New here and need tips

Hello all..... CONGRADULATIONS !!!!!!! I am 1 week out. Yesterday I was able to get in 32 oz of propel water. The only water I can tolorate. Reg water(tap, bottled, spring ect...) feels like a brick.6oz of skim milk, 6oz of v8 diet splash, 2 half SF pops and total of about 6 oz soups throught the day. Do you think I am over doing it ? Reason I ask is because at night I an in misery. I hurt when I lay down. I get out of bed and I am fine. This is an all night thing. I don't nap because I am so energized. Any tips? Cheryl B 9/28/04 I am a looser!!!

Well did you get an ok to drink the propel? I have read with others that the sodium content was high and effected their weight loss. I am not aloud to have juices of any kind so I can't comment on the V8 however I don't believe you are eating a lot. Your basically drinking liquids. Also, when I first had my surgery I felt like I needed more then I thought I was to be satisfied. As the weeks progressed it seemed like I can have little and feel satisfied. There are going to be times when you feel like you can eat a horse. If you really stop to think about it though, your not eating much at all. Compare what your eating to what you would normally eat before surgery. Also, you should try something with more protein in it. Like a protein drink or shake if you can tolerate them. At night time I was very uncomfy. If I went to sleep I would always wake up with such a pain in my side. After 2 weeks it went away. Have you tried sleeping propped up with pillows? Or maybe try to turn yourself frequently while you sleep. if your waking up that is, if your sleeping that would be hard to do. At 1.5 weeks out I was trying cottage cheese and I found that it held me over longer then just having my protein drink. I started with 1/4 cup and worked up to 1/2. Some days I could eat the whole 1/2 other days only 1/4 cup. I am a little over 4 weeks out and I have days when I can eat one thing and the next I can't. I have days when I can eat all of my cream of wheat and some days when I can only eat half. As far as the amount of cream of wheat I eat. The package is 1oz. I add water until I like the consistency. Then I heat it for 45 seconds. I add 2 tblsp. of sugar free strawberry preserves (per nutritionist's reccomendation) and I mix it all up. Since the cream of wheat is plain the strawberry gives it a nice flavor. When do you see your nutritionist again? If you don't have an appointment see if you can make one. Mine was extra helpful and I am sure when you see yours you will get some good info. If not I could always e-mail you the diet I was on. I have written everything down since the first day I got to eat. Shannon

Congrats on your progress so far. I'm 12 days out from surgery and I have found that I can eat less and less actually. Usually I was doing 1/2 cup of soup, but now I'm closer to 1/4c. Do what your body tells you. My dietician is a fan of the Diet V8 Splash, so, I think that is okay for a low/no calorie drink. I'm not sure about the propel either, but too much sodium may be bad. I have become a huge advocate of FitDay.com where I can track what I eat and how much exercise I do to find out if I'm burning more than I am consuming, and I'm doing great according to the numbers. That way I can also track what foods work for me and what don't. I'm still on liquids and pureed soups until Friday when I go to the pureed diet for one week and then on to slowing incorporating the full foods into my diet. Your big focus right now should probably be protein. Do you have a protein shake that you are using to supplement your diet? That is all I have and I hope I have been helpful. I have to say I love this message board because everyone is so nice and helpful and I learn a lot between here and the support group meetings. Kell

HI Cheryl, Like everyone says every surgeon is different.. I'm allowed to drink any juice as long as it had less then 15g of sugar... i drink lots of water , jello, and cream soup (strained). but you sound like its worjking for you , if you feel that miserable thru the night i wold try less and see what happens and tallk to your DR. good luck Rachel 8 days post -op