Hill_Billy

Like many, I've lost a TON of hair as part of this journey. In August, at 7 months out, I cut it to a long bob which helped, but as it started to grow out it quickly became scraggly and looked very fine. SO I did a major cut this week taking it to a long pixie (almost 10.5 months out) I am super happy at what a difference it made in appearance - parts of it are almost back to normal density with regrowth. Now if it only stops falling out and I can keep what I have.

How about Isopure? I use those instead of shakes because I hate the shakes, too.

I am only a few days post op. Meal prep was handy preop. Right after surgery using the small containers (1 ounce disposable from amazon) reminds you to sip and not gulp. I have 1 ounce and 2 ounce disposable for the puree phase so i can make a batch of something and divide it out. I also have some nondisposable plastic 4 ounce ones from target (2$ for six) that can be microwaved for hot foods. I haven'tused them yet though

Personally, I bought some 2 ounce cups off amazon. I keep my premier protein in the fridge and just fill the two ounce cup when Im ready for more. I havent gone back to work yet, But I have a fridge in my office, so I will keep that stocked up too.

I measured by volume exclusively the first month.
After that it was primarily by weight, with sometimes volume (i.e., liquids, semi-liquids, sauces, etc...)

Everyone has different opinions, im just sharing mine.. but my dietician said to never weigh when portioning. Your stomach is restricted by the volume you can eat not the weight of the food. You should be measuring your food out by portion size.

I weigh almost everything. It's more precise and I don't have to wash a measuring cup. It's easier to divide things into equal servings that way, e.g., dividing a 150-gram yogurt into three 50-gram servings, or calculate how many servings (or what fraction of a serving) I'm eating for the purposes of food tracking. Some things are difficult to measure accurately by volume, like protein powder. "One scoop" can be very different amounts depending on how tightly you pack it in the scoop.

I think that generally liquids should be measured by volume and solids by weight.

It kinda makes me think about all the times I used a measuring cup for flour/ sugar versus the Great British Baking Show weighs those items.

depends on what it is. Something like yogurt, I measure. Meat - I weigh. I'm thinking the more solid something is, weighing is probably more accurate.

really good question, i was also wondering that. my dr is saying 4 teaspoons, which depending on what that is could be several ounces, or not even 1. it is all very confusing. i am at week 6 today. i am just excited that in 2 more weeks i can move up to 1/4 cup, which is more than 4 teaspoons for sure. this is hard, and i want to eat a big salad.

I’d stay under 500 for the time being.

Ok, breathe. It’s ok. We all lose at different rates. You may be a slow loser. You said you’ve lost 10lbs in 4 weeks so that is some loss.
I am concerned about how you are managing to get in 1200 calories a day at this early stage. Who recommended that as a daily goal? That seems more like a high recommended pre surgical caloric goal not post surgical. 300 - 500 calories at this early stage seems to be pretty common. 1200 calories is what a lot of us consume to maintain our weight.
Are you on purées or have you started eating soft foods? Are you following your diet plan? What quantity of food are you eating? Most are told to aim to consume 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of food 3 times a day once you start eating purées, soft food & then solids.
Contact your nutritionalist/dietician and your surgical team. They will give you some guidance on how to manage your journey.

I’m three weeks out from surgery and I continue to be amazed by the fact that I truly feel no hunger and have no cravings. At this point, I’m averaging 300-400 calories per day max and, although I know it’s hard to believe, I feel fantastic! As someone who has dieted on and off for the past 25 years, I know the misery that comes with starvation. What I’m experiencing now is NOTHING like what I’ve been through in the past.

For example, I just ate just 2 oz of tuna mixed with Greek yogurt, and I’m full and feel totally satisfied! I don’t feel stuffed but I absolutely could not eat another bite. The gastric sleeve does all sorts of amazing things to all the hormones that cause the sensations we all fear, and for me has been a godsend.

I agree with catwoman, I think the smaller stomach and changes to hunger hormones and insulin processing are all immediate changes after surgery for most people. I am only a few weeks post op and eating about 600-650 calories right now in puréed diet and I am not hungry. I did feel hungry sometimes on the liquids only diet, for the first few weeks.

Today I played my first (American) tackle football game (Stockholm Mean Machines) I am SUCH a rookie! I only got my pads 3 weeks ago and had to borrow all of them from the team and other players... BUT boy was it fun. I (now) play Offensive Right Guard and was deathly scared before the match but it turned out that our own team during practice hits much harder than our opponent. At 48 years old and about 16 months post GPB, I am soooo happy to have done this. I still have problems seeing myself at my weight though and think i'm still "fat" in my head even though everyone else sees me as somewhat of a bean poll (Im 5 foot 11). I also could only play this one game this season because I'm getting surgery on my foot which is what killed my playing sports when I was 19.
On the other hand, I was Googling around about football and weight issues since I dont want to gain weight from eating too much (like I did after injuring my foot but muscle is fine though) and I ran across this article about a very overweight somewhat famous player (that I had no idea about). A great read by the way. After reading the article, I wondered how he was doing now and saw the blurb in the middle. He had died at 38. So it just reminds me (my sister died from complications from obesity) that I truly need to keep "on the wagon".
Still happy but cautious....

