Hacks, Tips and Helpful Notes

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Hi everyone

I will have surgery sometime this month. I am very excited but it's still unreal. The reason I wanted to start this topic is because I was wondering if there is anything you learned after surgery. Advice of any kind; things that made recovery easier, food or Snacks used after surgery that were good, routine advice? Anything you can share that you learned on your own experience. I would love to hear your stories. Hacks that made life easier after surgery. Anything!! Warnings of what's to come for me.

It's one thing when you have paper work telling you what will happen. But what about the things that they don't tell you. Things like that are things I would love to hear.

Thank you so much for your replies in advance

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I have learned a great deal. You can learn a lot from reading this forum.

Some of the things that I have identified as critical success factors for me. I:

Weaned myself off of caffeine and carbonation gradually before surgery.

Made up my mind to do everything my medical team asked me to do, even if I thought I couldn't do it.

Committed to being rigorously honest with myself and my medical team.

Learned as much as I could about the surgery process.

Decided to make it my policy not to tell people how much weight I have lost when they ask. Now, if someone asks how much I have lost I tell them that I am not sharing that information with anyone.

Followed my pre- and post-op program.

Track my food using MyFitnessPal.

Wear a fitness tracker.

Focus on getting in my 100 grams of Protein and at least 64 oz of fluids, every day.

Avoid added sugars, starches, and fried foods.

Take my Vitamins and supplements as directed.

Practice eating mindfully, slowly, chewing thoroughly and taking small bites.

Exercise regularly.

Weigh infrequently (early out I only weighed at doctors appointments).

Participate in the forums on this site.

Try to practice creativity more frequently (I try to do something creative every day).

And, most importantly, learning to Embrace the Stall!

Embrace the Stall

http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/351046-Embrace-the-Stall

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Thank you so much for that stall post. I hope I can learn to embrace the stall quickly.

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[lunarose 97]

Definitely wean yourself from any caffeine slowly before surgery I went cold turkey and the headache hurt worse then the incision. I am just shy of six years so I don't remember too many things about the early days. Get some of the chicken broth flavored Protein powder the heat was soothing. Get those two ounce medicine cups its far easier on those first couple of days to deal with them then a full glass. Don't cheat. The first six months its almost impossible not to lose weight but after that your stomach is healed and it gets a little tougher. So you want to get as big of a bang for your bucks during those first six. I to this day start every morning with a Protein shake and I exercise regularly. Remember its a tool not a magic bullet you will still need to do your part. But with the sleeve doing your part is so much easier. I still feel the restriction and it still keeps me on track.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Definitely sample the various Protein shakes and supplements before you invest in large quantities.

Edited: because autocorrect has a mind of its own.

[LoveMyBypass 251]

I'm so happy I don't drink coffee. Phew! But the chicken broth Protein.. I will look into that thank you so much for the suggestion.

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[Sophie74656 1,572]

Be prepared to discover that a Protein shake you liked pre op will be undrinkable post op

You might cry...a lot....for no reason

You will NOT be able to get in all your Water and Protein at first

Don't compare your loss to others and don't get discouraged if you don't loose as much as someone else did.

Get some small plates. I use tiny bowls from the asian supermarket that are actually for dipping soy sauce

You will be very tired. Going to the bathroom and back will make you want to take a nap

[Margie122 845]

I second @@Sophie74656 - don't buy a ton of stuff pre-op because your taste buds may change. I didn't believe it....didn't think it would happen to me. Had a Protein shake I ABSOLUTELY LOVED and when I drank it post-op??!!! BLECH!!!!

The other thing I did to keep my sanity - I only weighed at the doctors office for the first two months. Your body is going to want to "stall" about 3-4 weeks out and if you weigh yourself daily or even weekly and don't see a loss a lot of people freak out and think the surgery was a failure. It's not! You can search "3 week stall" and you will see it's normal.

Best of luck!

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Wow! Thank you guys! This is good stuff! So far, I only have one tub of Protein Powder. I was going to buy a few more on pay day. Thank you for the warning. I'll wait till after surgery and see if I still like the one I have.[emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji106]

Edited May 4, 2016 by onmica

[James Marusek 5,244]

This short article describes my experiences after RNY gastric bypass surgery. http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Very nice article, thank you for sharing

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[erp 2,016]

My best piece of advice immediately post op: stool softener.

Just trust me on this one. [emoji50]

Helpful note: For months, I religiously read everything on here everyday. In doing so, after awhile I could discern the wackados and idiots (lots of those folks on here) from reality. Common patterns and themes emerged that helped me form realistic expectations regarding the journey. I learned that surgery was really just the end of the beginning and that good WLS outcomes require lifelong mindfulness.

Hack: add cottage cheese to your Protein Shakes to up your Protein count.

Tip: You are only limited by the goals you set.

Best wishes on your journey

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Below is the gist of what I posted on my first year surgiversary. I'm now 20.5 months post-op, have lost 100 pounds and am now maintaining happily and easily at 135 pounds.

Very best to you!

Ann

A year ago yesterday I was sleeved at age 68. I knew I had the energy for one last shot at getting healthy. Like so many of us, controlling my weight was the one thing in my life I’d been unable to manage. Failing at that was a tremendous embarrassment and disappointment to me, not to mention the cause of mounting medical comorbidities that had almost sidelined me from life.

