SomeBigGuy

Typically the growling noise is just fluids moving through the small intestine, and not an actual hunger cue, just as@Arabesque said. You will still feel hungry early on post-op because your body is used to a lot more calories than you're able to give it for now, but that encourages more fat burning. Your body will adjust to its new normal in several weeks though. It will calm down some, but it may be more noisy going forward because you have that direct funnel to the small intestine where fluids like to make noise.

If you can find them, look for the Fairlife shakes. I drank those for my pre-op and post-op, and my surgeon was happy with the results. They have different varieties with 26g, 30g (most common), and 42g of protein and are generally 150-200 calories per bottle. These taste more like a Nesquick chocolate milk to me, and don't have that chemical taste that Premier Protein or Muscle Milk have. Check at Sams Club or Costco, if you have one nearby. They sell out fast, so you may want to check online each morning and place a pickup order for that afternoon before they're gone. My local one usually gets a pallet in weekly.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself, I've lost track of which threads I've posted on. My doctor said to keep it under 10g total carbohydrates per serving, and target 50-60g total max per day. Not low enough to go into Keto, unless that's your intent, but low enough for the body to prioritize burning fat first. I know on days that I've blown past this, I'll feel more irritable a few hours later and I'll crave more bread and sugar for 2-3 days afterwards, so go lightly on it! Personally, I've had trouble with some artificial sugars causing cravings and irritability. Not everyone will have this intolerance, but pay close attention to any sugar alcohols or substitutes in ingredients and see which ones affect you. I've had luck tolerating monk fruit and stevia, but Sorbitol and Xylitol hit me as hard as normal sugar.

For constipation, my doctor had me take Miralax daily for the first month. If that didn't work, taking a tablespoon of olive oil 2-3 times a day seemed to fix the issue. It took about 8 hours after the first "dose" but it helped relieve my problems.

Yeah the pre-op diet was no joke. I missed solid food like crazy, and I was definitely "hangry" during that time, but I'm happy with the results. I had some health issues going into it which caused a lot of excess fluid retention, and from that I lost over 20 lbs from the pre-op diet. I was excited, but my doctor took me down a peg and said it was pretty much all weight from fluid and inflammation, and I had only lost about 3lb of actual fat. I'll still take it though. Definitely recommend upping your electrolytes during that time if you're having headache and fatigue.

I had similar issues with constipation. I ended up having to drink a tablespoon of olive oil 2-3x a day until things got back to normal.

I just hit 9 weeks from surgery this week, and the 60 lb lost mark since starting the Pre-Op diet (11 weeks total). I'm finally off all of my diabetes and blood pressure meds, and my non-exertion-related dizzy spells have subsided, so I'm feeling good there. Fewer random aches and pains in my legs and back! However, after getting Covid over the holidays (5 weeks post op), I'm still feeling pretty tired and weak due to pre-existing issues with my lungs. I actually felt great the week before getting covid, and was getting around 5 miles of walking in per day and was getting more energy. After fighting it off for two weeks, I feel about as weak as I did about 5 days after surgery, even today. 1 mile of walking and I have to sit down for about a half hour. The only time I get dizzy is if I lift more than about 15-20 lbs. I'm working with my doctor on it, and it sounds like I may be stuck with long Covid for several months, but should eventually shake it. However, had I not had the surgery, I think I would've been way sicker had I caught it at my heaviest weight. My doctor said I would've probably had to spend a significant time in the hospital had I not had the surgery. No regrets at all! Just trying to focus on the baby steps and smaller incremental progress. Hope you all are doing well too!

I'm right there with you. The last 3 days have been constant cravings, so I'm back on the protein shake diet for the next week. I'm working with my therapist to get set up with a coach that's trained to deal with eating disorders and retraining myself. I'll check back in if that leads anywhere. Hope you're doing well, and that things are improving!

Happy Birthday! A little treat won't hurt, but 2 big things: 1. Don't beat yourself up over going off of the diet once. It can easily lead to a spiral where you feel bad. Remind yourself its not a big deal when its a single event, just resume at the next meal like nothing happened, and don't let it become a daily habit! 2. Expect sugar cravings and being "hangry" for a day or two after having a sweet treat after weeks of having none. I felt ravenous after having treats over the holidays, and couldn't figure out why. I wanted to eat more than I knew I could physically handle. Our bodies are engineered to make the most of carbs because up until a hundred years or so ago, they were rare for humans to come across. Nowadays, sugar and starch are in everything, and our bodies haven't adapted to that change in food availability yet. That instinct will kick in and make you want to eat "all the carbs". The following 2-3 days, resist it and remember to stick to higher protein and savory foods until it passes.

