End of my 5th week Update, Some Crazy Stuff.......

[Jen-2]

Jen , how are you doing exactly? Where are you at post op? I struggled SEVERELY with food and drink, with my fluid intake so poor it was down right dangerous. I needed 2 IV's due to dehydration...I just was too sick to drink! Then someone here posted to me about trying lemonade-the fresh squeezed kind in supermarkets, and it may well have saved my life! I'm literally not kidding. The acid flavor somehow was very refreshing to me, and it was a Godsend. Please talk openly about your recovery here, without fear of being put down or ridiculed. We've all had many experiences with our procedures and recovery, and by sharing our adventures we can help each other find a path that works. As for protein drinks, I found Bolthouse brand in Walmart and I LOVE IT! It's delicious, though can be pricey.-look for sales. Please don't be shy....anything I can do to help I'm happy to oblige.

On a bad day which I still have I may only get 30 oz of fluids. Your weight loss is absolutely amazing! The shakes you mention have a lot of carbs. How many carbs are you eating a day? I'd like to try those shakes and I'll try making my own lemonade bc some days I'm desperate to find anything my body won't be adverse to. I'm a little worried about the carbs though. What does a typical day look like for you in terms of what you're eating and drinking?

 

[Jen-2]

@Will2014 are you just squeezing fresh lemons into ice water and then sweetening with stevia?

 

[Jen-2]

@rob477 are you mostly focusing on liquids right now and protein and not worrying about carbs yet? I'm at 6 weeks now and down 40 pounds. 10 pre op - 30 post op. I'm getting usually 30 grams of protein a day w food but only get to 60 if I add a shake and right now I have a complete aversion to all shakes. I've been eating some salad w my chicken bc I'm craving fruit and veggies. It's so damn hard to eat nothing but meat and water. I'm at my second stall. Probably bc I'm not getting enough protein and liquid. Ugh.

I keep hoping to wake up feeling normal but that hasn't happened yet. Praying that comes soon for the sake of my sanity.

 

[Will2014]

On a bad day which I still have I may only get 30 oz of fluids. Your weight loss is absolutely amazing! The shakes you mention have a lot of carbs. How many carbs are you eating a day? I'd like to try those shakes and I'll try making my own lemonade bc some days I'm desperate to find anything my body won't be adverse to. I'm a little worried about the carbs though. What does a typical day look like for you in terms of what you're eating and drinking?

Hiya Jen! The lemonade is actually called Simply Lemonade and I get it at my supermarket. It's made from fresh squeezed lemons and has some sugar in it. The protein shakes actually do have 58 carbs per bottle, and 30 gms protein. But the fact is IT TASTES GOOD! That's important when you're struggling to get fluids and protein in. I really have zero concern about weight gain. If anything, I'm worried sometimes that I'm like that poor guy from the movie "Thinner" who keeps losing weight and can't stop. Not really, but I am very skinny now in my arms, legs, and face/neck. Still have some fat in my loose skin around abdomen and thighs, but have lost all fat from everywhere else. When was your surgery? Just stay focused on getting in 60+ ounces of fluids per day! I say this as someone who failed miserably to do so my 1st few months post op. I actually needed to get IV's 2x's because I was so dehydrated....I'm talking peeing small amounts of DARK brown urine. I'd just get so sick when tried to drink water....it was horrible! That lemonade a poster here told me about really did the trick for me-please try it. Don't worry about weight loss this very moment, focus on your HEALTH. You'll lose weight I assure you. I'm not saying be an idiot and eat a bunch of crap, but your focus at this time MUST be fluids and protein intake. Best of luck to you in your SUCCESSFUL TRANSFORMATION! You are a person who saw your problem and took action to correct it, rather than just dream about a solution. You are to be commended! Hang in there and please keep us posted.

 

[Will2014]

Ahhh! Just saw you are 6 weeks post op Jen. You're doing great! Five lbs a week is fantastic though it will drop some going forward. I actually averaged 5 per week for the past 10 months, but I'm a guy and we tend to lose it faster than you gals. Sometimes I'd stall a week or so....but that was usually followed by a rapid decline. Also, not sure exactly why, but my best losing weeks were often my best eating weeks! Meaning, as counterintuitive as this seems, I lost more weight when I took in more calories and fat. It's something I noted with interest on many occasions.

