it and there isn't much room. It's good that I'm starting to get into things that I really need to chew a while, shredded meat and stuff, because it actually slows me down and that helps. Chili and things that go down easy are more of a challenge.
Work has been fine. I go with a cup for my Crystal Light / Protein mixture, and I have one meal there. I got these little Ziplock 1/2 cup containers and they work perfectly for my meal portion. I weigh out 1.5oz of my meat, and a little over 1TBSP for my veggie (usually potato right now) and that container ends up being the perfect amount of food. It's still so small though, I feel self-conscious when people come into the kitchen with their full-size tupperware containers full of food, and I'm sitting there nursing that little bitty thing
I log everything in MyFitnessPal to see where I'm at, and I guess I was thinking of my 1oz numbers when I posted...going up to 1.5 has only happened over the past few days, when I realized I was comfortable doing it and not feeling too full. I am generally getting in the neighborhood of 25-30g of Protein from my meals now, I think. So it's not terrible, but I really want to work up to the point where I'm getting 50% of my protein from actual food. The Protein powder is just so darned expensive...but I know it's gonna be a while before I'm to that point. Probably at least 6 months. Can't rush this process, it's coming along and so far, no vomiting...so that's a big win, to me