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I’m 18 days post-op and on purées and I am struggling with protein intake. Protein shakes are so hard to get down, the milkyness of them turns me off and I feel nauseous. I’ve tried premade and protein powder. I’ve not once met my daily protein goal because of it. 😩 Hopefully next week with soft foods and then regular foods the week after will help with that. Other than that I’m doing okay, which is good.

hmmm...you could always try it, and, if it doesn't work for you say, after 3-4 weeks, then just go back to what DOES work? or, if it's causing you too much angst, and your current M.O. is not causing you any issues (which sounds like it isn't), why fix what ain't broke? there is no one-size fits all prescription...find out what works for you and go with that. good luck! ❤️

I can't speak to somee of the other things you mentioned, but as far as BM's go, it's pretty common for it to take a week for your first one post-surgery. Not much in there...

This situation is a catch 22 because no one knows exactly what the insurance requirements are and no one will tell us. The dieticians job is to help you lose weight, period. Whether that’s in your best interest or not is where it gets tricky. On one hand If you are in a supervised weight loss program (the six month requirement by a lot of insurances) they are trying to see if you can lose the weight on your own before they approve it. So in theory if you lose too much they could deem you not a good candidate for surgery. On the other hand, every pound you lose the heathy way should make you that much more fit for the operation (not if you malnourished though). Plus, if you really can lose it without surgery obviously not putting your body through surgery would be ideal. if the dieticians way is something you have never tried before and when you try it you feel like you can do it, losing weight without surgery is obviously preferred. BUT, just because the insurance company sees progress and decides that you should be able to lose it based on the trend doesn’t mean they are right (they are not doctors and should not be making these decisions IMO). I know myself I have probably lost 1000 pounds in my life but that’s because I have always lost a few and gained them back but never got near a healthy weight. Whether you have tried everything, including the dieticians way, only you know. I had sleeve three years ago and my high weight was 235 and I’m taller than you. So I was lower BMI as well. On surgery day I was 220ish and I was fine but I did not start losing until my pre op diet began. During my 6 month supervised diet I did follow the diet they set out for me to the best of my ability BUT the cheat days basically offset my progress so I didn’t really lose anything. Now I am considering revision and there is not any weight requirements as far as I know but I started at like 245 this time anyways so I’m not as afraid to lose a little. I asked him what I should do and he said to keep my Carbs below 40 for now (I am most likely having the SADI so carbs are gonna be most important post surgery). Well I am losing but less than a pound a week so no one is raising any eyebrows at my loss. Anyways If I was in your position I would reduce my calories by like 100 at a time and see how I felt after a week adjusting to that. (Mayne you can get to 1200 with the dieticians help and maybe you decide that you want to try it once the dieticians way before you decide). On days like you four hour swim I would ask the doctor their opinion because 1200 calories does not seem enough for that level of activity. I think if it was me, I would stick to eating healthy choices for now. Try out new, healthy recipes and get used to the food you will need to eat post surgery. I would try to get to the 1200 because they are the dietician but portion wise I would cut my calories slowly to get there and see how my body reacted at each stage. (Just be honest with yourself about whether you really need or just want the calories) if I was really losing more than ever before and it seemed like something I could sustain, I would then re-evaluate whether I should be jumping into major surgery just yet. But if I decided that i couldn’t do it on my own and for sure wanted surgery i would talk to my doctor about how much they would like to see me lose to be fit for surgery.

If you don't eat, your body will think it's starving and it will hold on to every little calorie, every bit of fat, everything to protect you. That will be what causes you to gain weight, or at the very least, not lose. You have to learn to walk that fine line between eating enough to stay healthy but not too much to cause weight gain. It's a learning curve, and takes a while to figure out. But you'll get there. Just make sure you get your protein in first, then carbs (from veggies and fruits), HEALTHY fats, and enough calories. The first 2 weeks, I never had more than 600 calories per day. Weeks 3 and 4 it went up to between 800 - 900 per day. Weeks 5 and 6 I was around 1000 per day. Once I was completely cleared for all exercise, I went up to 1100 - 1200 per day on non work out days and between 1300 - 1400 per day on work out days, depending on what work out I was doing that day. You absolutely HAVE to give your body the fuel it needs to survive and thrive. The point of the surgery isn't to starve yourself into being skinny. It's a tool to teach us to make better, healthier choices and stick with them.

