Ylime

Hello all! Work has been keeping me away from here which makes me really sad! I'm glad to see everyone is doing well for the most part! I've had an unexpected side effect and I can't quite figure out why. I have been a nail biter for 25 years. Constantly biting my nails, chewing my cuticles and picking at the skin around them. My hands have always looked horrible and even manicures and fake nails never helped me break the habit. It was always related to stress because the minute I went on vacation I wouldn't do it anymore and my nails would start to grow. So now since the day of surgery I haven't bitten my nails once. I still have the same level of stress at home and at work as I did before so I can't figure out why it would stop now and what surgery would have to do with it. My nails are so long now that I'm going to have to get a manicure so I can actually type properly! lol

I don't use an app for reminders - I bought this pill box on Amazon and organize my vitamins by when I need to take them. Each day I grab a box and it sits with me at work so it's front and center. Then when I actually do take them I enter them in My Fitness Pal with my food so I don't have to remember if I really did take them or not. If all goes as planned by the time bedtime hits my pill box should be empty. I do have an app to remind me when it's time to each and it's called MealReminder. You can customize the name of your reminders and set actually times so you could use this for vitamin reminders as well.

I'm struggling with my water too. It was easier when that's all I had to do, but now that I'm eating 5 times a day and can't drink before or after my meal, I'm finding it hard to fit it all in!

Yes. I either put it in a 1/4 cup or I weigh it. 1/4 cup is 2 oz.

My plan has me currently eating 1/4 cup 5 times a day. As time goes on if 1/4 cup doesn't satisfy me I can increase to 1/2 cup. Long term if I get to the point where I need 1 cup of food to get full then I have to decrease my meals to 3 times a day. 3 cups of food is a drastically different quantity than what I was eating pre-op so I'm happy with that forever. lol

I think the part about losing interest in food is the benefit of surgery! lol I mean, I'm still interested in food but I don't desire it anymore like I used to. I rarely feel hungry during the day, but I've stuck to a pretty strict schedule of eating every 3 hours whether I am hungry or not and that helps me meet my goals.

Looking for suggestions...I'm trying to hit my protein goals through natural sources. It was easy when I was on a ton of shakes, but eating a few bites of chicken or tuna isn't cutting it. I really want to get away from having to add protein powder to everything because it's a PITA and it's expensive! I've been doing eggs, grilled chicken, tuna, ricotta. Going to have ground turkey tonight. What else is everyone eating?

Sorry these are so late!!! 39 people in August! @Mark M @Rick Z @Starr2015 @georgiagirl2275 @SusieSouth @ttj3mom @phoenixforever @Jenny Rose @boardlady@netptc.net @Fluffy Grandma @Someday @Kahkeetsee @Imanewme @BadWolf523 @LauriW @YoBL @AtlantaRed @KCgirl061 @Elle_Woods @markuspak @Frmamomzeyez @_Shane_ @ElanBri @Kat0000 @jenngetsthin @Kris10keleher @rosawise@me.com @piacovetto@gmail.com @ellie123 @ChellNC @Chrisb428 @FierceOne @newmebithebypass @Auroragirl4489 @clsumrall @MassMom

When I woke up from surgery my husband had the tv on. The very first thing I saw was a Burger King commercial. lol

I have to remind myself to listen to my stomach and not my head. In the hospital my nurse said I will still see or think about foods because I will remember how good they are. But the cravings and desire for them go away so those cravings are all in your head. Only your stomach will tell you when to eat. I think the biggest challenge is fighting those desires when you are truly hungry. I don't want to go back to the same foods that got me here in the first place.

That's what I use, when I mix it in food I don't taste it at all. I do though try and determine the right ratio. Like if I'm eating 2oz of guacamole I'm not going to add an entire scoop of powder to it as that changes the texture and would likely affect the taste.

Something told me I needed to check in here today and now I see it must have been the avocado calling me. lol I started avocados day one of pureed. I needed it in my life again. I did add some of my unflavored protein powder to you for the added benefit. Sooooo good! And on the other topics above, I attempted Whole30 before and it was hard. But I feel that was only because I still had major sugar cravings and head hunger. I imagine it would be easier now. I really did love eating healthy foods while I was on it because it forced you to eat such a variety of foods and seeing all those colors on my plate made me healthy. I did do the 21 Day Sugar Detox once too. That was really helpful, but it didn't fully get rid of my sugar cravings. Again, would probably work better now as I have very few cravings post-op. My favorite of all meal plans is Paleo. I love, love, love this way of eating. I have about 7 Paleo cookbooks in my house and follow a ton of Paleo cooks on Instagram. My two favorites are Nom Nom Paleo (http://www.nomnompaleo.com) and Diane Sanfilippo (https://balancedbites.com/recipes/) - she also authored the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I really can't wait until I can get back to regular food so I can get back to Paleo. I never followed it hard core, I was about 80% Paleo, 20% regular food. This helped me never feel deprived or that I was missing out on anything.

I can tell we are nearly the end as the activity here has definitely slowed down! I'll be working on the Golden Key award for August over the weekend and going back to capture anyone whose date didn't get added!! Hope everyone is doing well.

So I was supposed to start taking my vitamins today. I chewed up one multi-vitamin this morning and promptly threw up. :( I think I’ll have to ease into them.

I'm sure you've heard me say this before, but everything you are feeling is so normal. This is a big deal, but you'll get through it just fine. Keep thinking positive and know we are all here for you!!

OMG - It's the last week of August. A few more August surgeries to go. Good luck to you all!!!

My pureed diet is supposed to start the same day I go back to work. That is just too much stress for me to handle. So I'm going to start introducing small amounts of pureed food over the next few days and see how that goes. I'd like to go back to work completely confident about what I'm eating and the schedule I'm on. So for you all - What are the first pureed foods you had?

Adding protein to anything I am eating or drinking is a lifesaver. It not only helps you reach your goals, it also takes the worry and stress off of it because it will just become a habit. I add the powder to most everything, even things that already contain protein. Add it to yogurt, soup, jello, etc.

Woo Hoo!!! Good luck!!

@theresahyatt19 - I'm feeling amazing actually. I just posted in the post-op group that it's like my surgery never even happened because everything has been so smooth. Hope I didn't just jinx myself!

Yay!!! Good luck!

Hey all. I don't mean to say this to boast, but everything has gone so smoothly with my recovery I'm questioning if surgery actually even happened. lol I have incisions to remind me it did, but it's weird how well my body is reacting. I'm already on week 2 of fluids. Cannot wait for the pureed stage. I'm craving texture so bad! The crushed meds are horrendous so I got my neurologist to give me some liquid meds for a few months. Thank god for that!

I'm getting excited for August to wrap up as so many of you are having surgery in these last two weeks! Wishing everyone good luck!

Welcome to the group! We also have a post-op group we'd love for you to join:

It certainly seems slow to me! lol But the creamy soup is the only other liquid I can have. I can't have yogurt or anything else.