Newbie - 3 weeks out - Need a bit of help please

Hi everyone:

I just had VSG surgery on Oct 17th and today I am 4 weeks out of surgery. I'm struggling with my food at the moment. By that I mean that I am STILL eating pureed food. I definitely know when I need to stop eating and I getting full at about the 3 oz mark. I notice that I'm tolerating liquid protein much better than pureed protein in the form of "real food". I do NOT have a gallbladder (surgery was in May of 2018). Right now I am either in a state of constipation of having diarrhea. I'm taking Barimelts multi 2 times a day and a VERY high quality probiotic. I think I might need to get an enzyme to help break down all this protein i'm eating. I'm doing my best with H20 but it's been the most challenging thing for me so far. I'm drinking Trimino since it has 7 grams per 16 oz. I"m drinking about 3 of those a day and then decaffeinated iced tea after that. I'm getting in 3 Premier Proteins a day. I guess the biggest issue is that I feel like I'm doing this wrong. I feel with as little as I'm taking in, I could be dropping weight in gobs and I'm not. How do you figure out why that's happening. How do you drill down and figure out why that is? Has anyone had this happen? I see Dr's saying the first month is typically 20-30 lbs lost. I started at 253 and I'm at 236.

I'm extremely motivated and excited mentally and emotionally. I attend OA meetings because I recognized long ago that I'm a food addict and that has helped with the "loss" of food. I guess I'm just looking for any experience or tips that you might have to give me.

I know these forums are invaluable and I appreciate you all. Thanks!!!

Gina B

Its hard to say how much, and in what time, you have lost. But 30 pounds in month 1 is really, really, rare. You can see in my signature line my month-by-month losses. You'll also see I was much bigger than you, so take that into account. Lots of others have their monthly losses you can see.

You really need to drink more. I know it's hard. But your body uses water to burn fat, as well as healing. If you aren't drinking enough, it will slow things down.

Hang in there. It gets better.

Thank you so much for the advice on the water. It's so hard to drink water for me. I guess at this point, any liquid (as long as within my dr's guidelines) is better than none and I just have to find something I can sip on all day. The way I used to ge****er in was to open a bottle and just guzzle so I'd get it down. I have no guzzel'ability at the moment. I feel this restriction feeling when I take too much of anything in at one time. BTW, I should also mention that I was a revision from a lap band place in 2009 that was unfilled forever because I had so many issues. The band was a mess and in a horrible position and under tons of scar tissue. I wonder if that restriction is in my head. i would think at 4 weeks out i wouldn't have this issue with still needing to sip small and take small bites but I guess this is just my journey and cannot compare to anyone else.

You're a rock star my friend. Lots of great changes for you. I'm so, so happy for you. Thanks again for the reply!!!

ps....do you have any clue how I change the "location" on my profile?

I'm gonna agree with John on this one :) Sip, sip, sip! If you're not eating or 30 minutes after eating, be sipping. You will be able to guzzle again one day, but for now, just keep sipping. Some people hate the taste of plain water after surgery. They use things like Crystal Light drops or Mio sugar-free drops in their water. Try it ice cold, try it room temp. Try decaf teas. There are lots of good flavors out there like ginger, orange zest, peppermint, salted caramel, etc. I loved ice cold water after surgery (and still do!). It sits well with me. You can buy Unjury chicken soup protein powder or also buy Isopure unflavored protein powder and mix it in with warm water and bullion (NOT ho****er, that will make it clump). Try soft foods like part-skim ricotta cheese mixed with italian seasoning or a tablespoon of marinara sauce. Try light and fit greek yogurts. Try cottage cheese. Just make it your job to be either hydrating or weighing 2 oz of food out and eating it.

Soon you will be living such a normal life, eating normal (on the small side) portions and wishing you could get back to the days of eating so little ;) As someone who is almost 5 years out, I wish to god I could live on so little now!

Also, I never had stalls, but I feel like most people do. Especially at three weeks out. Just keep hydrating, eating protein forward, and you will do well!

Thanks so much for your response and help. I have to say that life has been hectic and I haven't been too adventurous. So I'm not varying my diet hardly at all. I'm getting up, taking my Barimelts vitamins along with my probioitc and hair/skin support (I have autoimmune/psoriasis/arthritis), drinking a Premier and starting on my 16 oz of my Triminio protein water. I'm done with that by 8am (37 grams of protein in w/5 carbs) and I crack open the next Triminio protein Water. That's where it gets hard. I do my best to get tha****er down by noon when I have my next Premier. I don't always succeed. I usually have my premier and then 2 oz of egg, tuna, chicken or crab salad with organic mayo. (42 grams of protein w/5 carbs). Then around 3 or 4 I have another Premier and this is where it gets tricky. I've had to force myself to eat because even though my head is hungry (food addiction) my tummy is simply done for the day. That said, at about 6pm I have another 2 oz of whatever salad I choose and TRY hard to get another 16 oz of Triminio or decaf iced tea or something in me. I usually fail at getting the whole 16 oz down. Then, I take my 2nd Barimelt multi and my day is done. So as far as protein and carbs go, I think i'm doing ok. The hydration is my biggest issue. :::::sigh:::::: I just have to force it in. I know its critical and key. My OA peeps have told me to not weight myself. That I need to focus on working the program and Dr.'s orders. That if I do that, there is absolutely NO WAY that I cannot loose weight. My addiction for food will always be there but with I have my program to help me with that.

BTW, I went out to the store today and got the makings for the Sing Sever Baked Ricotta and some Yogurts. I went with the Organic Greek as you suggested and I got cottage cheese too. I'm going to try and leave it "whole" and not puree and see how I tolerate it.

Thanks again for all your helpful hints and encouragement. I'm grateful.

you don't need an enzyme to break down protein. Actually, if you are still eating purées, the protein is already "broken down". Our bodies are perfectly equipped to handle protein without any help from us.

i second more liquid and that can be water with lemon, or any of the plethora of drink additives out there. I drank tons of water with fresh squeezed lemon and sweetener for lemonade.

also, how many carbs are you eating a day?

Thanks for the response and the idea about those drops to help make the water less bland. I'm eating about 15 carbs a day. I'm going to be adding yogurt so that's going to go up but right now, my diet is very "unvaried" and I'm almost solely living on Premiers and 4 oz (split up into two 2 oz meals) of either chicken, tuna or egg salad. The carbs I'm having are in the Premiers. My nutritionist have strongly suggested that I do not consume any carbs outside of what's in my shakes for the first 1-3months out. So I'm trying hard to follow that protocol.

Regarding the ability to break down protein, my surgeon told me that without my gallbladder this might cause me issues. He explained that this is a big function of the gallbladder. I had mine out in May of this year and going into surgery I was still having lots of tummy/bowel issues. I figured that blending my food would help but I'm still having lots of issues with diarrhea. So, I bought a really good probiotic.

Thanks again for your help.

The gallbladder is really about issues handling fat in your diet, not protein. Many have no issues, but some can tell right away if they are getting too much fat.

Funny you mention this because I was just reading up on the whole "what does the gallbladder do" thing. which confuses me more because I'm not really getting any "fat", per se. yes, I'm getting some in my tuna, egg and chix salad but Im only putting in enough mayo to make it went enough for puree'ing. Well, I'm hoping that these probiotics do something for me.

I started my WLS journey at almost 400 pounds. I only lost 11 pounds the first 5 weeks. For some people your body just is going WTF is happening? and needs time to adjust. I lost 165 pounds by the one year mark and 100% of my excess weight lost by month 17...so a slow start does not mean you won't have a strong finish. You aren't necessarily doing anything wrong.