Hi guys - I had my GB surgery with hiatal hernia repair on Friday. Came home Saturday. I was feeling woozy yesterday and today and the nurse called and she told me I’m not getting in enough water. Any tips on getting water and protein in. I cannot imagine how I’m supposed to get 32-64oz of water in daily. Does this get water with time?

you typically never get the full amount for a while after surgery. Even at 8 months post op i struggle to get in the 64 oz of water minimum. As for protein, getting those little one ounce little cups helped a ton. I poured a shot basically and would drink it that way 1 ounce at a time and it was so much easier. Just do the best you can. Take sips throughout the day. Look at your pee... You want it as clear as possible. very yellow pee means you are dehydrated. When i see that i am like oops i need to drink some water lol.

On 12/05/2022 at 17:47, liveaboard15 said:

you typically never get the full amount for a while after surgery. Even at 8 months post op i struggle to get in the 64 oz of Water minimum. As for Protein, getting those little one ounce little cups helped a ton. I poured a shot basically and would drink it that way 1 ounce at a time and it was so much easier. Just do the best you can. Take sips throughout the day. Look at your pee... You want it as clear as possible. very yellow pee means you are dehydrated. When i see that i am like oops i need to drink some water lol.

Thanks - very helpful advice

I took, still take, a water bottle to bed. And when I roll over, or have a hot flash (joy) I take sips during the night. Some nights I drink the whole 32 oz bottle. Yeah, I got the marked bottle from Amazon that shows at 8am , 9am etc. It’s encouraging and helps me stay on track. I also add sugar free flavor or fruit slices/cucumber to keep myself interested. I used a hot pot to keep chicken bone broth warm and put small amounts into my grandmother’s old tea cups with saucers. I hope this helps. Good luck!

It can be difficult at first to get the full 64ozs in. Swelling from the surgery & a sensitive tummy can’t make it more challenging. As long as you’re making an effort & getting closer to the full 64ozs you’ll be ok. And don’t forget your protein shakes, soups, broths, all count to your fluid intake.

Often warm drinks are more soothing & easier to drink: try adding green or herbal tea to your daily fluid intake. Protein waters are great addition as well. Some find it helpful to set a timer so they sip every 5+/- minutes. I also drink during the night.

64ozs or 8 cups of liquids is actually the recommended intake goal for all adults not just those who’ve had weight loss surgery. It’s necessary for your body to function effectively.

Edited December 6, 20223 yr by Arabesque

You guys are the best. Thank you for the advice

Hi, I also had GB and HH repair..along with esophagus repairs due to years of GERD.

As mentioned above, at the hospital I was given the 1 oz. medicine cups and filled them up, taking tiny sips. Each cup was about 3 sips and I did this all day long keeping a tally of how many I drank. Each day I could drink a little more of a sip and soon 1 cup became 1 sip. I also made sure EVERY day that I beat the day befores numbers if even only by 1 oz. Broth, shakes, all liquid counted towards my liquid goal and if it had protein even better. I treated it like my own personal competition. By my 2 week follow up I was hitting the low end of my fluid goals.

It got a little harder when I started on pureed foods, because my meals weren't liquid anymore. But I created quite a routine and after a few days I was back to hitting the liquid AND protein goal.

I would wake up, drink 8oz of high protein milk (Fairlife-12 g protein) which also counted as 8 oz of fluid.

Drink 16/20 oz water

Drink a 12 oz shake (30 g protein) and 12 oz fluid

Drink about 16 oz water

Eat: usually egg salad or chicken salad, or ground turkey with taco seasoning all pureed, usually about 5-8g protein because I could eat so little.

Drink a clear protein drink, I drank gatorade zero with protein (10 g protein) and 16 oz fluid

Drink water until bed.

This was and really still is my daily routine now but I can drink like normal and fast so I get about 100 oz of WATER a day and no longer count my shakes as fluid.

It was slightly modified when I went back to work but basically wake up and drink a shake, then 3-4 bottle of water before lunch, lunch and 1-2 bottle of water before dinner and after dinner water (or sometimes a suagr free something like lemonade) up until bed.

I still drink a shake for breakfast because I just cant eat enough to get in enough protein unless I literally eat all day and then I feel full and bloated all day.

You just have to find a schedule that works for you, but either way it takes time to ease back into it. Just don't get dehydrated. Focus on fluids first and then work on protein, at lease that is what my team instructed.

Good luck, we are all rooting for you!

20 hours ago, Arabesque said:

It can be difficult at first to get the full 64ozs in. Swelling from the surgery & a sensitive tummy can’t make it more challenging. As long as you’re making an effort & getting closer to the full 64ozs you’ll be ok. And don’t forget your Protein Shakes, Soups, broths, all count to your Fluid intake.

