lizonaplane

I was referring to OP and keto coffee in general. I had sleeve, but was still told not to do Keto. I do eat some high fat foods like cheese, and as a treat I'll have the sugar free peanut butter cups, which are essentially Keto, but I try to keep fat and sugar both low.

Welcome and Good luck! These boards are AWESOME! I joined when I was about 6 months before surgery. I learned so much. But remember, your results may vary, and people have different experiences. And, always ask your surgery center for medical concerns. I would recommend start tracking your progress now - take pictures of yourself in a doorway, take your measurements, etc. You'll want to look back on these "before" and "during" pictures as you go along. Sometimes you will get frustrated when the weight loss is going slowly and it's so nice to see that you've made a lot of progress. Its' great that you've already lost 11 lbs! Any weight you lose now is weight you won't have to lose after surgery. I lost 50 lbs before surgery (although I got a bit stalled by food funerals towards the end, which is very common). Keep us posted!

Vitamin B12 doesn't really absorb that well orally, so you have to take a lot and still might not get much benefit from them unless you take a shot. My father has a B12 deficiency (not related to WLS) and was told to start with shots every other day at first and then move to monthly shots. Like others have said, I would ask to see what your B12 levels are (your lab tests will show what the "normal range" is and whether you are in that normal range, or how far out of it you are.

I don't eat orzo because it's just pasta; empty carbs. I would imagine if you can eat any pasta, you wouldn't have trouble with orzo. I had some soup yesterday that had pasta in it, no issues. It was a different shape than orzo, but still just pasta.

I use fat free greek yogurt on anything that I would normally use sour cream on, and very many things. So, I make taco meat, chili, and ground turkey stroganoff and mix all with FF Greek yogurt. It makes it easier to swallow (and ground meat is easier that like chicken breasts or pork loin) and it increases the protein content. You can also use tomato sauce; just look for one that doesn't have added sugar or make your own.

Because during the surgery they pump you full of IV fluids and it can take a week or more for that to come out of your system. Plus, if you haven't pooped in a while or are drinking salty fluids like broth, that can cause you to retain water. Also, try to always weigh yourself at the same time of day in the same clothes (I weigh naked, first thing in the morning, after peeing). Good luck!

LOL. No way! I'm totally afraid of heights. There is no way I would do that.

Try eating things like cheese, fruit, nuts, etc. These are all calorically dense but "healthy" (although the saturated fat in cheese is debatable). And yogurt (with artificial sweetener or plain) is easy to eat. I can't eat more than about 500 calories unless I eat snacks.

Excellent link, thank you for sharing! You may be at the "right" weight for your body. I know that you can still lose weight after one year post surgery, but it may be VERY slow. Also, you want whatever you're doing to be sustainable. I think the goal should be on maintaining weight as well, which requires having a diet you can live with for the long haul. If you are determined to lose weight, you could TRY counting calories for a few weeks, but that might not be something you're willing to commit to. Anyway, congratulations on your success!

Welcome! If you don't drink milk, you may be a bit limited. It depends on why you don't drink milk. If you are vegan, then the protein water won't work as it has whey protein in it. If you are lactose intolerant, you may find that some of the drinks with whey protein will be okay, as will lactose free high protein milk. I would recommend bone broth, again, that will only be if you eat meat products. Also, pho, hot and sour, and tom yum broth can be awesome too. I didn't have 4 weeks of just liquids after surgery, only 1 week, then I could have yogurt. After two weeks I could have things like refried beans, which were great. Will you be able to have purees? There are many foods (like bean soups) that can be pureed. I would ask your surgeon what they recommend for you since you do not drink milk. I believe there is a vegetarian/vegan thread on here you can check out.

I didn't have a strictly pureed stage, but early on I did have a lot of refried beans with cheese and fat-free Greek yogurt. I particularly like the Chorizo flavored beans. Greek yogurt without fruit bits is great, too. I also liked the ricotta bake. Another thing I tried was pureed buffalo chicken dip, made with just canned chicken, frank's hot sauce, and bolthouse yogurt ranch. It looked really weird but tasted good, You can also probably puree tuna fish with some mayo or Miracle Whip.

We were told not to do Keto because the extra fat isn't healthy, and can cause more gallbladder issues as you are rapidly losing weight.

