5 weeks post op

[cheryl baker]

Before I start I hope people will be "nice" in their answers. I have been off all boards fir a couple weeks cause I was struggling and people were hard on me and I honestly couldn't take struggling and the boards.
Well I am on "real food" now so things are better but I have one problem. I have not lost hardly any weight in the past 3 weeks.
I THINK the problem could be not enough calories/fat. But i am looking for advise if it is my diet or not. Here is an example of a day.
Breakfast 4oz protein shake 29gm
Lunch 2oz lunch meat 10gm
1 oz 2% cheese. 5gm
Snack 4oz protein shake 29gm
Supper. 2oz chicken/mayo 10gm
Snack SF pop

As you can see that's about 83 gm protein. Calories average around 550 Fat less than 10gm and carbs less than 50gm.

I lost 26 lbs the first 17 days
In the last 17 days I have lost 3

This is frustrating. I know get off the scale. So please don't harp on that. The scale is how the dr is going to monitor my progress so it is how I am monitoring it.

Water is hard. I know I am not getting 64oz. I drink as much as I can it is physically not possible for me to drink more. I get around 40. I do not appear to be dehydrated (urine color fine and peeing several times a day).

What do you all think?

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I think you need to just hang in there and keep on marching, hon. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Unlike RNY, there is no "magic" window of weight loss opportunity.

There is no reason to get on the scale any more often than when you visit the doctor. There is no reason to use a scale at home. Do you use a blood pressure monitor at home, or do you trust the doctor's office to take your blood pressure? Why not view the scale as being in the same category as that monitor?

I do not recall anyone being "mean" to you. Your situation, as I recall, put you in place where several things sounded questionable and the answers could be had from the OP report. Several of us tried to help you figure out ways to get that report.

You are eating very well for five weeks out. If you are also thoroughly hydrated, then you're right on track and you can just keep following the program while GENTLY increasing your activity level.

You must look at your weight loss from day one and not have expectations of constant downward motion of the scale. You have lost 29 pounds in 34 days, or an average of .85 lb. per day. This is in no way slow and there is nothing whatsoever wrong with you.

So, the choice is yours: Continue to let the scale run your mind, or take control of your mind and look at this process in a more detached and rational fashion.

 

[brooklyngirl]

You need to look at the whole picture- 29 pounds in 34 days is a lot of weight! Sometimes I don't lose for 3 or even 4 weeks at a time, but you can see by my tracker vvvvvv that I'm doing really well OVERALL. Some people are stair steppers, just hang in there.

 

[JackieOnLine]

you aren't getting enough fluid unless you aren't counting all of it - like the protein shake counts. why are you not drinking more? because water tastes...unpleasant? because you are focused on food?

what liquids have you tried? what about different temperatures: like tea iced, tepid, warm, and hot - it really varies what people find they like/tolerate.

try not to worry about your weight, sounds like it is just fine. at this stage it's hard to envision success and yet that is just where you are headed.

I need to find this photo with a woman

 

[hilary1617]

Hi Cheryl,

What I have experienced and seen in other is that weight loss tends to come in fits and starts, rather than a continuous curve. For the ladies, the monthly cycle can really throw a monkey wrench into the mix. Don't be discouraged - I guarantee the pounds will continue to come off. I think we are all super eager to see results early out after having gone through so much pain - and you have - almost a pound a day! But it is kind of like watching a pot boil - it *seems* to take longer.

Hang in there - you are doing great!

On the nutrition, it seems to me like you are doing great on solids/protein, but could use a bit more on the liquids. Hydration is really critical. Have you started taking vitamins?

Best wishes!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I'm not likely to be nice, so I will block you and hope you block me.

But if you can't post to an online board without first announcing that you need to be handled with kid gloves, maybe online communication isn't your best choice for support. And if you are too afraid to talk to doctors, the DS was the wrong surgery choice!

I don't know why you are so psychically delicate...there may be some sad history you have been unable to overcome...and that's too bad. But so far, you are too afraid to ask the hospital for your records, too afraid to ask your doctor for your records, and too overwhelmed to participate online unless everyone takes a Be Nice Pledge. Lady, you need to get some help.

You had a VERY body-and life-changing surgery. You need to be able to ask questions and deal with humans...in their various presentations...to get the info you need to survive.

Good luck with that. And I'm outta here.

 

[cheryl baker]

I think you need to just hang in there and keep on marching, hon. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Unlike RNY, there is no "magic" window of weight loss opportunity.

There is no reason to get on the scale any more often than when you visit the doctor. There is no reason to use a scale at home. Do you use a blood pressure monitor at home, or do you trust the doctor's office to take your blood pressure? Why not view the scale as being in the same category as that monitor?

I do not recall anyone being "mean" to you. Your situation, as I recall, put you in place where several things sounded questionable and the answers could be had from the OP report. Several of us tried to help you figure out ways to get that report.

You are eating very well for five weeks out. If you are also thoroughly hydrated, then you're right on track and you can just keep following the program while GENTLY increasing your activity level.