Often warm drinks are more soothing & easier to drink: try adding green or herbal tea to your daily fluid intake. Protein waters are great addition as well. Some find it helpful to set a timer so they sip every 5+/- minutes. I also drink during the night.

64ozs or 8 cups of liquids is actually the recommended intake goal for all adults not just those who’ve had weight loss surgery. It’s necessary for your body to function effectively.

This is good advice. I spent my first couple of months sipping all day. I started with the 1 oz cups and moved on to an 8 oz cup and finally 16 oz. Now I can finally get in all my water and then some and drinking warm water helped me alot.

On 12/5/2022 at 9:38 PM, Arabesque said:

Often warm drinks are more soothing & easier to drink: try adding green or herbal tea to your daily fluid intake.

I found this to be true for me, as well.

One other thing that has helped a lot is finding the "right" drink. As far as cool drinks go, I was struggling really badly for a while, but found that drinking iced tea actually helped a lot. I tried plain water and water flavorings, but just could not get them down fast enough. For some reason, the tea (I drink decaf), really helped me. YMMV, but it wouldn't hurt to try other beverages and see if something else is easier on your tummy?

23 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

… One other thing that has helped a lot is finding the "right" drink….

100% agree. I drink sparkling water (let it go flat), green tea & plain water as my go to drinks every day. I also add extra milk to my rolled oats breakfast & count the extra as fluid. Gives me some variety & makes for an easy routine & habit for me to follow. And it ensures I get in a minimum of 1.75L but usually 2L or more (2L is 67.6 oz.)

Edited December 7, 20223 yr by Arabesque

Thanks. I’ve found that during this early stage warm tea, warm water, a liquid of warmth has been been very helpful with me getting fluids down. The
Cold tends to still hurt a bit as I am only on day 4. I’m looking for my go-to drinks.

On 12/06/2022 at 06:22, kcuster83 said:

Hi, I also had GB and HH repair..along with esophagus repairs due to years of GERD.

As mentioned above, at the hospital I was given the 1 oz. medicine cups and filled them up, taking tiny sips. Each cup was about 3 sips and I did this all day long keeping a tally of how many I drank. Each day I could drink a little more of a sip and soon 1 cup became 1 sip. I also made sure EVERY day that I beat the day befores numbers if even only by 1 oz. broth, shakes, all liquid counted towards my liquid goal and if it had Protein even better. I treated it like my own personal competition. By my 2 week follow up I was hitting the low end of my fluid goals.

It got a little harder when I started on pureed foods, because my meals weren't liquid anymore. But I created quite a routine and after a few days I was back to hitting the liquid AND protein goal.

I would wake up, drink 8oz of high protein milk (Fairlife-12 g protein) which also counted as 8 oz of Fluid.

Drink 16/20 oz Water

Drink a 12 oz shake (30 g protein) and 12 oz fluid

Drink about 16 oz water

Eat: usually egg salad or chicken salad, or ground turkey with taco seasoning all pureed, usually about 5-8g protein because I could eat so little.

Drink a clear Protein Drink, I drank gatorade zero with protein (10 g protein) and 16 oz fluid

Drink water until bed.

This was and really still is my daily routine now but I can drink like normal and fast so I get about 100 oz of WATER a day and no longer count my shakes as fluid.

It was slightly modified when I went back to work but basically wake up and drink a shake, then 3-4 bottle of water before lunch, lunch and 1-2 bottle of water before dinner and after dinner water (or sometimes a suagr free something like lemonade) up until bed.

I still drink a shake for Breakfast because I just cant eat enough to get in enough protein unless I literally eat all day and then I feel full and bloated all day.

You just have to find a schedule that works for you, but either way it takes time to ease back into it. Just don't get dehydrated. Focus on fluids first and then work on protein, at lease that is what my team instructed.

Good luck, we are all rooting for you!

How far out are you? I’m glad to hear that there will be a level of normalcy back to drinking. So glad to hear this

6 hours ago, cookiecutter said:

How far out are you? I’m glad to hear that there will be a level of normalcy back to drinking. So glad to hear this

I am just over 8 months post op.

11 hours ago, cookiecutter said:

I’m looking for my go-to drinks

you may find that your go-to drinks will change over time.

like you i found warm (well, more like HOT) water was much easier to to get down. i carried an insulated thermos around with me for a couple months.

later, i used that same thermos to keep my drinks cold cuz i found i only wanted ICE COLD water.

and then i only wanted plain sparkling water (the bubblier the better). and then it HAD to have a twist of lemon in it...

p.s. it also took me about 2 weeks before i could meet my water goals.