Swiftflow

Liquids are not a guage for most of us, I can down 32 oz of liquid in a couple of mins if I wanted too, but I still can't eat much more than 4 oz of solids. Your body is designed to hold substance in the stomach until it is liquid and then it passes to the intestines so if its already liquid and you don't have swelling issues you can drink non-stop (not that you should--it's just possible) I agree with everyone saying that you should not be "testing" steak at this point, but since you have I have to ask did you drink while eating? Thats a good way to help stuff slide through your sleeve and defeat the sleeve's purpose as a tool. So if your drinking with meals that is also a reason stuff can slide through. I think all surgeons recommend not drinking during or until at least 30-45 mins after a meal--make sure and ask your doc his guidelines.

Technically with chewing properly everything can become mushy. Can you clarify if you are talking about the ability to eat quantities of food or if you mean you can take a bite of any kind of food? Also what was the bougie size your doctor used? After a month and a half I still have issues with any type of food I eat too fast or do not chew properly. I can probably eat 4 oz of solids and 6-8 oz of mushy/slider foods (slide right through the sleeve easily like yogurt)--what is the quantity you can eat? Edit: technically with a slider I could eat more than 8 oz cause it keeps sliding through--I just don't because I have no hunger. If you are eating a slider type of food in high quantities that is not abnormal as far as physically possible, its just not a healthy use of the VSG tool. Don't get me wrong I still make mistakes, its just a matter of not returning to bad habits.

On a positive note, our team just won 1st place at our steak cook-off this weekend! I can eat around 3-4 oz of the tender rib eye which is nice. A couple of NSV's cames out of this first steak cook-off post surgery. 1. I was able to last all day without massively sore feet and back. 2. I had more energy through the day in spite of the blistering heat. 3. And my 2x team shirt now fit me instead of having to use my own "iron-on" shirt version that was 3x like I did last year.

As a member of a steak cook-off team I plan to try my first rib-eye at a contest this week. I cook a mean ribeye steak!

Well, as I had mentioned in my blog I was acting as a guinea pig for the calorie shifting method of doing 3 days low cal 1 day high. And this past week I had a few days of stall anyway.. So my body was able to get used to this pattern a bit anyway. I wanted to be truthful about this as I was just testing it. The true zig-zag method is supposed to only shift a couple hundred calories and not a drastic amount like my 3 days around 800 cals and 1 day around 1800. I still think the method helped me some the first few weeks, but in itself has not been a stall preventer. So I am going to go back to a low carb focus and try to randomly vary calorie amounts each day instead of a strict 3 to 1. Tiffykins method of low carb the first few months is where I am going to try and focus now. For me I was calorie focused this first month and did not count carbs--I did get protien and liquids in, but did not even worry about carbs past that. I get to start some exercise this week too since I will hit 6 weeks out, and this will help as well. Anyway, I said I would test and report my results back so although I would have liked to continue to drop 5+ pounds every week on my shifting method it has not been the magic pill.

Good news.. The addition of new cardio has kicked the Weight loss back into gear! My favorite cardio outside of running is the Stairmaster stepmill (small escalator looking stairs)--it really kicks my butt. I tend to push myself pretty hard in cardio as well. I like getting up right near my limit of tolerance and pushing it hard (30 mins for now), and then I cooldown with a easy treadmill walk.

I was able to swallow the normal pill form beginning day 3 with no issues. If your swelling is different then this could change for you--but I would take it right when I woke up so it was the only thing I had. Then after getting showered, dressed etc I would eat (or drink) breakfast.

I am going to begin exercising this week as I will hit 6 weeks out and my plan is to be able to drink while exercising--meaning at least 30-45 mins after my last food intake.

I will also be hitting the gym this week starting up some cardio as I will be 6 weeks out as per Doc's orders--this should also help with some new weight loss.

