ChunkCat

So today I hit a milestone I didn't expect so soon---I've officially lost 50% towards my goal weight!!! 😭 I've lost 76 lbs since my highest weight (320) and 63 lbs since surgery (307). I'm stunned honestly. I've had some stalls and my weight loss has been slower than some others but my doctors kept telling me to stay the course, that my weight loss was right on track. Well, now it seems I've caught up and am ahead of the game! It feels so unreal... Here's a pic of me pre-op and two from today!

LOL The food rage is real!! I did 2 weeks of a modified diet pre-op (shakes and a small meal at dinner of protein and veggies), then one week of full shakes only before surgery. And then 2 weeks of liquids only post-op. Needless to say when I was finally allowed food I wanted to cry. LOL I was also a little afraid to eat it! But I did and everything was fine. In retrospect I'm glad I stuck so strictly to my surgeon's guidelines. I healed VERY well and that time on fluids only really taught me a lot about how I react to being hungry and how to manage being hungry. It also helped me understand true hunger from head hunger---they are not the same thing, but man can they feel like the same thing! But for real, I was really cranky at times during those fluid weeks and there were some short tantrums... 🤣

My partner is Chinese and their family ALWAYS did this when we lived close to them!! They'd discuss their weight right at the dinner table, comment on how they needed to lose weight and were getting fat, then pass the dishes over for them to finish and send the leftovers home with us! Made me SOOOO pissed off. 🤣 Those close to me noticed first. My doctors were almost in tears that the surgery has been working so well! It was really sweet to see. I take pictures once a month on the 1st of the month and take measurements then too, because I wanted to be able to track for myself what was changing. It was really cool to see how my posture has changed. I keep taking pics in the same outfit and it is so weird to see the shirt getting longer even though I know the shirt isn't getting longer. LOL I saw my family at Christmas. They live several states away. I recently sent them a full body pic and they were shocked and excited for me because it was pretty clear I've lost weight and my shape is changing. Today I passed my 50% mark towards my goal weight!! I've officially lost 76 lbs since my highest weight (320) and 63 lbs since my surgery weight (307). It just feels so unreal to me...

Every morning I get out of bed and grab one of those out of the fridge and go crawl back in bed with it! LOL It gets hydration and protein in my system first thing and gives me a nice chunk towards my protein goal for the day! I eat breakfast/brunch about an hour later... They remind me of an iced coffee so they are easy to get down. I don't know why they taste better than the other flavors in that brand, but they do!

I posted this elsewhere on the forum but I thought I'd put it here in case you didn't see it. This is what one of my typical days looks like at 4 months post-op. My personal macro goal is 120-150 grams of Protein a day, under 50 total carbs, and 100 grams of fat. Also, I can't tolerate any raw fruit at the moment. And calories are not relevant for DS patients because we malabsorb most fat and a good chunk of our protein... 8 am: Premier Protein Cafe Latte shake 9 am: Ratio Keto vanilla Yogurt with 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut chips, 1 tablespoon of keto nut granola, and 1 tablespoon freeze dried strawberries 12 noon: 1/4 cup roasted Spaghetti Squash, 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of a beef bolognese sauce 2 pm: Cafe Macchiato with espresso and 4 oz Fairlife Protein Milk 3 pm: 2 mozzarella cheese sticks, 2 mini baby cucumbers and 4 cherry tomatoes 6 pm: Roasted chicken leg and thigh quarter, 1/3 cup of vegetable Soup 9 pm: Homemade Keto banana Walnut Dark chocolate Muffin Total Macros: 150 grams of protein (yay!!), 43 grams total carbs, 97 grams of fat, 1634 calories.

