BigSue

Well... I basically hate everything about exercising. I hate spending time on it. I hate getting sweaty. I hate the way it feels. I hate exerting myself. I've always hated exercise and I'm pretty sure I always will. I have never been able to understand people who claim to enjoy exercise. I can't even believe it because it makes zero sense to me. I go for exercise I can do at home because the gym is just about my worst nightmare (plus, I live in a rural area, so I'd have to drive a long way just to get to a gym), but even working out at home sucks. I highly doubt I would find any exercise "fun," but I have thought about getting a stationary bike with the idea of being able to watch TV while I work out. One of the things I hate about exercise is having to spend time on it. When I do the workout videos, I have to watch and listen to the videos, so I can't really be watching or listening to anything else at the same time. But even with exercise bikes, the popular ones are based on classes where you're supposed to follow the workout on the screen. Plus, they are expensive and take up a lot of space. Fortunately, I haven't had any issues with any food I have eaten so far, but I have stuck very closely to what my program says I should and shouldn't eat. I haven't even tried a bite of bread, pasta, rice, deep-fried food, or anything with a lot of sugar (my program says not to exceed 15 grams of sugar in a meal, and I haven't come anywhere close to that) since my surgery. I haven't experience dumping syndrome, but I haven't eaten anything that should cause it, so I don't know if I would or not. There are so many great and healthy foods that I can and do eat that I am perfectly content when I am eating, but I still have the memories of the foods I used to eat and when I see other people eating them, it stirs up those memories. I miss being able to scarf down half a pizza, or a juicy hamburger on a big, fluffy bun, or a cream-filled doughnut, or a big slice of cheesecake with sugary toppings, etc.

I use IdealLean protein by IdealFit. The birthday cake flavor is my favorite (especially to mix into yogurt), and they have some other delicious flavors, too (I like chocolate brownie, chocolate coconut, and mint chocolate).

That is brilliant! I wish more doctors would take this approach. One of my biggest regrets in life is all of the years I spent yo-yo dieting. The first time I went on a diet as a pre-teen, I wasn't even that fat, but I got stuck in a cycle of dieting and gaining it all back plus more. I honestly think that if I had known then about how harmful yo-yo dieting is, I never would have ended up so big that I needed weight loss surgery. Maybe if I had a doctor or dietitian who had told me all of this, I could have found my "best weight" instead of striving for something that I couldn't sustain. I am still trying to figure out what this looks like for my post-surgery self. I have been doing everything right since my surgery -- eating the right foods and quantities, drinking plenty of water, working out every day -- but it is exhausting and I often wonder how long I will be able to keep it up. For me, I think working out will be the sticking point because I hate it. I found something that I can put up with (Leslie Sansone videos on YouTube -- I've tried other ones but they all seem to fall short of Leslie's), but I still dread it. I get up early so I can get it out of the way before work, but I hate getting up so early, too. I am actually pretty good with the food because I have found so many delicious bariatric-friendly recipes that I truly enjoy eating, although I still feel sad sometimes when I see other people enjoying food that I can't eat.

I am 8 months out and up until the last month or so, I usually needed protein powder to reach my goal of 60 grams of protein per day. It varies from one person to the next (and your surgeon may recommend a different protein goal than mine), but it could be a while before you can eat enough to get all of your protein from food. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to drink protein shakes every day (I know we all get sick of those); you can mix protein powder into other foods or beverages (a lot of people like to use caramel protein shake as a coffee creamer). My go-to breakfast for a long time was half a scoop of protein powder mixed with half a container of triple zero Greek yogurt, for a total of 19 grams of protein (my favorite combo is birthday cake protein powder plus vanilla yogurt, topped with raspberries). Another good one is protein oatmeal. The BariatricPal store sells some with 15 grams of protein per serving, and you can add some more protein powder to that. There are a lot of protein pancake mixes on the market (and you can even buy frozen protein pancakes and waffles). Eggs, chicken sausage, and turkey bacon are always good high-protein options for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, I usually have about 2 ounces of meat and 2 ounces of veggies, like a salad with chicken, or BBQ chicken (with sugar-free BBQ sauce) and air-fried veggies (green beans, asparagus, carrots, or broccoli), or lettuce wraps (like PF Chang's). Another favorite is Mexican-seasoned chicken with cauliflower rice, salsa, black beans, cheese, and nonfat Greek yogurt. And taco bites, with Quest chili lime protein chips topped with Mexican-seasoned chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and nonfat Greek yogurt. You can't eat much at this point, so you have to keep it simple and focus on protein. I love my air fryer and Instant Pot and I make a lot of recipes with them, but if you don't have those, you can find similar recipes that use other cooking methods. Here are some great recipes that I've made recently: Chicken Divan with cauliflower cream sauce (the cauliflower cream sauce is fantastic and can be used as a white sauce in a lot of recipes) Instant Pot Carnitas Instant Pot Mexican Chicken Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken Garlic Parmesan Carrot Fries Buffalo Cauliflower (I make it in the air fryer) Turkey Ragu (excellent with Shelly's Ricotta Bake, roasted spaghetti squash, or shirataki noodles) Instant Pot Egg Bites Instant Pot BBQ chicken White Chicken Chili I have a freezer full of bariatric portioned meals and Pinterest boards full of more recipes that I'm dying to try! If you don't already use Pinterest, you definitely should -- it's a gold mine.

