NickelChip

I have a tendency in every aspect of my life to set unrealistically high expectations, so I'm trying to manage that, which is why it matters somewhat to me. For me, it provides peace of mind to see numbers (totally get that not everyone feels that way). For background, I was watching John Pilcher's "Real Weight Goals" video, and he says at the 3 month milestone (which is approaching for me), you've generally lost half the weight you're going to lose. He says "not the weight when you first met us, but the weight just before surgery." I got caught up on that phrasing and couldn't figure out if he meant literally the day of surgery or the day you start the pre-op prep, which is a pretty big difference for me. So I was hoping for a more definitive answer on how doctors calculate this type of thing.

Oh my gosh, this is exactly what I was looking for! Somehow I never came across an actual calculator, just paragraphs of text that say things like, "Let's say Jane weighs 290 lbs and her ideal weight is 110 lbs..." and then you're left to try to extrapolate what that means if you are nothing like Jane.

So. Much. Fluid. Seriously, my hands were so puffy that all my wrinkles disappeared (spoiler: they came back). I was also in for 2 nights and that IV was going non-stop. It took a little over a week for me to return to my day of surgery weight. Totally normal. They really should warn you, though.

Thanks, all! I certainly count every ounce of the weight I've lost for my own purposes, but I guess I always assumed medicine was a science-y, formula kind of a thing. But every source seems to say something different!

I swear I was 33 yesterday, but somehow today I am 50 and I promise you, that's way too young to die. You deserve a long life, and you deserve for it to start now, when you're still young enough to enjoy every minute of it. Surgery can be scary, but the good news is it isn't dangerous and it can help you have a healthy life.

@Spinoza I am giggling that you invited the devil for Easter. I agree that I avoid sugar substitutes, and the amount of real sugar I allow myself at this point is minimal. But I do have two treats I look forward to every day. I really love my cherry flavored calcium chews, and even better, I splurged on the Procare chocolate calcium and have one every evening after dinner. It's a piece of dark chocolate, but it's also my calcium supplement, and it's delicious.

I have been kicking off my day with a smoothie, and I think it's probably the healthiest thing I could do. I know the opinions on fruit sugar can vary, but for the most part, science seems to be on the side of reasonable quantities of whole fruit (not juice) being good for us and valuable for weight loss. I usually put about a cup (150g on the food scale) of assorted frozen fruits (may include banana, blueberries, raspberries, cherries, pineapple, mango, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, avocado), a handful of fresh baby spinach, 1 Tbsp each of chia seed, hemp seed, flax, and sunflower seed, a serving of beetroot powder, a scoop of Benefiber, 20g worth of unflavored protein powder, and top it off with tap water. This all fits in a 20oz smoothie blender cup, and usually takes me 30-60 minutes to drink as I start my morning. At around 425 calories and 33g protein, this is roughly half my calories and protein for the day! After that's done, I fill a 32oz thermal tumbler with 1 cup Fairlife skim milk and the rest decaf tea, which gets me another 13g protein, plus 24oz fluid. Since I can only get in about 15g protein at lunch and dinner when eating solid foods, it's really helpful for me to get so much in during the morning in an easy to consume format. I may try adding frozen riced cauliflower to the smoothie, too, as I hear that's good for the creaminess and I need another veg. Has anyone used any veg besides greens in your smoothies?

I think the hardest part for me, like @RonHall908 said, is having foods be fine one day and nearly lethal the next. I had scrambled eggs several times, no problem. So I ordered scrambled eggs while out one day last week and ended up searching high and low for a discreet place to vomit. I made a batch of tuna salad and split it into two servings. One serving was fine. The next day, nope. I could accept it so much easier if I just knew okay, this item is off the list for good. But having to build up the courage to try again in another week or two after an unpleasant experience is daunting.

Sounds like you're doing well! I'm only down about 20lbs since surgery (but 35lbs if you count the 2 week liquid diet), so I hope they're pleased with your progress. And I completely agree it has not been easy! It's really been a struggle and never knowing what will be okay and what won't from day to day is very difficult.

This is so important! I went into surgery with BP of 130/88, taking meds for years, and left the hospital 2 days later at 92/54. Because it was so much lower right away, I stayed off the BP meds and doctor officially removed them from my chart about 3 weeks later when my BP was still measuring 110/68 without them. Good luck meeting your protein and fluid goals!

