Newcomer with a lot of questions

Hello everyone, can anyone help me out, maybe just a little? I had my surgery on 12/2/04 and as of 12/30/04 I have lost 41 lbs. and the weight lost has stopped since, I am on soft foods slowly introducing reg. foods into my system. I don't have alot of energy either, it's as if I am lacking motivation, I don't understand what exactly is going on. I take my vitamins, I don't eat 6 times a day, sometimes I'm not home to eat, and I don't think i get all my water either, I try to carry a bottle water with something to drink but I don't want to drink to fast either.........any sugestions?????????? thank You & God Bless Katherine

Hi Katherine, Congrats on your weightloss!!! I am 3 weeks post op and I am experiencing the same things. I've lost 49 pounds (total including pre-op weightloss). I have NO energy at all either. I used to have my house all neat and tidey now it is so hard to keep up. I am not getting all of my water in for a fact...maybe 32 oz when it should be 64. Same with the protein...can't get it all in. I have found so far that I can eat just about anything. Although I haven't tried red meat yet. I think our bodies are getting used to not having all of the food to keep up. Sometimes when I get up, I see like black spots and have to stand still for a minute. I have been told that it can take 4-6 weeks to get our energy back and even at times, we won't have any. I am going to try to go back to the gym tonight and just walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes to see if that helps. I talked to my surgeon last week about not having energy. She highly suggested going to the gym since it creates more energy. So, I will give it a try...even though it will take so much motivation to go. I wish you the best!!! Jenn

Jenn, Thanks1 I just rode my stationary bicycle for 10 minutes and I'm going to try another 10 minutes tonight ...my legs feel like lead I had no idea it would be so hard to start to excersize. I figured once the weight started to come off I could just jump right into it but no luck this is much harder than I imagined. I always have a protein shake for breakfast that way i know I can get at least 1/4 of my protein in. I can eat anything also I have even eaten steak. I was o.k. with eggs but one day they just stopped agreeing iwth me, so no more eggs and i can't eat toast either, so i haven't tried bread to scared don't like getting sick. good luck at the gymn tonight take your time. thanks for listening. Katherine

Good job on the bike! Even just walking around Wal-Mart yesterday killed me. It is SO difficult. I am also finding it much more difficult then I ever imagined in regards to the energy level and working out. I guess it will take time. Toast is also a tough one for me. I ate 2 bites the other day and I thought it was going to come back up, but it just stuck in my chest for 15 minutes. I won't be trying that again any time soon. yuk. Keep up the good work! Jenn

Katherine: First of all, congrats on the PHENOMENAL loss!! I felt really lethargic for a while too, and when I got my first B-12 shot post-op (around 3 1/2 weeks), it really perked me up. I can't wait for the 30th when I can have another shot! Are you getting your B-12 and iron? Hope this helps! Megan

I had surgery one day before you and my weight stalled for about 1 week (week 5). I wasn't getting my water in and as soon as I did it started to fall off again. Be patient our bodies are trying to adjust to our new way of life and I am told that the weight loss will stall every so often to allow everything to catch back up. Just make sure you are getting in your protein and water and you will be just fine. Congrats on your success so far Kathi

I had the surgery on 12/14 & I think the loss of energy is harder than not eating any particular food. I started going to the Y(it's including in my Dr's program) #X a week & curves at least 2-3X aweek. I thought exercising helps to restore energy but so far no. I'm a single parent & I have a backlog list of errands to run but no energy to do it. I do struggle to get the 64ozs down & protein drinks r EXTREMELY hard. I am also back at work as of last week. I'm down from 233 to 199 as of last Friday. I noticed that when it was a few dyas & the scale didn't move to check your measurements as they will.

Linda: How much b12 vitamin are you taking. I am taking 500 mcg once a day I think it could have something to do with your energy. Vicky

That's what I'm taking but I think I'm going to look into the shots. Also I know I'm not getting in enough protein. That's the big culprit. Also fluid intake could be much better.

KAtherine, talk to you PCP about a b-12 shot. I do my own they are painless. get your labs drawn to see what your low on your chemistries, you may not be but safe is better then sorry. You can also get a additional b-12 if your energy is really low, you may need one every 3 weeks instead of 4 weeks. if you are taking the b=12 pill call and see if its ok to increase for a week and how much will be safe. drink your water and increase your protein, the one thing that i did was lower the amount of skim mild in the protein drink. you get the same amount and the sooner you get it in the sooner you start on the water again. Good luck!