You must look at your weight loss from day one and not have expectations of constant downward motion of the scale. You have lost 29 pounds in 34 days, or an average of .85 lb. per day. This is in no way slow and there is nothing whatsoever wrong with you.

So, the choice is yours: Continue to let the scale run your mind, or take control of your mind and look at this process in a more detached and rational fashion.

I don't let the scale ruin anything. I think like a diabetic checks their blood sugar and someone with high blood pressure takes their blood pressure I as an over weight person Checks my weight. I actually do own a blood pressure machine cause my husband used to have high blood pressure. I also have a oxygen level tester for my husband and I have checked my stats on those as well. Doesn't mean I am letting anything be ruined.
Yes I agree overall I cannot complain but just like to make sure there isn't something I should be doing different. . I never heard this no tine limit thing. . I heard it was 18 months to 2 years and after that it was harder to lose.
The being mean people were in other forums which is why I am no longer there but still here.
Thanks for the encouragment. Patience is not something I am good at

 

[Elizabeth N.]

Other than hydrating more, there is nothing you should be doing differently....except adjusting your thinking and your expectations, which are not realistic. At. All.

 

[cheryl baker]

you aren't getting enough fluid unless you aren't counting all of it - like the protein shake counts. why are you not drinking more? because water tastes...unpleasant? because you are focused on food?

what liquids have you tried? what about different temperatures: like tea iced, tepid, warm, and hot - it really varies what people find they like/tolerate.

try not to worry about your weight, sounds like it is just fine. at this stage it's hard to envision success and yet that is just where you are headed.

I need to find this photo with a woman

I guess cause I am focused on food. I was thinking of doing a more grazing type eating which would give me more room fir liquid. I drink 40 oz plus the 8 for my shakes. My surgeon said if I am peeing several times a day I am good.. i had my physical and my pcp said I am not dehydrated. I am trying to get more liquid in.
I honestly really just feel like I am doing sonething wrong fir 2 reasons. . First I have read story after story of all the bathroom issues and cdiff stuff and all these problems people have and I as m having none of it. Everything i have tried has gone smoothly (once I got on food. . Had horrible tine in the beginning with the protein drinks).. add that to no weight loss the past few weeks and it just seems like i must be doing something wrong. . Don't get me wrong.. i am glad I'm not having issues. . I had such a horrid time in the beginning I am happy for the break..
Thanks for your words of support. I will just keep keeping on and see what happens. .

 

[cheryl baker]

Other than hydrating more, there is nothing you should be doing differently....except adjusting your thinking and your expectations, which are not realistic. At. All.

Ha ha ha .. yah I am my worst critic thst is fir sure.. thanks fir the note

 

[DianaCox]

You need to understand this if you are going to be getting "support" from internet message boards, including this one. You do NOT have the right to dictate what people say to you, nor how they say it. If you post that you are doing stupid things, people are going to tell you that you are doing stupid things. If you don't like it, you are going to get your widdle feelers hurt over and over again.

You have been told, at least half a dozen different ways, that:

• Hydration is the most important thing
• Stay off the scale
• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Order your damned op report

Stop justifying not listening to us, or just ignoring the advice. If what you want to be is a bottomless pit of neediness, with 500+ people as your audience, you will quickly discover that many of the most helpful and knowledgeable folks around here will block you or just not respond.

Support is NOT just hairpatting.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

. First I have read story after story of all the bathroom issues and cdiff stuff and all these problems people have and I as m having none of it. Everything i have tried has gone smoothly (once I got on food. . Had horrible tine in the beginning with the protein drinks).. . .

Um, Cheryl. Back up and re-read this sentence. Several times. You mean you are worried that things are going SMOOTHLY?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, your thinking is significantly skewed. If you are not yet in therapy, please, get there. It will help a lot. (I've been in therapy for over twenty years with no end in sight. So understand this suggestion is NOT a slam.)

 

[kirmy]

Your body is designed to find a set point. It will not continuously exsist in a state of flux because then you'd fall off your perch. Weight loss with the DS happens around inflammtion (you've had massive massive surgery on very tender soft tissue that is blood engorged. It has staples which your body is dutifully trying to reject and new suture lines it is trying to heal. It needs to send white cells there. They don't go on a bus. They go in haemosyrrus fluid or swelly stuff as it shall henceforth be known. Thus in the fist three months that swelly stuff goes up...then down and up then down. Scales bounce along accordingly. Then there is malnutrition which can hit after a couple of months of being seriously calorie deficent. So you swell up and down, up and down....and the scales move accordingly.

I lost weight steadily for three years. Eating more fat and less carbs works but you are fresh out of the oven. Just sip, walk and eat what you can when you can. Park the pity and get going. Let your poor poor body heal.

 

[kirmy]

Oh and electrolyte imbalances cause fluid gain too...and I bet your potassium is up the shitter too. Get some tomato soup in.

 

[DianaCox]

I love me some Kirmy science posts.