Yorkie Fan

You will do wonderfully! I am 15 months post op. I started out at 241 lbs with no thyroid and now weigh 149. I walk about 30 min. each day and since I travel for work all the time, I am always challenged with learning to eat well on the road. Good Luck!

I have found that if I plan well for the day, I don't need Protein shakes. A typical day for food looks like this:

Breakfast: 16 oz skim milk (which takes me a while to drink so it doesn't all happen at one time)

and a greek yogurt (this totals about 27g of Protein, depending on the yogurt)

Lunch: 4 oz of meat (28g of protein) usually mexican in nature easy to eat out with my group from work

Dinner: 2 oz of meat and veggies (14g of protein, sometimes more meat if I slacked earlier in the day)

Snacks: veggies or fruit with a piece of cheese and lots of Water or tea.

I didn't start incorporating Snacks until later on in my journey. I can tell you this, I am never hungry even when I skip Snacks which I do. My doc and nut both want me to get in 60 grams of protein, this is a preference by doctor. Please follow whatever they want you to get in. I can tell you that my doc's thought process is that you shouldn't live your life on a Protein shake and that you are meant to get your nutrients in by eating them. So far it has worked for me. Believe me there are some days that my stomach is just not interested in solid protein. Those are the days that I drink more milk and eat more yogurt.

Hope that helps,

Nichole

I stuck to sample sizes. However, after surgery and the liquid and mushy phases were over, I haven't had a single Protein Shake. So I wouldn't advise you to buy anything in bulk. Plus your taste buds really do change after surgery.

I have the same problem. Frequently when I sit for long periods, my legs go numb and the pain in my rear is ridiculous. The doc told me it's just because I no longer have any cushion back there, so sometimes I pinch the nerves.

Hi there. I had my revision from band to sleeve in June 2011. I am just over 14 months post-op and my weight as of this morning in 149. I started out my revision at 220 lbs (started WLS at 241 lbs). I had a ton of complications with my band so after 18 months I had it removed.

It is so worth the second surgery!!! I am so much happier with my sleeve than I ever was with my band. I was very fortunate after surgery. I had only one complication, it was dehydration. I will tell you that happens to a lot of people. My doc just gave me some fluids and I felt amazing after that. My weight loss came pretty steadily.

My biggest piece of wisdom is that you are worth so much more than you know. Even though your band has caused you a ton of grief, it will actually benefit you in the long run. I have found that having had my band for 18 months prior to my revision that I learned to eat slowly and without the liquids. So after my revision, I have not had any issues with learning to eat with a much smaller stomach!

Feel free to message me anytime. I'll be glad to answer any questions or just listen.

Good luck!

Nichole

You may also want to try Nature-Made. That's what I take because all of the others weren't working for me. I take the Pre-natal gel capsule. I have had no Vitamin deficiencies and I am 11 months post-op.

Nichole

I can tell you I have thyroid issues. I had mine removed almost 5 years ago. My TSH runs between .2 and .5. My doc says everything is fine. But I will tell you that she doesn't listen to the test results. Instead she listens to how I'm feeling and what I'm experiencing.

The only time that you would have to take thyroid medicine for the rest of your life is if you don't have one like me or your's does not function at all. I would see a really good endocrinologist and see how they treat Thyroid Disease. Don't put off having it looked at, as we can't survive without a functioning Thyroid. (Sometimes I feel like it is the brains of the whole body operation, at least that is how you feel)

Something else that you may want to think about....my endo told me at my first visit post sleeve that she noticed a huge difference in my TSH numbers. My body was absorbing my meds far better because of the reduced fat in my diet.

Nichole

Congratulations! You look great! No moo moo's this summer!

Nichole

Welcome. I am a band to sleeve revision. You will find a ton of us on here. From my personal expereince, it was the best decision I have ever made! Check out the forum that is for Band to Sleeve revisions. It is about half way down the page.

I did not have any problems thus far with my sleeve. You can read my profile to read about my expereince with the band. Anything that could go wrong did. Just PM me if you have any questions that come to mind.

Nichole

Hi Jenn,

Here is the information you need:

http://www.tuftshealthplan.com/providers/pdf/mng/bariatric_surgery.pdf

This will give you the code which is 43775. It also gives you all the info for approval process.

Hope this helps!

