1-4-Many

Frankly that was the first thought that shot through my brain. I didn't sign on for what would be diagnosed as an eating disorder if a surgeon wasn't involved. And yes, I think I can add some nibbles in between the 3 hours. So what would be a good calorie level to shoot for. While going for Protein alone may work for most, I have a real issue with low blood sugar and need help there. Protein alone leaves me too weak. I tested my blood sugar one day during the pre-surgery diet and it was 58. When I had asked what I should do if that were to happen while on that diet the answer was ...and I quote...."tough it out". It really makes me wonder sometimes. I didn't "tough it out" but ate some applesauce. Seemed more logical to me. And that would be the type of "snacking" I can add to my daily diet but I do want to make sure I don't accidentally inch up too high.

I'm a very tight sleeve. I got exactly what I didn't want. I top out at about 3 ounces per "meal" so my meals are almost exclusively Protein. Frankly, once I am out from under the watchful eye of my program I intent to assist the protein with drinks so I have space to eat a bit of other foods, especially once veggies are in season. But right now that's forbidden. Well, I'm lucky if I can get 500 calories a day. And I'm not losing much weight. So the suggestion back was that I need to add cardio into my routine to kick my metabolism into gear. Frankly, there are days when I am lucky to get home from work I am so fatigued that adding cardio in right now is a pipe dream. But I was wondering what those of you who are expert on this process think about this suggestion? Is there a point where an extreme low calorie diet and adding something like cardio into the plan becomes dangerous? Did anyone do this? I am not. I know it would not be safe for me right now. My body is giving me the answer. I could barely mow the lawn this weekend. I was so wiped out by the job, which I broke into 3 segments, that I'm calling around for estimates to get someone to do it for me the rest of this summer. And I'm cheap and broke so that should tell you how little I feel able to exercise right now! Thank you for any opinions and experience.

Hi girlfriend - Two big things come to mind: 1) I still get very bad "hunger" headaches. Almost every night. I find that fascinating and completely unexpected. I guess I thought that my feeling the sensation of hunger was what triggered the headaches. But no, as it turns out the old body is smarter than that and even tho I am not feeling the hunger I am megga getting the headaches. Tylenol does little to help me so I'm sort of stuck. The problem is that the headaches blur my vision so I'm been staying very close to home after 5 p.m. as they tend to come at night. Can't be behind the wheel of my car when my vision goes south. This is one of those irritations when I think about how limiting this is actually making my life when it was supposed to free me. 2) Big time low blood sugar issues. I don't think my doctor took me seriously about the level of low blood sugar I experience and he disregarded it saying "push through" . Well after testing in his office and seeing it was 54, he decided he'd better take it a little more seriously. So now I'm being directed what to do and it's much better. Again, they seemed to think that if I was eating a healthy diet it would fix the low blood sugar issue and they were way off base on that. 3) How physically weak I would be. I'm normally a pretty tough person but this has kicked my rump. I was in the garage cleaning yesterday and got shaky and had to come in for a break before they found me on the floor. My sleeve is very low capacity (about 3 ounce) so I don't have a lot to run on. I sure hope this changes. Hang in their ursie. Nothing has been awful but it is different. I wish I had known I was getting a 3 ounce sleeve. I would have changed doctors. Otherwise, it's what I have to deal with so I move on. I can do it. And you can to!! You can!

Same here. I would vomit within 10 minutes of taking those awful things. So I switched to Celebrate which go down great AND I listened to the advice here (from Alex) and I only take 1/2 of one per day for now. When I get my nerve up, I may try an entire one but the BA's have me gun shy. I also bought some of the children's chewables and occasionally will add one of those in as an extra. As a side note, I did not take them for the first 2 and 1/2 weeks, or if I did they came back up. Now that I can get them down I can tell a real difference in my energy level. I personally think they are very important and am glad I kept trying until I found something that worked for me. I'm still not ready to dance the rumba, but I do feel better with this added nutrition.

