Little Green

I’m so very sorry. What a mess. I wish I could do something to fix it. But hey, it sounds like the sleep doctor might be able to write a note for you. Don’t give up yet. No matter how difficult this process is, you’re stronger. Just think, a year from now you will look back and think how all of this was worth it. Sometimes, the greatest adventures in life are those that are the most difficult in the beginning. You can do this!
I am very sorry all this is happening. Feel free to vent anytime! We’re here for you!

No, you're definitely not! As you have gained weight your body chemistry has changed and many factors are in play in your body that are designed to keep you overweight. It's crazy how different our bodies are, metabolically, compared to normal weight individuals. The surgery resets us metabolically. (Some studies have shown improved metabolic markers after surgery even for people who don't lose very much weight!) And the junk food we all eat (ate!) was literally engineered using top-secret additives and ingredients to increase pleasure, influence your neural pathways, and keep your hand moving to your mouth. Get angry at the food industry and use that anger to rebel against it by eating whole, nutritious foods instead. Surgery will make that much easier.
I use the analogy of climbing a mountain. When we're obese it's like we are climbing it with a gigantic boulder on our backs, weighing us down and preventing us from going very far. Some tiny subset of people are so strong they are able to make it to the top, but most of us never will. Surgery takes the boulder off. We still have to do the climb ourselves - there's no chair lift to the top - but it gives us the opportunity to actually be successful.
Here's a wonderful video from Dr. Matthew Weiner about deciding to have WLS:

Right now? 30-50g a day because I'm on the liquid diet, lol.
Post-surgery, long-term, I'll probably be at 65-70% of my diet as carbs because I'm a vegan. (Those carbs will be from fruit, veggies, Beans, oatmeal, potatoes, bread, rice, and other whole grains, and very few if any from sweeteners or processed food.) That's way more than most post-WLS patients, who tend to severely restrict carbs, so this might not be the answer you're looking for.
I recommend reading How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger or watching Forks Over Knives on Netflix for some info on how plant foods like I mentioned above help you maintain a healthy weight and protect you from disease. You can also check out Dr. Matthew Weiner on YouTube, who's a bariatric surgeon who promotes plant foods ahead of the standard Protein diet.
Just thought I'd share my opinion in addition to the many Keto and low-carb comments you'll see on this thread. *makes angel face*

You are right! I just looked it up. Thanks for the input.

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The reason you can have more now is because the extreme swelling from surgery is starting to go down. Plus, as Creekimp said everything you are eating (liquids, yogurt, etc) is just sliding right through your pouch. Taking an hour to eat yogurt is a long time. My surgeon recommends that we eat our meals in 30 minutes (and at 2 weeks out we were on 4oz of pureed). I think you're fine - but if you do have concerns you can always call your surgeons office to discuss them.

You need to eat everything you're told. Or at least try hard to do so. The reason being...as you heal, you NEED to stretch it a little several times a day to keep the openings open, and reduce the odds of it developing a stricture from scar tissue. (that's what I was told)
4 ounces of yogurt in an hour is fine.
You won't stretch your pouch drinking fluids...they move right through. Most of the stuff you're eating right now does.
And of course you can drink more now...you're healing. it's a good thing:) Less risk of dehydration.

To answer your question a man who happens to be a Fat Admirer and can't get aroused unless the woman is obese. When I came to realize this was even possible I divorced him, and lost over 285 pounds from my own body.

