karen_marie

This is the chart my nutritionist gives gastric bypass patients. If your docs gave you a different timeline, follow that one! This is more for info's sake, but it may help give you some ideas. Diet Progression Chart.docx

If you haven't had a bowel movement in three weeks post-op, follow-up with your surgeon's office. They usually want to make sure you're not having any issues with that, so keep them in the loop on what you're trying and what you're eating. Mine asked me directly at my 1wk post-op if I've been passing gas and having bowel movements. Are you using any bariatric-specific protein powder (like Bariatric Advantage)? I was told not to use that for the initial post-op, since the make up of the fiber content can cause constipation. Have you tried prune baby food?

I'd be careful of adding sugar to things - just don't be heavy handed about it! I'm not allowed to add sugar to stuff yet, and can only have low sugar or no sugar foods. I'm too scared to even attempt having added real sugar to something lol I've done buffalo chicken salad (canned chicken, frank's red hot sauce, blue cheese, light ranch dressing), egg salad (ratio of 1:1 whole egg and egg white, light mayo), plain oatmeal with protein powder and sugar free maple syrup added, Oikos Triple Zero greek yogurt, BBQ chicken (canned or soft cooked and mashed up chicken breast, sugar free BBQ sauce), low fat (or fat free) cottage cheese. I tend to make a batch and then portion out into smaller containers. That way I'm not making a tiny serving constantly!

GB surgery was 10/27, and today was my first day back at work. I was one of the lucky ones with no complications or bad pain after surgery, so that amount of time off was just right. I do work sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day though, so 9 work days/13 total days was enough for me. Glad to be back amongst the living haha I was running out of Netflix to watch.

Yeah my program and hospital are a pretty well oiled machine haha. I've got a copy of this chart on my fridge

Echoing what @Berry78 said, I learned A LOT by reading tons of the forum discussions here. Also gave me ideas on additional questions to ask my surgeon. For an example of something, here's my 'prescribed' plan back to solid foods after surgery tomorrow. Every doctor will be different, so take this as just an example! Some docs allow more soft/solid foods sooner than mine does. Definitely get all of your specific pre-op info from your doctor and nutritionist (NUT) and follow those. Good luck on your journey! Diet Progression Chart.docx

Sure thing! That's the stage I'm most worried about too, so I'll definitely be taking my own advice lol I'm thinking I'll also try some recipes I've found on various bariatric sites for the pureed/blended stage. I"ll attach a file with the ones I've found so far (also include some protein pudding recipes that I want to try) Blended_Pureed Recipes.pdf

My NUT did say that the blended/pureed stage was usually the one that gave patients a harder time. Just stick with things that are kinda mushy or soft liquid to begin with, then blending them to a smoother consistency won't be really off-putting. For instance, make a basic chili with some sort of meat (or none) and beans. Blending that from somewhat chunky to smooth shouldn't be gross haha Or even a simplified sloppy joe (sans bread) - ground turkey/lean beef and some low sugar or sugar fee sauce, blended smoother shouldn't be too weird. And both would give you good protein (you can even add some non flavored protein powder to both). I know that @James Marusek has said he basically did chilis and soups during his weight loss phase.

My sister has already offered my hubby sanctuary whenever he needs it lol

I think your cat forgot how to cat lol I remember once in high school, I saw just a mouse butt sticking out from behind my hamper. I slowly crept up and moved the hamper, only to find that the butt half of the mouse was all that was there. My cat seemed very satisfied with himself for thinking to 'box up half' for later lol

LOL my kind of humor!

LOL I'm too much of a control freak to let him make my shakes for me - but the expletives are RIGHT up my alley haha I should have been in the Navy. I've just been playing my Sims game at night and trying to just keep my mouth shut and my rantings to myself for a few more days. I've warned family that my normally low patience is razor thin right now, so we've had a good laugh and keep the convos light and nothing that involves 'discussion' that could lead to 'disagreements' and me 'losing my sh*t' lol And congrats on choosing your surgery type! Knowing that will def help filter all the info you've researched moving forward.

LOL I'm on day 14 of my pre-op liquid diet, so every day there is ranting (my poor saint of a husband) Tomorrow is clear liquids only (day before surgery), so I may tell him to meet up with a friend after work to protect himself hahaha

Wow day 4? I'm jealous and scared of that lol. I'm pre-op, on my last day of my 14-day liver shrinking liquid diet, and tomorrow it's clear liquids all day (day before surgery). I'll share the progression chart my surgeon and NUT advise for the RNY I'm having (attached). It definitely seems every surgeon and NUT is different, not sure why that is. *if you can't see the attachment or open it, make sure you're logged in* Diet Progression Chart.docx

When you update your Current Weight (My Surgery, then on the left side click Progress to update your weight), the ticker will auto update based on that

CONGRATS!!