It sounds like you're tracking your food. I'm at 5 months out at I'm eating between 800-1200 calories a day, and still losing weight, but not every day. Maybe try going up to 1200 for a day every few days? Sometimes that can "shock" your system into more weight loss, but not sure if that really works. Also, working out isn't really for weight loss; it's for general health and also to reduce muscle loss. it's also good to help keep weight from coming back. You don't have to do too much, but it's good to do something most days of the week. Finally, the closer you are to a "healthy" weight, the harder weight loss gets. Good luck!

Isn't it crazy when your sizes get so much smaller and you hold up a pair of pants and you're like "how could these pants possibly fit me?!?" And then they do. Sorry you're having a hard time getting to a spa. Maybe you could have a friend or family member watch the kids?

Just because someone is in the medical field doesn't mean they know anything about bariatric surgery or even nutrition. Most doctors are given very little, if any, training in nutrition. If the schedule was working for you, you should keep it. In fact, most of the nutritionists I've seen in my life (including for weight loss surgery) have suggested I keep a schedule as well as tracking my food. It's hard to say how many calories you need; it depends on your height, weight, age, gender, and how active you are. There are calorie calculators on the web (try this one: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html although I have no idea how accurate it is). We are told after surgery to get at least 60 grams of protein; I am for 80. I try to minimize carbs, but I don't have a precise number, as long as my carbs are not coming from added sugar. As far as constipation, it's an ongoing battle for many people. I find that coffee does the trick for me usually, but sometimes I need Miralax, especially after traveling for a few days. Many people like magnesium citrate. Eating and drinking more fluid, as well as more exercise, should also help. At least that's what my surgery center told me.

It depends a lot on whether you had sleeve or bypass. I was told to avoid bypass because it could cause more issues with my medications for bipolar disorder, and I know that even with sleeve extended release medications often need to be switched. Definitely discuss with your surgeon and the prescribing doctor.

You can make chili without beans, very easily. Give that a go.

I would agree that chicken noodle soup isn't a great idea at first - the chicken breast can be hard to eat and the noodles are just empty carbs, but why are you avoiding chili? I eat that a lot! It's a great source of protein, complex carbs/fiber (the beans) and veggies. Make sure you're getting your protein in. When I have chili I add FF greek yogurt in place of sour cream and some shredded cheese. I also use those on top of refried beans (really easy to eat in the soft food stage) and taco meat. I still eat a lot of FF sugar free greek yogurt, like Light and Fit brand, plus the plain unflavored to add to foods. I don't like the protein drinks, but I still have one every days or I can't get my protein in. You can get chili at lots of restaurants, and it's easy to make your own. I like going to Chipotle to get a "bowl" with no rice or lettuce, with some sort of meat, cheese, hot sauce, sour cream, and beans and that's enough for a few meals. I also like Barber chicken breasts that you can cook in a toaster or regular oven. I eat half of one of those plus some mashed cauliflower. You can also make "ground turkey stroganoff" (recipe can be googled) and freeze it in individual portions (I do the same with my chili) so you can have it ready in two minutes. 20 oz of ground turkey plus a lb of mushrooms is 8 servings for me. I find that ground meat is easier to chew and digest. Eggs are hard for some people to digest, but that's an easy thing to cook. Something else I make is a Joseph's low carb tortilla stuffed with Goya Chorizo flavor refried beans and shredded cheese, cooked in a pan, then served with FF greek yogurt. One tortilla (made like a quesadilla) makes two meals for me.

It sounds like you are actually hungry but that food doesn't taste good. I had the same thing. I never lost my hunger and nothing tasted good and I was miserable and regretted the surgery. That lasted almost four months. I feel much better now (5 months out). I've started enjoying eating again, and I've realized that while I can eat basically anything, some things are a LOT easier and more enjoyable to eat. For example, I cook a lot of meals with ground meat, rather than chicken breast/thighs. Also, ground meat reheats more easily. I can make chili, ground turkey stroganoff, taco meat... so much! I don't eat much salad because it isn't very comfortable. I was sad at first, because I used to eat a lot of salads, but I eat a lot of things I do like. I still don't feel like I did before (I have so many dreams about eating a ton of food!) but this has definitely become my new normal and I'm becoming okay with it. It helps that I've lost a lot of weight!