Agreed with what the others said. Be careful lifting weight, including the grandkids, before you are ready. It just takes overdoing it once to cause a hernia, requiring additional surgery. Other than that, the movement is a good thing, but listen to when your body says its tired. Balancing exercise and rest is very important the first month or two. Would you rather have a little more rest now periodically through the day while still getting somethings done, or overdo it and force yourself into a situation where you have to have repair surgery and risk several weeks on bed rest getting nothing done in the future? To prevent overdoing it, look into the Pomodoro Technique. Basically set a timer to do a task for "x" number of minutes, and then rest for "y" number of minutes. Early on, you may want 10-15 minutes of activity followed by 30-45 minutes of rest. Then as you progress, shift more time into activity and reduce the rest time, but its most effective keeping the entire cycle under 1 hour total. As far as the internal pain goes, its likely its still gas trapped and built up. Take Gas-X, and when you're walking around, do exercises with your arms lifted or over your head. I'm not sure exactly, but it has something to do with the blood flow being distributed to all of your limbs and helping breakdown and expel the gas quicker. I would have it go from my lower left side to up in my shoulders, and it was just a discomfort I couldn't shake. That movement and the medicine helped to break it up and would give me a few hours of relief.

You are doing great! Also keep in mind that in the "second half" of the excess weight loss, the scale becomes less important. If you are exercising, you can expect the muscle gain to offset the number on the scale significantly, as it weights more than fat. You'll need to focus more on the "non scale victories" like smaller clothing sizes, increased strength, stamina, and other health improvements, not just the weight on the scale alone. Keep up the good work!

The first year is where you will have the most success setting a new baseline weight, so avoiding excess sugar is important. I will say from personal experience, and recovering from Type 2 diabetes, if I have sugar like I did over the holidays (cookies, egg nog, cake), I would start to crave it constantly. It would take about 2-3 days of avoiding it to stop being "hangry". If I didn't make myself focus on high protein and savory foods, I would crave sugar, bread, and starch constantly. For special occasions you can have some after your restrictions are lifted, but just be aware it will temporarily make you crave more, and can get out of hand if you let it.

You're welcome! Happy to help. I would definitely recommend finding some sort of therapist or coach to go along with you on this journey. Like you said, they give you directions on what to eat, but not really on how to eat, or how to deal with any thing else you feel or think in the process. Even though we know we're having the surgery to change how we do things in life, I think we all underestimate how much it changes, albeit, for the better. It's not terrible by any means, but in the first month I had several moments of "why didn't anybody tell me this?" lol. My advice for the next week for you, take Gas-X, walk a little every hour, even if its just a lap or two around a hallway, and move your arms around or over your head while walking to disperse the gas build up from the surgery. I didn't have any pain from the incisions, but the gas made it uncomfortable and hard to relax. Also try to get a shot glass of water in every 30-40 minutes if possible.

It sounds like you're doing fine. Congrats on your weight loss victories!!! Part of the reason they leaned in heavy on it was because they want you to succeed, but also to a degree, they're covering their own liability and don't want to be sued for not giving you the proper advice. I would try to increase both the best you can, but don't beat yourself up if you come up shy one day. Look for more protein-dense foods and shakes to make up the difference if you can. I like the Fairlife protein shakes that have either 30g or 42g, depending on which is available. One of those can be half your protein content for a day, plus its 11-12oz of fluids! Too little protein can cause your body to run a deficit, in which it will burn off muscle rather than fat, which is not a good thing. The more muscle you can maintain, the more fat calories your body will burn to feed them, which helps with the weight loss. The increased water intake is to keep you hydrated, but it also helps you flush out the waste from what your body is breaking down during your weight loss, preventing it from backing up in your kidneys and leading to problems. But keep up the good work! Sounds like you're getting through the "regret" phase, which I'm convinced we all go through that first month or so haha. It looks like my surgery was a week before yours, and I'm already feeling much better. Hope you are too!