Nichole

Welcome to the family! No need to ask to join us. There is plenty of room on this site for everyone. Good luck on your journey! Let us know how we can help.

Nichole

I am also on a business trip right now. Here is what I did during that phase. Soft fish, Beans, if you have unflavored Protein powder with you add it to mashed potatoes. I also ate though a little high in sugar, smoothies from Jamba juice with Protein added, Chai Tea from Starbucks (Venti has 9 grams of protein and Grande has 7 grams), skim milk (8 grams/cup I use this a lot to make up for my lack of protein on the road.) For lunch today I am thinking about having grilled chicken and salad and a snack of Peanut Butter with saltines this afternoon. You could also do chicken from a can, if you need to. Hope this gives you some suggestions.

Let me know if you need some more. I travel all the time and am always looking for something different to eat than my usual. It gets harder when I am overseas though.

Nichole

Paula,

Good luck next week! I'll keep you in my prayers.

Welcome to IMHO the best support system for the sleeve.

Nichole

Almost forgot...lunch is at noon and dinner is at 7pm. Any milk I didn't finish in the morning I drink before bed.

I'm 11 months out and here is what I have found works for me. B-1/2 cup of Greek yogurt at 6:30am and 16 oz. skim milk before that. L- 1/2 to 3/4 cup of Protein like steak or chicken. D-1/2 to 3/4 cup mixed veggies and protein. I also drink propel zero Water throughout the day. If I am feeling like a snack it is 1/4 cup of nuts usually almonds or pistachios.

Hang in there Alyssa. Try some gas-x strips for the has pain. I lives off those the first few months after surgery. They work miracles!

I would call your doc. Dehydration is very dangerous.

I read an article about 4 months ago about the differences in sizes. If I remember correctly the difference is about a tablespoon. So not much at all.

Here are the items I got last night at my support group meeting. I will tell you that the article says that transfer addictions occur in about 5% of WLS paitents, however please know that the article was done in 2007 and there has been no organized studies to confirm or deny the %. I still found the info helpful.

Let us know what else you may need! We are all here for you!

Link to the article:

http://www.docshop.com/2007/10/22/bariatric-surgery-stands-no-chance-against-an-untreated-food-addiction

We were given another sheet on the definitions, signs and identifing food addiction. But I couldn't get it to load. If you would like it, PM me and I will email it to you.

Hang in there Ali. We discussed this last night at support group. I need to scan in the documents they provided and share them. I will try to do that later today.

Trust me you have not thrown away your chance...you just got distracted. You are already half way to getting everything together again. YOU REALIZED YOU NEEDED HELP!!!

Nichole

Thank you Suzanne for a good reminder. I'm almost 11 months post op and have always had a rough time with staying hydrated. This has already helped me today to focus on my Water bottle sitting on the desk, that I hadn't even opened yet.

Nichole

Glad I could help. Hope it works for you!

I love yorkies too! I just rescued one a few months ago. She is doing awesome!

You may also want to look into taking a magnesium supplement. I did some research on it and found that it helps to make the system work. So I talked to my surgeon and showed them my research. She said I could take a 500 mg supplement daily and make sure I drank all of my fluids. Pre and Post op, we don't get enough. It is found in dark leafy greens. I no longer have Constipation issues and the magnesium is not habit forming. Plus the added bonus is that it helps reduce my Migraines.< /p>

Mine has too. My doc told me to carry the ReliOn Fast Acting Glucose Tablets. I like the grape. (It reminds me of sweetart candy.) There are 15 calories per tablet and it will bring your sugar back up quickly so you can eat some good Protein and carbs to fix the problem. They also suggested I eat every couple of hours and have a protein and a carb together. I don't care for eating every few hours so, I have learned the warning signs of when it is starting so that I can get some real food in. Hope that helps!

I am almost 10 months out too. I have stalled at the last 5 pounds. I take in about 1000 to 1100 calories a day. My doc told me last week that if I wanted to maintain my weight to keep my calories around 1400-1500. Otherwise she told me to make sure I was getting in a minimum of 60 grams of Protein (She would prefer it be closer to 70 or 80 daily), because when our calories are that low and we don't get enough protein in then our body stops losing fat. (It loses muscle instead.) She also told me it takes 6 weeks to reverse a depletion in our protein. I was shocked by the 6 week reversal!

I know we will get to our goals. It just feels like it is so close but still so far away. Hang in there!