MassMom

1. Challenge Starting weight: 202 2. Current weight lost: 41 3. Losing or maintaining weight: losing 4. Fitness/exercise goal: 5x week 5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019) 12-15 6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - I have been very focused, so I don’t want to lose that during the holidays. I also have a lot of travel, so I need to take each week as a goal.

Hi, Pals. Looking to get some feedback. I'm 11 weeks post-op, cleared for all food types. I drink protein shakes for breakfast and lunch most days. When I try to eat something solid, I have very mixed results. In general, I feel somewhat sick when I eat anything solid. Soup is ok. I made turkey chili and that was OK. But eating any kind of turkey, ham, shrimp, cod, chicken- I generally feel really sick and most times I end up throwing it back up. I am not supposed to have carbs for 6 months, but generally those are easier on my stomach than meat protein. I can eat a bit of baked potato or a few bites of lean cuisine mac&cheese. I can eat popcorn and pirates booty- but I am trying not to eat stuff that I know I shouldn't. I have spoken to my medical team and they didn't seem overly concerned. Some foods are ok one time (egg whites), then I try to eat them again and get really sick. After getting sick, I can barely look at the food let alone try it again. (The medical team suggests just giving it more time and trying the food again after time passes.) I have been losing about 3 pounds a week consistently for the last 4-5 weeks, so maybe I am just expecting too much at this time. Anyone with more time under their belt experienced this and have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

I love this posting idea. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has broken the rules. So, after surgery I went too fast on stages and had CARBS, which I’m not supposed to eat for six months. I ended up back in the hospital and went back to clear liquids. Now I’m 6 weeks post op and over the past two weeks I have had a couple things I am not supposed to- 1 mozzarella stick, 2 buffalo chicken bites. My body seems to know that eating “off plan” is not good, as I generally throw up what I’ve eaten pretty quickly after. I had champagne on an international business flight- that went down with no problems. And when I am sick, I drink a little diet sprite. And I’ve eaten chocolate. Wow, that is actually quite a bit. And while I haven’t purposely cheated on taking them- I HATE the (what feels like) millions of vitamins and pills I have to take everyday.

I'm so sorry you are in the midst of this. Wishing you a very rapid recovery. If it helps- after that incident was resolved- my weight loss started to pick up (about 3 pounds per week) and while I still have problems keeping food down- it has been MUCH better. Get well soon.

Hi, pals. The basics first- surgery on August 29 gastric bypass. Two weeks after surgery had partial blockage and went back to beginning. After redoing liquid phase, I have worked up to soft food, which I started a couple days ago. While I did ok on puréed foods- soup, sugar free pudding, etc. but every soft food I have tried has made me very sick. Tuna, turkey, eggs. I throw up violently for about an hour after, then I’m fine. My nutritionist said just to take it slow and we would check in during our 6 week appointment (about a week and a half from now.). Anyone else experience anything like this? Any tips on what you did if you resolved the issue? Thanks, Angela

Hi all. I’m about 3 weeks post op. I’m on the puréed stage. I should be able to move to soft food in a week than regular food in two weeks. I’m moving through the stages slowly because I experienced a partial bowel blockage and was in the hospital for a couple days. This was caused because I advanced my diet too quickly and tried to eat more advanced food than I was ready to (it was only a couple items.). So, I went back to the beginning and had to do clear liquids and protein shakes again. You would have thought that this would teach me- and it did for awhile. I have not gone off plan until today. But I feel like I’ve been living on protein shakes for months (counting pre-surgery). I’m hungry and just craving something besides refried beans and protein shakes. The big reveal- I ate two mini-muffins (chocolate chip) and a small piece of this vanilla bread we had left over from my daughters party. I know this was stupid but I am just getting so tired of not having any real food and no carbs. What do you do to stick to plan and avoid foods you shouldn’t have?

Wow. Great weight loss. May I ask how long it took you to get from your starting weight to current weight?

I had surgery at 7:30 am and was out the following day at around 3:00 pm. You had to show that you could keep a protein shake (small amount) down before discharge. And it was awhile before they let me have anything. I wouldn’t try to rush it or pre-plan- take your time and have some help around for a day or two. As soon as I came home, reality hit and I had to do more than I would have liked.

This past summer we went to Universal Studios and Disney and at 220-230, size 18- it was OK. Some rides were still a bit tight, but nothing major.

Hi, Pals. I want to share something so that hopefully it does not happen to anyone else. I am 2 week’s post op- gastric bypass. Everything was going very well. I wasn’t losing yet, but the surgery had gone well and I wasn’t in any pain. I did the post-surgery diet for a week and a few days. My nutritionist cleared me for puréed food. I was happy to be off just protein shakes. I thought that as long as I was not throwing the food back up- everything was ok. I had experienced a couple bad reactions to food- eggs mainly- where as soon as I ate it- they came back up within 15 minutes. Since things were moving along ok, I added some soft food- mostly when I had to eat out- and chewed it up to a fine grain before swallowing- again, I thought if it wasn’t coming back up- all was ok. After doing this maybe 2-3 times, about 2 hours after dinner, I started having very sharp stomach pains and was vomiting about every hour. This went on all night. I have not been that miserable since childbirth. At 5:00 am I called the on-call doctor and they sent me straight to ER. They ran a CT scan and I had a partial bowel blockage. I was in the hospital 2.5 days. My diet was reset to nothing, clear liquids, then eventually protein shakes. I am now back to this stage for at least another week or so. Moral of the story- don’t advance your diet too quickly. And, call the on-call doctor if something seems wrong. All night I thought I was just having a bad reaction to something I ate and it would resolve itself. But a small part of me knew something wasn’t right and I’m glad I trusted my gut. Full bowel blockages can be fatal. Thanks and best wishes.