I take a lot of vitamins, more than that list. My advice is to buy these containers, enough for a month, and dose out all your vitamins for the month. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QR78YP3/ I spend about $200 every other month. You could do it a bit cheaper depending on the brands you buy (for instance, Citracal Petites are more cost effective than the bariatric calcium chews and both are calcium citrate) and which ones you take. I take a lot because I had some deficiencies pre-op. But they all fit in those cases! I just grab my little container for the day and carry it around with me. I set alarms to remind me to take them. I put my meds in with the vitamins. The way I look at it, my junk food budget is now my vitamin budget, and I feel a lot better taking those vitamins than I ever did eating junk food! LOL

Have you tried protein water? They are the consistency of a fruity drink, they aren't thick and heavy like a milky shake. SEEQ makes really good ones, especially the watermelon flavor. Syntrax Nectars are good too. And MyProtein makes a cheaper version in Sour Watermelon that I love!! You can get samples of all of these from their sites, I highly recommend you do that so you can find one you like. But don't buy too much, your tastes can and will change after surgery. You can use Fairlife milk to thin out your protein shakes, it is lactose free and lower in sugars and higher in protein than regular milk, but tastes like regular milk. Also, GenePro protein powder is flavorless and dissolves into whatever you mix it in. Don't believe the propaganda on the package that says it is more bioavailable though, only count the protein grams on the nutritional label. LOL

I strongly advise you to stick with the plan your surgeon gave you regarding food. Your stomach and small intestines have been cut and sewn back together, there are a lot of sutures in there that heal best without particles of food irritating them. And believe me, you do NOT want to compromise the healing of those sutures. I know it is hard to do nothing but drink. I was on fluids only for the first two weeks, no pudding, no eggs, nothing but fluids and my stomach couldn't handle protein shakes so I lived on broth, flavored water, and eventually I could do lactose free milk. But I got through it and so will you!! As hard as the changes are to our bodies, it is the head game that will do you in. You are strong. You can do hard things!! You only get the chance to heal once, so heal as well as you possibly can! I ate sugar free popsicles and crunched on ice when I had the urge to chew. This time without food is a very short time in the scheme of things even though it feels like an eternity. Find things to do to distract you from your hunger. Head hunger is miserable but you have to see this through because if you don't get control of the head hunger now it will drive you to eat around your surgery once you add food back in. The surgeon had me taking pills by mouth the day after surgery. It was a struggle but I understood it wasn't harming my stomach to take them, just go slow, one at a time, and give space between each one. But only take what they told you to take. You don't want to add anything extra that could irritate those healing sutures. ❤️

You might consider a version of these: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/keto-banana-muffins-recipe/ They are keto, so they are low in carbs, but you could always add some blueberries and skip the banana bakery emulsion, swapping in vanilla. They keep well in the fridge. I used real dark chocolate in mine and a combo of Splenda and allulose, they still came out to only about 10 total carbs and 8 grams of protein. That would change a bit if you add blueberries though.

Yes, you have to take more vitamins than you did with the Sleeve. The most common to supplement are a multi twice a day, calcium 4-5 times a day in divided doses, and vitamins A, D, E, and K which your bariatric office will tell you to get in one ADEK supplement, but often you have to break down into the individual vitamins as labwork dictates, depending on your individual absorption. You'll have labs drawn several times the first year, then yearly afterwards to make sure you are getting enough vitamins and iron. But yes, vitamins daily are a way of life for SADI patients. It is also smart to take a probiotic, and sometimes you need extra B1 or B12. Learning about macros is important! I highly recommend tracking your food through the Baritastic app, it will track your macros for you. Don't be surprised if your dietician is useless about things. Sadly, a lot of dieticians don't understand the proper eating routines for a SADI or DS patient and will give you advice meant for a RNY or Sleeve patient. That is why support groups like the Facebook one are so important, because the veterans of these surgeries often know a lot more about them that the surgeon or dietician do. I know a lot about the SADI because I considered it before going with the DS surgery. So ask whatever you want and I'll see if I can answer it!

Sorry it took me so long to reply! This month has been full on... These are the ones I made, they kept really well in the fridge and tasted just as good as freshly baked after a 20 second zap in the microwave. https://www.wholesomeyum.com/keto-banana-muffins-recipe/ They don't have banana in them, they have a banana baking emulsion instead since bananas aren't keto. I doubled the amount of the baking emulsion and added some vanilla extract. Honestly they were pretty convincing and soothed the craving and I usually hate banana flavoring. This was NOT artificial tasting. I think it really depends on the quality of. the emulsion. If your macros have space for bananas, I'd make this version instead: https://www.wholesomeyum.com/healthy-banana-muffins/