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).

Your plan should list the foods you are able to eat & those you need to avoid at each stage. It should also say how long you stay on each stage. If it doesn’t, contact your team & ask for more specific information. Your tummy lets you know pretty quickly if you’re not ready. It may be discomfort on eating, a feeling of heaviness, you may regurgitate what you’ve eaten. It’s a lot of trial & error honestly. For example, most plans tend to advise 2 weeks on each stage. Some people stay a little longer on a stage or go back a stage simply because we heal differently & their tummy just isn’t ready for the foods (texture & density) on the next stage. Some foods are on the avoid list because they can be hard to digest by your healing tummy (bread, pasta, rice, seeds, fruit & vegetable skins, etc.). Other foods are off the list because of their nutrient content & calories (many plans are no starchy vegetables for e.g..). There may be foods on your list your tummy can’t tolerate (chicken breast, eggs often are a struggle few a while). Your tummy can be fussy while healing & the temporary change to our taste buds &/or sense of smell can make foods extra sweet, extra salty or just plain disgusting. Textures can be off putting too at this time. Many of us ate the same meals or rotated through a small selection especially in the first couple of months. One because we eat such small portions there’s lots of left overs. Two, because our fussy tummy & you can’t tolerate a wide variety of foods. Three it means you don’t have to think to much about food & what your going to eat & you know how much protein & other nutrients you’re getting with each meal. I still eat a lot to routine & often have the same meals & I’m almost 5 years out. It’s not that I can’t eat a variety of foods it’s just easier sometimes (or maybe I’m lazy LOL!). I struggled in purées to find foods that tasted good because the taste or texture was awful. Thank goodness for runny scrambled eggs, milky rolled oats, yoghurt & soups. In soft foods I ate a lot of minced meat dishes - savoury mince, meatballs (rissoles in Australia), bolognese (no pasta), etc., slow cooked stews, thick meat & vegetable soups, omelettes. Try some savoury egg muffins (add cheese, mushrooms, onions & other pre cooked vegetables you like) & a lot of people swear by ricotta bake (someone will have a recipe they’ll happily share).

The 1st few days are rough. Consentrat on protein and liquids right now. The protein shakes can be counted as liquid. The first few weeks I only got between 700 and 900 calories day. Just don’t go on a binge. I need a bunch of crap and you will be fine.

How has everyone gone for goal setting? They say you have to set SMART goals Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-Bound And they also say not to focus on scale victories. That's a challenge for me! Numbers make such an obvious target. So I've chosen some targets like Do 20 minutes on the stationary bike, twice a week by May 19. Drop 10 kg by June 19. Do 1 pullup by July 19. And do a DXA sscanand reward myself with $100 per bf% dropped. Turn down the CPAP by August 19. By February 19 I want to fit into size 36 jeans. Has anyone got some good targets sorted out?

Congrats!! week 1 is behind you now Do you have another week of liquids or are you moving on to pureed foods?

I’m wondering how many different foods i should be trying at each food stage. I’ve been eating the same meals for a couple of days (white fish and veggies pureed together) purely because one filet of fish cooked ended up making 5 of my tiny meals. But i wonder if i should be varying meals more ? As in intentionally trying new foods ? I’m moving to soft foods next week so i was looking for meal ideas… Also, how do you you know you’re actually ready to move up a food stage ? I’m scared of soft foods then regular food :O

I have Fibromyalgia and it has not changed because of weight loss. The surgeon told me this. I had zero pain when I woke up from the surgery but was a little tender in my stomach area. I take 8 Co-codamol a day when the pain is fierce and a 10mg Amitriptyline every night to help me relax. My new tiny stomach was very swollen and I couldn't take the pills for about 4 weeks. I had some morphine patches from my doctor but it wasn't severe enough to be an issue after week 1. I take 2 tablets for GERD a day, These have to be taken separately from my pain meds because of absorption issues.

