SpartanMaker

For premixed Protein drinks, I'm a fan of Fairlife Nutrition Plan Chocolate. Out of the calcium chewables, I'd rate Celebrate at the top, along with Bariatric Advantage. Bariatric Pal has their own branded ones and those are not bad, just not a good as two above. The worst ones in my opinion are the pro care brand. Some people must like them, but I found them to be so bad I threw them away.

Lol, me too!

I think it's really just about spending time together. You don't actually have to "do" anything other than focus on your partner for a while. For example, if you can do that just sitting and talking, that's a good place to start. For other suggestions, my #1 would be walking. Bonus points if it's somewhere beautiful. Others would be travel, exercise classes & yoga, gardening, riding bikes, sports like golf or tennis, shared hobbies, museums, concerts, etc.

I don't think I can tell either at this point. I'm attributing that to the fact that the crampy pain I'm feeling is masking any potential hunger feelings. For now I'm just going to stick to my team's plan. Also, if you're still on liquids like me, I wouldn't worry too much about stretching out your pouch. Most of what we're eating right now flows in, and right back out of the pouch really quickly.

This is normal. part of your small intestines are connected directly to your new pouch. Liquids can pass through pretty easily. Like your doc said, once you get to solids, you'll notice the restriction.

Ignore please

Gastric Bypass on the 20th. Just got back from the hospital after a one night stay. So far so good. Tolerating liquids well and pain is fairly minimal.

Tomorrow's the big day for me! I can't believe it's finally here after trying to get to this point for almost 3 years now. I had a big scare this week just to make my nerves even worse: My wife got exposed on Tuesday to a coworker that tested positive for COVID. We had to wait to Saturday for her to get tested, and I got tested yesterday (it was the last required hurdle from my bariatric team). Thankfully we both turned up negative. I was seriously worried I'd be delayed. Especially after basically completing the 2 week pre-op liquid diet, it would have really been a letdown if I'd had to put surgery off even longer.

Can you combine them? Protein waters like Protein2o and Gatorade Zero + Protein should count as both. Same for bone broth or regular broth with added unflavored protein powder.

You'll need to check your insurance. I believe most of those that cover bariatric surgery cover it for a BMI over 40, or over 35 with comorbidities. Don't think I've hear of any that cover it at 30?

How I wish other people didn't care what we eat, but alas, I know that's not reality. I'm still pre-surgery (4 days!), but I've been down this road many times on many other diets. For things like the birthday cake, i think the best tact is simply avoid it. These days it's becoming increasingly common for people to be on diets of one sort of another and I doubt most people think twice if someone doesn't eat a particular food. If someone's curious why you didn't have any, just tell them it's not part of your diet and leave it at that. The bigger issue for me was always holiday meals. One thing that worked well for me was actually hosting the get-togethers. I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. By doing this, I retained control over the menu and thus could make sure I'd have things I knew I could eat. At the event, I stuck to those and left the rest. If I couldn't host, I might try to convince the host to consider more of a small plates approach vs. a big sit down meal. These are easy to fake your way through by loading up a plate that you carry around, but don't actually eat. It would be rare indeed fo people to pay much attention to how much you've had in such a case. For the sit-down meals, worst case, pull your host aside and let them know you're limited to what you can eat right now due to a medical condition. I find the host of these events seems to be the one that worries the most if guests like the food, but if they know ahead of time that you can't eat much, they'll likely ignore it. Just my thoughts based on what's worked for me in the past.

I was going to reply, but @Nepenthe44 hit all the points I intended to mention. For the record, I'm not carb averse, it's just that carbs do nothing to help avoid excess muscle catabolism. Sufficient protein is what you need to help keep you from losing too much muscle mass. That's one of the primary reasons all post bariatric surgery diets emphasize a protein forward approach.

I have used Liquid IV in the past. It works well, but does have sugar in it. Buyer beware if that's a problem for you.

Sounds like your plan is like mine and the short answer is no. At first you are just focused on staying hydrated. The number one reason for hospital readmission post bariatric surgery is dehydration.

I've pretty much tried them all and I think most of the chewables are less than ideal. It's the iron that makes them taste "off". They also are all sweet, so if you're having issues with sweet things, these probably won't be a good choice. This is why my team actually recommended the capsules. If you can't swallow them, or get an upset tummy if you do, just open them up and sprinkle them into a drink, yogurt, or broth, etc. Seems to work for most folks early post surgery.

That's awesome! I'm guessing you may have had a nerve block like exparel? This will block the pain for roughly 72 hours, but when it wears off, you may start to have some pain. Hopefully by then it's minimal and will be easily controlled.

That's where the bone broth comes in. Plus, I have some unflavored protein powder that I can add to regular broth or even water if needed. I just have not used it yet since I didn't have the need. Also, I'm only on liquid protein for days 4-7, then I can add in cottage cheese & ricotta cheese. At that point, the old standby Ricotta Cheese Bake may be my friend for week 2.

sorry, just realizing this was an old post.

Wow, lots of new folks joining us this week. Welcome all! I'm finishing up my first week of my pre-surgery diet today. I'm on 3-4 protein drinks and 64 oz fluid per day. No meals. Honestly, it hasn't been a big deal at all. I think what's helping me is lots of variety and just staying busy to keep my thoughts off things I'm not supposed to eat. Plus, I wasn't really eating all that much before this, so the transition wasn't too drastic. My Protein sources: Premier Protein Caramel - I drink this as creamer in 2 very large cups of decaf coffee Fairlife Nutrition Plan Chocolate Homemade Bone Broth Bariatric Pal Hot Chocolate, Cream soup Variety Pack & Variety Pack Pudding Mix My Fluid Sources: Coffee Herbal Iced Tea Store Bought low-sodium Broth Millie's Sippin' Broth (these are a nice change of pace) Other: I'm allowed 1 cucumber or pickle a day (it's nice to have something to crunch) Sugar Free Jello (I don't really count this toward my fluid intake, though I could.

I was told to expect 2 weeks minimum, and I work from home. The issue isn't pain, it's mostly due to tiredness and brain fog. Also, it's super hard to get your fluids/protein in, and that will just be harder if you're trying to work as well. Can you take short-term disability?

I'm honestly a bit surprised so many of you are trying to (or supposed to), drink protein shakes so soon? In my program I'm supposed to do clear liquids only for the first 3 days. Considering that dehydration is the number one reason for hospital readmission, I think it's critical to stay on top of your clear liquids. The protein is important, but probably a bit less so.

If outpatient, very little: driver's license insurance card List of medications CPAP if you use one If you will be staying at least one day, add in: Some basic toiletries Cell phone and charger Robe (optional, but it's better than having to wear those silly hospital gowns to cover your backside) Maybe a book or tablet if you wish, though some people never use theirs I also like to have ear plugs, because hospitals are noisy! I never pack extra clothes, I just re-wear what I wore when I arrived. Have your driver bring (leave in car): sunglasses a pillow to hug maybe a blanket, but depends on how hot it is where you are.

I agree, talk to your doctor. Most doctors want you to avoid any form of exercise other than walking for at least a couple of weeks and some even longer. Also, I would not call most of your examples "stretching exercises". At the very least, they'd fall under what we used to call calisthenics in the old days, but more properly fall squarely into the bodyweight strength training realm. Your toe-touch example is the only one that might be considered a stretch, but it's highly dependent on how you're doing it.