I have complained enough about it but I am on the same path you are! I wouldn't wish this on anyone BUT in finding the bright side: 1) I went ahead and bought a new pair of walking shorts and capris (we're talking Kmart here so no big $ invested) because I know that I won't be out of them in 10 days like some people. And I am a thrift store shopper by nature so this was a big splurge as an atta girl for doing what I needed to do. I also bought 3 new tshirts from CJ Banks. Again, on sale, but they are ELBOW LENGTH!!! and with my flappy arms just what I needed. 2) As you said, it won't come back. I know some folks have rebound weight gain but this first 20 are gone forever. and 3) Here's my biggie. I did this on the DL. I AM SO GRATEFUL for that decision. I knew I would be a slow looser. I was only eating about 2k calories a day when I was "pigging out" so I knew. When I did Weight Watches I had to undercut my allowed points by about 1/3 to lose the 1 pound a week once I'd gotten past that first 2 or 3 weeks. That's the main reason I kept this private. I will admit that in 2001-2002 I basically went on a long term fast and lost and lost fast so this is going a bit slower than even I expected. But still, it's going. And it will eventually be gone. And I am so glad I don't have to be explaining to people why I'm not losing weight. The one friend I told asked me last weekend when I was going to have my surgery. :(Yep. After 2 week pre-diet liquid fast and over 1 month post op, she wondered when I was going to finally get it done! And she's been in Florida for 3 months and not seen me everyday so it's pretty obvious it's not showing yet! Hang in there. We'll get there too. We're just walking instead of running.

I was swallowing pills within 6 hour of waking from surgery. Before I went home the doctor reviewed my list and said they were all fine. I think time released are usually their main concern, apart from size. The only OTC I mentioned that I occasionally need was sudafed. He said it was fine for me to take it but that it might hit me faster than normal and wear off faster than typical. So I make sure to use the 4 hour version. In that case there's a 12 hour version and I think it's logical to avoid a type of pill like that without clearing it first.

I'm happy for you. But I don't know how she could know your staple/suture line is healed by looking at your outside. So go easy. Very easy. I was also lucky pain wise. I was only on regular strength tylenol from about 12 hours after surgery. The high test was making me sick. I did have pain in my shoulder but it was about 10 days later before I realized it might have been the gas. And I still don't know where the gas went as none left me that I knew of. And the weight loss is amazing!! Be careful and go slow, but in other ways you are tearing up the track!

Will you come with me on my next visit to my surgeon? I'm already bracing myself. I'm just today 1 month out and in the past 2 weeks I have lost 3.5 pounds. Some honeymoon, huh. Honestly, I'm not one who swears a lot but there have been quite a few f bombs dropped in this house in the past 2 weeks. I'm using an on line site to record every bite I eat. I'm "low capacity" (according to them) averaging 3 ounces per meal. I'm very close to getting the Protein I need and staying with complex carbs for anything left over. I am using the protein shots which they don't like but my health is more important than their "yes/no's". I use just 1/3 of a shot a day and for mine that's 7 grams. To me it's a help but no biggie. And with an average of 400 calories a day (than goodness for tuna fish and fake eggs), I have lost 3.5 pounds. I hate my body more now then I did 2 months ago. I had a lot more hope then. And they've looked at my diet and have no additional suggestions. But that's the dietitian. I'm bracing for the surgeon. He's sometimes not a warm and funny man. I'm trying (very hard) to take the attitude that I've done what I can and am doing what I can, and that maybe it will just take me 2 years to get where others are in 90 days. I hope they can see it that way.

After reading others goals, I have to say the one that jumped out at me was sitting in a lawn chair. It's that overall concept. I'm getting ready to buy an inversion table and my first thought when reading the specs was to jump to it's weight capacity. I would love to live life at a weight where I can assume I will not break the item, but just automatically be at such a reasonable weight that I don't have to check the capacity. Oh and some day I want to be where no one knows me and, with weighing something like 160 pounds, I join into one of the silly conversations I hear in groups of "normal" sized women who are gabbing away about how fat they've gotten and how they just sooo need to do something about it. I don't know why. I've just never done that when it wasn't the absolute truth so it would be fun to play that silly little female game.

