Why & What?

Sorry...posting again...getting surgery on May 7th and a bit nervous, excited, scared, etc... Everyone seems to comment how the first few months are the hardest, perhaps the hardest thing they have ever done. Why? Why is it so hard exactly? The pain from the surgery? The liquid diet? The not being able to eat? Why is it so hard? - I'm trying to prepare myself

and the next is what did you loose in the first three months? I know, everyone is different but everyone seems to have weight fly off the first 3 months and then it slows..so what did you loose in the first 3 months?  When I started the program I weighted 255lbs and now I  weight 215 lbs with surgery on May 7th. My dream weight is 120, my hope weight is 130 but my realistic goal weight is 140lbs.

I'm so glad u asked I can't wait 2 see the responds and we have almost the same numbers so u really took the words right out of my mouth

well, i m just one week post op. i dint think i was going to be in alot of pain , i thought it would be easier but in my experience i think it was the nureses fault because they dint give me strong drugs from the begining , my surgeon was great BUT the hospital sucked, and the clear liquids are getting old , i have another 4 days to go to my post op check up .
how much weight i lost???
i have always lost weight very easily i had  days of cleared liquids pre op and a week post op and i lost in total 11 kilos.

I personally did not have a hard time. It WAS however mentally challenging to think about foods and not be able to eat them.- liquids,mushies stage.

I was 233 surgery day, month 3 I was down about 50 pounds.

The first month was hard for me as I was incredibly fatigued. The first 2 weeks I was in pain, but I believe most of my pain came from my hiatal hernia repair. Also battling head hunger was tough.

This was not the hardest thing I'd ever done.  I had an easy, peasy experience.  Not everyone does, but it's worth knowing that a lot of us don't have any problems. 

It was my first surgery, so from that point it was new and scary, and I'd never had to recovery from being cut on, but it was really just fine - much better than being sick.  When I wasn't doing something that hurt, I felt fine - just a little fatigued.  I did not have to do a liquid diet beforehand.  That might have qualified as the hardest thing ever, if I'd had to do that.  I've never tried (except liquids after surgery, which was easy).

I think I lost about 40 pounds in my first 3 months.  I lost 30 more in the next 3.  It slowed after 6 months, but I am eating more than I did at first and I have heard that healing from surgery gives your metabolism a boost.

My best advice is to stick to the low end of a 600-800 cal/day plan early out and do whatever is necessary to get in your protein.  And stay low carb.  It is much easier early on because even if you have hunger (I did) it is more easily satisfied with less food.

I am still losing weight, and I have about 30 pounds to go.  I think this is achievable, but it will require persistence.  Eating less food is 100 times easier after surgery.  We just have to make good decisions about what that food is!

 I'm 6 weeks out.  Here's my take so far.  The first 3 days sucked.  The first 2 weeks I was exhausted and just getting my water in was a full time job and I really didn't want to do it.  Week 3 would have been better if I didn't end up with a chest infection.  

Week 4-now, I feel pretty much normal.  My water bottle goes with me everywhere, I have the eating thing down pretty well, though I still forget to eat sometimes.  And overall I would say this is the easiest I've ever had it losing weight.  Like really easy.  It doesn't bother me to go to a restaurant with the family and eat my 3 bites and be full and have a nice conversation.  I love that the 28 lbs that I've lost so far has made exercising easier.  It's actually scary how easy it's been.  I make sure to undereat my sleeve and have only screwed that up once.  A simple carb has not crossed my lips and I only have real hunger no head hunger.  Passing by a Dunkin Donuts is no longer an issue.  I know it probably won't continue to be this easy as I get further out but for now I'm going to try and cement the new healthier behaviours so when some of the mental stuff does come back I have new habits to fall back on.  

I know not everyone has it this way.  I realize I'm lucky, but don't just assume it's going to be a tough ride because sometimes it isn't.

I'm am also glad you asked this question.  My surgery is scheduled for June 4th and I am also scared and nervous.  I had laprascopic surgery about 20 years ago and remember how I felt afterwards and it was not as intense as this surgery.  Once I get past the pain I think I will be ok - that's the part that scares me the most.

The pain is relatively minor and only lasts for 3 days to a week. The major part of why the first several months are so difficult is getting used to eating like a skinny person. I never realized how much I depended on food until after surgery. We use food to connect with family, to celebrate, to comisserate, to comfort, etc. It is that going from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye that is so difficult to get used to. Then just as you are getting used to it people start complimenting you and BAM! another thing you discover about yourself- Planned or not, you have been invisible and now you have something else to get used to. All of these constant adjustments, changes, etc. are the difficult part.

Everyone is so different. I never really had "pain" I was sore like I had done alot of situps.
I was back to work one week after surgery.
I did fine going through all the phases of eating and didn't get frustrated. I had worked through it all in my mind before surgery. I knew it was what I had to do to NOT have any problems with recovery. That made it much easier for me.
I also expected the worse and so I think that made it seem easier in the long run.
I was dizzy and a little tired while getting my protien up, but it didn't stop me from doing everything normally.
I think being really preparred before you go into surgery mentally makes a huge difference.
Be sure and get all your vitamins in each day that helps too.
Julie