Hi ShoppGirl, I replied to you in the DS forum. You'll probably find the answers you need in the Facebook group I'm in. It says it is for the Duodenal Switch, but we also have plenty of SADI patients in the group and we have veterans of both surgeries in there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1799552573392212 I highly suggest joining that group and posting your questions. Regarding gas, yes, the SADI can have gas issues if you eat too many simple carbs. And eating too much junk food may make your bathroom visits rather unpleasant. I had the DS done about 4.5 months ago and I don't usually have any gas issues and my bathroom visits are pretty normal except my stools are pale colored now due to the fat malabsorption (perfectly normal). But I stay below 50 total carbs per day and eat about 120 grams of protein a day and about 100 grams of fat. With the SADI or DS surgery you are more focused on your macros than calories because we malabsorb a portion of everything but simple carbs. If you keep your carbs low after the SADI you will lose weight better and maintain weight better...and you should minimize the side effects. You'd also want to stay away from sugar alcohols and you might find that some foods digest differently, like lettuce or other leafy greens. Usually most SADI or DS patients learn within the first year what their trigger foods are and learn to eat them at home at night or not at all.

Yes, the SADI-S and SADI are the same procedure! When you are converting from a gastric sleeve you can either convert to bypass, convert to SADI, or convert to a Duodenal Switch. All 3 impact the small intestines, they vary by degrees of malabsorption. SADI is in the middle of the 3 in terms of malabsorption and doesn't require changing the stomach like the bypass would. They'd just be going in to do the small intestine component. It's a great option for a revision.

I am so excited for you!! Yaaaayyy!! It is really crazy how changing fluids and sleep can make a difference in weight loss! I too notice it immediately on the scale when I slack. It is common knowledge, yes, but so many people brush it off as unimportant when compared to food or exercise. But man, sleep and hydration will undermine your efforts elsewhere if they aren't on point. You are doing an awesome job, pat yourself on the back for changing two habits it would have been easy to ignore!

In case this helps, I'll show you what one of my typical days looks like at 4 months post-op. Keep in mind I have had the DS so I eat more. My personal macro goal is 120-150 grams of protein a day, under 50 total carbs, and 100 grams of fat. Also, I can't tolerate any raw fruit at the moment. And calories are not relevant for DS patients because we malabsorb most fat and a good chunk of our protein... 8 am: Premier Protein Cafe Latte Shake 9 am: Ratio Keto Vanilla Yogurt with 2 tablespoons of toasted coconut chips, 1 tablespoon of keto nut granola, and 1 tablespoon freeze dried strawberries 12 noon: 1/4 cup roasted Spaghetti Squash, 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup of a beef bolognese sauce 2 pm: Cafe Macchiato with espresso and 4 oz Fairlife Protein Milk 3 pm: 2 mozzarella cheese sticks, 2 mini baby cucumbers and 4 cherry tomatoes 6 pm: Roasted chicken leg and thigh quarter, 1/3 cup of vegetable soup 9 pm: Homemade Keto Banana Walnut Dark Chocolate Muffin Total Macros: 150 grams of protein (yay!!), 43 grams total carbs, 97 grams of fat, 1634 calories.