I was so happy to have chicken soup flavored "shakes" to offset all the sweet stuff (until they started to taste like chemicals after surgery, lol). I was also able to put unflavored protein powder in tomato soup, and that was so nice! I would do a coffee flavored shake at breakfast, chicken soup shake for lunch, and tomato soup for dinner, plus sugar free jello. It wasn't too bad after the first several days. Mine lasted 2 weeks. Take it easier if you can, and get lots of fluid and sleep.

Had a rough day yesterday with food. I had a little bite of mango at lunch that set my tummy off and caused quite a bit of pain before finally having to vomit. And my right hip is suddenly in pain for no reason. It's excruciating when I climb stairs, or when I have to shift my leg from the accelerator to the brake, as I discovered while driving. Today I'm sticking with a smoothie for lunch and some soup for dinner. I'm so frustrated that everything seems to make me sick. And I've been stalled at 204.4lbs for three days now, which just adds insult to injury. But, I've done very well with increasing my activity level. I've only missed one day of hitting my 10k step goal, and that was a day when I was doing a long drive with little chance to stop and walk. As for being cold, I was freezing yesterday! Spring is taking its time and my hands are always so cold.

I found preop motivation in making some basic dietary changes. Trying new recipes and getting into good habits was a good motivator, and I did that with a friend so we could talk about what was working for us. I also took on some projects to help me prepare, such as cleaning out my pantry, freezer, and fridge. I threw away junk food and stopped buying replacements for that, and tried to cook through the food options on hand that were "okay for now" but not what I would be eating after surgery. I bought some bariatric cookbooks, and I also started implementing the changes recommended in the Pound of Cure book from Dr. Matthew Weiner. And I watched all of his and Dr. John Pilcher's videos on YouTube, plus started watching several gastric bypass vlogs. Plus reading all the posts here to see what other people experienced. It really helped make the time go by, especially as I ended up with a 2-month delay from my original date that was so frustrating.

Basically just keep calm and carry on. But how far out from surgery are you, how much have you lost, and how long has the plateau lasted?

You might try some plain protein powder mixed into soup. I was very happy with 20g Syntrax Nectar unflavored protein in tomato or butternut squash soup as a substitute for protein shakes. The only one I can still stand is the orange flavor of Syntrax Nectar Naturals, which reminds me of orange juice enough that I'm okay drinking it.

I followed a recipe to make soup tonight. It came from a bariatric cookbook so I wasn't really thinking about quantity being an issue. At least not until I was done and went to dish out a serving. This recipe said it made 8 cups of soup. I was able to eat 1/4 cup. At the current rate, that means I will be eating this soup until the sun explodes. Did anyone else struggle with cooking early on? It feels like such a waste of time to make a single, tiny serving, and yet, between difficulties eating reheated/dried out food and being overwhelmed by accidentally making 32 servings of soup, I really wish food would just magically appear on tiny plates in my kitchen.

I was out of town the past two days and had to navigate 4 restaurant meals. I think I did okay! For lunch the first day I ordered the cup of tomato soup and a half dijon chicken salad sandwich. I ate all the chicken but left the bread, and had about 5 bites of soup before handing it off to my daughter to finish. I shared a burrito bowl with chicken for dinner, out of which I took about 4 strips of chicken and dipped it in guacamole and little bit of sour cream, I ate one tortilla chip and it was lovely. For breakfast the next morning, I ordered the oatmeal with fresh fruit and a Greek yogurt. It was enough to feed 100 people (but cost under $10, so a bargain compared to the rest of the menu). I ate maybe 1/3 of the yogurt with 1/2 the fruit and then had a few bites of oatmeal (I mainly ordered it because they didn't have just fruit on the menu). For lunch, I had sashimi and miso soup. I was pleasantly surprised at how moist the chicken was both times. I had some concerns that it would be dry, but it was perfect. Feeling much more confident about my week-long vacation this summer.