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

I haven’t had any blood work since surgery to say they’re working but all my bloodwork was off a couple months beforehand and I started them about a month and a half before surgery. My pre surgery bloodwork didn’t show any deficiencies in any vitamins or minerals then. I figured if the surgeon had them on her list of approved multivitamins then they must work but occasionally I do wonder how lol. My appt is next week on the 25th so I will let you know. Im one of those people that struggles with my levels on a good day so during this post op diet I’m sure I’ve been challenged. Amazing job on the weight loss and walking despite the knee pain. I often stay down because of pain or exhaustion and I need to get up and moving. I hope your knee surgery is in the near future!

I feel your pain with an injury. Tore my meniscus ligament in my knee. They wouldn't let me have surgery on it until I am 40 bmi. I'm there now, but I'm buying some time to be certain I have no issues since my gastric bypass. The surgeon suggested I wait at least three months post bariatric surgery. Trying to walk more is a problem, I can get a mile.or so in walking before the pain is too much. I'm looking forward to get it taken care of. I was wondering how well the vitamin patches work. I'm not having issues with taking vitamins orally. But there's so much berry flavored vitamins you can have before the tastes is meh.

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!

Mine is April 23rd. I started my pre-op diet on Tuesday this week. It was a rough 2 days, but I'm getting the hang of it now. I know I am not going to want to eat certain foods for a bit - cottage cheese, being one of them. Pickles have been helpful. Good luck to everyone! I'm ready for it to be here.

Surgery 12/14/23 RNY. I turned 51 ten days later. I will be 4 months post op 4/14. Doing well, had a stall and now my hair is thinning in spots. I’ve been exercising since I came home. Only issue is some constipation.. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Good luck everyone and those that have had to done already I wish you all well! My surgery for my sleeve is the 22nd and I started my liquid diet on Monday this week (8th).

keep trying different ways of drinking water until you find one that you can tolerate...and even when you do find one way that works, you find that later on it doesn't and you need to find another type/kind. I started off with room temp water for about a week (just worked out that way cuz i carried around a water bottle that i took microsips from and it just ended up being room temp lol) then switched to warm/hot water for about 2 months cuz that's all i could stand. i found i could drink much much more at a hotter temp vs cold. then warm/hot fell out of favour, and i HAD to have it ice, ice cold...with like crushed ice in it even (not cubed, CRUSHED!). this went on for another couple months. then i was all about carbonated water (like perrier), and i drank just that until i reached goal and for several months afterwards. now i don't seem to have a glaring preference, but i do seem to lean towards ice water, if i had to pick one.

I had my first drink a month or so out post op. During my losing phase it was pretty rare as the calorie content just wasn’t worth it to me. Like ms. sss I had my worst ever dumping during this time off a delightful drink called a Cocoa Puff martini-like laying on the cold tile of a bathroom floor because it was the only place I could get even slightly comfortable hour of misery dumping. Now I’m a semi-regular drinker. A glass of wine about 3 nights a week, a cocktail or two on date nights with my guy. As long as it isn’t derailing you I think it’s fine.

I have not had any limits on alcohol drinking or coffee or drinking with straws etc. I think patients in Europe have slacker rules than you American cousins. I tried my first drink at 6 weeks, I had a weak Bloody Mary and it was yummy. I was born and raised in a pub, had pubs myself and drunk a lot over these years. I could hold my alcohol well. Now one glass of wine has me smashed for about 20 minutes. Last Christmas I went out with a friend and it got a little silly, I had at least 3 glasses and for the first time in my life, I don't remember going home. That scared me. I felt as if I had been spiked. Wine and cider give me awful GERD, Baileys gives me get the foamies. Something and lots of soda seems to work best for me. My husband calls me his cheap date, Cheap means different here.

