Berry78

Ok, so I looked up your stats. You've lost 39% of your excess weight, which IS lower than average, but you still have time! How long was your preop diet? (What happens preop can be an indication of what happens postop). Since you are petite, I urge you to pay special attention to your calories. Aim for 800-900 a day if you don't exercise (I usually recommend more, but I suspect you need more severe restriction). If you do exercise, go up to 1000, but not more than that (unless you are running marathons).

Wow, what a whirl-wind! Did insurance cover the procedure? How did you get it done so quickly? Congrats on the good results so far!

Oh man not looking forward to it. I vomited all of one time so far, and since we don't drink with our meals, it was heavy and thick, and no fun to bring up. (You'd think it was peanut butter or meat... but, no, it was cottage cheese!). I'd recommend staying on a full-liquid diet throughout a stomach bug. That will help you stay hydrated and your stomach won't have to work so hard bringing things up.

If your weight hasn't budged in 5 months, then it sounds like you have reached your new set point. Going forward, weight loss will be similar to preop. Try not to fret, since you still have your sleeve to help you From the numbers, your ideal weight is 100lbs less than your surgery weight. (Important question.. did you lose weight right before surgery? If you did, that impacts what I say next). To be considered a medical success, you need to have lost 50% of excess weight within 18 months postop. So that would be 50lbs. Having only lost 37 this far.. if you don't lose more, then surgery DID fail you. So let's try to get over this hump, and make it a success story. (The good news is that 208 IS a lot better than 245, so at least there's that.) Step 1. Go back to basics. Try to prepare as much of your food at home from single-ingredient items as you can. Fast foods and processed foods are how many of us gained weight to begin with. I believe there are hunger-inducing additives in many of the products. Step 2. Make sure you stay up on your medical stuff. If you have low thyroid levels it can cause problems with weight loss, etc. Step 3. Count and measure everything. Try to stay around 1000-1100 calories a day, 60g protein, lots of water. Exercise will help at this point. No added sugar and no white flour (getting rid of those two things will basically knock most processed foods off the "ok" list). Example meal plan: Breakfast: 4oz cottage cheese and 4oz blueberries Lunch: 1 egg (cooked how you like) and 3oz pinto beans and 2T salsa Snack: 1oz peanut butter on celery Dinner: 3-4oz hamburger patty with 1/2 cup green beans or canned spinach. Calorie free beverages only.

How many diets have you tried and failed before? If your answer is none or just a couple, then maybe you don't really know whether you need surgery or not. Surgery should always be a last resort when you KNOW that you can't keep it off. Complications can and do happen, and so surgery MUST be risk-benefit assessed.

At only 11 days postop, peanut butter is too thick to eat on its own. You should ask your team if you can add it to a protein shake.

Great! Glad you'll be bringing the protein on board. Don't replace your meals, just add the shakes. You want to be consuming at least 1200 calories a day. In order to help more, I need a bit more info. Your height, weight, reason for the revision.. current caloric consumption, exercise habits.

I hope you're squeezing a protein shake or two in there.. because it looks like you're only getting about 14g protein! (Unless your fast food has meat..).

dessert = strawberry shortcake desert = sand

This is exactly what has gotten the wheels in my head turning for the last little bit. The gigantic HOW. Parameters for both men and women: -Ideal consumption during lengthy weight-loss phase: 1200 calories -4 meals, no more than a cup of food per meal (early on, have to "finish" a meal a bit later.. creating more, smaller meals). -60g protein goal. "They" say that women don't need this much, but that hasn't been studied in the bariatric population. - Limit animal products, protein powders and shakes, processed foods, and soy ----------------------------- Ok, so, 4 meals, 60g protein, means a goal of 15g protein per meal. 1200cal/4 equals 300 calories per meal. Meal 1: 1 cup of cooked lentils and .5T added fat: 18g protein, 280 cal. Meal 2: 1/2 cup plain whole milk greek yogurt with 3.5oz banana and .5oz nuts or seeds: 15g protein, 300cal Meal 3: 2 slices Ezekiel bread with 2T peanut butter: 16g protein, 340 calories Meal 4: 1/2 cup cooked Teff and 1/2 cup kidney beans: 14g protein, 300 calories Breakdown: 1 dairy, 3 legumes, 1 fruit, 2 grains, 1.5 nuts/seeds, .5 added fat. Whew! Made it with only 1 dairy. It would be easy to add another 100 calories by adding a tablespoon of fat to the 4th meal. But, if we were aiming for zero dairy, the day gets pretty boring. If you notice, there isn't really room for a green leafy veggie at all! Nuts and beans, and more nuts and beans... If you wanted to throw an egg in there, replace half the Teff with the egg, and you've upped your protein by 3 grams. Calories stay about the same.

