KEEP THIS STAGE SIMPLE: Get your FLUIDS. Get that PROTEIN. Get MOVING. Three little things!

This is the schedule I kept for Weeks 1 & 2 post-op. I bought 1 oz glasses at Walmart in the baking aisle.

I bought 12 of them and used 6 per hour. They only cost me 97 cents each.

I drank half an ounce every 5 minutes. After every ounce I drank, I got up and walked a lap around my downstairs.

IF you start fiber now, take the fiber sparingly! Don’t overdo it, just get some. You can get constipated/gassy if you have too much. If you’re having gastro issues, eliminate the fiber until you get to soft foods, as your new stomach and sensitive track might not be ready right away.

Use apple juice only if you need it for low blood sugar, and ONLY drink half-juice-half water dilution. Don’t drink straight juice.

I use Hydrolyzed Collagen, by Codeage. I really like it. Also, drink decaf coffee only, of course.

Edited June 5, 20242 yr by jmorrisbp
Adding more

holy crap. i am giving you a standing ovation for sticking to that schedule for 14 days!

drinking EVERY 5 minutes AND walking around EVERY 10 minutes for 12 HOURS every day???? AND still doing regular daily living stuff??? that is amazing.

i can tell you are going to do very well

p.s. love your spreadsheet!

(Oh, here’s Week Two’s Spreadsheet. I didn’t attach it.)

Week Two, you’ll still be focusing on the THREE things: Water, Protein, and Movement.

This week, don’t focus on using the soups and yogurts and such to get all your food. Think of the food items as practice for your stomach, not so much as getting ALL your nutritional needs. It won’t happen, you can’t meet your needs with soup, yogurt, and pudding! Haha!

You’ll be relying heavily on your protein shakes here, still. Your surgeon will probably give you the green light for your multivitamin and calcium supplementation.

One note, every new food I tried, I was a little scared, just because I didn’t know how my body would react and I didn’t want to hurt myself. As it turned out, everything I’ve tried has been perfectly fine and I haven’t had a single issue.

Try new things ONE at a time and take it easy. Eat slowly. Put your food/spoon DOWN between bites. Buy some baby spoons (they have stainless steel ones on Amazon!). Only stick to the diet your surgeon gives you - NO DIVERTING! You’ll only shortchange yourself, whether anybody finds out, or not. And worse case scenario, something happens to you because of diverting.

12 hours ago, ms.sss said:

holy crap. i am giving you a standing ovation for sticking to that schedule for 14 days!

drinking EVERY 5 minutes AND walking around EVERY 10 minutes for 12 HOURS every day???? AND still doing regular daily living stuff??? that is amazing.

i can tell you are going to do very well

p.s. love your spreadsheet!

Aww-gee-thanks! I just took what my surgeon said would make me successful, made myself a plan, and did it! For anyone who has a brain that works like mine (MORE details, please!!!), this makes life easy, post-op!

At my 1-week appointment, everyone was telling me I didn’t look or move like I had just had major surgery, my color was great, I looked so energized and happy - and I did! I felt so great, and this was even BEFORE I started my multi. He told me “exceeding expectations” at every follow-up appointment I’ve had, to date.

All I did was what my surgeon said was the formula for success. FLUIDS, PROTEIN, MOVEMENT. It’s that easy!

AND, I have lost HALF of my extra weight, as of yesterday! I’m so happy! And I haven’t done anything besides what my surgeon said would make me successful.

I had lost 19 pounds on my own, before my first surgeon visit. I lost 16 lbs from my consultation to surgery date. The rest of my losses have been post-op, which has been 38 lbs, as of yesterday. Yesterday, I started Week Ten Post-Op (my surgery was April 2nd).

The full long term list is:

Water, Protein, Movement, Supplements, Whole Foods, Go To All Your Appointments & Participate In Any Extras Your Surgeon Offers (My surgeon does monthly group webinars with post-op patients! It’s so great!)

Also, I hope nobody takes this as bragging. I just want to show if you do what they ask of you, there’s no other option besides being a success! You can’t lose! Keep it simple by remembering your basic job right now: Fluids, Protein, Movement. You CAN and WILL do it! There’s no way to fail, this time! Even if “movement” for you means walking a circle around your couch and then sitting down, that’s a start! Just move your body, drink water, get protein.

Edited June 5, 20242 yr by jmorrisbp
Adding

ok, so i just gotta say: while your spreadsheets and plans and DETAILS is like porn to ME (i love it!), i want to let OTHERS reading this that this is not for everyone. its OK to be flexible and/or slack off sometimes. we all can't be perfect 100% of the time. have a plan (as detailed or NOT detailed as you want) and do the best you can. if you stick to it, AWESOME! if you don't, try not to give into any angst about it. just learn whatever lesson you can from it and keep going. the goal is to lose some weight, however way you do it.

❤️

I love your attitude, and your spreadsheets!

My neurospicy brain needed to make all sorts of organizational spreadsheets when I was pre-OP -- a chart with what foods could be introduced when, portion goals, water goals, etc. I printed a chart out and left it on my fridge so confirm that I'd taken this med / this supplement and what time -- and purposefully left it there so I'd be obliged to walk around to fill it out, just in case I felt like 'slacking' in the walking department. I had a pair of measurement shotglasses that I used to make sure I was drinking 30ml water every 15 minutes.

Overall, everything went a lot better / quicker / smoother than I'd anticipated (read: worried). I don't regret the super-structured organization of my life, but looking back I definitely was over-cautious about every last detail and measurement. LOL