I'm sure you look great and you would get a lot of positive comments if you chose to post a picture... I find that I am often surprised by what is considered "overweight." I guess because I spent so long being really, really big, that if I saw a person with a BMI under, say, 30, I'd consider that person thin! (But now, my BMI is under 30 and I don't think I am thin.)

Wow... I'm sorry to hear people on this forum have been so rude. You lost over 100 pounds and kept it off for 3 years, so you clearly did something right! I was never really aiming for a specific goal weight -- I'm in it for the non-scale goals. I started out with a BMI over 60, so I never expected to be skinny, and in fact, I wasn't sure if I'd ever make it out of the obesity range. Even if I didn't, I'd still say a BMI of 35 was a big improvement over a BMI of 60. It's easy to be perfect and follow the rules during the honeymoon period, but I'm more concerned about the long term. I pay really close attention to those of you who are a few years out and try to learn from your experiences. I think it's important to figure out a sustainable lifestyle and not fall back into the trap of yo-yo dieting that most of us have probably done in the past. I'm still trying to figure out how to strike that balance and grateful to be able to learn from those who went before me.

I wanted to get home as soon as possible, too, but don't be in TOO much of a rush to get home. The nice thing about being in the hospital is that they pump you full of IV fluids, so you don't have to worry about getting dehydrated. It's hard to drink enough fluids for the first week or so, so the IV fluids are a big help.

I only stayed one night. I had my surgery on a Thursday morning and I was discharged from the hospital on Friday afternoon. Keep in mind that it can depend on how you're doing. If you have any complications or problems, they might want to keep you in the hospital for longer.

Nobody noticed (or at least commented on) my weight lost until I had lost 110 pounds!

Yeah, I've lost 180 pounds and I still have a big belly. It's not just loose skin -- there's definitely still some fat in there that does not want to go away. I'm having a hard time figuring out the right size of clothing to buy because if I go by my actual waist measurement around the middle of my belly, everything is too big. And I don't leave the house without wearing a shaping cami.

Skinny Chicken Divan (https://lillieeatsandtells.com/skinny-chicken-divan-cauliflower-cream-sauce/) This is a great recipe for a nice "comfort food" casserole. It uses a cauliflower cream sauce that is surprisingly tasty, and now I want to experiment with using it in other recipes as a substitution for white sauce. I made a few minor changes to the recipe. I used a little more chicken and less broccoli (I just used a 12-ounce bag of fresh broccoli florets, which you can see was plenty). Instead of bread for the topping, I used chopped-up pork rinds (which I always thought were unhealthy since they're fried, but it turns out they are surprisingly high in protein) and ranch seasoning. I don't like to mess with recipes too much the first time I make them, but next time I make this, I think I will cook the chicken with some onions and garlic, and not shred it as finely (I was lazy and shredded it in my stand mixer). The broccoli is a bit overcooked for my taste because I decided to try cooking it in my Instant Pot, and even 1 minute with quick release turned out to be too long. I'm thinking it might not even need to be pre-cooked. I forgot to take a picture of the full pan before I took out my serving... My 4-ounce serving (the whole pan was 50 ounces, or 12.5 servings like this):

I don’t think you need to worry about this... I’m single with no kids and I don’t have any family nearby. I didn’t tell anyone about my surgery, so I didn’t even have anyone to pick me up from the hospital, let alone stay with me as a “support person.” I hired someone from a home care agency to pick me up and bring me home from the hospital. It was not an issue at all. And you’re right — with the COVID situation, most hospitals aren’t even allowing visitors right now. Mine didn’t. The nurses and hospital staff will take care of your medical needs, and while it might be nice to have a companion/support person, it is really not necessary.

Carnitas burrito bowl (Instant Pot pork carnitas, riced cauliflower, salsa, and homemade pico de gallo).

@catwoman7, just out of curiosity, how many times have you gotten to that drop-dead weight (if you don't mind saying)?

Well... I'm the wrong person to ask because I'm super cautious about food safety, and I err on the side of overcooking meat. I don't take it off the heat until it's at a safe temperature (plus at least a few more degrees just to be safe). I also ruin it by stabbing it in multiple places with a thermometer (just to make sure!), which lets a lot of juices out. Dark meat is very forgiving, so it was still very juicy even though it was cooked a little more than necessary.