A year ago I’d already been on WLS forums for 9 months. I could not WAIT to get my WLS show on the road. I’d already lost almost 20 pounds on a 2-month 1,400 calorie diet of my own and, later, my surgeon’s 14-day pre-op diet. I’d been practicing for months the behaviors I’d learned here—eating slower, chewing more, no more soda, a lot less coffee, no NSAIDs (ouch!), walking more (yea, Fitbit!), and my favorite tool of all—planning meals and tracking my food and drink on www.myfitnesspal.com.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning, my first surgiversary. I weighed in at 143 pounds. I feel great, physically and mentally. I look so much younger (I’ll be 70 years old in December). And I truly feel like I’ve been reborn.

How I Lost the Weight

I was lucky—had no complications, had a great surgeon and team, healed well and recovered fast, and have had more non-scale victories (NSVs) than you could shake a stick at. I’m full of gratitude and amazement at all of WLS’s benefits for me.

Below is a list of things I did (mostly pretty well) that led to my success. As always, your mileage may vary. This was my experience. Yours will be yours.

• Ate the minimum amount of protein—at least 60 grams to start with (hit that target on Day Five post-op)
• Ate Protein first at every meal
• Drank 8 glasses of Water daily (or at the very least 8 glasses of liquids daily)

Protip #1: Dehydration slows weight loss and makes you feel like crap.
Protip #2: Our kidneys work overtime when we’re losing weight rapidly and need lots of Water to function well.
Protip #3: You can actually die from dehydration.

• As healing happened and restriction eased, added healthy (colored) veggies, then non-starchy fruits, then whole grains
• Took my vitamins/minerals and Rxs daily and on schedule
• Ate 3 meals a day
• Chewed my food well and ate more slowly
• Didn’t drink 15 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal
• When I got hungry (not bored), I added one or two Snacks of healthy food
• Didn’t graze between meals (note that “a snack” and “grazing” are different things)
• Avoided / minimized highly processed, high-carb foods and slider foods like potatoes, white rice, white breads, crackers, Cookies, chips, ice cream

Protip: These foods slow weight loss and, for some people, trigger binge eating.

• Moved more than I used to move and gradually kept moving even more
• Followed the Number One Exercise Rule for Old People: Don’t injure yourself!
• Got some sunshine daily, which kept me full of happy thoughts and Vitamin D
• Tried to sleep 8 hours a night
• Minimized stress—for me, this meant I stopped sweating the small stuff and learned that most stuff really is small stuff
• Am seeing a shrink to understand better why I couldn’t or didn’t care for my health better prior to WLS and to learn how to do better in the future (as the saying goes, they operate on your stomach, not your head).

Unsolicited Advice:

I’ve been at or below goal for 4 months now. Here are some things I learned while losing weight and during maintenance (at which I’m still a newbie). Some of these things have surprised me. And as always, your mileage may vary.

• Don’t feel pressured into telling the world you’re having WLS. Do what is best for you. Just know that “telling a few people” may not be the best way to keep your WLS private. There are a lot of mouthy people out there. I'm on the down-low about WLS; other than my medical team, only my hubby and two good friends (who don't live anywhere near me) know about my WLS.

• Don’t overeat, but don’t starve yourself either. As your healing continues, eat more healthy food and raise your calories gradually. Otherwise, you may wind up reaching your weight goal but only able to maintain it eating 1,000 calories/day. Ugh! At 143 pounds, my daily maintenance calorie budget is 1,700 calories/day. I am over the moon about that. I think it’s because I didn’t starve myself while I was losing weight. I ate 800 calories during Months 1-4, 1,000 calories during Months 5-6, and 1,200 calories during Months 7-8. As my calories went up, so did my Protein grams. I still aim for 100 grams of protein daily.

• Post-op, don’t just eat to lose weight—also eat to become healthier. Learn more about nutrition—macronutrients, trace elements, Vitamin and mineral supplements. Read articles and good research. As smart as I thought I was, turns out I didn’t know nearly as much as I needed to know to care well for myself.

• If you’re craving sugar, you’re probably already eating sugar. The only way I know to kill those cravings is to cold-turkey the sugar.

• Don’t let anyone pressure you into having WLS. This is a life-changing deal. A year down the road you’ll probably be able to eat pretty much anything you want, although not in massive quantities at one time. And you’ll need to always be vigilant about your nutrition, meal-planning, eating behaviors, etc.

• WLS won’t prevent binge-eating or emotional eating. It will discourage it, but it won’t prevent it. There are plenty of WLS patients who’ve learned to eat and drink around their tools. I personally know folks who’ve wasted their sleeve, bypass or band with (sigh) sweet tea, Mountain Dew, beer, Wheat Thins, ice cream, chips and dips. What those drinks and foods all have in common, other than being high-calorie and lacking in nutrition, is that the sleeve cannot challenge them. They move rapidly through the sleeve and into the small intestine. You can eat that crap all day long and never start to feel full. Remember, it’s a shame to waste a sleeve.

Very, very best wishes to everyone out there considering a VSG or other form of WLS. You can change your life with WLS if you use your tool well. But you must understand it’s only one tool in a bigger healthcare arsenal that you must acquire and use daily.

[LoveMyBypass 251]

@@erp that's funny you mention cottage cheese.... I use eggwhites right now! Lol it gives me an extra 10 on Protein. Thank you for that.. I'll try it for a diffident taste.

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[WorkinOnMe 596]

I can pretty much echo what everyone else is telling you, but I will add this ....

BUY NEW UNDERWEAR!!!!! Now. Don't wait.

By the time I left the hospital after 3 days my panties were saggy and my butt was uncomfortable. I wasn't up for driving yet, so I put it off til the end of week 1. By then my granny panties were flapping in the wind and if I didn't have my pants on there was no guarantee they would have stayed up at all.