I read so many horror stories before surgery. So far, my story is a good one. I am completely pain free and I haven't had many problems. I have lost about 15lbs. I figure that is pretty good for not being active. I have been pretty tired and I have no energy. I am told this gets better after week three. For once in my life, I am not hungry all the time. I still get some cravings but I just practice stopping the thoughts and that helps. I am looking forward to eating soft foods next week. I am also looking forward to more weight loss and to start seeing my clothes get to big.
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Thanks, you guys
To make a long story not quite as long extremely long, sorry, once I got started I couldn't stop, I did this to myself by accident. In December I asked to get a sleep study done to see if maybe the reason I can't sleep on my back is due to breathing issues, and possibly get a CPAP machine to help me get through the post-surgical period where the incisions make sleeping difficult. I didn't realize this is a months-long process, which one of the nurses in the sleep lab has been graciously expediting for me by finding cancellations every chance she has. Unfortunately, I failed my in-home study because I could not use the machine properly - it would stop reading and flash a yellow light in my face every time I rolled on my side, and, again, I can't sleep on my back. They want me to repeat the test in the lab, which I'm fine with, but I said because my surgery date was already scheduled, I would need to do that after surgery. They said fine, we hung up, everything was okay.
Except not. Because. Even though I passed all the apnea questionnaires, and no medical professional ever told me I have sleep apnea and need a sleep evaluation, because I took it upon myself to ask for the referral, almost as an experiment to test my hypothesis, now they have it in their system that I have a pending sleep study. So now they need the resolution of that before we can proceed with surgery. Because liability and legal issues. Which I was made aware of last week, when the coordinator told me she would be getting in touch with the sleep lab to sort it all out. Cool. Except when I called yesterday to find out the status, she told me I had been taken off the schedule because of this issue. Um, what???? Why wouldn't you tell me that upfront???????
So, yesterday in my no-carb liquid diet stupor I was frantically trying to be the go-between with these two offices, explaining that I need some kind of document or note faxed to the bariatric office saying that the sleep doctor is okay with me waiting until after surgery to repeat my test. For some reason I can never get in touch with the bariatric coordinator until the end of the day and the offices all close at 4:30. So the best the sleep lab could do was send a note to the sleep doctor's MA.
She called this morning and said she spoke with the bariatric coordinator to clarify what was needed, but that the sleep doctor was not in the office. She said she'd talk to him tomorrow. So... I'm hoping that when I call tomorrow, they will have faxed over the necessary document and the coordinator will give me some good news about the date.
We will lose our health insurance on 2/28 unless we can get my husband back to work, which is a jungle of red tape and hurry-up-and-wait situations. And we have no idea what's going to happen if he doesn't go back by 2/20 which is the end of his 2-year disability period. He doesn't have to work, he's on SSDI, except that I don't work because I'm in school full-time, so that's our only route to health insurance unless we want to derail our entire life plan and have me go back to work before I finish my degree. (And he wants to work, anyway.) So to have all of that happening at the same damn time is just... overwhelmingly overwhelming.
The coordinator, who really is very nice and is trying her best, answered "I can't say that," when I asked if the 15th was completely off the table. So there is a chance that that slot was not filled and she can put me back in. I also said I could do it earlier. But the thing is I have to attend a class which is ONLY ON WEDNESDAYS FOR SOME REASON before I can have my surgery. So it's either tomorrow (today) which is obviously not happening, or next Wednesday as planned, or else the earliest my surgery could be is 2/22 if I can attend the class on 2/21.
You can see why all of this mess causes intense full-body shutdown. I don't know what's happening and that's the worst part. I'm just desperately hoping that everything can go ahead on the 15th. We've planned everything out, my mom has taken time off, we're moving ourselves and our cats into her house this weekend (surgery is in a different city), I've notified all my professors and my family, etc.
Since I've gone this far I'll confess I cheated my liquid diet last night out of stupidity and stress. I fasted for most of the day today not to punish myself but because I felt like crap physically. I ended up having 3 Protein Shakes over the last 6 hours or so, so I'm at 495 calories and 90g of Protein.
I'm a hot frickin mess, y'all.

Fluff...you won't screw up. You've been at this a while, and you're serious as a heart attack about seeing it through.
And guess what? If you do screw up? You can learn something from your screw up and wake up the next day with another chance.
All you need is steadfast determination to not give up.....and you've got that in spades.
Hang onto your butt....this just got real:)

I’m so sorry. That stinks! Maybe, they’ll move the surgery up if anything.

*waves*
I'm feeling pretty rough at the moment. There have been some bureaucratic shenanigans that might move my surgery date which is extremely upsetting due to all of the issues with my husband's disability and our health insurance, and ever since I found out about it I have been a wreck. They told me to stay on my liquid diet, though, so that seems like a good sign. I should hopefully have a definitive answer tomorrow.

If you're asking about overall fat loss, like where does fat go when we lose weight? The super weird thing about fat loss is that you lose the majority of it through expiration - meaning you breathe it out. 84% ends up as CO2 and is exhaled. 16% is Water and you sweat or pee it out. It's so bizarre because we all have this image of fat "burning" or "melting." But nope... just breathe it out!

If you're asking about overall fat loss, like where does fat go when we lose weight? The super weird thing about fat loss is that you lose the majority of it through expiration - meaning you breathe it out. 84% ends up as CO2 and is exhaled. 16% is Water and you sweat or pee it out. It's so bizarre because we all have this image of fat "burning" or "melting." But nope... just breathe it out!

Congrats on both counts! I got my braces off (after 2.5 years) in Dec 2016. Like you said, this is not a bad time at all to get the braces - it's so hard to eat at first, so eating liquids, purees, and soft foods will be perfect while you get adjusted to them! Woot woot!

