educationrulz

I'm trying to make it for a month without weighing this time. I'm at about 2 weeks right now. It's tough but I got so upset last time when I had only lost two pounds after my first stall. It's best I stay away for now. My clothes size is definitely decreasing so that's keeping my spirits up.

I don't remember where the list is but I posted some in my blog. There may be something there that you can add to the list when you find it.

How on earth could I possibly be stretching or over-bloating my stomach with gas by using straws when I feel absolutely NO discomfort what so ever when using them?! I do feel discomfort when I eat too fast. I do feel discomfort when I eat that one extra bite. Clearly the discomfort means that I'm taking my stomach beyond it's limits. So, I see the link here between repeated overeating and possibly stretching your stomach. I guess this is what happens to many RNY patients. I fail to see a link between drinking with a straw and stretching my stomach when it does not cause me to have gas or discomfort. I'm sorry but this is ridiculous. Besides, after having experienced dehydration, the fact that using a straw increases my Fluid intake is okeydokey with me.

Call your doctor through the pager service. You may need to take something to move it through.

It's good to hear from you and to hear that everything is going well. Welcome to the Awesome Club of Sleevers! :scared0:

From what I've read, the heat might do wierd things to the powder if you don't mix it with a lukewarm/warm liquid before baking. Maybe you could try mixing it with some sauce or with the ricotta before baking. Unfortunately, the unjury powder made me want to hurl so I didn't get to experiment with it much. Good luck.

Lisa, I think you're still just in that kind of dark space that can happen right after surgery. I'm just feeling normal and really positive about having surgery this week. Last week it was better but still a little blurry. Your mind is going to play tricks on you right now. Just hold on and it will get better.

Sounds like a bunch of haters to me. I'm glad that you spoke up for her since they didn't have the balls to say that to her face. I have a good friend at work who will do the same for me if people talk behind my back. Now, if they talk in my face, they're gonna get it with both barrels blazing!

I'm so excited for you! I still remember your posts from before you had a surgery date and how you were on eggshells about that. Now, here you are the night before surgery. You'll be sleeved and sipping gently in no time. Let us know how you're doing after surgery if you can. Congratulations!!! :thumbup:

Thanks for posting your progress Luck. I noticed that you said you haven't been exercising. Do you think that has affected the amount of loose skin you have? Has it been a problem for you? I would also like to hear about any issues with hair loss and how you bounced back from that. Thanks again and congratulations on your long term success with the sleeve.

Thanks for not dropping gum and candy in the food! :tongue_smilie: We need more people like you in the food industry.

The personal videos and stories are so inspirational. I wish I had the nerve to put myself out there like that, but I don't even have the nerve to post pics. :tongue_smilie: Thanks to everyone who isn't a big chicken like me. :001_rolleyes: Dansha, can you post a link to your vlogs when they're available? Off topic a little - Have you'll seen the one about the lady who went to Mexico for plastics after WLS and had really bad infections, bad surgical results, and some kind of drain left inside her abdomen!!? :scared0: She was such a trooper. I can't remember her username.

Hey Gloria and fellow GA girl! Congrats on your new sleeve! You are doing great with your weight loss. I haven't tried the chat room yet but I'm sure I will one day. Welcome to VST!

Deb, I feel ya. I can't do it either. :confused1: I'm starting to see how I will get there eventually as my restriction loosens up a little bit and I can eat more protein rich foods. But, as long as I continue to eat 2 or 3 tablespoons of solid foods at a time, it's not happening for me. This morning I heated up two small Breakfast sausage links for breakfast but could only eat one. That was almost a waste of my time in terms of trying to get in some protein. I loved the Atkins Protein shakes on my preop diet, but they make me queasy now as do the other milky/sweet ones. I can't stand the taste of any of those kinds postop. Luckily I didn't try Isopure RTD before surgery and I really like them now. They are the best source of protein and have 45 grams per 20 ounces. But, I can't seem to drink the whole bottle within a day. I usually get in half a bottle a day because I tend to drink it in the evening and I have to let it settle on my stomach after about half the bottle. If it wasn't for those, I'd probably be weak as all get out by this point. Today was my first day back at work and it was really busy. I didn't get to focus on my protein (or fluids) the way I have been at home. I'm too scared to even try to calculate how few grams I got today because I didn't do my Isopure drink either. I'm going to have suck that whole bottle of Isopure down every day until I can eat enough to get somewhere near 60-70 grams. I think once I get back into a routine at work I'll be able to do better there. I haven't tried myfitness pal or any of the other food trackers, but here's a great resource to figure out the protein count in many foods. I just use it to help me with the mental tracking I do each day. I especially love that it has fast food restaurant stats. It also really helped on my preop diet when I had to count carbs. CalorieKing - Diet & Weight Loss Information - Calorie Counter and Nutritional Information If anyone can recommend a good food tracking smartphone app for Windows Mobile phones I would appreciate it.

How soon is it generally ok to eat hot wings and other spicy foods? I usually get my "hot wings" mild, so I should be ok at 5 weeks out, right? I would like an occasional jalepeno as a garnish.