Just need to vent. I am about 1.5 weeks out of gastric bypass. Things have been going quite well. Today I had a terrible day at work and went back to eating like before. Of course the difference now is “over-eating” is maybe eating a cup vs 1/4 cup. However, my stomach is killing me and I feel so sick. And disappointed with myself. I know everyone on the forum says people should not complain about loss not coming fast or stalls. And I know I am literally 1.5 weeks out from surgery. But I have lost nothing. Same weight today as the day of surgery. You wait for months, go through specific diet, pain of surgery. I did go up after surgery and that is all gone now- but I keep hearing about people losing 10 pounds first week and I’m starting to feel like I did this for nothing. I was already doing weight watchers and trying to eat healthy and exercise. Will my results be any different if I had just kept doing that? Losing 1-2 pounds per week? I try to be upbeat most of the time and think positively, but this day has just gotten to me. Just a bad work day which is killing my self confidence and making me feel useless. Tomorrow is a new day. Thanks for listening.

I’ve thrown up twice. I think three things occurred- bites too big. Didn’t chew to a puréed consistency and ate too fast. I would not go back to liquids only if you are supposed to be adding in food. It’s about learning to eat differently, which takes time.

I just miss coffee. My nutritionist said none for 6 months. I really like coffee....

There are some great videos on this on YouTube by some women who had this experience. I think they said up to 300 pounds they could ride most rides at Disney. It probably depends on the park. I would check their website or forums first. I have been able to ride all universal studio and Disney rides at size 18, but some of them were quite snug.

What has your surgeon said? Have you been going in for regular follow-ups? I am shocked they would let you go for a year without being able to tolerate real food. Certainly medical issues can occur- blockages, etc. but a good surgeon would have you do testing and figure out what is wrong ASAP. Make sure to keep drinking protein shakes or whatever you can tolerate, but get into the surgeon and make them aware of your fears and how critical this has become. I’m sorry you are dealing with this. Good luck. Let us know how you are doing.

Sugar free crystal light. I used to love sparkling water, but now that it is off limits, the SF crystal light in a large jug of water makes me feel like I’m drinking something different than just water. Also, portable vomit bags. I found on amazon. Pack of 24 blue Emesis bags by Healqu. Makes me feel safer just in case I am out and may need one quickly. Final item- pill sorter. Medca pop-up poll organizer. Allows you to organize pills by day and by 4x each day. I also got a smaller Travel one for when I am on the road. The last item-really- is the big book on gastric bypass by Alex Brecher. I got it before surgery but have found it quite helpful. It is connected to this site somehow, not sure how. But I first learned about bariatricpal through this book, so that was worth the money alone!

I searched for this topic but didn't find any postings. Next week I have to attend a three day business meeting away from home. This will include all day meetings (where I am very comfortable bringing my own stuff from home to eat) but also dinners out. I'm not comfortable bringing my own food into a nice restaurant and the only option I see is not eating at all-which may make others feel slightly odd. I'm concerned if I tried to order from the restaurant, it would still be high in sugar or fat and I could have a bad reaction. Has anyone else been through this? Any suggestions of what to order that has worked well (on pureed diet phase) or should I just enjoy the people and forget all food? Thanks, MM

I have to admit. I didn't make it through the full day without incident. Was great until dinner and then I had pureed cauliflower with canned chicken. The chicken was not pureed, but it is very soft. I only had small amount, but something just didn't sit right and back up it came after about 15 min. Maybe I ate too fast. I'm sure I will have considerable learning as I go through this process!

Never thought I would be so happy to be off the liquid diet! Loving getting to have some pureed food for a change!

Hi, Pals. Just wanted to check in now that I am 7 days post op. I had my gastric bypass on August 29. Went home on August 30. I have been on liquid diet since coming home. About to start pureed phase tomorrow. Everything has been going well. The pain has been manageable. I still have some bouts of pain, but much less than before. I have not been exercising yet, but plan to start that soon. I hope all other August surgery patients are doing well!

Does anyone else feel like they are drinking too fast? I have not had too many problems getting anything down- water, protein shake, broth- but I feel like I'm drinking it like I did before. It will take me about 20 min to finish a 8 ounce protein drink. And that is with me trying to go slow. I use the small one ounce cups- but I just drink and repeat. I'm not sure how bad.this is, but I keep reading that you shouldn't do this. What have others done?

I had a gastric bypass on August 29. The pain was not much for the day I was in the hospital. However, that was due to my pain IV drop, which I pushed regularly. I went home on August 30 with oxycodone. When I take the pills I am ok and can move around, sleep, etc. Last night I did not take them before bed to see if I could begin to wean off them (I took Tylenol instead.). Well, I am paying the price this morning. Woke up in escruciating pain. Took meds immediately and now (20 min later) I am fine. I am hoping the pain gets less each day, but the importance of the pain meds is clear to me now. I am hoping the pain begins to lessen now that I am four days post-op.

For the protein drink phase of post-op diet, how many calories are you consuming each day? I only did 500 one day then 350 the next.

https://www.emersonhospital.org/clinical-services/weight-loss-surgery Quick yet thorough process. I trusted Dr. Lautz. He is clear and straight forward. His team is great.

Thanks for your response. It is very helpful.