Jobber

Everything was such a blur that I probably over-packed like some others. They're checking you so often, that bringing obstructive things like PJs become troublesome. Also, I wouldn't bring anything that you're going to associate later with the pain you may experience while being in that place. The gas pains were friggin horrible... I can no longer drink vitamin water because of this. Ultimately, most folks are only there one night, you'll survive with what they have for you there, it's not like you're on a survival show. Save all your comfort prep for going home. Just my 2 cents... Good luck to you!

I only told a few coworkers that I was having a procedure and I really didn't want to discuss it. They're going to figure it out anyways once you start rapidly losing weight, people are smart.

Thanks for everyone's replies, it means a lot to get this kind of great feedback. Logging was never a chore for me once it became a habit, but I found that i really wasn't using the information for anything. I was a professional chef and I've studied nutrition as well in my younger days, so knowing what I should eat has never been an issue. What I was looking for is maybe some reinforcement that logging is good for maintaining weight loss and if you don't do it, you'll fail. I'm not sure I really got that but what I got is that everyone has their own reasons for logging and that's kind of what I was hoping for. If everyone said the same thing, I may be like, "well sh*t, maybe I should get back on it". Thanks all, really appreciate it.

I feel guilty because I've been doing it for so long since last September, but I just stopped logging all my meals. I'm pretty much in a rhythm now in regards to what I'm eating and I'm still dropping at a slow but steady rate. Logging is just very cumbersome as it has been for these last several months, but part of me is going to worry about what could happen now that I have stopped. My surgery was in March and I stopped in May. I'd love to hear from some vets as to how they decided to stop or keep going with logging and why. TIA

This thread is very interesting to me and surprising. My dietitian had me start the full regiment 3 months prior to surgery.

I just switched from Celebrate chewables to the BariatricPal Multivitamin One. The Celebrate used to make me super nauseous, and you had to take two of them. The Bariatric Pal version is only one tablet and the taste is much better. The Celebrates were so bad that I had to extend my Rx for Zofran just to keep them down. Do yourself a favor and get a 30 day supply and try them out. This is not an endorsement for any kind of kickback, I truly have found them to be superior and I'm happy to support this product going forward, it's a game changer.

My go to's for that phase were Pureed roasted veggies like cauliflower, butternut squash, beets, and sweet potatoes. Pureed fresh fruits like mango, strawberries (sieve for seeds), bananas, etc. I also liked FF cottage cheese, yogurt, SF jello and SF pudding. I hated the broth, I still have several packets of that awful bone broth everyone raves about....yuck... ? For the pureed fresh produce, I recommend getting the Nutri-Ninja. That thing will puree a brick if you tried, I think.

I started and still drink to this day since last September is anything from Body Fortress using unsweetened almond milk as the base. I liked Isopure, but its too expensive. I did find Xtend Chocolate Lava to be great and cheap as well. Hope this helps.

My spouse didn't know enough about the WLS process in order to know about supporting the idea when it came up. Fortunately, it was not originated by me, it was by my PCP, but there was still a lot of hesitation. I actually had to play it cool for a few months until the idea gained traction. She would ask me if I had thought about the decision and I would be like, "I"m just going to go to the nutrition sessions and learn more, you're welcome to come along" and any possible moment that I could get her there, I would always make it feel like her decision. After a few months of this, I finally saw my moment and took it. She was totally on board by then, but had I not been patient through the whole process, pardon the pun, I don't think I would have gained the support I received and still have to this day 7 weeks post-op. I hope this helps, good luck.

I used to drink nothing but plain water all the time prior to surgery or even thinking about surgery. I was pretty good about it and most days got up to about a gallon a day. Since the surgery I'm doing nothing but water with flavor packets and one cup of decaf every day. I'm not sure if this is a side effect of my surgery about 7 weeks ago or the fact that I started using flavoring packets after surgery and haven't gone back and now I ruined it for myself. Any thoughts on this subject? TIA

I really feel for you @GradyCat on this one. My fear is the same so I got rid of my scale. Now I only weigh in at Dr. appointments. I have at least one appointment every couple months until next year, so I know I will be weighed each time. I think spacing out measurements is going to help me with my obsession over this. It was definitely becoming a problem and now getting rid of the scale feels like a weight off my shoulders, no pun intended...