Many people start to be cold all the time. I was always cold before the surgery and now I'm not so cold, because I work out more. I'm not as cold when I exercise. See if you feel warmer after a walk. I find that when I'm sitting all day (which is happening right now due to a knee injury) I'm very cold. Usually I would walk on the treadmill when I start to get cold and I'd be warm for a few hours after just 10 minutes of brisk walking. You can also try drinking hot tea or soup.

I had a lot of nausea from my multivitamin. I have to take it with food right before I go to bed. That's pretty common. Or you could be eating too much or too fast. I had a lot of nausea at first. When do you get nausea? Is it all the time? After you eat or drink? At night? Talk to your surgery center, because there is medication you can take for sure. Like ondansetron (Zofran).

I never lost my hunger. I was told I would crave healthy food and would no longer like sweets. That was not true for me. I'm five months out and I still like sweets. I just usually eat things that are artificially sweetened now, and obviously smaller amounts. I do like things like cream of wheat more now, since I'm not eating a lot of other carbs. I just try not to beat myself up when I want things and to minimize the impact in my day. I've got to view this as something I'm going to do for the rest of my life - I can't eat zero carbs or sugar for the rest of my life for many reasons (for example, I went to my friend's house and she made a pizza. I could have brought a protein shake, but I'm so sick of those, so I had a piece of pizza and that was fine.).

I agree with trying to see a therapist, but that can be very hard to find if you didn't do your surgery with a big surgery center in the US or where you live. I've heard that places outside the US (especially Mexico, Turkey, etc) don't provide much support after surgery, and I know from experience that finding a therapist trained in weight issues can be very hard. I would try to work on things like figuring out what you are feeling when you decide to order take out. Are you tired, bored, sad, angry, lonely? If any of these things are the problem, eating take out is not the solution. If you wait until you are over tired or way too hungry to eat, you are more likely to make bad choices with what to eat. It's not hard to keep better choices on hand. Try keeping low sugar flavored Greek yogurt, tuna, protein shakes, cheese, fruit, etc on hand. I travel a lot so I eat out, but I try to choose the best possible option (high protein, low carb) and when I'm home, I make something with ground turkey or chicken like chili, taco meat, ground turkey stroganoff, etc and divide it in portions to freeze so I always have something that takes two minutes to heat up. It takes much less time than ordering take out. I don't wait after drinking to eat (my surgery center said we didn't have to) but I definitely don't drink after eating - it's painful to me, plus we were told it would just flush the food down our stomach and we'd be hungry sooner. Try to get yourself to track, even if it's only every other day. You said you've been working since May 2021 on getting this surgery. There's no second chance after this. Even if you have a revision surgery, you may not lose much weight. It's now or never.

I have not treated myself with anything in particular, because I never held back from doing what I wanted before. I actually did a month of buying nothing but food in January, and that was great. I realized I had enough clothes from the last time I had lost weight plus some things I had bought in the last few months, so I didn't buy clothes. Unfortunately, this month I've gone back to buying things, although the only clothes I bought were swimsuits (my old one was way too big and I'm going on two trips where I will need them) and some things from a thrift store. I already travel whenever I want; even when I was at my heaviest and needed a seatbelt extender I still traveled for work and pleasure. I haven't figured out what would be a good "treat". I would like it to be something that doesn't end up in a landfill, something more like services. I like getting massages, but I never seem to plan far enough in advance. I'm actually getting one this week when I go to LA for work, because I have a friend there who is a massage therapist. Actually, I just reached a milestone of 100 lbs lost, so I'd like to figure out some way to celebrate that...

Why are you worried about a tablespoon of sugar free ice cream? I assure you this will not affect your weight loss. It has almost no calories. If you start eating the whole carton, then you might reconsider. I have a serving (about 2/3 cup, 79 g) of Breyer's sugar free ice cream every few days as a treat. I don't feel like I need it every day, but I certainly want more than 1 tablespoon when I want it. Everyone's weight will drop and plateau; that's just how weight loss is, whether with surgery or without. This has to be a life-long sustainable journey; you have to enjoy your life or you might just go overboard in reaction to being super strict.