How much weight lost??

[deathorglory]

Hey guys!

I feel like I've been posting a lot lately, teehee!

Ahem. On to my real topic! I'm small-ish and am slightly worried about the weight loss aspect of jaw surgery. I'm currently 5'5, about 115lbs (about 52kg, for you metric users!). I start to look sickly around 110lbs and downright anorexic around 105lbs. Kind of worries about how much weight I will lose so I figured I'd be extra nosy and ask everyone on here how much they lost, how quickly, and how much of it was regained.

Might I add that, while I may be small, I'm in no way fit. I'm a jiggly kind of small, so there's not a huge amount of muscle to burn off, but quite a nice thick layer of fat

[boodles8]

I am also small. Went in weighing 94lbs, got down to 88 by week 3, at which point I freaked out and started putting large quantities of butter into everything I ate. I ate about a half a pound of butter each week, sometimes more. Not healthy, but I did stop losing (and it tasted really good!). I gained weight back up to 94 in threeish months after ending no-chew. I could have done it sooner had I continued the butter diet, but I didn't feel like dying of heart disease at 26.

[Beebop]

I've lost nearly 4kg since my surgery 3 weeks ago. Started at 76kg and now 72, not put any on yet -

Luckily I've not been feeding via a syringe which has helped me a great deal to keep weight on. I'm having full fat milk smoothies for breakfast with oats, soup and calorie shakes at lunch, and soft food in the evening such as fish pie or cottage pie (mash and meat!) with a nice soft dessert like a tiramisu - eating as much as I can to keep calorie intake up... Also have lots of hot chocolate / energy drinks too...

[Alicia110613]

I lost 8 lb out of about 123 lb for being on liquids/no-chew for 3 weeks. You can try to pack in more protein powder in your drinks and add some ice cream. I definitely gained everything back though, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[sirwired]

Everybody loses weight on the "jaw surgery diet". I managed to keep it down to 5lb.

To lose as little weight as you can, cram all the calories you can into everything you consume. Sugar, cream, oil, butter, fatty meats, etc. Not so much you get indigestion, but anything short of that is fine. If you consume a single molecule of artificial sweetner, you are doing it wrong. Having some overcooked veggies? Slather 'em with butter! You might normally make a soup with milk! Cream, of course! Cooking up potatoes? Olive oil in the pan, butter mixed with the potatoes, and cream them up with real cream.

[deathorglory]

I think I'll probably try to go the protein powder route...

As much as I like ice cream, there's something about putting butter and heavy cream into everything that's a bit off-putting to me. Of course, I say that now, while I can still eat solid foods! I have good cholesterol and everything, but I'm not a huge fan of adding that much fat into my diet. I'm sure I'll change my mind when I'm only on liquids...the heavier the better then, I'm sure...!

[sirwired]

The problem with the Jaw Surgery Diet is pretty much always cramming in enough calories. There's a limit to how much protein powder you can "dope" something with and still have it be palatable, especially when sipped. (You can take an awful lot of nastiness when you chug something... you aren't chugging anything for quite a few weeks.) Sugars and Fats are suggested for jaw surgery recovery because you can cram in a lot of calories, and sugar/fat is highly palatable (protein concentrate is not.)

Nobody's suggesting you ladle in so much grease you feel sick, but certainly there's no reason to be shy or worry about your health; you need to feed the healing process more than you need balanced nutrition. A few weeks of a diet heavy in cream/butter/whole milk is not going to permanently encrust your arteries.

[deathorglory]

There's no way to incorporate carbs like that into the diet, eh...

Well, hopefully I can find a way to get as much protein into the diet as I can...when your body is stressed like that, the extra protein will help it heal faster. Peanut butter in everything!!!! I'm sure I'll end up eating my fair share of fats, too...

[batwing]

I only lost nine pounds, and it was all in the first week! I had just had my daughter and was still nursing on top of recovering from jaw surgery. I really expected a huge loss, but nine pounds is really nothing (I'm overweight to begin with, plus, having just had a baby, I had plenty of weight to lose.)

[ST24085]

There's no way to incorporate carbs like that into the diet, eh...

Says who?

