LindsayT

I love egg salad. I don't make it though. I always end up murdering the eggs when I shell them and all I'm left with are the egg yokes.

That's great!

If it gas pains, walk. If not, walk anyway. You can start with laps in your house, around your yard, or down the sidewalk a bit and back. Try cutting back some on your sipping until it becomes more comfortable or try drink warmer liquids. Remember, your liquid protein counts towards your fluid goals. Congratulations on surgery.

All the above, and you can add unflavored protein powder to your meals for extra protein. I enjoyed foods that were already a pureed texture. You may still want to supplement your protein until you're on regular foods and eating a bit more.

Not quite sure the spices, but it's best described as a pumpkin pie flavor: Pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove. Complete with whipped cream.

Oh, for sure. It was nothing for me to make a batch of brownies and eat half of it in one day.

The store bought pumpkin flavors don't taste right to me. This will be my first fall since surgery, so we'll see how desperate I get...lol

The scale can be a nightmare sometimes. Something to focus on are the nonscale victories. Also, take measurements and pictures of your progress (i do this monthly). It really helps to see the difference when the scale doesn't seem to move as much as you would like. Sometimes, we are losing inches vs. what the number on the scale is showing.

Cereal, in general, doesn't sound appealing to me anymore. TBH, a lot of foods don't. It crazy the cereals they have out now. Sure, let's start our day with 30g of sugar in a bowl...lol. Or when I was young, we had plain cereal; like plain cheerios, and we'd add heaps of sugar to it. [emoji1785] Now, as adults, we just run through the coffee shop and get the 300+ calorie latte with 50g of sugar. With Fall coming up, the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks is launching soon. Here's the nutritional facts. It really makes me think about what I was doing to myself. I'd have one of these 3 or 4 times a week. No wonder obesity is an issue...

Constipation is a big issue. I take miralax almost every day to prevent being constipated. You can adjust the dosage so it's not explosive. Maybe a half cap vs. a whole cap, every couple days vs. every day... whatever works for you. Just make sure you're keeping up with your liquids, though. Laxatives pull liquids from your body to get things moving. As far as enjoying food again. Once you're back on solids, it gets better. Just be careful not to enjoy them too much, if you get what I'm saying.

It's also helpful to drink things that taste good that fall within the plan (zero calories, non-carbonated, ect). Crystal Light, decaffeinated tea, infused Water with fruit, lemon, or cucumbers, or the cirkul water bottle system are all good options. I find if I like it, I'll drink more. The 30 minute before and after a meal is hard, but it becomes second nature. You literally have to drink all day to meet your goals. Once you get farther out, you can drink more at a time.

I wonder if it's because sometimes food reheated in the microwave becomes dry, and that can be really hard for WLS people to digest. Maybe take it on a food by food basis: dry vs not dry. With that said, I reheat my food all the time. I just keep clear of anything that's too dry (that goes for all food leftovers or not).

That's great you're meeting your goals. Energy, for me, improved when I started eating soft foods, around week 4 and consuming a bit more calories. It's hard to have energy with 300-400 calories a day. Now, I average about 700-800 calories per day and have loads more energy between that and exercising and getting the weight off. It takes a lot to move around a bunch of extra weight. It's important to keep moving. Walk daily, if you can, to improve your stamina. And once the doctor clears you, start adding weights to build muscle. Muscle loss can be a big issue with WLS because your body is trying to find an energy/food source. The goal is for your body to consume the fat for energy. You're not required to be the next body builder or get a gym membership (you can if you want 😊). Walking, biking, hiking, home exercises, and stretching are sufficient. Just keep your body moving and your heart pumping.

In the US, Nutri-grain is a cereal bar. I'm not a fan of them and they're not very nutrient dense.

Try drinking it warm or room temp. You could also try decaffeinated tea or add sugar-free flavor to your water as tolerated.

LOL 😆 Same. I prefer dry cereal.

I'm almost 4 months out (September 1 will be 4 months). I don't like eating breakfast, so I still do a protein supplement then. I like the Bariatric Pal protein shots which have 25g protein. You can find them in the Bariatric pal store, and i think Amazon, if you're interested. They are 3 oz shots, but i add them to 4 or more oz of water because they are tart on their own. I asked my nutritionist about them vs the other protein supplements out there and he was okay with them. I normally get 60-80g of protein per day, sometimes more dependingon the day and how hungry i am that day. I usually have high protein yogurt, a variety of lean animal protein, reduced fat cheese, hummus or vegetable proteins throughout the day. I mix this up each day for variety. If I'm going to be short my goal, I'll do another protein shot. For you, if your program allows, you can have strained soups and add unflavored protein powder to them to get a variety of flavor besides primer protein. And once you're on puree, you can add protein powder to those meals as well. I needed variety and most protein supplements tasted awful to me. Are you working to get your fluid goals in too? In the early days, and even now, I feel like I am drinking ALL day. At 5 days, don't feel pressured to hit all your goals each day because you're still pretty swollen from surgery at this point, just work on getting there. You protein drinks count towards this and it's great you're able to get two in. Hydration, protein, and your vitamins and supplements are so important. If I remember you had the sleeve, so I'm not sure what long term vitamins and supplements look like for you, but for now, make sure you're taking them each day as your doctor or nutritionist suggests. For RNY folks, those are for life. How are you feeling?

There is an anesthesiologist with you during surgery to monitor you during surgery and you're intubated while you're under. They will require you to bring your cpap to use while you're in the hospital.

Have you tracked what you ate during this time to show your efforts to lose weight?

I was on psych meds and didn't have any issues getting approved. However, I was told to work closely with my med provider to make sure my medications stayed at therapeutic levels as I lost weight. If you're not already, talking with a therapist might help. Also, FYI, part of the approval process for most insurances is a psych evaluation. And, as already stated, a lot of psych meds do cause weight gain. So that is something to consider for long-term success. One of the medications I was on contributed to a 60lb weight gain in a years time. Thankfully, I was able to find an alternative.

Today, I was able to do a hike at 14, 265 ft. on the top of Mt. Evans in Colorado and not be completely out of breath or have muscle fatigue. Here's a couple of pictures from the summit.

Today, I was able to do a hike at 14, 265 ft. on the top of Mt. Evans in Colorado and not be completely out of breath or have muscle fatigue. Here's a couple of pictures from the summit.

This may help answer questions. I also suggest a dietitian who is knowledgeable with WLS https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/metabolic-and-bariatric-surgery-blog/2018/march/make-protein-a-priority-after-weight-loss-surgery

Protein supplement are pretty important until you can begin eating your protein requirements. You should be shooting for a minimum of 70g of protein per day.

Good to know. 😊