For my one month update I wanted to share from my overall experiences both good and bad. Lets start with the good: Surgery was on 4/28 and today is 5/28 and I have lost 30.4 pounds. 30 pounds in a month is awesome and I am so thrilled I made this decision. I do feel my restriction and get full very quickly. 4-6 ounces is about my capacity depending on the type of food. Slider foods like Greek yogurt I could eat more of but I just eat a 6 oz container and stop there. So far I have been lucky to not have hunger *knock on wood*. I have felt thirsty though--but this could be psychological because I used to always have a diet coke nearby to drink from--now its water or crystal light but I still have the need to have liquid around allot. Needless to say, I always get my fluids in and usually more. This may be TMI but my urine is usually clear (which is supposedly a good thing) Now lets talk about my diet. Some people say this is not a diet and not to treat it that way- but technically your diet is what you eat so everyone is on a "diet" all the time (neener neener, HA!). I stick to the general doctors orders here for the most part on most days. I count protein, but I have not really bothered with calories that much. I get very full on protein so I try to have some type of fruit or veggie when I can fit in an ounce or more. I think I could still add some more here but I will explain why later. 3 out of every 4 days I am pretty much by the book vsg diet low carb, high protein (70-80). Where I have drastically differed is on my 4th day. I up my calories and do count calories on this 4th day because I want to try and hit from 1800 calories or more. This would not really be possible for me to do without pure junk food IF I tried doing this with just food just based on how often and how much I can eat. So I supplement with a "weight gain" drink called Suplimed. It was developed as a well balanced formula to help those who have lost weight through illness to regain weight. One 8 oz shake in water is 500+ calories and more if its in milk.(sometimes I do half at a time) So I typically do 2 whole shakes plus food to get me to the 1800+ on my forth day. As I can eat more real food in time I will lower the shakes or half them. Why? because I am trying to avoid any weight loss stalls and not allow my system to adjust to low calorie metabolism--and I use the shakes because I don't want to use junk food to up calories. I am not recommending this to anyone, because that would differ from what your doctor would have you do--I am happily the human guinea pig for this and I just want to see how this works for me over the next couple of months. So far no stalls *knock on wood*. This zig-zag calorie method has been in the body-building world a long time--so I did not think it up on my own. I just could never do it pre-op with all my hunger. I started my first high calorie day on my second day of full liquids and have stuck to the 3 regular days 1 high cal day since then. Honestly, I don't look forward to the high calorie days because it is a chore to get the shakes and food in when you have no hunger--but I stick with them like a prescription medication for now--if they stop being effective over time I will drop them. Supplements I take: BA multi vitamin. The orange was nasty but I can tolerate the berry flavor. Twin labs sublingual B12, Vitamin D weekly 50,000IU (set by doc based on pre-op low levels), prescription to prevent gal stones(help me keep the gal bladder), and I take a tablespoon of Barleans Omega Swirl to get necessary fats in. Protein supplements as needed too. Ok the Bad: It has not all been roses--or maybe it has been roses, but there are a few thorns . Let me preface this by saying I am very happy with the sleeve and would not trade it. Post op--I had a wonderful experience until about one week out where it felt like I pulled something on my large incision. It was painful and I had to rest it a couple of days--luckily I did not tear it or have a hernia (internals protrude through incision) but it was a wake up call to me. I should admit this now I guess-- I hit the Stairmaster Stepmill (real stairs that rotate) the day before this happened --STUPID ME! I just felt so darn good and the stairmaster has been my punisher of choice for years--nothing happened that day but the next day simply bending over without bending my knees and popping back up quickly caused the oh crap moment. I talked about the bending over part before, but I had to come clean on the Stairmaster part so someone might learn from my idiocy. This from a guy who skied 1.5 days with a broken collar bone back at age 18--I did not know it was broken but my pain tolerance is a little off and dammit I had paid for those lift tickets! Anyway, I thought I would be super sleever at one week out. That stairmaster is going to get its ass kicked at 6 weeks out I will tell you though! With a couple of rest days I luckily had not messed anything up--whew what a wake up call. The next item I have had to learn after moving into regular food is to slow down. Its easy to remember this with dense heavy foods, but for foods like scrambled eggs--I used to inhale those. Bad habits of not chewing foods like this have led to me throwing up--I would stew for like half and hour trying to walk it off until finally my stomach says "nope!" and up it came. So yes you have to chew even the smaller soft foods. Last but not least I have dealt with some constipation. This is why I think that I need more fruit or fiber in my diet. I have used Miralax (or the Walgreen's equivalent) to clear this issue up some, but I want to get the food right so I don't have to. So there you have it the good and the bad so far at one month out. I am loving my sleeve and the results have been awesome. Feel free to post any questions if you are pre-op or new to this. Thanks!