Agreeing with the others, stick with the plan. The first couple months you definitely do not want to put pressure on those staples and risk a leak. That's a rough surgery compared to what you just had. Infections from that can get nasty and lead to sepsis. I struggled with overdoing it myself early on, but had to remind myself that its to prevent burst staples, and that I can give it 30-60 minutes and resume eating to give it room. I've noticed I can do 8 fl oz easily if I'm not careful before my stomach starts pushing back. As for the hunger, I'm one of the unlucky few that still has the obsessive head-hunger. It takes practice, but look for signs that your stomach and body are telling you that you are full, despite part of you saying "I have to keep eating!" It took a lifetime to train that reflex, and it won't go away overnight. I'm still fighting mine daily. I've noticed I'll feel a little pressure if I'm approaching the limit, but if I keep going, I start to get a runny nose, which is my final warning before making myself sick. My goal is to prevent it from getting to that point. One thing I did to throttle my eating speed is to get disposable mini / baby spoons and forks from amazon. They're only like 1/4 of a teaspoon so you get a smaller portion per bite, which helped me a lot! It takes longer to eat, which gives your stomach more time to send the full response to the rest of your body, since that is delayed. I've had to use the disposable ones since its mentally easier for me to walk away from the food if I throw the little cheap spoon in the trash. I'd rather use the reusable ones, but I know the limits on my discipline haha. This is just anecdotal, but as a recovering Type 2 diabetic, I have to be careful with sugar and starch hidden in foods. I've eaten some over the holidays, which tasted great, but realized it made me crave more. If I went a meal without it, I would get actually angry, and I'm sure I wasn't any fun to be around. Eating desserts over Christmas would send me into constant snack cravings for 2-3 days. I told my doctor, and he said you have to power through those couple of days, but by focussing on low carb (not necessarily keto) and prioritize protein, unsaturated fats and water, those cravings go way down. I've had to use "filler foods" to hold me over between meals. My wife says its gross, but I've been eating Fage plain greek yogurt to hold me over. Single Digit carbs and 17g of Protein per serving and its more savory rather than sweet. Mentally, I've used it as a substitute for cheese, mayo, sour cream, and other things to just pretend that its a more substantial food. That and it does seem to fill me up as long as I don't have anything sweet with it. Similar with 2% fat cottage cheese. Also, some artificial sweeteners can set off a sugar craving or insulin response, which just compounds the cravings. I'm not sure which ones do, but I know the ones in the Fairlife brand protein shakes do not set it off for me, while MuscleMilk does make me crave it. Fairlife has Monk Fruit, Stevia, and Sucralose, and don't seem to set that off for me. You may want to experiment to see which ones may bother you.

Yeah, the first two to three weeks will have you questioning everything about the process, but that's only due to the temporary discomfort and the idle time while resting and recovering. We all go through that phase, so you're right on track! The good thing about the sleeve, like others mentioned, is that you will eventually be able to eat all of the same things again, but now you'll have that governor in place to stop you from going overboard. Early on, just stick to the diet plan, as its more important to prevent stretching the tissue where the staples are and to prevent infections. After the first month or two, then the goal is to keep the carbs and excess calories down, as statistically you'll have the beest luck losing weight those first 6 months before it slows, and levels off around the 12-18 month mark. Its just to get that jump start on the weight loss. Each day gets easier, but it is gradual and expect the occasional "hangry" day while you adapt. You'll have days where your body will try to fight you since its used to the old foods and quantities we used to eat. It misses its snacks, but our mind and stomachs are like angry toddlers in this phase, they require some discipline. Teaching it early on makes it better on the long run, but be ready for the temper tantrums haha. I'm approaching 2 months from my surgery and I have to say the first 2 weeks were fear/regret, then that subsided in weeks 3-4, and I was more upset about "well I feel like I can eat x, y, or z again, why can't I?", then even that started to subside on Week 5. I will say to avoid excess sugar, as that will still set my cravings off. I made multiple mistakes sampling cookies and cake over the holidays, and the following 2-3 days I would be craving it constantly and getting angry about it. Forcing myself past those 2-3 days, focussing on protein and more savory foods, and the obsessive craving went away. For the gas pain, definitely find some Gas-X or similar medication from a pharmacy. That helped me a lot the first month. Also, while walking, do some arm exercises like lifting over your head, windmill stretches, etc., and that will help disperse some of the gas. That really helped to get rid of my shoulder pain from it.

