vikingbeast

I track my food in MyFitnessPal (I tried and hated both Baritastic and MyMacros+). I track my weight and BMI with FitIndex which connects to my smart scale and the super-awesome smart measuring tape. I weigh in every Monday morning.

I find if I use a straw, I get the "burps" easily. I've only done it once. But I didn't really use straws before—I remember elderly relatives chiding me for using one because "det er til småbørn"—those are for little kids. (I am not judging anyone who uses one, by the way, just got hammered into my head.)

Fantastic! You look great and you're a huge inspiration to those of us still earlier in our journeys.

60 grams (not milligrams) of protein is 240 calories—there's 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrate, and 9 calories per gram of fat, regardless of type. I spent four weeks (one pre-op and three post-op) on basically that diet and did fine. Dropped two and a half stone in three weeks.

Just posting this so I can turn off the reply notifications.

I do both... lighter weights for more reps for time under load for size and endurance, and heavy weights for raw strength. I'm with you on not overstressing the muscle groups. I won't even do front squats and back squats without three days in between. You look fantastic. #goals

We don't need any personal attacks here, thank you not at all. Your post has been reported.

You're so obviously a shill for this stuff. You come and you register an account just so you can post this. You contribute literally nothing else to the site. And for what it's worth, I started in the bariatric program at UCLA and have never heard anyone suggest GENEPRO. Protein is protein. What your body doesn't need, it gets rid of by pooping it out. "WhY wOuLd YoU pUt YoUr BoDy ThRu ThAt" lol, literally everyone poops, there was a whole children's book about it.

I would invest in some compression socks. DVT is a real concern after surgery. Try to get up and walk around every half hour or so... get an aisle seat so you're not That Person.

Whether your body absorbs more protein into the blood from GENEPRO2 or eggs or beans or steak is not the point. Nutrition labels are required to state actual amounts, not imaginary "up to 30g" amounts with double asterisks and shady bro science after it. They can make claims on the rest of their label, but not in the supplement facts section. If it's 58.7 cal and it's got 0.3 g fat (9 cal/g) and 0.6 g (4 cal/g) carbs, then it has 13.4 g (4 cal/g) protein in it. Calorie counts are allowed a 20% leeway by law, so it could be as much as 70.44 cal in which case it's got 16.335 g protein in it. Or it could be as little as 46.96 cal in which case it would have 10.465 g protein in it. Period.

My scale comes with an app called FitIndex that I really like. It also has a fancy smart tape measure that I bought so I can measure myself for the times when weight loss stalls. I am about a month out and lost 9 lbs on my pre-op diet and 35 lbs. in the first month post-op. I'm currently in the dreaded three-week stall, just continuing what I need to do and I know it'll resume eventually.

This is my goal. I was a strongman before and while I don't anticipate that's going to be part of my life any longer, I do love being strong. Can't wait till I can touch a barbell again. Two and a half more weeks... two and a half more weeks... argh!

May I make a suggestion? If you are having a week of liquid diet (not uncommon), start a week earlier and just start replacing meals with shakes. Then when you have to do the actual liquid, you've already "stepped down" and it's not this plunge over the abyss from food funerals to all shakes. It's truly not that bad, you just have to get used to it. The shakes are quite filling. The first week after surgery (I had VSG) was definitely tough, but it got better and better. I had some nausea but my surgeon prescribed ondansetron (what they give chemo patients to control the nausea) and also put a seasickness patch behind my ear in the surgery prep room that lasted 72 hours and was amazing. The biggest problem for me was the gas. They pump you full of surgical gas to inflate stuff so they can work laparoscopically and that gas doesn't magically get sucked out. It hurts sometimes, and in weird places. But it IS manageable. Walking helps A LOT, and so does Gas-X (simethicone). I was told I could have as much simethicone as I wanted. I did not have a lot of pain. I do not take opioid medication so I refused the "happy pills" they wanted to prescribe. I took four doses of extra-strength acetaminophen/paracetamol (Tylenol/Panadol) over two days and that was it. You might want to ask your surgeon about a water pill for the day after surgery to get rid of all the surgical fluid (saline) they put in you, so you can pee it out. She might say no, though, because some people have trouble getting all their fluids in and dehydration is a worry.

A stall is very common between 3-5 weeks out. If you search this site there are more than 17,000 posts about the “three week stall”. Just stick to your plan and let your body sort itself out. The weight loss will continue.

I was in and out of the hospital the same day (in at 8:30, out at 6) and took two weeks off work, and I'm glad I did.

Yes, but it's not from the weight loss, it's usually directly after surgery when we are getting used to our new plumbing. It can be hard to get enough liquid if you're having to take tiny little sips. Try to make sure you are meeting your surgeon's fluid intake (and remember that it's not just water, any liquid including Jell-O counts). You might have to carry a bottle of water and remind yourself to take sips.

Way back in the Bad Old Days, I was on whopping doses of not one, but two blood pressure medications, one of which had a water pill (diuretic) baked into it... and still my blood pressure was usually about 140/85, so barely controlled at all. When I had my VSG, my primary care doctor told me to take one dose of the one with the water pill the day after surgery to help me pee out the surgery fluid and then leave off taking it. I continued on the amlodipine at 10 mg. A week and a half later I had my blood pressure taken in the office and it was a bit low, so my doctor started me on 5 mg a day, but told me to monitor my blood pressure each morning before taking it. If it was normal, don't take the drug; and if it was normal for four days straight, to leave off taking the drug altogether and send him a message. Today was the fourth day. I took my blood pressure this morning as always, and it was 118/65. I am no longer on blood pressure medication, which was arguably my biggest reason for getting the surgery done! I've only lost 33 lbs. since surgery and have 84 to go, but apparently my circulatory system appreciated it and I went from barely-controlled-with-two-big-doses to no medication needed at all in a day short of three weeks.

Awesome!! Now comes the hardest part... the pre-op requirements and the pre-op liver-shrinking diet. But you've got this!

You can get one with a large cuff at any Duane Reade, RiteAid, Walgreens, CVS, etc. The OMRON brand is the one I've had the best luck with. However, I do notice I have to take my BP twice, it's almost like the first one is a "practice" run. After that I get consistent readings.

Another voice adding to Jaelzion's statement. I'm 3.5 weeks out and can take normal sips and normal bites (not giant "let me hoover up this food" bites like before). I do separate bites by a few minutes.

So this is a truly random one... my eyebags have gone. Like almost completely. I'm not sure if it's because I'm sleeping better, or because my face skin is "pulling" differently, and I really was not expecting that as an NSV, but I will 100% take it!

I used it right after surgery... if you use the oil/tincture, as suggested above, do it after a meal. I also have one of those roll-ons that looks like deodorant and it helps like you wouldn't believe.

Out of curiosity, have you taken your blood pressure when this happens?

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you are, say, 5'5", getting from a BMI of 60 to a non-obese BMI of 30 would mean an additional weight loss of 180 lbs. (on top of the other 80 lbs.) which even the most hardened insurance company would see requires surgery. But definitely ask your bariatric center for guidance and access to a nutritionist/dietitian to help you get those 80 lbs. down.

I'm barely starting down my journey but I've already had one person say, "You used to be so buff and beefy." Uh... not sure how to take that. I'll take "healthy" over "beefy".