erwos

I'm about 6 weeks out, and I can usually eat 2-3oz of dense-ish protein (chicken and egg salad coming to mind) in a sitting. Mushier stuff like bananas or yogurt, probably about ~5.5oz. But my stomach also healed MUCH faster than a lot of other people's seemed to, so YMMV.

Two things: 1. Vis a vis the lack of weight loss, I would suggest ramping up the exercise a bit. I feel like my weight loss really started accelerating once I start pushing myself harder on the treadmill and elliptical. I'm sore, but it's worth it. You can't out-exercise a bad diet, but it really complements a good diet. 2. Absolute weight numbers are basically meaningless when it comes to weight loss. As someone else noted, if you start out at 200lbs, you are not going to see the same absolute numbers as someone at 500lbs. You should be looking at your starting excess weight on the day of surgery and seeing how you're progressing from there. For example, I was 302lbs, my initial goal is 170lbs. Thus, my excess weight is 132lbs. I've lost 34lbs thus far, so 34/132 = 25% of the excess body weight is gone over almost exactly a month. It's unlikely I'll be able to keep doing that, but it's super encouraging for now.

It's complicated, I guess. I'm four weeks out, and I don't feel regret about the operation - I'm sure it'll add years to my life - but I often miss being able to eat "normally". Like, leftover pizza slice in the fridge, I look at it, and I wish I could have it. When eating with friends, they've got plates full of food, and I've got like... an eighth to a quarter. This stuff eases up over time, I know, but the thought that I'll never be able to eat a whole sandwich again makes me a bit sad.

My hunger never went away, either. I will say that I don't get "as hungry" when I don't eat for a while. Of course, getting hungry is not necessarily a bad thing, as it reminds you to eat/drink some more protein.

Huh. I have been very open about it at work and on Facebook, and I've had nothing but support. People come up to me all the time in synagogue and tell me how great I'm looking these days. Even had a buddy tell me he wished his BMI was a bit higher so he could qualify. Having the support of a community is really, really great, so if you feel like you're in a position to share and get positive feedback, I would encourage you to do so.

I'm an Orthodox Jew, so I understand the concern about fasting, and admire your commitment to giving it a try. It is pretty rough to try to go 15hrs without food or water. A couple of the Jewish fasts are 25hrs, which isn't much fun either. That said, there's two components to this: 1. Can you fast for a single day? I'll bet you absolutely could. 2. Can you fast for a month straight? That's a dicier proposition. I would be extremely concerned about dehydration and malnutrition at that point. There are going to be repercussions for not meeting your protein and fluid goals for a month. I am not really familiar with Shariah, but in Jewish law, there's a concept called "shiurim" where eating/drinking a certain very small amount does not void your fast, and in cases of the infirm, you can essentially utilize that over the fast to keep the fast while not hurting yourself. You might consider checking to see if there's a parallel concept in your religious law. Either way, best of luck.