Yeah it should be fine, just keep the sugar low. As long as you're hitting your daily water and protein goals, and the sugar amount is in single digits per serving, you should be fine. I've been eating Fage plain greek yogurt as my snack since it has 17g of Protein and very low carbs. I love the 5% milkfat version but the saturated fat is a tad high. I know I should have the 0% but I don't like the flavor. 2% has been my compromise.

That is a good point that I didn't consider in my earlier response. I think you would need to check with a nutritionist or trainer to figure out what your target should be. With more intense workouts, you'll definitely burn more, so its easier for your body to be in too big of a deficit, and think you're in starvation mode. In that case, its possible for some people to burn muscle and preserve fat since your body is in a defensive state. There will be a range where you're getting enough calories and protein to build muscle, but still let the body know its safe to burn off the excess fat, but that's unique to everyone and would need a professional to help narrow down what that is for you. But again, based on the numbers on your profile here, you're roughly half way through the excess weight loss target weight you had. The scale plays a part in the journey, but its not the only indicator of success, especially in the second half. Recognize the gains you're getting with the increased weights you can lift, increased reps/sets, more endurance, and energy. The scale can remain the same or even gain a few pounds, but that's due to the muscle weighing more than the fat it replaced, and during that time you may have lost a shirt or pants size and gotten stronger! Obsessing on the scale number alone leads to stress, which leads to increased cortisol (stress hormone) production, which in itself tells the body to store all the fat it can because it falsely things there's a survival emergency. I know its impossible to avoid all stress, and its needed for us in short bursts, but learning to escape from chronic ongoing stress and worry will also help your body burn off the remaining fat.

The first couple days, just walking up down the hallway or across a parking lot will be all you'll feel like doing, but doing that while moving your arms is enough to get the gas pain to ease up considerably. You will get tired quickly those first few weeks, so plan to do things in short bursts followed by a short rest so you don't overdo it. I had my surgery on a Monday and I went back to work the next Monday, but I do work online from home. I've heard of people getting the sleeve go back to work after like 4 days, but I don't think I would want less than a week. I was able to walk a total of 3 miles on Day 4, but I was still on pain medicine and not thinking clearly. After I weaned off the meds I actually had to slow down for a few days until I adjusted. I did wait a week after coming off the pain meds to drive, but they did make me feel a little loopy and I wanted to play it safe. Physically I guess I could've driven sooner, but ask your doctor to be sure when it would be safe. Pain wasn't bad, just uncomfortable from the gas, but it would've been distracting to try to go back to work sooner. Other procedures are more involved and may need more time off. Same if there's a minor complication, or if your liver didn't shrink enough during the pre-op diet. It won't hurt your healing or weight loss, but the more they have to move around inside you, the longer you'll be sore.

I forgot to mention this ^^^ The gas pain was worse than the procedure. My incisions and insides never really hurt, but that gas pressure was super uncomfortable. If its available where you are, pick up some Gas-X or similar gas relief medicine to take with you after your surgery. It will hang around a couple weeks, but the more you can walk and move your arms while walking (think over head stretches and other movement) the more it gets dispersed in your blood stream and your body forces it out. The more walking and arm movement you can do, the more it will ease up. Very annoying when the gas would build up in my shoulder area. I wouldn't call it a pain, but it wasnt' fun lol.

That does sound like the basis for the diet I'm on. They told me to work on getting 64oz of water per day as top priority, then around 60-80g of protein next. Next it was to prioritize some unsaturated fats (fish, poultry, and lower carb veggie protein options). From there, they told me to keep carbs under 10g per serving, and under 55g total for the day (not quite as low as keto). Then try to keep saturated fats low where possible. I'm a 6'1" male, so they had me try to target 800-1000 calories per day during the weight loss phase, and work toward 1200 after about 6 months. You may want to check with your doctor or nutritionist to see if they have a recommended range to target. I learned the hard way while I was sick with Covid over the holidays that its really easy for excess calories to be hiding in small things. But overall, just keep up with what you are doing. There will be a stall within the first couple months, and a second stall a couple months after that, so just mentally prepare for it. Both will last 2-4 weeks and will likely have a slight regain in the middle of it. It doesn't take much fluid retention to make the number on the scale go back up. Remember that a 16oz bottle of water is literally 1lb. It's not fat, so it doesn't count. if you're drinking a half gallon / 2L of water a day, that's 4 lbs sitting there, but it doesn't count as "fat weight". It is jarring to see a 4lb fluctuation on the scale, but you're not losing progress, it's just water that your body isn't done processing yet. Think of the weight loss more like stair steps rather than a straight line. You can push through it!

