A little help.

I have been doing a lot of reading on the net but some of the information is confusing at the least. I am about 2 months out, I have lost 59 lbs. The scale is now going down about 2-3 lbs a week instead of 5-6 lbs a week, (I know stay off the scale, I can actuality feel the eye rolls). I want to make sure my food choices will not slow anything down. I eat my protein first chicken, beef, pork, shrimp and cheese. If there is room I eat vegetables second. I avoid bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and the usual sweets. I try to eat some fresh fruit every day, grapefruit, strawberries, watermelon, (no more than a cup a day). My fluid intake is 48 oz plus. I drink water, sugar free tea, sugar free Power Ade and the occasional McD sugar free vanilla iced coffee. When I have to eat out I get a burger without the bun, soup or baked\broiled chicken. The vitamins I am taking at present are Iron, A,D,E,K and 2x Catrate 600 +D along with a 2x multi vitamin. Getting in the food and water can be a chore, (I never thought I would say that). Does everything look good or should I add or subtract something? Thanks for any help.

You're doing great but a couple of suggestions given you're only 2 months post-op.  More water, more water, more water - get it! Also fruits and veggies have carbs - good carbs, but carbs nonetheless. The more carbs you eat the less weight you will lose. Of course you'll still lose weight but it will slow down. IMHO a cup of fruit per day is alot at 2 months post-op but that's just my opinion.

Sounds pretty good to me, just a few suggestions. First of all, Janet's right, you need more water. At least 64oz a day, probably more.

How much protein are you getting in? Are you following the 30-60-90 rule? Before all the veggies and fruits, you need to be getting in 30 grams of protein by 30 days, 60 grams by 60 days, 90 grams by 90 days, and after that, at least 100 grams of protein every day for life.

A lot of people seem to swear by a "carb cap" during our active weight loss phase. For myself, I try to stay under 50 grams of carbs a day. More than that, and I immediatly start holding on to "water weight". It might be helpful for you to use an application or site like fitday.com. It helped me realize how many random carbs are in the things we eat (like cheese!). I would go a whole day eating nothing but protein, and think I had all my carbs left to eat some fruit at the end of the day, only to realize I was a lot closer to my cap than I thought I was. It's a great educational tool.

All said and done, your food choices look great. I do wonder though if you are eating low-fat. You don't have to, since we malabsorb so much of the fat we eat. It's one of my favorite parts of the DS diet! No guilt for all the sauces and things that aren't "healthy"... they are healthy for me now!

Last thing, you should be following vitalady's vitamin schedule. http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_ BPDDS3-2010.pdf

Get your labs drawn every 3 months for the first year, and adjust accordingly, with the help of the lab gurus here on OH.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Add vitamin B12. After your 3 month labs you may see you need other vitamin and mineral supplements.

 You are taking the wrong kind of calcium. Caltrate is calcium carbonate. We need calcium citrate and in most brands of calcium citrate it takes (2) pills to equal a serving. Most of us take a minimum of at least 2000mg a day and many of us take much more than that.

Yup...wrong calcium and probably not enough.  When are your next labs and YOU KNOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE YOUR PTH TESTED WHEN THEY TEST FOR  CALCIUM, RIGHT?

If they hand you a lab slip that doesn't include PTH, make sure it contains PTH by the time you get to the lab.  (I'm not advocating forgery, or insurance fraud...maybe just praying for miracles...that works.) 

And whatever your labs are at first, don't panic.  There is no way to have surgery this big and NOT be deficient in a few things at first.

Thanks everyone. So I should try to cut out all fruit right now? How about the vegetables? Start to take B12 and change the type of calcium I take. Make sure I get the right lab tests. Any thing else I'm missing? How about nuts, (Cashews, Almonds etc)?

Wow - totally missed the whole calcium carbonate thing. Absolutely switch to calcium citrate.

I realize it's hard but I would skip the fruit for a while. Veggies are ok in very limited quantities - i always tried to have a little green on my plate. Stay away from high carb veggies (ie, peas, corn). I liked green beans myself.

Nuts are an awesome choice - high in protein, good fiber, etc.

Someone make a good suggestion -- try counting the carbs you are consuming. I bet you'll be surprised just how many you really are eating. Everything (except pure protein) has carbohydrates in one form or another and it adds up quickly. Pick a number and stick to it.

You're still so early out -- why sabotage anything at this point. 

In my opinion,

You should be getting WAY more water.  64 ounces a day is a MINIMUM.

You should be on this vitamin plan and tweak it as per your labs:  www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_BPDDS3- 2010.pdf  1200 of Calcium is not enough.

In one month you need to have these labs run: docs.google.com/Doc

Are you supplementing protein?  If not you need to be counting your protein and making SURE you are getting 60 grams a day moving towards 90.

Hope this helps,

~Becky

Thanks I'll use nuts and cheese as snacks, and up my fluid intake to at least 64oz. I eat 2 chicken breasts a day as I don't tolerate the protein shakes to well. For dinner I have beef, pork, tuna or shrimp with a small salad. I will change my calcium supplement and add B12.
Thanks everyone.