AZhiker

I am 4 months out and up to about 800 cal/day. I was eating about 500/day when I was a month out like you. My weight loss never stalled. I think consistent exercise helps.

Use a very firm, small pillow to support your tummy when you get out of bed, walk, cough, ride in car. My pillow buddy even went to the grocery store with me! (Hubby driving and pushing the cart, of course.) First week is rough. Second week is about getting your stamina back. I was back to work after 2 weeks. But you gotta sip, sip, sip those fluids!

You are getting surgery for all the right reasons - you see your quality of life shrinking and you don't want to go any further down that road. Let me tell you what "further down the road" looks like. I got my surgery (bypass) at age 63. I already have had one total knee replacement and the other one was getting so bad I had pain and limped with every step. My ortho said he really didn't want to operate again unless I lost weight. I had a hysterectomy at age 37 due to precancerous hyperplasia related to my weight. My GERD and asthma were horrible - the asthma in the last 2 years was the worse it had ever been (asthma can be related to GERD.) I developed sleep apnea (extreme with over 60 apneic episodes per hour.) I couldn't hike any more. I was too heavy to ride my mule. Climbing a flight of stairs was getting hard (my house has stairs.) I couldn't get off the floor by myself. I couldn't keep up with my grand kids. Gardening was losing it's pleasure for me. I had always been very active, and my increasing immobility resulted in depression and further immobility. I got fungal infections under my breasts and pannis every summer. I developed fatty liver disease which can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. My lipid profile was not great, my sugars were creeping up, as was my blood pressure. I dodged the diabetes bullet - barely. All the things I enjoyed in life were slipping away - quickly. Younger people don't always realize what 40 or 50 decades of obesity does to the body (and soul)! I was a wreck and now I feel like I have a whole new life ahead of me. I can ride, hike, climb stairs, and get off the floor, My knees DO NOT HURT!!!!! My sleep apnea is nearly resolved and no more GERD or asthma. I feel 20 years younger!!!!!! I was scared to death before surgery - thought about walking out when I was lying there on the pre-op bed, crying my eyes out from anxiety. But.... I walked through that door and discovered a whole new world waiting for me on the other side. I did have some complications, but it was soooooo worth it. Do not let your fear prevent you from getting your life back. Don't wait until you are 63 and have more issues than you have now, Your future is not pretty if you continue down the obesity road. Like my PCP told me, "If you could have done it on your own, you would have by now. Let this tool help you."

Once you stop the sugar, it will take a few days for the cravings to pass. Once they do, it will be much easier. But never go back. Even just one sugary bite can trigger all the cravings to start again. It has to do with the brain chemistry and pleasure receptors. It also has to do with insulin spikes that drop the blood sugar and make you want more. Just let it go and be done with it. Once I stopped sugar and caffeine, my energy levels soared! I am even keeled throughout the whole day with no afternoon slump. When 3:00 rolls around, my co-workers are starting to reach for coffee and energy drinks. I used to do the same, but just don't need it anymore.

As soon as I knew I was having surgery. I cut out all sugar, soda, and caffeine. I did not want to go through withdrawal of any addictive substances after surgery, and it was a great decision! Soda was hard. Caffeine was not so bad - just switched gradually to decaf and then lost my taste for coffee after surgery. Sugar was hard. Cutting this stuff out was good for the pre-op weight loss and boosted my confidence. It was good to have fought these battles ahead of time.

I am 63 years old and 50 years of obesity had taken a terrible toll on my quality of life. I dodged the diabetes and hypertension bullets, but I developed sleep apnea, had 1 knee replacement with the other knee very painful with shrinking cartilage. I couldn't hike, get on/off the floor with my grand kids, and was becoming more and more immobile. I could only see my life going downhill very quickly. I was on NSAIDS daily for the joint pain. Yes, I could lose weight - I have probably lost over 1,000 pounds all told, but always gained it back with more and more destruction of my metabolism. I also thought, "Maybe I should just try again to lose it on my own." My doctor brought me to my senses, "If you could have done it by now, you would have." So true. So I decided to have the surgery as a tool to help me finally overcome this obstacle in my life. Since surgery, I have not needed an NSAID at all! No joint pain! I can hike, play with the kids, go up/down stairs, and am much more active. I got a new job that is very, very active - I could not have done this job 6 months ago, I am not depressed - in fact many days I feel almost euphoric. I feel 10 years younger - maybe even 20 years younger! My sleep apnea is resolving, and I truly feel that I have been given a second chance at life. At my age, this is the last chance I get - I'm not going to blow it. This surgery has been an amazing gift to my health, self esteem, and my future. I now have new goals - to ride the 100+ mile El Tour de Tucson bike race, to hike the entire 830 mile Arizona Trail, and to never be on meds for diabetes, blood pressure, or cholesterol. And now I know I can do it! The quality of life is sooooooo worth it.