If you stop eating food you will not lose weight. If you don't eat enough food you will not lose weight either... If your calories are too low you will drop into starvation mode and your body will lock down and refuse to lose weight as much as possible in order to keep you safe. Stressful events in our lives can cause this to happen too, but it is most commonly caused by not eating enough food. Your surgeon should have given you a caloric goal along with a sample menu. I think eating protein several times a day is a good sign, chicken and steak are good proteins, as is the yogurt, and most people post op end up using shakes for a while to meet their goals. There is one very big issue with shakes though---they are NOT filling. In fact they will often make you feel hungry. Looking over your menu for the day what I notice is a distinct lack of fiber. With the exception of the little bits you are getting in the fruit in one of your shakes, you have no fiber. Fiber is very important for fullness and many low carb veggies are very low in calories while being quite voluminous. You are 6 months post op, you should be cleared for all foods, that means veggies of a wide variety. Things you can try that are easier on the tummy: baby spinach (both raw and sauteed), baby bok choy (steamed or sauteed), carrots (raw, steamed, or roasted), cucumber, tomatoes (both raw or cooked), broccoli and cauliflower if they don't make you bloated (both raw and cooked in a myriad of ways), asparagus, summer squash (sauteed or roasted), zuchinni (sauteed or roasted), eggplant (baked), heart of palm noodles, spaghetti squash, and on it goes. Beans are also a good source of fiber while being high in protein too. Well cooked and rinsed beans are a great way to boost volume in your diet! You could also do split peas and lentils. A bean soup would be filling while still being low in calories. At least half your plate per meal and snack should be made up of fruits and vegetables. Personally, I'd drop the Atkins shake and add vegetables to every meal and snack. Make sure to pair them with protein: hummus with carrot sticks, peanut butter with sliced apples, boiled eggs made into an egg salad and paired with cucumbers, fresh mozzarella with basil, balsamic glaze, and sliced tomatoes, chicken with steamed asparagus, steak with roasted carrots and squash, small salads with protein toppers, yogurt topped with berries and a few spoonfuls of granola. These things will help you feel full and give you a lot of nutrients that you really need right now to feel satisfied. I'd also skip the macaroni for a whole grain or root vegetable if you are craving carbs. So try a side of buckwheat or quinoa, or roasted sweet potatoes, mashed redskin potatoes with the skins on, or roasted pumpkin or butternut squash.

I'm so glad you got to see this even though it is annoying to wait for a leak test post op! It really is amazing how quickly the stomach can empty of fluids. I expect for those with the bypass it is even faster because of the lack of a pyloric valve to slow things down. It is such an outdated "rule" that so many people (and doctors and dieticians) push without realizing the science doesn't really back it up. It is one of the downsides to there not being a standard set of rules from a governing body of bariatrics that actually has to use science to back up what they advise!

Aww, thanks! I'm glad it helped! It is amazing at how sensitive and reactive our tummies are post-op. They definitely have opinions! How are you feeling now with another week having passed? Early out things can change so quickly looking back on it but in the moment feel like they take forever. I blame it on the "drinking water like it is your only job" thing, the day seems to stretch on sooo long when you have 64oz worth of baby sips to take! 🤣

I didn't really get a chance to do this because my surgery date changed and I had to immediately start the pre-op diet. So the only thing I had was 2 slices of a really, really good pizza and a few wings. Oh, and a mixed drink! And that was it... I've found post op that I can still eat a lot of what I loved before with modifications. I can have pho, but without the rice noodles, the sweet little lady at our local shop makes it with veggies for me! I can have korean bbq (which is my favorite meal) but we order ala carte now instead of all-you-can-eat and have leftovers for days. I can have thai curries but I get them to go and put them on heart of palm noodles and have several meals of it. I can't have the carbs I used to have and some days I miss them, but not for too long. I do miss a pastry with my coffee, but I'm working on finding a few decent keto cookie recipes and I recently made keto banana nut chocolate chip muffins that were wicked good and scratched that itch... My partner loves to eat out so I've found a variety of ways to adapt what I get, how to optimize for things that will be good as leftovers, or how to get a smaller portion or leave off what I can't eat... Enjoy your katsu curry!! I do kind of miss that with a steaming bowl of rice... Mmmm...

OMG I am so excited for you!! You look amazing and so healthy and happy, it really shows! You have been working so hard towards your goal and to see the difference in your shape AND in your clothing size is so rewarding! I love this so much!!

