This is becoming a weekly habit, posting about more lessons learned being post-op from my Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. Hopefully these posts will help other people along in their journey!
Lessons from Week 4 Post Op:
- It’s MUCH easier to get water in. I can now get in 64oz of water plus my protein shakes. I can take more than just a sip at a time which is so great. I do have to work at it, but it can be done.
- The constipation that people warn you about is no joke. NO JOKE, you hear me? Let’s just say that I spent over an hour trying to go one morning. The solution? 2 Tbsp Milk of Magnesia. I took it before bed one night and bam, easy peasy the next morning. Check with your surgeon of course to make sure this OK with them. The reality is, we aren’t eating enough to get in the fiber requirement of a “normal” person. I’ve also started to add 4 tsp of Benefiber to my water at night. I’ll let you know next week what I learn from doing that.
- I’ve started to get more adventurous with my pureed foods. I played it super safe the first week, eating things like yogurt, ricotta bake, etc. This week I’ve added pureed chicken salad, sweet potatoes, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bake, pumpkin yogurt, etc.
- I’ve started to feel more normal this week. I am so thankful for that. I’ve been going to bed at a regular time, and am much less exhausted than I have been. I still cant bend or move in certain directions with out a bit of pain, but over all doing much better.
- I’ve started walking a lot more this week. I’m back to regular walks with my dog, and then have also added some time on the treadmill. It’s been nice to get the exercise in. I’m also back to wearing my Fitbit and tracking my steps. It’s a bit like starting all over again on the exercise front, slow and steady will win this race.
- I’m working on not weighing myself daily. The scale seems to remain the same for a couple of days and then I’ll drop 2 lbs over night. I’m getting frustrated with the scale!
That’s all I can think of for now. Have a fantabulous weekend!
I’m so glad that things are starting to settle in for you and that you’re able to be a bit more adventurous with the mushies – I am sure that helps SO much. Do you think you could do a “what I eat in a day” blog with photos of each meal or snack? I’d love to get a visual idea of just how little you eat.
Don’t let that scale get to you!! Maybe you should just weigh in weekly for now? You know you’re doing absolutely everything right, and that you WILL drop the weight, so maybe it would be better to do it weekly so that you’re not feeling so frustrated by the stagnation.
I’m so, so proud of you, and I hope you are that proud of yourself. Look at how you’ve adapted to this entirely new lifestyle – it’s amazing. So quickly, too. And you’re weight loss thus far is excellent. I’d be beaming if I were you. Heck, I’m beaming FOR you. My mom and I were shopping today and she asked how you were doing and when I told her your weight loss to date, her jaw dropped.
I hope you have a fabu weekend, too!