Questions from the newly post-op

I have a couple of questions! I bought a scale today and according to the scale, I have lost 15 pounds (plus any fluid weight gained in hospital) since my surgery on June 10th.  Is this good?  I don't want answers about how we all lose differently, I KNOW that, but I want to know is that a 'normal' 'average' amount.  I don't want to be lagging behind. Also, my eating habits.  I feel like I have eaten A LOT today...but maybe not.  I have had about 3 sugar free popscicles, 1 8 oz protein shake, 1 sugar free italian ice, water (of course), 3 oz of yougurt and 1 oz of mashed potatoes.  I don't feel overly full, I just don't think I have eaten that much in one day since being home. Is that a normal amount?  Should I have more or less?  For the record, the popscicles are counted in my fluids, not as food.  My three meals have been the yogurt and the potatoes. So far, mashed potatoes agree very well with me.  And yogurt.   Thanks! Beth

Did the nut give you a food list for this stage of your journey. I would shy from mash potatoes they are carbs. I had to make sure I got protein and water in. I think  at your stage it was 60g.of protein  and 60 oz of water. All drs. and nut use different guidelines. Your weightloss sounds wonderful. The first week all I lost was the fluid from surgery, I was told not to put but 2oz in my pouch at a time if it would even hold that much, It is work getting all the protein and water in that eary out. Maybe someone else has better advice. Good Luck Myrtis

Yes, I was given a list of things that I was allowed.  And, the mashed potatoes were on it.  I only ate 1 oz of those, as opposed to the yogurt (which I ate 3 oz of BECAUSE of the protein in it) I would NEVER try to eat anything right now that was not advised by my Doctor. We are asked to try to get 48 oz of water.  I was told that is what is very important in the first weeks and to try to stay hydrated, not focus so much on the protein until after my two week appt.  I was told to have 1 oz every hour of something.....water, carnation instant breakfast or whatever.  My nutritionist said to get a little bit of carbs and the mashed potatoes also have about 2g of protein.  I really wanted to know if that was enough (just eating the four ounces all day) as opposed to asking if what I was eating was right.

Hi Beth,

You are doing just fine. I know that we all have so very much invested in making the most of this opportunity, so it's normal to try to find a way to see if we are losing at an 'appropriate' rate. One of the challenges is that we all 'do' lose at different rates, for different reasons; that said, I found a website that helped me enormously with this issue because it uses your demographics and surgery date to tell you how you are doing. It was created by a fellow WLS patient who loves math and statistics. He gathered a bunch of data and we reap the benefits. Go to www.thinnerself.com and you can go to section that has 'chart weights and inches.' Plug in your demographics and 'voila.' When you click on the 'calculate' button it will tell you what percentage of excess weight you are projected to lose based on your performance to date. I found that mine fluxuated somewhat, but it really helped me to realize that I was doing better than I thought.

Re: eating habits. This is something that also varies ... not just from person to person, but more from program to program and you need to follow the plan that your program prescribes.  Most of what you are eating looks good. You might be careful with the potatoes because they are simple carbs, usually with fat added and not much protien. That said, they seem to be a minor portion of your intake. Just check with your nutritionist to ensure that it's a balance that they are comfortable with. You might want to try to add cottage cheese or ricotta, it's high protien and usually goes down easily. The nice thing about the cheese is that you can add some savory flavors to it so that you aren't always having to eat something sweet. As you progress and your program allows it, you can add things like loosely scrambled eggs and chili.

I hope that some of this helps.

Keep up the good work.

Barb

Hi!! I had my surgery on June 9 and according to my scales at home I have lost 15 pounds also!! I am allowed nothing but liquids..at least 50 grams of proteins. I can have popcicles, jello, chicken or beef broth. I would kill for some mashed taters right now!!!

I know all our Dr.s have different requirements and seeing what you have consumed today my Doc. would most likely say that you need more protein and leave any carbs alone right now.... (since you just had WLS you need as much protein as you can get) Try eating some string cheese (low fat), Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter (awesome protein source) and my fav. eggs....  I got to start eating this and it really made me feel "alive" as opposed to how I felt on that liquid optisource crap! Good Luck!

I have been eating cottage cheese blended with peaches, I just didn't eat any today.  I tried eggs the other day and my body is just NOT ready for them. I felt awful for hours after eating them.  I switched to lactaid for my protein shakes so that I get 30g of protein per shake instead of 20.  It also makes them taste good!  I am not sure I could swallow peanut butter right now.