NickelChip

Okay, my Feb buddies, so how much protein are you able to get strictly from food each day? I find I can manage soft stuff like a smoothie or a yogurt, but when I try incorporate fish or meat, it's very limiting in terms of how much I can eat. I put my lunch on a dessert plate the size of a saucer and still could only eat half. Are you still supplementing a lot with protein shakes or adding powder to your foods? Or do you get most of it from food? And if so, what types?

Welcome! I'm about 7 weeks post-op gastric bypass and no regrets. Good luck on your journey!

It's a slim profile treadmill that can be stored under a bed, or in my case I put it under my sofa. They run under $200 on Amazon. They're not as robust or sturdy as a full scale one, but you can use it when you need it and hide it when you don't, plus you can use it on a low speed at a standing desk. It takes a little getting used to because it's not as wide as a regular treadmill, but it's great if you lack space.

My surgeon told me at my 6 week appointment that I needed to start doing more exercise. This week, I'm happy to say I've gotten out my little walking pad treadmill twice in the evenings and have been walking while watching TV. I've gone from a daily average of about 3k steps to more than 5k this week, and I'll be working toward 10k steps each day for the coming month. I can hardly wait as the weather improves to allow for more outside walking. I'm really hoping the additional activity will give the scale an added nudge in the right direction. Once I can hit 10k most days, I will start looking at ways to add resistance bands to build muscle, but if I'm honest, I have been almost completely sedentary for several years and need to pace myself for it to be sustainable. Today, I am less than 4 lbs away from the lowest weight I've recorded on my app in the past 7 years (which was 203.8 after doing the nutrition program at my old weight loss center). 203 lbs is the next milestone I have my eye on, followed by making it to 199 lbs, and then hitting 185 lbs to officially no longer be obese. I chose my weight goal of 155 lbs somewhat arbitrarily, though it's the lower end of the estimates I saw for how much I could lose on various calculators. But when it feels impossibly far away, it helps to have some smaller goals to focus on. Oh, and it's almost time to swap out my winter clothing for spring stuff, which means I will have a lot of items to take to the donation bin. Many of my long-sleeve tops are swimming on me and several pairs of jeans are hopelessly baggy. Purging my closet will be an awesome feeling!

Haha, me too! I've been out to breakfast twice and both times I had eggs. One time I ordered one egg scrambled with sausage, hold the toast. The other time I went with a friend and she ordered the big breakfast special that had pancakes, eggs, sausage, home fries, and toast. She gave me the eggs and sausage and ate the rest. We both had leftovers from a meal intended for one person! I also went to a NY style deli in CT last week and ordered the smoked whitefish salad appetizer. It was perfect! I ate half at the table and took the rest with me to eat a couple hours later. I was slightly sad to decline the offer of their fresh rye bread, but no way could I eat it.

@BlueParis The eclipse was so incredible. I went with a friend and my two teen daughters. We were all impressed beyond belief by the totality. But it was a very rural area and the small roads couldn't handle the traffic leaving the area all at once so it took 7 hours to drive home instead of 3.5. I counted myself lucky to get chicken nuggets. Stopping for a real meal (the original plan) was out of the question with the crowds. @Noelle74 The stalls are frustrating for sure. I know I could stop weighing myself daily, but at this point I am enjoying having a record since I do it in a smart scale app. I think it'll be worth it being able to look back later and remind myself of how it went. But I'm at 7 weeks post-op today and would love to see the scale shift a bit before the 8 week mark. I'm only down 17lbs since surgery. I've also had some incidents of throwing up. It seems to be when I eat too fast or don't chew enough.

April has been the month of stalls for me. I was stuck at 210.6 for 4 days, dropped to 208.8, and then stayed there for 4 days. Finally inched down to 208.4 yesterday and 208.0 today. Only losing 3 pounds in 10 days when I had been on track to lose closer to 5 is frustrating to say the least! The closer I get to being below 200, the more the universe wants to mess with me, apparently. But on an unrelated note, I drove to see the total eclipse in Vermont on Monday and it was amazing! Thank goodness for stopping to get some Vermont cheddar on the drive because healthy food options were scarce. I actually ended up eating McDonald's chicken nuggets for lunch. I managed to eat two of them, and they were okay, but I have no idea how I used to eat a box of 10 plus fries. Next time I venture out, I'm going to need to pack food for myself.

I hope you have a speedy recovery!

Start by adding more non-starchy veggies to every meal. At least, this is my plan for further down the road. I think the temptation is to increase portions size across the plate when we're hungry, but if you have been getting your 60-80g protein per day already, you don't need more. So keep the meat and starch or carb servings the same as your plan suggests but add a baby spinach salad or more cooked veg to your plate. It will fill you up but not cause your body to increase your set point the way processed food and simple carbs would.

At my surgeon's office, they have one set of guidelines for bypass and another for sleeve. Interestingly, bypass moves out of the liquid phase faster, perhaps because we don't have that long line of staples to worry about? But as far as I can tell, the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery sets certain guidelines for programs to be considered Centers of Excellence, which many insurance programs require in order to cover the procedure. But these do not include a lot of specific dietary guidelines. A lot is left open to personal preference by the doctor or practice, although they are required to stay up to date on medical research.

Thankfully I had no problems with the bean soup! It tasted delicious and has been super easy to digest. I love the Instant Pot because the beans went from dry in the bag to tender and completely cooked in about 90 minutes. I hope your stricture and ulcer resolve soon!