I love the statue.. but where is her loose skin??!! Lol!!

I'm an all-or-nothing type of person. Either I'm paying attention to the minutia, or not at all.. and the weight came piling on when I wasn't paying attention. (My whole childhood and majority of adulthood).

Aw, come on. You're a tease! Inquiring minds want to know what you found out!

What does a typical day's meal look like for you?

Ok, if you've been checked for diabetes, then you probably need more salt. Check to see how much you are getting. Aim for 1500-2500mg. You don't want too much because we have trouble getting enough potassium, and too much salt messes up that balance.

What your Mom is experiencing isn't common. However, other complications happen fairly regularly that require revisions. So she's not alone in having to have a second procedure. I think virtually every revision I've heard of has gone wonderfully, and the patient is much happier with the result. We'll keep our fingers crossed that the same will be the case for your Mom. Try not to freak out. Surgeons handle these types of things all the time, and that's the important thing, right? [Hugs]

I agree with both of the above posts. It'd be best to get checked by your doc so you can treat what is actually wrong.

I'm sorry she's having this difficulty. Does she have trouble eating enough protein, or is it that she can't absorb it?

Y'all's food looks outstanding!

Ok, I see now. In order to lose weight, I must turn it loose, but when I do, my skin becomes loose, which makes it a loser in my book. So now I need to lose the loose skin, and after I do that, there is no way that I want to have to re-lose the weight that I already lost.

SOOO funny!!!! Thanks for the grin!!! You are right, the simple sugars in dried fruit may cause dumping in some patients. Thank you for pointing it out! Personally I can handle it in the quantities I've tried. (We're talking a heaping tablespoon). Ants on a log.. my favorite! Remember, if something like dried fruits are eaten by themselves, they WILL spike blood sugars, etc. But if they are combined with fats, proteins, and roughage, then it all works to slow down the sugar absorption, making it a reasonable choice. (But everyone is different, so even if it works for one person, may not work for the next).

I agree. Once you are getting the sensation of needing to go, it means the BM is just RIGHT THERE, and it's much more effective to get it out with an enema or suppository, than relying on oral meds. Keep in mind that the large intestine absorbs moisture, so the longer the stool sits in there, the harder and dryer it becomes.

Y'all are making me blush! Dreamingsmall.. how are things going?

I honestly don't know what to make of these claims.. From the various sources I just took a gander at.. iron is iron, whether it is heme or not. We do absorb heme iron better (about 10% more effectively than non-heme iron). Someone said that our bodies can select to absorb the non-heme iron, whereas heme-iron gets absorbed, regardless. When we're talking 10%, that isn't a big deal. So then I was thinking.. those people that have the condition of absorbing too much iron from foods (hemochromatosis).. (they absorb 100% instead of the typical 30%).. those people will show what too much iron will do!! http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/dxc-20167290 Ok, so we have two sources that agree that the heart may be affected. But, upon further research, I'm not finding a link between Dr. Greger's "coronary heart disease" (which is specifically due to build-up of plaques in the vascular system) and the congestive heart failure caused by hemochromatosis. According to the next website, the iron actually builds up in the heart muscle itself, causing the arrhythmias and eventual failure, rather than from a buildup of plaques in the arteries. http://www.cardiomyopathy.org/about-cardiomyopathy/haemochromatosis-and-cardiomyopathy But, if it makes you feel better, iron supplements are non-heme sources.. so no worries! Lol.

Ok, so I did some quick research on heme vs non-heme iron, and it's true you don't need heme iron. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/#h2 According to this website, a vegetarian menstruating female needs to consume 32mg of iron a day. That would take 4 cups (24oz) of canned white beans (the best source of iron in vegetable foods on the chart). I don't know about y'all, but that would take me about 6 meals of just white beans to accomplish! Lol! Compare that to a non-vegetarian menstruating female needs only 18mg a day, accomplished by eating 3.5oz of pan fried chicken liver plus 1/2 cup spinach a day. I really like this page: http://www.sheilakealey.com/sports-nutrition/iron/ BUT, who is eating 3.5oz chicken liver every day? Lol! Just take your iron pills, or eat your fortified cereal, and go about your merry way