Great thread idea!
Here are a couple I like a lot.
Chili Lime Chicken Burgers from Trader Joe‘s
Frontera Grill marinade/sauces are a great way to add a ton of flavor with minimal calories to lean proteins like pork, chicken and fish/shellfish.

Last summer when I started thinking seriously about bariatric surgery, I had trouble finding info on the timeline for Kaiser patients in the DC/MD/VA area. So for anyone who's interested, here's the process (and my timeline):
Got a referral from my primary care provider (9/3/19) 1/2 WLS class with a nutritionist (9/19/19) 1/4 appt with a nutritionist (10/23/19) 1/2 Surgeon-led bariatric info session @ Holy Cross (11/12/19) 2/4 appt with a nutritionist (11/22/19) 2/2 Surgeon-led bariatric info session @ Holy Cross (11/27/19) 2/2 WLS class with a nutritionist (12/20/19) 3/4 appt with a nutritionist (1/16/20) 4/4 appt with a nutritionist (2/12/20) Got approved for surgery (2/14/20) Appt with surgeon @ Holy Cross to schedule surgery (3/3/20) It's designed to be a six-month program starting with your referral and ending with the appt with your surgeon to schedule surgery (with variety of mandatory classes and one-on-one sessions spread out over the course of those six months). Here are some of the other requirements you have to take care of before a board will review your medical record and approve you for surgery:
Ideally, you lose some weight, but there aren't a set number of pounds you have to lose. Behavioral health evaluation H-Pylori antibody stool test Sleep apnea screening Write a letter to the surgeon about why you want to have surgery Although my nutritionist is at South Baltimore County Medical Center, the only two bariatric surgeons currently available for Kaiser patients in the DMV are at Holy Cross in Silver Springs. My surgery will likely be at Largo Medical Center, and once it's scheduled, I'll update this post but I've been told to expect a six to eight week wait.
I hope this helps!

But bmi 19-24.99 has best health outlook so original poster should be allowed to reach for it ?

I like Premier Protein Clear. I can only find the peach flavor but it’s decent and it’s a million times easier for me to drink VS. the regular Premier Protein shakes right now.

I love the flavored protein waters to top off my protein if I didn't quite make my protein goal at the end of the day. I find the shakes sit better in the morning on an empty stomach but by the end of the day it can be heavy. So long as you take your vitamins and are getting in protein, I don't see why not.

I’m a week out from surgery, and although my biggest incision is above my belly button, I’m not in any pain... my belly is just sore. Other people can jump in with their experiences, but I think the pain you’re experiencing is unusual and probably worth a call to your surgeon. Good luck!

Congrats on your surgery.
We all worried if we were doing the right thing to begin. It’s such a change to how we ate before & we want to be successful.
I wasn’t consuming much at all the first fortnight. A diluted shake & a cup of soup, which I often didn’t finish & I’d sip them for hours. Once I got onto puréed & soft foods, I only ate about 4 teaspoons three times a day. Even on solid food, I didn’t consume much for months - about 1/2 cup at each meal. I was probably getting in about 500 calories max & way less at the beginning. But that was me, you may be different.
Eating slowly is important so you get the message you’re satisfied before you eat more than you need. That tight chest feeling is because you’ve eaten too much & not what you want. Feeling comfortable is good. I ask myself do I really need the next spoonful or am I eating it out of habit.
Just take it slowly & listen to your body. You’ll work out what works for you.
Good luck.
PS - watch the juice. It’s still full of natural sugars & could upset you. Plus it’s high in carbs. It takes about three oranges to make 1 cup of juice but you wouldn’t eat 3 oranges at one sitting - just something to consider.

I'm guessing you may have had a morphine pump in the hospital (or some other narcotic), so that's probably why it felt worse when you got home. It's most likely gas pain - it should work its way out in a few days. The getting in and out of bed thing is common. To be honest, I didn't have any pain at all other than when I was getting in and out of bed. It felt like I'd done 1000 crunches - but that'll go away soon, too.

It starts with your initial visit to the surgeon. Can lose as much weight as you want after that! Can weigh in with your shoes on too, if you are worried about being close!

I had the sleeve done on the 5th, stayed in the hospital over night. I was super sleepy the day of and the day after the surgery, but by the 7th, I was feeling much more like myself. Since I had already been on a two week pre-op liquid diet, my body didn't seem bothered by the continuation of liquid, even though I was consuming less. No hunger whatsoever. Also, no issues walking; I walked a total of about 3 miles the day after surgery (I have a dog). Like a lot of people have mentioned, the only real "pain" I feel can be best described as soreness, like I just did a ton of sit-ups. I can still do all the normal stuff at home; I'm only trying to be careful not to lift anything heavy.
Haven't gotten on the scale yet, but I haven't consumed more than a few hundred calories since the night before surgery so I'm not worried about it.