You sound so much like me. I think about certain things and get nauseous! Water is so difficult. I took some Mio to the beach with me this past week and it did help some. I used to LOVE Crystal Light decaf tea and lemonade mixed. I haven't been able to tolerate it since surgery. I did make another 1/2 pitcher this morning and am praying I will like it again. Nearly all liquids make me gag. Oh and don't get me started on pills! Lol. I eat fish, but not chicken or meat. Tuna is good, and I can tolerate small amounts of baked, grilled, or broiled fish for dinner. I also like smoked salmon a lot! I've fallen for Dave's Killer Bread, thin sliced. A friend who had sleeve surgery 2 years ago recommended it. The slices are small, and I can usually finish one slice with some tuna salad or smoked salmon on it. PBFit powder is another thing I like. I never had it until NickelChip talked about it, I can't tell it's not peanut butter for the jar! I don't ever want to get dehydrated again! I didn't mind being in the hospital getting fluids, that was a nice break from life... but the way I felt was just horrible. Dehydrated, nauseous, and low blood pressure. I was a zombie! That alone is forcing me to sip on fluids even when I don't want to.

I discussed it with my surgeon at an appointment a few weeks ago and he said it could have been movement of the tube I had fitted but I was to go to the hospital the next time it happened and he then also scheduled the removal of the tube as it was only to be in for five to six months. I spent last week in hospital to get the tube, put in my stomach five months ago to help close the leak, removed. Since then I have had no painful episodes and the tests show that the leak appears to have closed up. It is just a week and a half since the removal so I guess time will tell.

Ty! Yes we are! Some of that weight loss was pre-surgery, lost about 26# since surgery. I feel really good actually. a) I too need to stop eating before I’m too full like so many others here, I’m having a hard time with that. b) I was super nauseous for the first 3 weeks or so but was lucky in that my surgeon gave me Zofran for it. My Dr. cleared me to eat whatever (as long as it’s healthy) I want after my 1 month follow up and so far so good. My new favorite food is canned chicken crust pizza I make. It’s soooo yummy and gives me tons of protein intake with just one piece. c) I’m definitely feeling the stalls, I’ve had 2 (one currently) which is what makes me come see how y’all are doing and then I realize it’s not just me so that makes me feel better. It’s just so annoying bc I typically eat about 750-900 cal a day and my brain just doesn’t want to get why the weight doesn’t just drop off 🤣. I think it thinks I’m starving to death 🤦🏼‍♀️😂 d) I have on occasion gotten super hungry which I hate. I was so hoping that feeling was permanently gone but 🤷🏼‍♀️. It’s only happened to me 2 or 3 times so maybe I was dehydrated? That’s what I’m telling myself for now. I also have a hard time getting 64 ounces of fluid in but I try. And going back to the nausea thing….i just had a couple of suggestions that I’ve tried and have helped me, but of course ev1 is different. Even the thought of protein shakes now make me want to vomit, I do everything I can to avoid having to drink them. I try to hit 60-80 gm of protein a day. I eat a lot of tuna, chicken, Greek yogurt, the Only Bean roasted edamame beans and chicken pizza crust pizza. And use liquicel if I need a protein boost before breaking down and having a shake. I don’t ever take my vitamins on an empty stomach, I always eat light and fit Greek yogurt first. water makes me nauseated now. So I very rarely drink plain water. I usually drink decaf unsweetened iced tea and now add Mio to my water but I’m trying to integrate the plain water back in, I think it’s just some kind of weird mental block. And just keep in mind that dehydration itself can cause fatigue and nausea! Of course so can the vitamins were all taking 😂 Sorry for the vvvveeerrryyyyyy long post guys! And thanks again for all y’all’s unknown help. I wish ev1 the best on their weight loss journey!