Berry78

Congrats on getting clean! And your new family! Life has handed you a lot, and I'm proud of you for trying to get things straightened out. Usually a bypass is a one-and-done type procedure. A skilled surgeon can evaluate you to see if there is any "tweaking" that can be done, but it's better for you to focus on non-surgical options. Your stomach is still small, and your bypass is still in place. Those will continue being helpful (probably why you didn't gain ALL the weight back and more!). But at this point, it's time to get back to basics. Protein, vitamins, water, nonstarchy veggies, limited fruit and starchy veggies. No sugar or white flour. Weight loss won't be as easy as it was the first year after surgery, but it IS possible! Good luck!

Thanks! Good to know what it looks like!

Many of us have to go on a liquid diet for preop liver shrinking purposes. Maybe you can try that? Keep your calories to under 1000. 3-4 weeks of a liquid diet will knock off that 15lbs easily (don't worry about losing "too much") Another option is stick with a low fat/low carb diet. Lean meats and salads with fat free dressings. Low sodium v8. Yes, it's hard, but after surgery, you'll be closer to goal, and you'll be more prepared for the restrictive postop diet.

This happens a lot. If you are going more than a few times a day, (watery), contact your doc to see if you should take something to stem the flow. You don't want to end up dehydrated. Usually things solidify when you get to eating more solid of foods.

I'll bet you're right. Maybe your liver became bruised during the surgery. Ask your doc whether Actigall might help your sludge when you go in. Keep us posted! Fingers crossed that everything comes out good!

My tummy doesn't care for most fruits. I don't get a strong reaction, just a general discomfort. Apples, oranges, watermelon, and cherries don't feel good. Bananas and blueberries have been pretty good. Peaches are ok. Tomorrow I'll try black raspberries.

It's all about presentation... With a smile, or a fork in the eye? Assuming its the former, tell her she has the better (shoes, hair, husband...) so y'all should fight it out. Whoever wins gets to be thin AND get her hubby. And BING! the bell rings...

Nice! Congrats!

With that many problems, see if you could be a candidate for revisional surgery. Bypass (could help with acid), or even a complete gastrectomy. Unfortunately, things like nerve pain might not clear up, depending on cause. Fixing the nutrition will help more than anything.

I'm 3 months post op. We've been married 16 years. My husband is heavy. My diet is my diet. I cook for me separately from what I cook for him and the kids. I would love for my hubby to jump on the health train, but it's like running into a brick wall. There is no changing him. He drinks soda, eats ice cream, etc etc. My delimma is whether to stay with him when (not if!) he has strokes and diabetes. We live with his father who has both. His older brother has had both too. How am I supposed to feel about someone that is headed down a dangerous path, and refuses to change course? (And it will be me who has to pick up the pieces)...

It is amazing how quickly we feel full and how often we need to eat, isn't it?! Glad to hear you are eating good choices.

Practice eating like a DS patient for the next couple months. 120g protein, handfuls of vitamins, etc. (Ok, well, be careful not to take too many vitamins, but check out the requirements). For 1, you'll probably knock off a few pounds. For 2, you can see just how nuts the requirements are. Most of us here wouldn't panic about carrying 30 extra pounds. This is normal and expected. Weight can and does fluctuate post op... it's all a journey in which we all have to keep working at it (forever). Even a torn meniscus should heal, allowing more exercise over time. Exercise does make you hungry, so be sure to fill up on... Salad? Eggs? Something like that. Spend your money on a pool membership, counseling, better food.. whatever. I don't know what you eat, but the downfalls of many vegetarians are sugar and white flour. Make sure those are completely cut out of your diet. Many people undergo surgery, expecting a "magic fix". It doesn't work that way. Yes, the pounds melt off effortlessly at first. And then they stop, almost always before you want them to. The rest is up to you. A DS is more likely to kill you over time via malnourishment, especially because you are a vegetarian. 30 extra pounds isn't dangerous. This surgery IS. The very fact that you are willing to dive headlong into a very dangerous situation, all in pursuit of becoming thin (not health)... I'd be willing to bet you have an eating disorder. Please get some professional help.

Nuts came late.. about 8 weeks postop. I don't always eat everything on that list.. most days I miss something. I do seem to be able to eat more than average. 3 months out and can eat a cup of food. (Thought that was supposed to be a year out!).

Coconut water brands vary wildly. Try several brands before writing them all off. You could also try adding something to them. A bit of pineapple juice or something similar. Good luck!

I was a wreck on the low carb, low fat preop and 2 week post op diets. Once I added back in carbs and fat, it's been smooth sailing. Even better than before the preop diet. My day: 4oz cottage cheese 1 piece of fruit 1oz nuts or nut butter 4oz meat or fish 1 egg 4oz beans or 8oz lentil soup I plan to add a salad when I can fit it in. I'm 3 months post op.

Milk, lifeway protein kefir, plain greek yogurt

I literally thought about surgery like a game of russian roulette. There is a gun with 20 chambers and 1 bullet. The bullet probably wouldn't kill me, but would make me worse off. The other 19 chambers contain a variety of "better off" scenarios. 3 months post op, and I'm doing much better than before. Better blood pressure, lower cholesterol, 55lbs lighter, happier, etc. We can't promise you won't get the "bullet". But we can say that you have a good chance of being better off... particularly if you are willing to change WHAT you eat, not just how much. As for the acid issue, it IS frequently a reason to consider bypass. Discuss that with your surgeon.

Once a week isn't much bathroom time. Try to get things happening more frequently. If nothing seems to help, be sure to run it by your doc.

I was meeting my protein goal with a lot of milk, protein kefir, and liquid yogurts. I was lucky dairy wasn't an issue. If it was, protein shakes would have been necessary. Introducing solids was slow and progressive. 3 ounces of soft protein at a time was happening around 6 weeks I think.

You are only 3 eeeks out, right? This is way too much/heavy for 3 weeks out. How about split pea soup and the like? I'm 3 months out and have just regained my energy for hiking. You'll get there, just give it time..

And, to make things more complicated, we lose electrolytes too. Plain water may not be enough. I like to drink some coconut water in there.. maybe 1 coconut water for every 3 regular ones. I eat salty snacks, not drink salt. But that's just me, and I don't live in AZ. Glad you are ok! And thanks for the warning!

The chili seasoning can be harsh. Maybe use half a packet to start...

We should make the distinction between muscle and fat weight. We don't want to lose muscle. Both exercise and eating enough protein will help preserve the muscle. Sure, you will lose weight without eating protein.. but some of that weight will be lean muscle mass... The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn per day..and the more you can eat while losing or during maintenance. The more we can eat (within reason), the healthier we will be, because there will be more micronutrients available to us. Not all nutrients are found in a pill. There are tons of tiny chemicals, some likely without names, that are helpful to us to have healthy bodies. If you are stuck eating 800cal a day because more makes you gain.. you'll get half as much nutrition as someone that can eat 1600cal. You'll be malnourished and weak over the long run. We might get away with low caloric consumption for the weight loss phase, but we need to increase our consumption during maintenance.

Right, and as a one day build-you-back-up thing, they still need to know what you are short on.. a custom banana bag, if you will. But, usually they prefer to just get you to take more orally unless there is a life-threatening condition, severe depletion, and the like.

Sounds like it's starting to heal.. that's great! Yeah..the airplane thing is an urban legend kind of thing. Not a real person..(I hope!) I bet whwn you (finally!) get your procedure, you'll feel like a whole different person!