Hi - I'd love to hear opinions on this subject. I'm early into this and wanting to make some decisions. First, my program does not promote low carb. They've been in this for over 10 years and said that they noted a real uptick in post op depression with those who concentrate on consuming a low carb diet. Obviously, they want their people to eat complex carbs, no junk, but not to concentrate on low carb. I know that when I read the Adkins plan ages ago, his theory for maintenance was than an individual needed to maintain a diet where they burned more calories each day than they consumed in carbs as the body burned the carbs first, then moved to fat as a source for energy. As long as you did not consume more carbs than your body burned that day, you should be able to maintain your weight loss. He had a process for moving back onto carbs where you went week by week and determined what your carb tolerance. A good friend dropped from about 300 to the very low 200's doing Adkins and has kept it off. Her personal carb tolerance is 60 per day. Above that, she gains. With that in mind, what is the logic concentrating on being low carb when your entire caloric intake for the day is between 600 and 700, and that's for the lucky ones? I know we have such limited space we need to allocate to Protein first. But is it a bigger reason than that? None of us, unless our bodies have gone into complete hibernation, could be exceeding our energy burned with carb calories. I doubt that even the most carb and calorie heavy person is geting more than 200-250 calories a day in carbs. So does anyone have any idea why those complex carbs trip people's bodies up so? At least it seems most here who have been at this a while really believe that getting a bit too much on the carb side is a real slow down. So I guess 1) do you agree that's true and 2) any idea why? And do you know your own personal tolerance for carbs and limit due to intolerance or are you just making space for the protein you need? Thanks for any input. I'm thinking I may have to take a month and buck the process on my program because something isn't working. I've lost weight much faster eating 4x this amount on Weight Watches and that's starting to annoy the crap out of me. (That's literal: I lost 26 pounds the last time I did WW in the first month eating something like 24 points per day and that's leaving GVS in the dust. I know WW couldn't work for my lifetime but you can understand the frustration as I eat 1/2 of a scrambled egg for my "meal".)

I'm not sure that it was taste but BA's made me vomit. I decided I'd just have to try and work with other types. Then I tried the Celebrate and they stay down. I don't know that it's so much taste but the BA's I had were the orange and I thought orange sort of enhanced the Vitamin taste. I bought grape Celebrate after getting a sample from them. The grape just goes down and stays down so I've found my vitamin. I think these are actually harder to find than a Protein drink but I'm very glad I found one I can stomach. I know that 400 calories a day is not going to keep me healthy without them, I don't care what my surgeon says. Now, as my stomach matures, I'm going to start adding a couple more to my menu. I know it might be creating expensive pee, but that's okay. I'd rather error on the side of caution where this is concerned. And hope they keep my hair from falling out!

Do you have the details? A peer had to do 3 weeks but it was different from my 560 calorie a day liquid. She was allowed 1 lean cuisine per day along with 1 piece of raw fruit. (A few restrictions.) So her's were not that bad. If it'sall liquid, it won't be easy. But believe it or not, it was boredom that go to me the most. After the 2nd or 3rd day, I wasn't that terribly hungry but there were some variety packets I could have gotten that I didn't because it's an hour's drive. So I toughed it out and ate the same stuff over and over. If you are being given the stuff and are allowed to take any mix based on what you like, I hope you can take some back if you don't like them. That made it rough. It's bad enough not liking the stuff but it's worse when there's one you would like and just don't have access to that one. But the fact remains, you can do it. Just ask questions and baby yourself a bit. But them on the spot to get what you want. You're number 1 right now!