@orionburn I'm on my pre-op liquid diet and I'm not the one. I will be as kind as possible in my response.
You're in the vegan & vegetarian forum so do not come in here and laugh about eating animals. It's not funny or cute, and it's very disrespectful. I leave my veganism out of the main diet forums so you can leave your meat-eater jokes out of the vegan/vegetarian forum. Thanks!
The evidence is overwhelming that a plant-based vegan diet absolutely is superior to other diets. (Evidence produced by real studies done by real researchers in real medical journals, not some fringe blogger types.) You're welcome to access the numerous resources in this forum to learn about this evidence if you're open-minded enough to do so. The fact that this way of eating is superior obviously does not mean WE are superior. Nobody in this forum claims to be better than anyone else.
My beef with Joe Cross is that he is clearly riding the wave of interest in veganism/plant-based eating without making it crystal clear that he includes animal Protein in his diet not just occasionally but every single day. That's deceptive. I think it's probable that a large swath of his followers and supporters are buying his books and products thinking they are supporting a vegan lifestyle - meaning they wouldn't be buying if they knew he's eating animals everyday. To me, that's just wrong.
I'll weigh in with a different perspective from @fruitandveggies on the term "plant-based." While I do agree it's often being used as a softer way to say vegan without saying vegan, it also distinguishes a healthy whole foods diet from a vegan junk food diet. Soda and candy and all kinds of highly processed meat/cheese substitutes are vegan but they are excluded from a plant-based diet. The term "whole foods plant-based" is a mouthful so people just say plant-based, or sometimes they just say vegan for the sake of recognition. I started off not liking the term vegan but have come to embrace it so sometimes I say plant-based and sometimes I say vegan. It doesn't matter, they mean 85% the same thing and both completely exclude animal products.

I just cannot imagine living my life that way forever. Particularly with RNY when you aren't absorbing everything... out of 1000 calories, how much are you absorbing? And then presumably you're exercising at least a bit and trying to fuel the rest of your life... nope, can't do it. I will be upping my calories as soon as I can tolerate it, volume-wise. Eating the right calories of course 1800-2200 calories of veggies, whole grains, nuts, Beans, fruit... way different from 1800-2200 calories of burgers, fried foods, pizza, etc.

You are not alone!!!! There's a few of us who are doing a mostly plant-based bariatric adventure. I plan to supplement Protein via shakes/bars for the first few months since as @Creekimp13 pointed out we do need more to get by as we heal and lose significant amounts of weight. But I definitely plan to eat as nutrient-dense as possible - focusing on all areas, not just protein alone. I'm still planning out what I want to try - and I know it will be trial and error with my new stomach anyway - but some of the things I'm thinking about are mashed bananas/banana ice cream, veggie juices/smoothies, blended oatmeal with bananas, flaxseed, and Protein Powder, blended veggie Soups, and whole fruit sorbets as ways to get nutrients and Fiber (and FLAVOR) in during the soft food phases. It doesn't all have to be ricotta bake and yogurt!
I LOVE Dr. Weiner's videos. He is the first person who made me believe I could be successful at permanently changing my diet. All of the low-carb, high protein, "fruit is so unhealthy, too much sugar!" stuff that is often preached in bariatric circles was so depressing to me. Really, Beans and fruit are unhealthy? Eat a chicken breast and then if you have space, a bite or two of broccoli? I just didn't think I could live that way and that was all I saw when I read about post-op diets. Now I know, thanks to Dr. Weiner as well as Dr. Garth Davis, that bariatric patients can thrive eating veggies and fruits and legumes. I also firmly believe that just because a diet helps you lose weight doesn't mean it's nutritionally adequate or protects you from disease. Fruit intake (2+ servings a day) is strongly associated with reduced risk of cancer so it bums me out reading posts from people who say they just don't bother with fruit because of carbs.
Hope this post is not too inflammatory! Don't hate me, y'all! I just got excited for you, OP, cause I love where your mind is!!! I totally agree with you and hope you can find a happy place where you and your surgeon will both be happy with your choices! Good luck

If you're asking about overall fat loss, like where does fat go when we lose weight? The super weird thing about fat loss is that you lose the majority of it through expiration - meaning you breathe it out. 84% ends up as CO2 and is exhaled. 16% is Water and you sweat or pee it out. It's so bizarre because we all have this image of fat "burning" or "melting." But nope... just breathe it out!

My theory is
All the fat evaporates and floats thru the universe as fat globules looking for a likely body to attach to. And i have been the receiptant of lost fat for years and years. Its somebody else's fault, not mine.

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I believe we live in a multiverse & somewhere there is a sun that runs on lost blubber (fat) keeping those who are less insulated warm. Must be nice to not be robbed on their monthly heating bill.

If you're asking about overall fat loss, like where does fat go when we lose weight? The super weird thing about fat loss is that you lose the majority of it through expiration - meaning you breathe it out. 84% ends up as CO2 and is exhaled. 16% is Water and you sweat or pee it out. It's so bizarre because we all have this image of fat "burning" or "melting." But nope... just breathe it out!

Think of it this way - you ARE losing weight. It's just not showing on the scale yet. There are so many factors at play - Water retention, bowel movements, etc. You're not not losing (lol). You just can't see it yet. Hang in there!

You're so sweet and your words are always appreciated, @kakatlady612! You can be my RNY gramma any time

I'm sure you're good for the 15th - unfortunately it seems many times these silly systems take ages to talk to one another even though they're all in the same hospital. I would be extremely upset as well so I know it's easier said than done, but sit tight and try not to stress. Tomorrow you should get some answers Hope you're still in the 2/15 club, cause it's the best place to be! (Sorry Fluffy. 2/20 can be second )