I was pretty lethargic most of the time prior to surgery, but I started to have a little more about 4 weeks after surgery. I was able to walk 2 miles at a time pretty easily, and not get really tired until I was around 5 or 6 miles total for the day. However, I caught covid and had a rough time with it for about 2 weeks, and I feel more tired than I did before surgery. I can't do a half mile without having to sit down, and walking up a flight of stairs makes me dizzy. I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday to see if I need some different vitamins or see if I developed long covid. If the fatigue persists, check with your doctor, and see if there are some other factors that may be causing the issue. With the restricted diet, it could be that you're not getting the vitamins and minerals you need as well. Also, work on your sleep schedule! Even getting 1 more hour than you're accustomed to routinely can make a big difference. It takes about 3-4 weeks on a new sleep schedule to see results though, so be patient.

If you're really focussing on building muscle, that will definitely offset the scale number. However, in that case, that's ok to gain that back. Muscle weights 1.5x as much as fat, so it will definitely cause a difference, which is why you can't make the scale be your only benchmark for fitness success, especially after the first "half" or so of your expected weight loss. Doing so will negate the gains and promote muscle loss, which makes the exercise pointless. You will still lose weight overall, but you need to focus on the fat loss, not total weight specifically. We all have weight we can't lose with our bones, organs, and in your case, increasing muscle mass. The scale doesn't account for that, so you can't judge your progress on that alone. You need to factor in all the other non-scale victories, like smaller clothing sizes, more endurance and stamina, increases in what you can lift, and other health related items like blood pressure, blood sugar, asthma, and coming off of meds you previously needed. Success is measured by a combination of all of those things. Focussing only on the scale number will drive you crazy as you progress. It sounds like you're doing great if you're already able to do this much exercise! See if you can meet with a nutritionist or your doctor, and see if your calories, macros, and fluid intake are where they need to be, and stay the course on it. You'll be able to power through the stall, and start to see all the other victories you are winning!

There's typically a couple stalls that lasts for 2-4 weeks that happens after surgery. I've heard them typically referred to to the 3rd week and 3rd month stalls when they typically start, but can happen any time. Our bodies have to recalibrate things after substantial loss, and it will hold on to fat and/or fluids until it knows its safe for it to lose more. As long as you stick to you calories, macros, and fluid requirements laid out by your doctor, the weight loss will resume. Restart your diet and track everything closely. Also go back to weighing yourself weekly instead of daily to reduce stress. Additionally, if you are working out more than you were pre surgery, keep in mind you may also be gaining some muscle weight, which offsets the number on the scale. If your clothing sizes are getting smaller, you're still on track! It is very frustrating as I just came out of one, but I did slack off on tracking my eating closely over the holidays. Even though I didn't feel like I was eating that much more, I had crept back up around 1600 calories a day by having a treat I thought I had earned. I didn't realize it was so calorically dense and was a big mistake for me. I was using it to feel better after having covid over Christmas and New Years, but it did throw me off track and made my stall worse. I'm back on the strict diet this week and its starting to drop again.

I know its kind of nuanced, but I've noticed that it's been easier telling people about it after the surgery than it was before. I guess people felt like they needed to talk me out of it before it happened, whereas afterwards, they've been more accepting or just dismissive with minimal argument. I've had a few people sound like what everyone's mentioned above, like "oh, so you couldn't do it on your own? You're fat and weak and always will be". I agreed with them, like what @ms.sss said, and they may have one more quip, but the good news is I haven't talked to them since! It made me realize they were always talking trash about me and everyone else they know so they can stay on their high horse in their mind, and the surgery really didn't change anything about them. Walking away from them turned into a win for me afterall haha. Holiday gatherings will be awkward next year, but at least I'm not overwhelmed by my previously chronic issues with diabetes and asthma like I was a few months ago!