batty_vsg

Seconding this. Even the mild sugar alcohols cause me to have a reaction. The only artificial sugar that I do not have an issue with is Splenda.

If people wish to ask me about it, I am pretty honest about the surgery. I have a lot of responsibility at work and I'm close to the people in my department, so when they found out I was going out for surgery - there were a lot of questions and concerns. Thankfully, they've been very supportive (even if they had a lot of questions about the surgery itself.)
I am a very private person and I know that what I do is no one's business but my own. . . but I feel that honesty in this situation is the best course of action for me. My office is full of gossip and I'd rather be straight forward versus leaving people to wonder. If they are negative about the surgery, well that's definitely on them.

If people wish to ask me about it, I am pretty honest about the surgery. I have a lot of responsibility at work and I'm close to the people in my department, so when they found out I was going out for surgery - there were a lot of questions and concerns. Thankfully, they've been very supportive (even if they had a lot of questions about the surgery itself.)
I am a very private person and I know that what I do is no one's business but my own. . . but I feel that honesty in this situation is the best course of action for me. My office is full of gossip and I'd rather be straight forward versus leaving people to wonder. If they are negative about the surgery, well that's definitely on them.

If people wish to ask me about it, I am pretty honest about the surgery. I have a lot of responsibility at work and I'm close to the people in my department, so when they found out I was going out for surgery - there were a lot of questions and concerns. Thankfully, they've been very supportive (even if they had a lot of questions about the surgery itself.)
I am a very private person and I know that what I do is no one's business but my own. . . but I feel that honesty in this situation is the best course of action for me. My office is full of gossip and I'd rather be straight forward versus leaving people to wonder. If they are negative about the surgery, well that's definitely on them.

If you are prone to acid, or already have an ulcer, then that would be a case as well that you'd want to either not drink coffee, or maybe switch to cold brew (which is not really acidic at all.) It would kind of be treated the same way someone would deal with Tomato products (since tomatoes can also increase acid production.) I'm sensitive to tomato products (or so I think, my acid production prior to the surgery could have been a result of my weight and poor eating), so I try to reduce what I can. Right now my stomach is handling chili very well, but I'm also taking an acid reducer.

If you are prone to acid, or already have an ulcer, then that would be a case as well that you'd want to either not drink coffee, or maybe switch to cold brew (which is not really acidic at all.) It would kind of be treated the same way someone would deal with Tomato products (since tomatoes can also increase acid production.) I'm sensitive to tomato products (or so I think, my acid production prior to the surgery could have been a result of my weight and poor eating), so I try to reduce what I can. Right now my stomach is handling chili very well, but I'm also taking an acid reducer.

I was cleared to have coffee as long as it didn't contain awful sweeteners (so just regular coffee was a-okay.) While it is a mild (emphasis on mild) diuretic and will cause you to urinate more often, the idea that it dehydrates you is a bit of a myth. Your body is still able to intake enough fluids to hydrate you. If you're interested in reading up on it, you can take a look at this article: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory
The headaches you often feel associated with caffeine intake is generally due to a sensitivity to caffeine, or your system lacking caffeine. There are other issues with coffee, but they are generally surrounded by issues directly affected by caffeine, or the sugar that people throw into their coffee.
A daily cup of coffee is really no issue unless you have a high sensitivity to caffeine. I actually have found (like Steve said) that a cup of coffee has helped me offset constipation. I pretty much have a regular bowel movement at this point. It isn't exactly the same as pre-op, but I'm happy that we're on a pretty regular basis now.
Just a heads up, I am NOT a doctor or nurse, but I do like to research and find out new information on the medical field.

Oh hey, you're in Virginia too! We're only two days apart for our surgery! What doctor did you go through? I will say that out of all of my incisions, the one where they took the stomach out is definitely the last to close up and is still kind of healing.

So one of the scars that I have on my stomach, near the belly button, is where they took out the excess stomach. I was told that there would likely be pain in this area for awhile and even now (almost four weeks out), it still aches sometimes. As long as the pain isn't paired with a symptom like a fever, intense nausea or diarrhea, then I believe it is just pain from your body having gone through surgery. Now as far as your upper ribs. Were you prescribed an acid reducer at all? Can you describe the pain near your ribs?

I am constantly cold as well. Not only are you dropping weight, but your caloric intake isn't really high either. Eating can warm you up (definitely upon the foods you're eating.)
The only thing that I am dealing with right now is fatigue. I am getting between 600-700 calories a day (most of the time.) I'll have a day that I feel really good and energetic - I'll spend a good chunk of the day cleaning or catching up on household stuff - and then the next day I'm out for the count. Today I am REALLY tired. I am hoping that I will see an increase in energy over the next couple of weeks.

Herbalife is far from a proper diet. They over-charge you on shakes and supplements that you could easily supply yourself from the grocery store for a fraction of the cost.

If you're struggling with alcohol consumption, then I feel that is something you should tackle versus going onto a fad diet. Talk with your doctor, or your team from when you first had the surgery! Alcohol dependency is a very real thing post-wls surgery! Like I mentioned, focus on lessening your alcohol consumption and then the next step (if you don't see any weight loss, which I highly doubt) can be your diet and exercise.

