mylighthouse

Thank you for the great suggestions, ladies. Love almonds and hadn't thought about them.... and never heard of Perky Turkey Jerky, I will have to look into that.

Well, I am right there with both of you. I especially have a lot of flabby skin on my forearms. I have been doing small hand weights hoping that it will go away a little. I'm also using lotion. I hope that some of it will go away.

I have been using unjury Protein powder and I like it a lot. However, I have been seeing a lot of good things about GENEPRO and I just put in an order for it. I actually saved money with it, as Genepro has more protein in it per serving than Unjury does. I can't wait to try the Genepro. Also, I take the Bariatric Advantage calcium chews (chocolate), and I think they taste good and not chalky at all. When I went to my class pre-surgery, they gave out samples of Vitamins, and I actually liked the Bariatric Advantage chew in caramel the best. I would have bought that one, but my pharmacy was sold out.

I use unjury. I have mixed it in Soup, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc and it doesn't clump. I assume all Protein powder is this way, but, if you mix it in something hot, don't let it get too hot or it will change the consistency of the food you are mixing it in. Also, I use my Unjury in cold drinks. I use my shaker to mix it up real well to prevent clumping.

Thank you for sharing your story. You look fabulous! Way to go!

I had a liquid form of hydrocodone that I took for 3 weeks. I really needed it. Had one incision that was really painful, plus the bruising around it made it worse. And, like you, the more active I was, the more painful the incision areas and my stomach in general were. I don't think you're a big baby at all, but pain is definitely part of the journey. There's nothing wrong with taking pain med when you are really hurting, in my opinion.

Thank you everyone

Double posted, sorry. This is my first comparison picture. When I put these pictures side by side, I couldn't believe the weight loss in my face. This pic shows a weight loss of 46 lbs. I am so glad that I had this surgery! I have not regretted it even one day! HW 334 Surgery Day Weight 300 CW 274

Thank you. I saw your pics to and youre doing great also. My biggest thing now is i cant get rid of these Dolly girls.....lol. Does anyone lose their breast and if so, how? Its like theyre getting bigger. Now b4 they approved this surgery, they had approved my reduction surgery because the disk in my neck is bulging. But now, theyre just big and i want them gone. Gotta get another appointment with dr, but i think im going to just go ahead and have this done. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App Thank you. About the Dolly girls... lol... I'm losing mine, which is fine... because they were big enough. I am surprised that yours aren't getting smaller too with the weight loss, but then again, we are all built differently. Sorry I can't be of any help to you on that one.

Call your doctor and let them know that you drank the Slurpee and are feeling bad. By the way, slurpees are full of sugar and not a good thing to be having after bariatric surgery.

The stalls can last for awhile. I've read a lot of posts about stalls on here. One lady was stalled for a whole month. My surgeon told me that your body has to adjust to the weight loss and stalls are completely normal and that they happen to everyone. It's nothing to get worried or upset about. You will eventually start losing again! I did get a tip from my dietician last week that has helped me drop a few more pounds... I was stalled last week. I realized I was only getting in 475-550 calories a day and my carbs were really low. My dietician said at 6 weeks post op, my calories need to be up in the 600-800 range. Also, she said a boost in carbs to 50 grams a day would help me lose the weight as well. I made the appropriate changes and sure enough, the scale started moving a little again.

I tried Bariatric Advantage and it was too sweet for me. I settled on Premier Protein shakes. My favorite is chocolate. I don't find the Premier shakes chalky at all. I used to like vanilla a lot before surgery, but after surgery, I couldn't stand the taste of it.

I was allowed to have cottage cheese on the pureed stage, and baby food fruit. You can buy Gerber brand fruits that are really inexpensive like cherries mixed with apples, blueberries mixed with apples, etc.

Good luck and best wishes for a speedy and easy recovery!

Thanks for sharing your story, Nikki. I too am bipolar and on 4 different meds for that. Before I started my bipolar meds back in '06, I weighed around 160 pounds. After that, I steadily gained weight until earlier this year when I was at a high weight of 334 pounds. I know that my medication played a big part in my weight gain, but like you, I had to have it and couldn't stop taking it. Congratulations on your surgery, and you are on your way to a healthier and happier you! Keep your head up and be strong and resist temptation. You will do great!

Thank you everybody! I appreciate all of the encouraging comments!

This is my first comparison picture. When I put these pictures side by side, I couldn't believe the weight loss in my face. This pic shows a weight loss of 46 lbs. I am so glad that I had this surgery! I have not regretted it even one day! HW 334 Surgery Day Weight 300 CW 274

You look fantastic! Way to go on getting healthy and persevering through the difficult times! You are doing awesome! Thank you for sharing with us.

I have a food scale and always weigh my food or use a measuring cup when needed. I am at 6 weeks post op and eating regular foods now. I can only get in around 2.5 ounces of meat or 1/4 cup of yogurt or cottage cheese per meal at this point. Those amounts always fill me up along with about 5 small bites of veggies.

Good luck to you Katy! May your recovery be quick and easy.

I had no problems getting liquids down at all since surgery. From the beginning, I was getting in over 64 oz a day. I just had to put up with a little bit of heartburn at times when I would drink.

I didn't start hitting my 60-70 grams of Protein until about 8 days post op. Before that, I was a little under. What helped me make it to the 60 grams were the Premier Protein shakes, and also by adding unjury unflavored protein to my chicken broth or cream of celery Soup, which was my favorite thing while I was on the full liquid stage. Also, I didn't have any trouble getting in well over 64 ounces of liquids a day... right from the very beginning. But I have always been a very thirsty person, probably because of my medications that I take. Remember, that if you are having soup, Jello, protein shakes, they all count towards your liquids for the day.

I also use unjury and don't find that it has any gritty or chalkiness to it. Maybe you could add a little less unflavored Protein? Or, get in a couple of servings of Protein drinks instead of just the occasional one? I do agree and the experts say the protein is very important. I didn't really get my protein up where it needed to be until about 7-8 days post op. I used my Unjury Protein powder in refried Beans, yogurt, cottage cheese.... since you will be coming up on the pureed foods with a few days I assume, you might want to try the protein powder in some of these foods and see how it tastes for you. My favorite thing that I added protein powder to was cream of celery soup, but you have to be careful not to get it too hot or it will alter the texture.

Mine looked pretty much like yours. I had one bigger incision that had quite a bit of bruising around it, and it took almost 4 weeks for that bruise to go away completely. I think it is normal.

I had to kick the caffeine habit before surgery too. I was a big unsweetened iced tea drinker, big coffee drinker, and every now and then diet soda. I guess I don't have very many good ideas for you. All I can tell you is what I did and maybe it's a good way to do it. I immediately stopped drinking the coffee 2 weeks post op on my post op diet. I allowed myself one glass of iced tea a day (my dietician was fine with it). I cut out all soda. Going from tons of caffeine a day to just one glass of tea was horrible. I had the worst headaches for 4 days. Then, after that 4th day, no more headaches, no more agitation either. I believe it just takes a few to several days to get it out of your system, and once you can get past those days, you will be okay. Advice for what it's worth: Just quit cold turkey.