I'm glad you are feeling better!! Learning to eat slow is definitely a challenge. I still catch myself sometimes. I get food bored too so I try to eat a variety of things. I don't usually weigh out my food, but I do portion it out/estimate the portion and log it to make sure my macros are on target. It is crucial for DS patients to get enough protein in and if you aren't tracking it you might not be getting enough. It'll eventually show in your labs, but once your protein level drops in labs it is a huge pain to get back up. So it is best to just track it... You don't have to be as exact as weighing, but a good estimation is worthwhile and will also teach you how to understand what correct bariatric portions are for you. My surgeon likes his patients to stay in ketosis for a while so I aim for 120 grams of protein, less than 50 total carbs (usually less than 40 total carbs for me to be safe), and I aim for about 100 grams of fat for good brain health. I don't eat at specific times. That's too much planning. LOL I drink a protein shake as soon as I wake up, then eat a meal about an hour later, and eat every 3 hours after that until I go to bed! I usually end up eating about 5 times a day. I ascribe to the "eat less more often" method and so does my surgeon. I discovered soon after surgery that I need to eat within 3 hours, anything past that and I start to feel exhausted and have no energy and get moody. I feel my best if I eat within 3 hours of my last meal throughout the day... Sometimes eating is a protein snack like a bag of protein chips and a few pickles. Sometimes eating is more meal-like like keto chicken tenders with steamed asparagus. But I always eat by that mark or I pay for it. I also pay for it if I don't get enough fluids in a day, so I watch that. Monitoring your food and water can feel triggering for some people due to past diet attempts. But it is important to reframe it as a caretaking behavior as much as possible, especially for DS patients because our dietary needs are so important to be on target with.

I can't imagine how this would be related to your sleeve surgery. That operation doesn't go anywhere near your spine. You can have temporary backaches post op from laying on that damned metal table, or from your muscles bracing in front to protect your abdomen, but those should ease as you heal and stop bracing. I suppose theoretically you could have some sort of nerve injury in that area from repeated surgeries, like scar tissue and adhesions, but I would think that pain would be felt in the stomach area or abdomen where they go in laparoscopically. A physical therapist can help manually massage out some of these areas if they can feel them. Sometimes in rare instances a person can get referred pain from another area, but I would hope that they'd have considered that before doing spinal surgery! Sorry you are still in such pain after so many treatments!

MOST bypass patients will not have heartburn, but not all. Occasionally heartburn can happen. Usually it is temporary while the stomach is healing and readjusting itself. Definitely talk to your surgeon about this. If your heartburn was from acid reflux from the stomach when you had the sleeve, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor that it will settle down soon. Rarely a person can have bile reflux, but this is very different and normally tests are done to make sure it isn't that before revision surgery is done. Also, ask for nausea medication. If you have it and it isn't working well, ask for a different one. For me, Zofran does nothing, but Promethazine is amazing! So you could just need a med adjustment.

@summerseeker made a great list! I would add to make sure your surgeon prescribes a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) for the first few months after surgery. This is to help calm the acid production in your stomach because our tiny stomachs are still making enough acid for our big stomach at first! With lower acidity you'll be able to sleep better and heal better internally without acid irritating that tender healing tissue. And keep in mind that hydration is crucial for the first few weeks, more than anything else, because it is hydration that will keep you out of the ER for dehydration. Try different temperature fluids (ice cold, hot, room temp), different flavors (sweet water flavoring packets, savory broth, neutral lactose free milk, herbal teas, decaf tea), and different textures (protein milk, protein water, protein shakes, milk thinned yogurt when allowed, sugar free popsicles). All fluid counts at first, even shakes or sugar free popsicles. I ate a LOT of sugar free popsicles the first two weeks. BUT, if you can't get near those 64 oz be sure to let your surgeon know. There is no shame in going to get hydration infusions and usually if you let them know before it is critical, they can arrange for it at an infusion center instead of the ER. Oh and wear something loose to the hospital, preferably something that doesn't put pressure on your stomach. And shoes you don't have to bend over to put on! LOL

I wonder if you are gulping air when you swallow and that's causing the spitting? My dietician said this is pretty common in the first year and water bottles can cause it, so it is best to drink out of an actual glass. Straws can cause it too, but for some straws are actually better than anything else, so it depends. If you can drink Capri Sun but not flavored water then it isn't a consistency thing because they are the same texture. If you can drink milk and protein drinks without spitting it must be a water thing... The burning you are feeling sounds like what I call "pressure" and it is caused by taking too big of a sip or swallow. Whatever sip you consider small, half that. If burning still happens, half it again. If you can't drink anything without burning sensations in your stomach, I'd definitely talk to the surgeon about it pronto... It is a good sign you can keep food down that sits well with you. Stomachs can be very finicky for 1-2 years after surgery, but you shouldn't have burning and vomiting if you are taking tiny bites, chewing well, and tiny sips.