I feel like you are in a really good place right now because you've gotten past a really first important step - you know an issue that could be causing your weight gain! A glass a wine is not going to untie everything you've done, but if you're like me - some things are not acceptable in moderation and should just stay away from.
You still are reaping the benefits of the decision you made, you still look really good! So, do what you can and manage the alcohol consumption. If you're still having issues, that can be dealt with too!

Herbalife is far from a proper diet. They over-charge you on shakes and supplements that you could easily supply yourself from the grocery store for a fraction of the cost.

If you're struggling with alcohol consumption, then I feel that is something you should tackle versus going onto a fad diet. Talk with your doctor, or your team from when you first had the surgery! Alcohol dependency is a very real thing post-wls surgery! Like I mentioned, focus on lessening your alcohol consumption and then the next step (if you don't see any weight loss, which I highly doubt) can be your diet and exercise.

Woohoo, what an amazing job!

Wait, so instead of spending thousands, I could have spent less than $50.00!!!!

Exactly! When was the last time we lost this amount of weight so quickly? My NP also said that we need to remove ourselves from "results driven activities." Of course we want to lose weight and it's so easily to feel lost inside the idea that we need to do this, do that in order to achieve these specific results. What happens when we achieve our results? Well, we stop trying. And we all know that our weight journey is going to be for the rest of our lives. So she wanted me to focus on just following the program and going with the flow. I don't think I'm explaining it well, so I'm sorry!

My NP told me to put the scale away. ;______;

She felt (through my words and overall tone of the discussion) that I was becoming obsessive about the number and was regulating the happiness of my day through what the number was. I can understand where her concern was, so I'm going to go to once a week weigh-ins

Hey Wombat,
While it was crazy trying to get everything done prior to surgery, the relief that I had post-op was definitely all worth it. Instead of having to focus on school, I could focus on myself and just getting better. I also don't feel cognitively 100% and that simply could be because I'm not getting a huge amount of calories right now.
It's officially one week post-op and things are okay. I wouldn't call myself hungry at all, but the head hunger is still pretty strong. I am a lot more tired right now (because I feel better and want to do MORE things.) I am a stomach sleeper and can sleep on my stomach . . . okay. . . for part of the night (like I wake up on my stomach and it's not killing me.) I'm pretty much not taking any pain medicine except at night to calm the painful incision so I can rest comfortably. Is there something specific I could answer for you?
Would I do this again? 110%!

I remember everything. Rolling down the hall to the OR. Being amazed at the Schmitt ton of tools. Getting scootched ont to or table. It smelled like chicken in there, which I thought was hilarious. 2 of the kindest OR nurses who kept calming hands on me the entire time, patting my leg, smoothing my face. Anesthesiologist opened the IV, O2 mask placed and mighty night!!!!

Wow, isn't that kind of interesting! I was told to start taking Vitamins as soon as I could!

I have been having hair issues ever since I lost a ton of weight from low-carb and Keto. I also found out that I am severely Vitamin D deficient and may have a thyroid issue that needs to be looked back at once I'm at a stable weight.
So, I went to the salon today and cut off A LOT. It will likely grow back a certain point by the time its expected to fall out, but I wanted practice on how to deal with shorter hair prior, so it is what it is.

I was approved for soft, mushy food too! My NP told me that I can eat up until 1/2 cup (or 4oz) of "food." She told me to give myself 30 minutes to eat and if I couldn't eat it all within that time limit or felt fullness prior to the 30 minute mark, just stop.

Just within a few hours of today alone (family came over for my birthday/early Christmas), I have been reflecting on the idea of food being subjected into holiday traditions. I did not have a birthday cake but I could not help but feel a longing in my chest for a tradition that I've upheld for the length of my life (and I don't even really like cake.) Then not being able to participate in a run to Krispy Kreme (my MIL is from a bit further south than my husband and I - they don't have one) has left me feeling a little alienated and alone at home.
I usually go out to a nice restaurant for my birthday. . . not going to do that either. I am trying to make these holidays about the people I spend time with (my family and friends) but . . . and maybe I'm going out on a tangent here, I've started to realize that the majority of company I keep pretty f**king sucks. Food seemed to be a filler in the gaps where the relationships failed (especially in a Holiday setting.) This doesn't count for EVERYONE, but it has been something on my mind (especially the first two weeks where I'm on just liquids.)
Sorry for my ramble, it's been kind of a cruddy birthday and I want to cry about it. LOL

My head hunger level has been annoyingly high a few days post-surgery. If I could eat everything, I would. I'm also on a full liquid diet for two weeks post-op, so the need to have real food means I am getting a little desperate at this point.
Any chance that you've been playing around with different temperatures of your liquids? A good friend of mine @Myhorseisfattoo told me that warm liquids tend to "fill" her up in a comforting way, versus cold liquids.

This sounds A M A Z I N G. I've been craving some egg nog too!

I am going to be on liquids during Christmas. I explained to my family that I did not feel comfortable this year making dinner for everyone, so I was not going to make any food. My mom decided that she wasn't going to make anything either (or can't be bothered, who knows) so we'll eat before we go to my parents and I'll bring a Protein shake/water with me.