Long story: I have 2 seniors in my family I am legal guardian too. (I'm not a saint. It was rather thrust on me and it's been difficult.) Well, I knew a day would come when I got am emergency call that come with looking after people in their 80's. I went back to work yesterday and today I got the 7:00 a.m. call to get to the emergency room. First, I felt horrible having to take a day of vacation after being off for surgery but I went. I threw a Protein drink, yogurt and put 2 ounces of cottage cheese in my lunch bag and off I ran. I was actually very proud that I had given this thought in advance and knew what to do to pull me through the day. Well, my relative had been decked by another resident in the home so not only did I have to deal with the poor guy being upset and injured, the police had to be involved as it was a significant attack. Stitches were involved. People with dementia often hit with canes and this guy really belted my Uncle. So in the process of the anxiety and all, I LEFT my lunch bag in the car! It was feeding time when I realized what I'd done. Uggg. The cafeteria is on the other side of the building (why don't they build small hospitals anymore?) so today was a challenge. I basically nibbled on what I could find. What a day. I'm starting to really get frustrated by my low capacity sleeve. It's a month now and I'm still on 2 ounces and feeling stuffed. I'm getting healthy to the point that I think it's normal that I want and crave more. Not asking for a lot but 4 or 5 ounces would be wonderful. On the other hand, It is nice to be able to eat less than one Peanut Butter cracker from the machine and be held for 2 hours. And I know what I had planned will work if I had done a bit better and actually taken the bag in before it got baked in the car. I will be so happy when I am a bit further out and can eat a little more variety. I just don't know how people do it when I read that not far out at all they are eating "real" food. Anything much solid at all feels like a knot in my stomach after just one small bite. Maybe in the long run it's good I'm this way. I just don't know. But I know that I'm longing for either some weight loss (still not really happening) or the stomach to loosen up a bit. Mainly, I know to keep a few "emergency" foods on the shelf in the fridge. Even if it's not perfect eating, I can really seen where as long as I am still needing very soft and very small amounts, I need to stay on top of the planning part of this and not get lazy. What a day. I'm beat.

You know, now that I think about it I don't think I once took my clothes off. It was always private, just changing into a hospital gown. When I changed after surgery I just got up and did it myself, washing up at the sink and putting the robe (duster type) I had taken to the hospital and was far more comfortable in. I had to be careful as I was still on an IV but everything snapped. Also never had any undress issues with any tests.

Amazing. I was given cream of wheat thinned as one of the foods to eat the first 3 weeks as a full liquid! Additionally, I was really suffering with low blood sugar and told to have a cracker by my bed and eat it before getting up. Just one saltine but it made a world of difference for me. I was shaking my way to the kitchen but eating just that one cracker and waiting 15 minutes before getting up makes me feel so much better. Oh, we were also told applesauce and pureed peaches and such were good for the mushies stage. There's so little consistency on these plans it's no wonder people are confused! I am just trying to stick with the basics and make sure I get enough Water, enough Protein and enough Vitamins to keep me going.

Yea. Very much agree. Mine says no to liquid calories after mushies. Also they say meals, not single items foods. Funny, huh. I say if I could eat more than 3 ounces of food at a time, their theory would be great. I would LOVE to be able to get all of my calories in "meals" and no liquid. And if I ever get to the point of being able to take even 4 ounces at a time, maybe I'll give it a shot.

What I am amazed by is that my hunger pattern is exactly the same as before 1 month out. Some days I get hungry, some days I don't. Same as before. But, unfortunately the same as before, when I get hungry I GET HUNGRY. Hunger has always hit me fast which was one of the problems I had. If I was out driving around and suddenly got really hungry, I'd hit a drive through. Now, I'm carrying a small 2 ounce serving of sugar free apple sauce for a quick fix. I can't wait another month when I will be okay to have a small Protein bar in my purse. Hunger does not happen before 2 hours. But sometimes it will hit at 2.5 when I'm not planning to eat until 3 hours so I need a little something to fall back on. Even if it's just for 1 bite. And while everyone said mine is/was head hunger I know it's not because I am content to eat applesauce. I am not fond of applesauce but it fills the hunger. I think if it was just in my head, I'd be wanting something I actually liked.

In Sept. of last year I began struggling with sinus infections. I had 3 between Sept. and Feb. My surgery was set for March so I told them what was going on. I was very concerned with the stress and calorie deprivation of the pre-diet, I would get another rebound infection. It didn't happen but they did tell me that the fever was the no-go part. For them, a cold with no fever they let the person decide. They decide no when there is a fever. My opinion is that you do not want to be coughing and sneezing and having to blow right after this surgery. It's not going to damage the stomach but it won't feel good. Let us know what they decide.