 

[robs477]

@rob477 are you mostly focusing on liquids right now and protein and not worrying about carbs yet? I'm at 6 weeks now and down 40 pounds. 10 pre op - 30 post op. I'm getting usually 30 grams of protein a day w food but only get to 60 if I add a shake and right now I have a complete aversion to all shakes. I've been eating some salad w my chicken bc I'm craving fruit and veggies. It's so damn hard to eat nothing but meat and water. I'm at my second stall. Probably bc I'm not getting enough protein and liquid. Ugh.

I keep hoping to wake up feeling normal but that hasn't happened yet. Praying that comes soon for the sake of my sanity.

Hi @Jen-2 ......what’s SOOOO weird, is, I feel like I was doing better before this “stall” that happened last couple weeks. I feel like I cannot get to the solid food part again and I am at 5 weeks and 2 days out. ALL I want to eat are vegetables and soup…I LOVE my vegetables and crave them and I HATE meat! Before that “stall”, I was eating meat, chicken salad, grilled hamburger patties with onions and cheese, bacon, eggs. Everything SINCE DAY TEN!!, now I can’t stand any of it and it is SUCKING pretty bad because I am stuck with the GD protein shakes which I HATE even more!!!! But, need them to stay alive and I just HATE them, eating all those other proteins gives me borderline nausea and then I have to stop. I THINK I NEVER have yet truly come out of that stall that started almost 2 weeks ago, not 100%???? I am still real tired, especially after protein ingestion and the WL has significantly reduced to 2-3 lbs per week. My total carbs are usually never over 25, if that. So, yeah, it’s like I was doing way better during my first 3 1/2 weeks! I am actually starting to feel like I am DIGRESSING!!

 

[hilary1617]

Egg drop soup. It's a gateway food, my friend.

 

[robs477]

Egg drop soup. It's a gateway food, my friend.

What??? Silly Girl, , How is that????

 

[hilary1617]

You only want soup, but the egg makes it more yummy and then you get to thinking about yummy eggs and so you want an omelet and then, of course, an omelet tastes so much better if it has meat in it, and then once you have the meat, game on!

 

[JackieOnLine]

On a bad day which I still have I may only get 30 oz of fluids

@Jen-2 ? you know this isn't enough, right? really you shouldn't eat ANY food until you can get in more. seriously, it's that important.

 

[brooklyngirl]

@Jen-2 ? you know this isn't enough, right? really you shouldn't eat ANY food until you can get in more. seriously, it's that important.

Yes ^^^^ this. @Jen-2 at 6 weeks, you should be able to get all your fluid in and if you can't, you shouldn't be eating food. Most of us don't like shakes, I don't think many people do, but we treat them like medicine. And they're double duty, protein and fluid, and you need more of both.

 

[robs477]

You only want soup, but the egg makes it more yummy and then you get to thinking about yummy eggs and so you want an omelet and then, of course, an omelet tastes so much better if it has meat in it, and then once you have the meat, game on!

Thats funny!

 

[robs477]

@Jen-2...they are right Jen, 30 oz can never be acceptable. You've got to fix that! The liquids are the most important part at the stage we are in for many reasons. Also, PLEASE go back and re-read Diana’s article about the “Inevitable Stall” and it explains how your body uses several pounds of water to replenish your Glycogen stores back in to your muscles during this stall. Maybe if you don’t have enough hydration for that replenishment, then maybe you stay in that “Stall” mode until you do?? Who knows, makes sense, but, I’m not sure that’s a fact, but for that and a 1000 other reasons, you have to have the hydration for everything to work.

 

[star0210]

@robs477 ive had an aversion to food lately. Nothing sounds appealing and I have to force myself to eat.
The only thing I crave and want and can eat all the time is boiled seafood. Thank God it's crawfish season! Lol

 

[southernlady]

@robs477 ive had an aversion to food lately. Nothing sounds appealing and I have to force myself to eat.
The only thing I crave and want and can eat all the time is boiled seafood. Thank God it's crawfish season! Lol

I STILL go thru this...when nothing sounds good. THAT is why I keep protein shakes on hand.