South side of 300 with it in the rear view mirror, for the last time/Lessons learned.

My doc wanted me to lose 10 pounds prior to surgery, so from 306 I passed 300 on the way down to 295 for surgery. Being stalled around 300 and fluctuating 10-15 pounds on a regular basis, I've seen 300 come and go. While in surgery I gained 15 pounds of saline and what ever else magic potions they use. Now a week out, I'm on my way back down and this time there won't be any hovering. Good bye 300, you haven't been a friend and I'm leaving you like the wind... I just passed again. HA!

Along with that I had a learning moment yesterday.  I've been doing pretty good staying with the fluids. Since I am allowed to have full liquids, well, right now everything's an experiment. So I start out with my 30g. protein shake and for breakfast I have 4 oz of Campbells condensed, properly prepared potato soup. it went well. Since savory is by far my favorite flavor I also had a mixed juice ****tail of 5 oz clamato (crack) and 5 oz of V-8. delish! (add a shot of Smirnoffs 101 vodka and crushed ice and we have one of my drinks of choice). The soup was so good I had another bowl for lunch. I also had more crack, this time in the way of 1 tbls of jiff creamy peanut butter. Another thing I did yesterday, an old habit from my previous life, is chug water, I can down a 20 oz. bottle of water in 4-5 sips, I did that on 2-3 sips yesterday and the pain was instant and increased for 4-5 min before it started subsiding. By 3:00 PM I was a gas factory and my stomach was so friggin sore. From 3:00 pm in the afternoon, all night until 7:00 am this morning, I was on the toilet every 90 min. All in all I had about 90g of carbs.

Lessons learned: 1)LOW CARBS ALWAYS! I set up an account on MFP, username, Texasrigdiver so if you want to see my crazy diet just send me a friend request. I'd be interested in seeing other peoples MFP so I can get an idea of volumes, varieties, and what I can do and what I can't do. I'd rather learn these lessons from others who have done this successfully than try to recreate the wheel from scratch myself.

I am impressed with the amount of protein you are getting in. I just hit 80 today and I am 3.5 weeks out. I mistakenly chugged water and instead of some pain, it reversed course on me.

I agree with the so long 300! Won't be missing you!

Keep up the good work and positive attitude.

I will friend you n MFP. I love that tool. All my friends can see my food intake. I will tell you since Thanksgiving I have been in a carb funk and have paid for it on the scale. I lost 6 pounds last week and my body gained it all back and has been playing with it this week. UGHHHH. That said look at my days when my carbs are less than 60 and duplicate. Look at my days when my carbs are over 60 and tell yourself "don't do that." Saying goodbye to those mile stones is exhilerating.

 

I am glad you are doing better.  It was really hard to eat and drink in the beginning.  Carbs turn me into a gas factory too!  Its really bad sometimes and like the previous poster since thanksgiving I have been in a carb funk too and did not lose any weight this week. Ugh, but my fault.

You are learning a lot real fast.  Can tell you will have fun with your DS.  One word of caution - stay away from the Smirnoffs 101 vodka and ALL forms of alcohol for the entire first post-op year.  Your liver will be under unbelievable stress with this rapid weight loss and the alcohol could cause irreparably liver damage. It would be no fun to get skinny and then die of liver failure. Just wait. 

Can someone point me in the direction of MFP?  I could surely benefit from seeing what others are doing with their diets post op.  My biggest struggle is knowing what to eat and how much.  I know it's pretty individual, but all ideas are helpful.  I see a lot of posts from people who are maintaining.  I was told originally to limit fat and carbs, but I see many people here saying that butter, sauces, gravies, etc. are their friends and fats don't really matter.  I'm so confused - and I'm tired of eating ham slices and cheese :)

With a DS, you only absorb about 20% of the fat you eat---it's virtually a 'free food'. And many of us find that we get constipated if we don't eat enough fat. Fat also gives a better sense of satiety, and it's a lot easier to eat enough protein if you're not trying to limit fat at the same time.

You're also only absorbing about half the protein you eat, so you really want to push that. I don't know how far out you are, but if you're as much as 90 days, you really should be taking in a minimum of 90 grams, and start shooting for more. Many people here eat a minimum of 150 grams, some as high as 200 grams of protein daily. This is good for your body---we're mostly made of protein---and it keeps you from eating too many carbs.