Yea, my program considers these all different types of foods. For instance, instant mashed potatoes slightly thinned with a bit of extra milk are mushies. Yogart's mushy. It's described as something that still would not require chewing to be safe to eat. Something like cooked chicken would be pureed and have some broth or gravy added to be mushy. Then something like a Lean Cuisine ravioli would be considered a soft food. You need to chew, but the texture is still soft. Making chicken salad w/ pureed chicken but without the broth or gravy to make it more mushy would be soft. I'm not sure how important these different steps are but in my program they are each 3 weeks long. Then finally, you are off to the races with no restrictions apart from the normals of quantities and timing and such.

I feel your pain. I ended up paying about $3k out of pocket. My $1200 surgeon and $500 asst. surgeon costs went up to $1700 for the main surgeon and $750 for the asst. by the time they finalized me for surgery. It was major sticker shock but I found out about the increases the day I was given my pre-diet to start. This is their flat charge they charge regardless of what insurance pays them. Above and beyond. I came home and had to do some long hard thinking about going to Mexico and would have it not for the additional delay. I'd endured too many of them and decided that paying it and getting it over and done was the way to go. But if you are further out, I'd really consider the option.

Have you tried a Vitamin? I'm a month out and I've yet to keep one down. It's become almost anxiety producing. I think I will really need them eventually but I sit for an hour working up to chewing it up. I've tried 4 different brands. The last time I got 30 minutes out. Was relaxing, went outside to pull some weeks and deposited my lunch and the vitamin in the flower bed. My doc said to take them from day 1. I think waiting is a much better idea. I might be able to stomach them better if I hadn't built this pattern.

How long did it take you to work up to 700-800 calories? I'm one month out and averaging about 350. And the weight is not falling off which scares me. I lost 1.5 last week. But I'm really not comfortable health wise being at this low of a calorie intake and I think it's actually defeating the weight loss process. Today was a bad day. I wasn't even able to eat 2 ounces of cottage cheese for lunch. I got a bit over 1 ounce in.

Does your surgeon have any rules you need to follow during this window? My personal advice might not fly with everyone. But if it's up to you how to manage the next days, I would try to blend enjoying some favorite meals with trying to eat as healthy as you can. I set a meal once a week for a favorite, but the rest of the time I tried to change my eating habits. It's not so much about the dramatic change of your diet but that you want your body to be strong and healthy for the surgery. Truthfully, I don't know that all of the rules I had to follow made a lick of difference. Writing down everything I ate for ages, timing meal..... Cutting out diet pop was an example. I was told to do it 90 days before surgery to show I could give it up. I it out 10 days before when I started my liquid diet. It made no difference. I gave it up easier that day because I actually needed to. I may be unique in this, but nothing I did before surgery mattered. After surgery it's completely different. If you have weaknesses work on them. Things like eating slowly and paying attention to how much you are really eating. But for me, all of those things were just superficial until I left my stomach to medical waste. Everything changed with that day and I really don't think you can prepare until you are there. Oh, and P.S. - good luck if you make this choice. I'm almost 1 month out from surgery and so far I'm at peace with my decision but I have to admit that if I am eating 2 ounces of food per meal for the rest of my life, I won't be. I'm not sure what the conversion is but that's one thing you might want to do....actually measure out what your doctor says you will be able to eat after the surgery so you can see how much it is.

Does anyone know of a site where you can record your daily diet that's geared toward tiny portions? I'm getting sort of tired of trying to figure out how to enter 1 teaspoon of applesauce. And I'm not sure that if I added it myself I would be anywhere near accurate.

Regarding relief, if it's possible you might consider an old fashioned enema. If you are really bound up it takes a while. If you've never done one before, they require time as the saline Water needs to be absorbed into the waste to soften it and pass. I was just about ready to do that earlier this week and finally managed to pass that brick. Next time (although I hope daily Miralax will keep it from happening again) I will just through in the towel early and get a disposable enema, a book and wait it out. If you've never had the experience, after putting the water into your body, lay down on your back or side for as long as you can letting the water be absorbed. I usually read for a while. It's certainly not fun or something people talk about much but it's a cheap way to solve the problem and not cause yourself too much harm.