Wtf???????

[Vivienne]

Sorry for the abbreviated profanity in my title line, but this is exactly how I am feeling. I had my RNY on March 22. When I got home, I was actually up about 10# from my DOS. In the first 2 weeks, lost that plus another 12 for a total of 22#. Started puree foods last Tuesday and have not lost a damn ounce since! I know I am not getting enough exercise(weather has been cold and rainy so I go to the mall to walk). Last weekend was my B-day and we took a lovely trip to Monterey, walked quite a bit and ate what I was supposed to(my fiance is awesome....Monterey is a gourmet delight, great restaurants, but instead ate rotisserie chicken with me at the hotel.(I purreed mine, of course) Anyhow, I figured when I got home last nite, the scale would be down but no.....same exact weight. I kinda had a little melt down, I mean, I didn't put myself through this to stay a fatty! So here are the numbers......day of surgery-238.5# Day of discharge-249.5 current weight-227.5. The only thing I can think of is that I might not be getting enough liquids in. Averaging 30-40oz/day. As I said, exercising needs work, but got some resistance bands in the hope that building some muscle mass will increase my metabolism. Really, though, how the hell is it possible to consume less than 500 cal /day, with only part of that being absorbed, and NOT loose weight. Please, someone, tell me this too shall pass, and any suggestions are more then welcome. Also, energy level still very low.....when we visited the MOnterey Aquarium, I had to sit down about every 15-20 minutes due to fatigue. Probably due inpart to chronic back pain for which I can no longer thake my NSAID meds, but really?!? I have to get back to work in a few short weeks and if it dosen't get any better than this I am in BIG trouble!

 

[TwoMas]

Hi Vivienne, Tom here. In short yes this soon will pass. We are all different and lose weight at different paces, One thing we do have in common are plateaus, I rember having them and thinking I was doing something wrong. There are some common resons why the scale stalls; we gain muscle and lose fat at the same rate at times, so take measurments of your waist, arms, legs etc... so you can see the differnce. You are correct building muscle will help your metabolism so it will help you burn calories more effectively, you will also need to make sure you get enough protien, generally we need at least 60 grams a day minimum. I know it is difficult but you should try and get 64 oz's of fluids and 60 grams of protien, remeber that the fluids you mix with your protien shakes counts toward fluid intake.

I was on light duty for a month and I remember taking a lot of naps, we actually talked about this at my support group meeting this evening. You must remember this is a major surgery, even though it may not feal like it. So it will take the body a while to rcover to 100%, even after my release to full duty it took me another month to get back to fire fighteing strength (I am a wildland firefighter). The protien and fluids will help the body heal faster and give you more energy.

I don't know a lot about pain management but there are a few folks here who have to deal with pain management that can help you out with some advice, I know my doctor told me the only over the counter pain meds I could have would be a tylonol type pain reliever. Hang in there remember you strated at 265 and you are at 227 so you have come a long way. Your fiance sounds like a great guy too. Hang in there it does get better. Tom

 

[Pat99]

Vivienne-That's not a bad weight loss my friend. What Tom said about building muscle and plateaus is very true. I discussed being extremely tired with my surgeon since I am going through this as well. He said it's normal as your body adjusts to the drastic reduction of calories and will gradually subside in 2 or 3 months. He said to make sure to get enough protein and fluids in each day, take the vitamins that I was told to take and get enough sleep and it will help with the fatigue. Add to this the fact that you just had major surgery and your body is still healing which uses your energy as well. The scale stalled for me for a full 2 weeks. It's discouraging but it will happen from time to time. I try to look at it this way-I didn't gain the weight overnight and it's not going to come off overnight. I heard that an average weight loss after this surgery is around 2 pounds a week over the long haul. You’re doing OK, just give it some time.

 

[Vivienne]

Thanks, Tom. As always, your encouragement and support means the world! I amtrying to get the protien count up, and went online and bought a few protien"shots" to put into H2O or tea to try and kill 2 birds with one stone. I have 2 support groups to attend this week and hopefully will get even more suggestions there.

I am a nurse, and work as a clinical consultant, so have been stressed out since my ususal day is a 2-3 hour drive to first customer then 2-3 hours making wound rounds in a facility, usually seeing 2-3 customers min per day. Hell, I woke up this morning and showered, had breakfast, fed the cats and then needed a nap! Not exactly my usual state of energy! Hoping that if I can get my protien and fluid a little better this too shall pass. I did speak with my manager today and she is great, said if I'm not ready by May that I should take more time off and not to worry about my job, so that was reassuring.

I see that you, too, live in California. Where is Yreka? I'm thinking up near Redding? Maybe when I get back on the road, if I pass thru your neck of the woods we could meet somewhere for a cup of decaf tea Thanks again for sharing your experience with me.

Viv

 

[Vivienne]

Hi, Pat.

Thanks for your reply to my post! All great advice and I am ordering some more protien suppliments so I can get on track with that as well as being more aware of my fluids. It's so weird....I used to go thru 2 32oz bottles of H2O every day no preoblem and now its a big deal if I get one in! Plus, water seems to hit my stomach and cause pain forffabout 5 minutes, so not terribly motivating to keep drinking. Trying to do warm teas, broth, and stuff, which seems gentler on my tiny new tummy. The one place I can really see my weight loss, oddly enough, is my feet! Had to poke new hole in the strap of my fave walking shoes cuz my feet are getting skinny(was hoping to have that issue with my PANTS! Clearly, my a** wants to hang out awhile longer!) Anyhow, I truly appreciate this forum and your support and advice. Its great to have kindred spirits walking the same path to lean on when the going gets tough! God Bless!

Viv