I just had an appointment with my nutritionist for the 1 month follow up and I brought the patches up because I have such an issue with nausea with the tablets. I barely got the sentence out of my mouth before she said "absolutely not" to using the patch. She said there's not enough scientific evidence that they have the same benefit as taking the chewables and that it was not right for me. If i have to continue the Zofran in order to get the vitamins down, then keep refilling it, but "do not buy them or use them" was the clear message I received. Just FYI, I know this site sells them and I'm not trying to do them a disservice by any means.

⬆️ 100% this. I had the worst issue with acid the first week after surgery and it felt like hunger almost. That will resolve itself, don't miss your PPI medicine.

I kept mine private and only told HR and my supervisor that I was having a procedure done and that I didn't want to discuss it. They left it alone, but the hardest part wasn't hiding the nature of the procedure, it comes when you have to do liquids and purees during your lunchtime. I am fortunate enough to be close to the microwave at work so being able to heat up vegetable and meat purees was a quick thing for me, but I also have to smell it when someone burns the popcorn too....

I like how you said that... "get the tool installed" that is exactly how you should think about it because if you don't use the tool, it's not going to use itself as many here can attest...

BTW, everyone has their own preferences, but I've tried a lot of the protein powders. Body Fortress has the cheapest (on Amazon) and best tasting in my opinion. ISOpure is good, but twice the price of Body Fortress. Walmart just started carrying the Body fortress as well. Just FYI.

I'm a month out from WLS. I wish someone had told me that will still like candy and salty/fatty things and not to cheat ever or it's all going to be for naught. I didn't spend $14K for a new life just to ruin it again. You'll still need just as much discipline to break head hunger and breaking bad habits as you did before. I don't even want a snack sometimes, but I'm still standing in front of the refrigerator staring into the shelves looking for something that I don't need or want. It's very hard to get past that....VERY HARD...

Go very slow the first couple weeks. You'll know soon enough. One bite too many will be slightly painful, so go slow and look for signals. For some it's a little burp, some its a tightness, ever increasing, some it's pain. You'll be fine. Good luck to you

Same, my surgeon said the second the pee is orange, call him asap, if it happens. I've been fortunate enough to stay hydrated using water flavorings to keep me drinking. the best so far has been the powdered propel. Good luck and call your Dr ASAP!!!

Try to stay away from any "pureed" foods that contain sugar or other carbs like Applesauce, etc. Get a Ninja and puree fresh produce and lean proteins and you'll be good to go. Also, make sure your yogurts and snacks are as fat and calorie free as possible.

I had to maintain a 5% weight loss over 6 months in order to get approved. If you don't, they also required a 6 month food diary that would be reviewed to see why you didn't lose the 5%. The easy part was losing what I needed to initially, the hard part was maintaining it for 6 months. Good luck to you

I thought I would never be able to get off of caffeine before I had the surgery, but it wasn't until I got my PAP machine in February that I was able to do so because I was getting so much better sleep. After getting through the horrible withdrawal symptoms of quitting caffeine, I don't even miss it anymore. My body actually tells me now when I'm tired, unlike before when I just picked a time to go to bed because I was so wired up all hours of the day. If you're not sleeping well to start, quitting caffeine before your surgery is going to be a real b*tch, sorry. Good luck to you!

It's so not the end of the world @curtains. As long as you keep this attitude about yourself when something like this happens, you'll be ok. It's never to late to keep trying and staying on track, just don't quit because you think you're failing. That's when you really will fail when you tell yourself it's too late to fix it. Just get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going at it. You're good, promise!!!

I couldn't fit in the buckles when riding the go karts with my kids and they were adult sized. I paid for my ticket, got my helmet, waited in line for 30 minutes, got to my kart and couldn't buckle in. Then came the walk of shame back to return my helmet and wait for my kids to finish in front of dozens of people. It was humiliating. By the end of this summer I hope to go back there like when Superman got his powers back in Superman 2 and went to beat the crud out of that bully at the bar. Total redemption...

My PCP recommended this because she helped me try everything else and watched me fail. This was kind of a "last resort" for me. That was last July of 2018. The surgery was in late March of this year, but I have to tell you, if I didn't have that long process in between, I probably wouldn't have done it. I had to get mentally ready and I needed all 8 months to get there. So, flash forward to earlier this month, I lost 40 lbs during the 6 months of nutrition classes and preop diet, then another 10 a week after surgery. I went to a follow up with my PCP and I cannot tell you how happy she was for me. I've been going to the same Dr for 20 years now and I've never spent as much time with her as I did this last visit and the whole time she spent praising me on my hard work and success so far. That gave me some real motivation to keep this going and to put in the work needed to maintain the loss progression. Good luck to you on whatever you decide.