I fired up my smoker today for 10 pounds of leg quarters and 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Finished product (this is the smallest one): Took 2 ounces from that one to put on a salad for lunch: And 2 ounces with sugar-free BBQ sauce and a side of asparagus for dinner: Smoked chicken freezes well, so the rest of it's going in the freezer. I'll have plenty of chicken for weeks!

This is a very common question, but it's weird how many posts there have been this weekend alone from people concerned about their rate of weight loss... Everybody loses at a different rate. It annoys me when surgeons tell people how quickly they "should" be losing weight, when they should know full well that there are many factors -- many of which are outside of the patient's control -- that can affect the rate of weight loss after surgery. The bottom line is that if you're following the program and your weight is decreasing (even if it's slow), you're fine. For your specific case, you had a low starting weight. The less you have to lose, and the closer you get to your goal, the more slowly it will go. I started at 341 pounds (down to 270 on surgery day), so I had WAY more to lose than you. You can't expect to lose as quickly as someone who started 100+ pounds higher, so don't compare your weight loss to someone else's. Just be patient and stick with your program, and the weight will come off.

Those look delicious! I love green beans. My favorite frozen green beans are Steamfresh (I don't steam them in the bag, though). I also got some good ones from Trader Joe's for a great price.

I like Syntrax Nectar, and they have a lot of flavors. I would recommend buying sample packs of the flavors that appeal to you to see what you like. IdealFit also has some good ones (and you can buy samples of those, too). I bought a case of Protein2O and HATED it. It left a weird residue in my mouth (little bits with the texture of cooked egg whites). It's possible I just got a bad batch or something, though.

Don't panic! This is highly unlikely to prevent you from getting surgery. My A1c was 8.1 on my preliminary bloodwork (lower before surgery -- I think it was about 7 but I don't remember). That was one of my big reasons that I finally went through with WLS. I never had to go on medication, but that is an option if you need to lower it before surgery. The good news is that WLS often helps to reduce blood glucose. My A1c 6 months after surgery was 4.5.

I love the green goddess dressing! The spicy cashew dressing is also great. I wish I lived near a Trader Joe's; unfortunately, the closest one is an hour and 15 minutes away. The dressing has such a short shelf life that I can't exactly stock up. I wonder if it freezes well.

The only thing I brought for entertainment was my iPad. Between walking and sipping, I didn't have a lot of time to focus on anything, so I mostly just watched TV and played games on my iPad to pass the time. Make sure you bring some comfortable pants (e.g., pajama pants or sweatpants) to wear under your hospital gown while you walk around.

You're doing great! 6 kg in 2 weeks is almost 1 pound per day. That's excellent, especially considering that most people temporarily gain weight in the hospital from all the IV fluids. A lot of people have unrealistic expectations for weight loss. You didn't gain the weight overnight and you're not going to lose it overnight. Most people lose 15-25 pounds in the first month, so you're well on your way. It's too soon right now to worry about your rate of weight loss. You need to focus on getting your fluids and protein. Stick with your plan and the weight will come off.

My endocrinologist ordered some bloodwork last week and (surprise, surprise) I have iron deficiency. I was slightly iron deficient before the surgery as well. I've been taking BariMelts iron + vitamin C with 54 mg of iron per day. The endocrinologist suggested I take the iron supplements twice a day, and that makes me nervous because I know too much iron can be toxic. Google tells me the maximum recommended iron dosage is 45 mg per day, and I'm already over that. I realize some of the normal rules go out the window for bariatric patients, but my bariatric program only recommends 45-65 mg per day. Dr. Matthew Weiner has a video on YouTube about supplements after bariatric surgery, and he said that the most important thing to learn from that video is that gastric bypass patients need to take chelated iron supplements. My bariatric program says nothing about that and specifies ferrous fumarate or ferrous fluconate (but they said the BariMelts, which are carbonyl iron, are fine). I purchased some chelated iron supplements (which are hard to find) and I plan to start taking those once I run out of BariMelts in a couple of weeks. I was told to take chewables for the first six weeks, and the chelated iron pills aren't chewable. My surgeon doesn't do bloodwork until 3 months out, which is about 5 weeks from now. I sent my bloodwork results to the surgeon's office, but I'm not sure if they'll even look at them since they're apparently not concerned about bloodwork until 3 months out. I'm conflicted between following my endocrinologist's orders (who does not specialize in bariatric patients), or waiting until my 3-month appointment to see what the surgeon says, and also see how the bloodwork comes out after I've been taking the chelated iron. Any advice?

I had problems with meat getting stuck when I started eating it again after surgery. No matter how much I chewed, it seems like a bite got stuck at least once every time I ate meat. After a couple of months, it gradually stopped happening, and it hasn't happened for months. Since you're only 4 weeks out, I would suggest you stick to canned chicken for a while. Canned chicken is a lot softer than chicken you cook yourself, so it doesn't get stuck easily.