So Tiffy did you not drink ANY soda until you hit goal? I'm thinking that if a person could tolerate diet soda, it wouldn't affect your weight loss or health if done in moderation. I can't imagine being able to drink much soda after being sleeved anyway. Can you drink several in a short amount of time? I think Anna makes a good point about food associations and starting bad habits. I'm thinking I'd be ok in that area because I switched to diet sodas right before my preop phase to start decreasing my carbs. So, I could easily do diet sodas and not see them as a food trigger the way I might regular sodas. I don't care for artificial sweetners but I guess they'll have to be a way of life until I get to goal. I'm just wondering at what stage in my postop diet might it be safe to try a carbonated drink without worrying about causing damage. My docs office is on the NO side of the debate with carbonated beverages. But, there are other things where they leave it up to the patient to use with caution where I've seen that other docs say absolutely NO (like straws, pasta, rice). (I happen to do great with straws - no gas, no problems, more fluids taken in, and pasta and rice seem ok for me in very small amounts.) The nurse told me that while the carbonation is in your stomach it could sit there before the pyloric valve dumps and cause some distress. It seems to me like this might vary from person to person like the other controversial items.

Hmmm...I'm thinking it was either the blue cheese or the chocolate, but most likely the chocolate. Chasing it with the gingerale might have made it worse. (Good lord I want some gingerale!) :confused1: I guess we're all having to adjust to what our stomach will tolerate post op. If all of these episodes were soon after eating, maybe you can start a food journal and try to track down the patterns. But, hopefully it won't happen to you again. I know that's gotta be a BAD feeling.

Be careful and take it easy on yourself Go Kart.

I think there are several companies (like Care One) that do higher risk loans for medical procedures. For some reason I'm thinking Capital One does it too. Of course the rates will be through the roof, but it's another option if you aren't able to save enough.

I think it's normal to have these kind of thoughts when you stray from your diet. Maybe it's because we already have half convinced ourselves that we will be the one this surgery doesn't work for. As for the pudding, at least it wasn't ice cream or a hamburger. I think you'll be fine. :wink0:

I went back to work today also. I have a 33 pound loss with preop and post and didn't get one comment. I wouldn't have thought it was so wierd except I've lost less before and had people notice. One person in particular who has commented before when I have lost 10 pounds said nothing. I'm wearing smaller clothes and I know my face is smaller, so I didn't get it. But, it didn't really upset me. I actually have decided to reveal that I had WLS but since no one commented, it totally blew my plans for my big revelation today. I was all set to spill my guts! Oh well, I'm sure someone will notice and say something soon enough. I'll have to see if I'm in the mood to talk about it by then.

The reason you see so many different answers to this question is because it's individual. Some people bounce right back, others don't. I think 2 weeks is a good starting point because you'll at a bare minimum be on full liquids by then (or mushies/soft foods if your post op diet advances faster). It's hard to have any real strength or stamina on clear liquids. I think 2 weeks is also a fair amount of time to allow your body to heal and to feel safe that there will be no complications.

Well, I just made it through the dreaded three week stall. I knew it was happening when I was going through it (even before I weighed) because I could tell that my body hadn't changed and that my clothes were fitting the same. Against my better judgement, I weighed myself at Walmart, since I don't plan to buy a scale until close to goal, and sure enough it hadn't budged since my last weigh in a week earlier. Man was I pissed off! :tongue_smilie: Despite the fact that I had read countless stories about the 3 week stall, I was still mad for a couple of days. But, I got over it and didn't weigh again until I felt some changes in my body and saw changes with my clothes. By the end of my 4th week, I had lost an additional 2 pounds. Geesh! Couldn't it have been more than 2 lousy pounds?:closedeyes: Oh well, at least we're back on track now. Another member on VST suggested weighing once a month. I've always advocated no more than once a week, so even for me that's a little radical. But, I think I'm going to give it a try. I'm much more interested in feeling better and seeing changes in my clothing and sizes than I am with how much I weigh. So, why stress myself out with scale numbers that don't move as fast as I want them to? I'm going to shoot for the beginning of the month for my weigh-ins and hopefully whatever loss I see then will be motivating enough. We'll see how it goes...:thumbup1:

I think I might join you Lisa. I don't own a scale either and don't plan to buy one until I hit goal so I can monitor any unwanted weight gain. I've been weighing myself here and there every week or so. I just went through the dreaded three week stall. I knew from the way my body was acting the minute it hit. Against my better judgement I got on a scale (at Walmart :001_tt2:) during that time and hadn't lost a thing from my previous weigh in the week before. Needless to say, I was pissed. But, I had read enough here to know that it was common and that it would pass. I didn't weigh again until I felt my body shifting and started to see a change in my clothes. I just broke my stall and lost 2 pounds. I wasn't thrilled that it was only two pounds, but I'll take it. After being mad for two or three days about the scale not changing I started thinking that I need to cut back to weighing even less frequently than every week. I just don't need the extra drama. I'm actually much more emotionally tied to how my clothes fit and getting smaller sizes than I am with how much I weigh, so why should I be stressing about the scale. I think I'm going to go for once a month weigh-ins too - at least until I get closer to goal! Count me in!

I agree with sweetie that you should be able to do it but it might be uncomfortable. If you find that you have no other option, as Monica said, be sure you have been off narcotic pain meds for some time. 30 minutes is a relatively short drive, but if you start getting uncomfortable, stop after 10 or 15 minutes and get out of the car for a minute. On my 3rd day postop I took a short drive to CVS and to the gas station. I could have asked my sister to do it but it was a good way for me to get moving once I was home because I had to get dressed and move around in the store. I was feeling uncomfortable (like my insides were squished up) and wiped out when I got back home. So, it can be done but listen to your body. If you are feeling really crappy and out of it when you get to the airport, bite the bullet, leave your car and take a cab. It will be inconvenient to go back and get it but worth it to not have an accident and mess up your new stomach or hurt someone. Congrats on your upcoming surgery. Even though my insurance paid I kind of wish I had been able to go to Dr. Aceves. It sounds like a great experience.