I eat a lot of calories (3000+) in an attempt to put on muscle. I'm a 155 lb male FYI. If you're looking for carbs my friend, you've come to the right place:

sprouted buckwheat
oats - sprouted oat groats are preferred
beets - these blend well and give the shake a nice appealing color that does not oxidize unlike berries
bananas
carrots

A standard (healthy!) weight gain shake I make is:

1 c sprouted oat groats or buckwheat (this seems like a lot but they puff up a lot when you sprout them)
2 tbsp almond butter or substitute for a mix of healthy nuts
1 banana
2 scoops whey
4 tbsp greek yogurt
2 tbsp chia seeds
handful of berries for color
handful of baby leafy greens for vitamins

That recipe has over 1000 calories with a 40/40/20 protein/carbs/fat caloric distribution! I'll usually have one per day split into two. Tweak as needed. But the point is, you can get healthy calories in liquid form quite easily.

If you're eating through a syringe though you're definitely going to want a top performing blender like the Blendtec or Vitamix. I own the Blendtec.

One day I'll see what it's like; if my surgery day ever comes .

[deathorglory]

There's no way to incorporate carbs like that into the diet, eh...

Says who?

I eat a lot of calories (3000+) in an attempt to put on muscle. I'm a 155 lb male FYI. If you're looking for carbs my friend, you've come to the right place:

sprouted buckwheat
oats - sprouted oat groats are preferred
beets - these blend well and give the shake a nice appealing color that does not oxidize unlike berries
bananas
carrots

A standard (healthy!) weight gain shake I make is:

1 c sprouted oat groats or buckwheat (this seems like a lot but they puff up a lot when you sprout them)
2 tbsp almond butter or substitute for a mix of healthy nuts
1 banana
2 scoops whey
4 tbsp greek yogurt
2 tbsp chia seeds
handful of berries for color
handful of baby leafy greens for vitamins

That recipe has over 1000 calories with a 40/40/20 protein/carbs/fat caloric distribution! I'll usually have one per day split into two. Tweak as needed. But the point is, you can get healthy calories in liquid form quite easily.

If you're eating through a syringe though you're definitely going to want a top performing blender like the Blendtec or Vitamix. I own the Blendtec.

One day I'll see what it's like; if my surgery day ever comes .

Thank you for this recipe! I'll definitely have to keep it in mind for when the surgery happens...! I just didn't know how to incorporate the carbs into something like a smoothie...Do you think rolled oats would also be ok, or would that make things a little too...thick?

[ST24085]

Thank you for this recipe! I'll definitely have to keep it in mind for when the surgery happens...! I just didn't know how to incorporate the carbs into something like a smoothie...Do you think rolled oats would also be ok, or would that make things a little too...thick?

I think it should work. Just make sure you have enough water. Also I'm serious about the blender. You need a good quality one or you'll have a chunky shake.

[deathorglory]

Thank you for this recipe! I'll definitely have to keep it in mind for when the surgery happens...! I just didn't know how to incorporate the carbs into something like a smoothie...Do you think rolled oats would also be ok, or would that make things a little too...thick?

I think it should work. Just make sure you have enough water. Also I'm serious about the blender. You need a good quality one or you'll have a chunky shake.

Oh no problem on the blender. I've got a vitamix. Apparently, my boyfriend didn't believe me when I said they were super duper and I said I wanted the $500 one. He made fun of me. A lot... Then a year later he did his own research and bought the $800 one. ...what a dweeb

[SFChristianGirl]

Hi.

I'm 6 weeks post-op now and I've lost 20 lbs.

I was 178 lbs. the day of surgery and now I'm 158 lbs.

I'm still not able to chew so I may lose more. Who knows?

Bye.

JJ

[mapleleafman888]

you can get healthy calories in liquid form quite easily.

Agree 100% with ST24085. I managed to get away with just braces, springs and elastics! But as a fitness junkie, personal trainer and general nutrition coach, losing hard earned mass was one thing I worked hard to combat and you can too.

You should be able to get enough calories from making shakes and online there are TONNES of healthy shake recipes that taste great with all the proper nutrients to keep unwanted weight loss at bay. There are also calculators online for you to accurately figure out how much food and calories you need to maintain/lose/gain weight for that matter.

There were days after getting the braces/elastics/springs on and adjustment appointments that I didn't want to even touch solid food---it was those days the blender was my best friend. I ended up losing 5-8 pounds over a few months but it was not lean mass, rather body fat.