Well, as I had mentioned in my blog I was acting as a guinea pig for the calorie shifting method of doing 3 days low cal 1 day high. And this past week I had a few days of stall anyway.. So my body was able to get used to this pattern a bit anyway. I wanted to be truthful about this as I was just testing it. The true zig-zag method is supposed to only shift a couple hundred calories and not a drastic amount like my 3 days around 800 cals and 1 day around 1800. I still think the method helped me some the first few weeks, but in itself has not been a stall preventer. So I am going to go back to a low carb focus and try to randomly vary calorie amounts each day instead of a strict 3 to 1.

I still suspect any hunger could be acid--but then again we all differ. My first few weeks I was regularly taking prilosec and never once felt any hunger whether it was in the morning after not eating all night or several hours after a meal. I would test it to see if it helps at all as well. Many docs have patients on a ppi for the first 6 months no matter what, it would not hurt to try a 14 day test and see if the "hunger" feeling goes away.

This is a good thread! So far with my current loss, I have been able to: -Not ask for the seat belt extender on the airplane. -Able to use a "normal" bathroom stall and not the handicap larger one if needed. -Starting to find some clothes at normal stores, still at 2x but 3x is now too big. Future: -not be the biggest guy who uses the Stairmaster stepmill at the gym. -able to Run again and long enough to get my "second wind" -maybe complete a marathon -Have my waist size be smaller or equal to the length on my Jeans. -Have someone describe my appearance and not mention the words big or large. Maybe one day tall and thin..

Rob Snyder Voice, "You can doooo iitttt!

Everyone has to choose their own comfort level with this, but I am a believer in letting people know especially if they are someone who could benefit. My main reason for this was because a friend of mine (male friend) had WLS and I had never seriously considered WLS as an option until he told me how he had lost the weight. Its weird I have had a couple of female friends I knew who had it and being proud and stubborn it took seeing another guy having WLS to make me really consider it.

One month out today and down 30.4 pounds post-op. Although it would be nice to average a pound a day for the rest of the weight loss phase, I am not banking on it :scared0: . I am so happy to be a sleever! For those new to this or pre-op I did finally do a new blog entry today outlining the good and bad for me through my first month. http://verticalsleevetalk.com/blogs/swiftflow/592-one-month-out-today.html

Ok to this part that was not a joke :lol0: I would say stick with your docs recomendations--why? Protein, protein, protein! full Liquids usually includes Protein shakes. Drink slowly and you will love the healing and energy protein brings you. Not because I said so of course--but to follow your doc's guidance. My doc had me on full liquids day 3 and man I loved getting some nutrition in and started feeling human again. Maybe it will clear up the pizza dreams :lol0:

It does get better, and as we progress the options open up. Just the other night I got to go out with the wife to On the Border she ordered the 3 enchilada dinner, I was able to eat the refried beans and half of the inside of one chiken enchilada. It was wierd to only spend 15 bucks on dinner, but it was nice to go out and kinda feel like a date night again. She has really started to help me out. Go back a couple of weeks before that where I was on soup and she wouldn't come to the table to eat with me and I had a major breakdown--the point is I was getting a little of that post WLS depression and something just set me off--surprised us both. We discussed it and it has gotten so much better just over a couple of weeks. Like we are in this together now.

:thumbup: Nice! Pass me a slice of that imaginary pizza!

I would say go longer based on some of those who remove them at 10 an have them pop open. Just my opinion based on some of the pics I have seen. I had no bindings for mine except tape and they healed wonderfully--but those with stitches seem to differ in the way they heal. I kept fresh steri-strips (wound binding thin tape) on mine a week longer just to be very safe.

Rockin that sleeve sir!