You will be wearing a hospital gown and given non-slip socks, so all you really need is to wear something to the hospital that is comfy with a stretchy or loose waist you can wear home, and bring clean undies and socks. Also bring a toothbrush, travel toothpaste, hair brush, deodorant, chapstick, and lotion. Don't bring meds or fluids as they will need to administer those to you and record them in your chart. But check on this because if you are taking something unusual, they may want you to bring it. In my case, they just gave me my daily thyroid medication from the hospital pharmacy. Bring your phone and charger and a book, maybe headphones if you'd rather listen to music. Hospitals are kinda gross, so the less you bring, the better. I had an incident where my IV came unattached and I ended up with watered down blood everywhere, which would have ruined any pillows or blankets from home. Oh, I brought a small pillow for the car ride home that is made for abdominal surgery (search Amazon for hysterectomy pillows) and can velcro to your seatbelt for extra comfort for your incisions. It was nice but not 100% necessary. For home, I had a weighted heating pad that I loved for sleeping. You will also want a bottle of liquid adult strength Tylenol at home for pain.

Almost exactly the same here. 16 pre op and 13 post op. I'm having a little stall right now with three days stuck at 210, but not going to worry. My focus right now is coming up with good food options I can rotate for meals and figuring out what time of day would be best for exercise.

I was given the all clear to restart eating solid food at my 6 week appointment yesterday. Hooray! I'm not hungry but I did miss variety in flavor and texture. Tonight I'm making a 15 bean soup because the weather is terrible and it sounded soothing. The doctor did say I'm losing weight at the low end of normal. I need to increase my exercise, which I definitely struggle with. I need to figure out a good way to incorporate exercise every day.

I've never heard of phases taking that long to get through, so unless you have a very unusual case with special circumstances, I think there's been a misunderstanding. A week or two of liquids, which I assume included protein shakes, is normal. After that, some programs put you on purees and some will say soft protein food that you chew thoroughly, usually once you're doing well with this, after a week or two, but certainly by week 6 or so, you will be told to slowly introduce veg, fruit, and finally starch and grain. I had gastric bypass on Feb 21. I had one week of liquids, which included yogurt, cream soups, and thin cream of wheat. At week 2, I was allowed to have cottage cheese, tuna salad, refried beans, ground turkey, and flaky white fish. At week 3, I was allowed to start including cooked vegetables and fruits and told to slowly start incorporating other foods, but to wait until 3 months for pork and beef. I had a setback with some vomiting, so I had to go back to liquids for weeks 4 and 5, but I had my 6 week appointment today and was told I was clear to resume a normal diet (minus beef and pork) and just needed to be cautious and keep track of/eliminate anything that caused upset. I found this video very helpful, although I will point out this program's way of reintroducing foods is not quite the same as mine, (or most others).

I put a scoop of Benefiber in my tea or protein shake once a day. The type I bought has 5g fiber per serving. If I have any trouble after that, I take a dose of Miralax daily as needed.

I was going to say that I had the opposite happen. I had been complaining of chronic sinus issues for months, maybe years, and ever since surgery, I have had no issues breathing at all. I think the sinus problems were all a part of the inflammation I had, which has gotten so much better since right after surgery.

That really is pretty consistent every month! There's a slight tapering off toward the end, but nothing like the "average" curve I've seen with massive losses in the beginning followed by very slow loss later.

Oh, that's interesting. So many sources say you start out much faster and then slow down at 3 months and again at 6 months, but it's encouraging to know that isn't the only way it can happen. My highest weight is what I show as my starting weight in my stats, but I lost about 13 lbs from nutrition changes while waiting for surgery, and another 15 lbs from the pre-op diet, so in the 5 weeks since surgery, I'm only down 12 lbs, with a one week stall at the 3-week mark, like clockwork. Patience is not one of my virtues.

@LindsayT Looking amazing! Did you track your monthly weight loss totals? I'm really curious what the progression looked like for you. And has it finally slowed/stopped? I know you were nervous about losing too much.

So bored by liquids, but I'm managing. I seem to be losing an average of 1/2 pound a day, so that's nice, at least. If it continues at that pace, I'll be under 200lbs in less than a month from now. But I really miss variety in my diet and being able to chew. I like soup, but there's only so much of it I can eat before losing interest.

This should be fine. It sounds like you're aware of the portion that is appropriate for you right now and making reasonable choices like leaving behind the bread. The biggest issues with restaurant foods are probably portion size and hidden calories/fat/sugar in sauces. Since you know this is part of your lifestyle to get takeout, and not something you're looking to change, I would say stay aware of the choices you make, as it will be easier to push it the further out you get. Beware of getting the fried chicken instead of grilled "just this one time" which becomes every time because it's tasty. Eating the bun because you have a little "extra room" instead of getting yourself a side salad to fill you up. Eating the million calorie sauce, which will go down way too easily, instead of substituting something healthier. If available, you might want to get the nutrition info for your favorite places to make sure what you think you are eating matches up to what you are actually eating. If you want to reduce eating out, consider doing some meal prep/batch cooking and freezing options for when you're not in the mood to cook.

I'm so sorry you're having a difficult time! Fortunately, if people develop anxiety and depression after the surgery, it tends to be a temporary thing. Your body has gone through a major shock, and you're also burning fat, which is where you store hormones such as estrogen. It can sometimes become a perfect storm for mental health stress until things start to stabilize. When my brother had the sleeve several years ago, he ended up flying across the country to stay with me when he was about 3-4 weeks post-op because he didn't want to be alone and was so emotional and anxious at that point. It eased up little by little over the course of a few weeks while his body adjusted, and by the time he went home, he felt so much better. It's really common in the early stages to fear that this is your new life and you will never feel normal again, but remember this is just healing time. Give yourself grace to get through it as best you can. Take friends and family up on offers of help. Don't do things that really can be put off. Let yourself go to bed early. Play your favorite songs when you go for a walk. Go for a pedicure. Even writing down your thoughts in a journal can help a lot. It really is going to get better over time, even though it feels horrible and scary right now.