Yes, you can get the surgery for lower cost outside the US. But if there are complications (like what happened to my friend who got her bypass in Mexico) you are left without support and can end up costing way more. My friend got an infection and ended up in ICU and needing more surgery. She was basically sent home after surgery and left to fend for herself. I am sure not all cases end like this, but it seems like taking more of a risk than necessary. JMHO.

Day 2 post op.

Same here. Once the surgery was approved, it was a "go" even though there was weight loss on the pre-op diet. My insurance (BCBS) did not monitor after the approval.

I wont tell you to eat the chunks, but egg drop soup was one of the early foods that I could tolerate and was sooooo yummy.

Make your bedtime snack a protein one, which should regulate your insulin better through the night. Worse thing is to eat carbs at night - insulin spikes and sugar drops, resulting in hypoglycemia and hunger.

The curvy look sure is nice, but not that corsett!

So today I am making a fancy birthday cake and I couldn't believe that I actually stuck a finger full of frosting in my mouth! Old habits die hard! I immediately spit it out and washed out my mouth. Good grief! Scared me to death - the thought of dumping!

#1 priority is to get your fluid in. #2 is protein. We Arizona gals MUST get those fluids in every single day. It is too hard to catch up once we get even a little dehydrated. Try taking smaller sips more frequently. Water down the protein shakes if you think they feel too thick or too concentrated. Just because the schedule says you have to eat such and such by a certain week doesn't mean it will work for you perfectly. You have to listen to your body. Some weeks you have to back off certain foods a bit and then try again later. But water, water, water is the biggest priority. Sometmes when my appetite is just not there, I try some soup - like Progresso lentil or split pea. I can add protein powder to it, and the soft, more fluid texture seems to settle better.

4 months out and never had it and never want it. I am committed to absolutely no sugar, juice or concentrated carbs for the rest of my life.

My husband has always been the cold one and I have always been too hot. Before surgery I had to set the thermostat to 68 in order to sleep. You wouldn't believe the arguments in the car over the air conditioning! Now I am happy with thermostat at 78 and HE is the one turning the air on in the car! I carry a sweater with me everywhere, as I never know when I will start feeling chilly. There is a reason arctic seals have a lot of blubber! Once we lose our "insulation" the world is a different place.

Nature's Bounty. 10,000 mcg. Started post op 2 weeks when I started my other vitamins, I am 4 months out now and have had a bit of hair loss, but not bad. Nails are as hard as rock, though! The biotin won't necessarily prevent the hair follicle from giving up the ghost when you go into the starvation phase of immediate post op, That is just the body's way of reaction to severe caloric reduction, The hair loss is from the NEW hair starting to grow and push the dead stuff out. So I am hoping the biotin will result in some real nice hair that is starting to push the old stuff out of the way. At least that is how I am trying to frame it - Out with the old, In with the new!

I loved coffee, too, but I went to decaf prior to surgery and then my taste buds changed and I don't like any of it at all now. Which is good. I had bad reflux and Barrett's esophagus with a Barrett's polyp (precancerous) due to the acid. I don't want to eat or drink anything that could increase acid or increase risk of an ulcer. (No smoking, no alcohol, no coffee.) I used to think green tea tasted bitter, but now it tastes sweet! Go figure, So I drink 2 cups of decaf green tea every morning now and don't miss the coffee (hard for me to believe, but true). Without sugar and caffeine, my mood and energy level is so much more stable throughout the day, with no afternoon slump. All good stuff.

what is your total weight loss since surgery?

I put protein powder in yoghurt, soups of all kinds, and smoothies.

The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. Excellent! Makes sense of the science behind obesity and weight loss. Younger Next Year for women by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry Lodge. This is full of life changing strategies, focusing on exercise. It meant more to me as I started my exercise program and is very motivational. Both these books were required reading by my surgeon and I think they are both highly informative and motivating.

Sometimes I use a prepared shake and sip that in 15-30 min. Other times I make a shake with milk (any kind - soy has the highest protein), protein powder, 2 TB greek yoghurt, berries, spinich/greens. This takes 30 minutes to sip.

I was back to work in 2 weeks. The first week is the hardest, for sure. Hang in there. This is major surgery. It may look like little holes on the outside, but there was major work done on the inside! Absolutely no regrets. My life was on a dead end path. I am getting my life back and it is worth it!

I went and got a short summer cut, to minimize the visual trauma in the drain!

I started losing hair last week. I am also taking Biotin. From what I understand, the hair died a long time ago - when we were in the starvation phase. Now the new hair is starting to come in and it's pushing the old dead hair out. That is good news! Our biotin won't prevent the loss necessarily, but it will help the new hair grow in healthier.