My program skipped pureed foods and went directly to soft proteins with the instructions to chew thoroughly. But your best bet for purees is blended soups. You can make a very flavorful soup and puree it, and it will still be tasty (as opposed to pureeing meat, which is gross). Bean soups and butternut squash bisque work well. You might also try a ricotta bake in that stage, which can be made by mixing a cup of ricotta and an egg, spreading this in a greased baking pan, and topping with a non-chunky marinara and some mozzarella and parmesan, and then baking at 350F until the cheese is nice and brown, maybe 30-45 minutes. As for protein drinks, you should plan to be supplementing with those for quite some time, at least several weeks. Some people can get what they need from food really early, but others need at least one protein shake a day for several months. You also might want some plain, unflavored protein powder to add to things like soup or smoothies to increase protein.

I'm almost 8 weeks post-op, so further out than you but still pretty recent. I have had no trouble with liquids. I mean, I can't gulp them down, but I have been able to finish an 8oz protein shake in under 5 minutes without any issues from about a week out. Yogurt and cottage cheese go down easy, too. I try to take about 15 minutes for those just to pace myself. But those burps you are getting now are a sign you are filling up. Pay attention to that and slow down. Stop yourself from consuming more just because there's no pain. I was doing great until I reintroduced solid foods like fish and eggs. All of a sudden, a few bites and I was done. And those little burps turned into something more like stomach spasms if I ate too much or something that didn't agree with me. Things changed a lot the more I healed, actually becoming a bit more difficult. There's more pain now, and more finicky reactions from my body. There's a pretty good chance that how you feel today will not be the same as how you feel next month, and what works now might not work then. Take it slow and give yourself time to learn your new anatomy.

There is a new video from Dr. Weiner on the Pound of Cure YouTube channel just posted today updating his now 10-year-old video on post-op eating. This applies to the first several weeks, up through about 3 months. So if you're at the stage of reintroducing foods and trying to hit water and protein goals and want a little extra guidance or reassurance, (or if you are pre-op and want a great reference for later) give it a watch:

@RonHall908 Isn't the slow weight loss the worst? I had my second mini stall this past week. At least it was 4 days instead of 7 like I had at the three-week mark. I truly did think, based on how quickly I lost weight in the pre-op diet phase, that it would be super quick after surgery. I lost 15.4 lbs in 2 weeks compared to 16.8 pounds in 8 weeks post-op. What the heck?! It's demoralizing at times. I still have 3 weeks until my next appointment with the dietician and 5 weeks until I see the doctor again. I'm really hoping I'm on track. They say the first 3 months is the fastest weight loss, and if that's true for me...it really sucks. The one thing I can handle large quantities of is water, or even something very liquid like a smoothie. 16oz in under 30 minutes is no problem. And I can eat a full 1 cup serving of bean and veg soup. Any kind of meat fills me up fast, though, although tuna salad is probably the one I can eat the most of.

It's really difficult to eat now, between figuring out what I can eat, what I should eat, how much I'll be able to eat... I'm still mostly eating soft foods because of how many times I've been sick. I'm getting 75-80g protein each day, but half of that is coming from unflavored protein supplement and milk. I know it will all go back to normal eventually, or close to normal, but right now eating is such a drag. I really want a personal chef to make my tiny plates of food for me so I don't have to think about it!

It's hard enough to travel healthily in the best of times, but having to navigate meals when your needs are so non-standard right now is really hard. Just going out for the day has been difficult! I can't imagine how challenging it is to be in another country and maybe not have the familiar foods and brands you are most comfortable with.

Oh no! That was my day on Saturday. I went for breakfast with a friend and ordered scrambled eggs. I ate 1 scrambled egg, half a sausage, and a bite of potato. I thought I was okay but we went for a walk after and I started to feel pain. It got worse until I had to duck behind a tree on the walking trail and let it all come up. So painful and miserable. I've found I am doing okay with sliced deli turkey, though, so that gives me something to add to the repertoire. And I made a berry smoothie yesterday that was very nice. Eating is definitely a chore. Are you home from Cairo? I have some travel coming up and know it will be a challenge to plan meals. Any tips would be great!

I did not get a very detailed plan, and my program advances quickly so that in theory you can have no restrictions at 4 weeks. For me, that has been way too fast. I have found the Bariatric Diet Guide and Cookbook by Dr. Matthew Weiner very helpful. Now that my own program says I can have anything, I'm appreciating his stages (which vary from the typical phases you see in most programs).