That's an AMAZING achievement! And now you've given me another idea to add to my bucket list Always been fascinated by Everest climbers, but too chicken sh*t to go to the top myself lol definitely would consider the hike to base camp though like @DropWt4Life said!

Day 10 for me of my 2wks liquid diet, not including the day before surgery of just clear liquids. I really haven't had much hunger, but I've put a lot of effort into making my shakes interesting. I'll add fruit, no sugar flavor syrups, flavor extracts, etc and try different recipes. For breakfast today, I'm having a pumpkin pie flavored protein shake (pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla extract, little bit of skim milk and water, and protein powder). Throw it all in the blender for a min with about a cup of ice and voila - a nice frothy (and big) protein shake that takes me awhile to drink. Your body will get used to it!

I'm extremely impatient (just ask anyone who knows me, including my saint husband lol). I found that spending my time reading through the forums here and taking notes, doing additional research, and watching documentaries and YouTube videos about the surgery I'm getting helped distract me from time slowly passing by. I also journal my thoughts and progress in an private online journal (penzu.com), so I can feel like I'm doing something in the waiting time. Luckily my waiting time is almost up, so now I spend my waiting time just getting prepped for post-op! Hang in there!

My orientation was a free 1.5hr seminar that the surgeon held, going over A LOT of information about the different types of surgeries available and answering a bunch of questions from us folks there. Before we all left, they scheduled consult appointments for us with the surgeon, where we could discuss our specific needs and type of surgery he would recommend. They also gave us a packet to fill out and mail back to them before the consult appointment, which asked for A LOT of info so that they could get started reaching out to insurance and any doctors etc etc. For me, BCBS of IL on my plan doesn't require a 6mo supervised diet anymore, so from seminar to surgery date it'll be 2 days shy of 3mos. CRAZY fast, but that's also because I was on top of scheduling all of my pre-op doc appointments and tests as soon as I could, so I was seeing a different doc almost every week for awhile lol. Just had my pre-op appt with my primary doc yesterday after work and he gave his clearance for the surgery! Now I just have my pre-op appt with my surgeon next Wednesday, and I'm ready for my surgery next Friday! Good luck and definitely read a bunch of the threads in these forums! I'm a super organized researcher to begin with, but it was super helpful reading everything on here.

I just got a really big one done this summer, but I am definitely going to get one once I hit goal Any excuse for a new tat lol but I'm thinking I'll do some sort of minimalist roman numeral thing, like HW-GW (so CCC-CLX)under one of my wrist tattoos. Please share pics of tats or tat ideas! I love seeing the artwork. This is the one I got done this summer. Watercolor style, shows my journey on where I've lived: Cardinal is state bird of VA and IL, Oriole is state bird of MD, and a cherry blossom branch for my career in DC. Got it when I moved back home to IL

I've posted this before. It's based on a combined document that was created in the forums awhile back that I found. I don't think I'll bring everything on this list, but it gives me a good starting place. <<make sure you're logged in so you can open the attachment>> Hospital Stay Checklist.pdf

I would also HIGHLY recommend watching the documentary From Fat to Finish Line if you haven't yet. It's on most of the streaming sites now, including iTunes to rent or buy. I watched that last year and it got me motivated to start interval running, and I have done a number of 5ks since then. After surgery, one of my big goals to work towards is to complete a 10k and then a half marathon

Logging can be a pain, but it definitely helps! You can even note just general gym activity you did that day, just so it's all in one place. I would hope your doctor wouldn't ask you to provide the actual gym logs, but crazier things have happened lol At least you know you can get them if need be.

Pre-op diet has been not as bad as I was fearing lol luckily I've drank many protein shakes in the past, so I like them just fine. I've been doing different smoothie/shake recipes to keep some variety going. Did a pina colada one the other day (pinapple chunks and coconut extract for the flavoring), and a pumpkin pie one last night (pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon for flavoring). Don't get me wrong, plain chocolate and vanilla are fine, but since I'm able to blend some stuff into them for pre-op, I'm doing it haha Tried having just chicken broth for lunch one day to get something more savory, but I was NOT a fan. Just tasted bland and unappealing at the same time.