PdxMan

Can you go into more detail? You don't post your surgery date, but by your join date and the fact that you are posting in the Success Stories forum, I am guessing you are post sleeve. Are you not feeling restriction? What percentage of excess weight did you lose? As far as a second part ... I'm guessing they could go back in and make the sleeve smaller if you original sleeve wasn't sewn tight to the bougie. But, I'm going to guess that isn't the problem ... If your issue is not feeling the restriction, then I would try to figure out why not. Are you drinking liquids with your meal or right before/after? Are you starting with Proteins first? In other words ... are you doing what you are supposed to be doing and not doing the things you aren't supposed to be doing? When I do what I am supposed to do, I feel the restriction, sooo ... don't know why there would be a second part to the surgery.

No problem. Perhaps I have been a little more sensitive. The phrase Tongue in Cheek is used to note a joke. As you spend more time on the forum, you will read posts from people who write things like, "I have my sister's wedding in 4 months and I need to lose 100 pounds", or ,"I was sleeved 2 months ago and have only lost 50 pounds". Some folks think it is a race. Perhaps they have heard about folks who opt for GBP have a window of opportunity for loss and think that applies to the sleeve as well. I don't know, but I do know a lot of folks here, including myself, either have or have had issues with food and may take things to the extreme. Just know my comments are based in love and concern. I want us all to achieve our goals and be healthy.

I was at least two months out. Spinach is a more fiberous leaf than, say, ice burg or even romain. I started with the ice burg, then added romain, then added spinach and all the other fu fu lettuces. But, I started at about two months with severly blended tuna added. It was delicious. Oh yeah, blue cheese crumbles, too. Yum I can do the shredded carrots, but whole, raw carrots have to be chewed to a shredded form, so ... as long as you chew the raw veggies well, you'll be fine.

The ads are based on your search habits as they are stored in Cookies on your computer. I got pizza ads for a while after I searched for locations of Papa Murphy's. Yesterday, I searched for running shoes, so now that is what my ads are focused on. That and The Golden Nugget. Made reservations there a week ago. Clear your cookies and they will be reset to the site defaults.

In the upper right hand corner of the site is a search box. Do a search for Protein bar. There are a lot of good threads. I'm a big fan of the Premier bars at costco as well as the shakes.

I think my top piece of advice for NOT having the surgery would be: If you are not mentally ready to change your relationship with food and believe the surgery is a magic bullet which will magically make you lose weight, then don't have the surgery. You will be sadly disappointed in yourself and the surgery. But, I was ready to change my relationship with food and this has been one of the greatest things I have ever done for myself and my family.

Wow guys (Crystal, Ken) ... back off. Did you see the part in bold? Holy cow ...

Here is me before my last race:

Wow, 20 oz in the last hour ... I can get about 8 oz ... maybe ... otherwise it sloshes around in my tummy ... and hydration is one of my issues. My longest distance is 14 miles at a 9 minute/mile pace. I have to continuously hydrate (I have a hydration belt) and start with some home-made energy gels and suck on swedish fish while I run. My digestive system pretty much shuts down when I am running, so I have to come to a complete stop in order to drink. I suck on the fish because I really can't swallow. If I force myself to swallow, then my stomach just feels awful as I get air in there. I just have to keep practicing. I've got 18 miles coming up this Saturday. Good luck with your half.

NICE!! Congrats. Did you feel you were nutritionally prepared for the event? This is an area that I have been researching and experimenting with as I train for a marathon. I would love to know about your prep. Congrats again and great job!!

My hair started falling out at about 5 months. At that point, I was doing what had been recommended by my NUT and others here on the board. I was finally getting all the recommended Protein (and then some), taking my supplements including zinc, Iron and Biotin. There must be some other component to rapid weight loss that adds to the hair issue. The hair I do have is also not the healthiest ... I know it is said tongue and cheek, but I would definately not recommend racing to goal with another member. The weight will come off. Doing it quickly is not healthy. You can Google all the issues surrounding rapid weight loss. Just because we were sleeved does not prevent the issues. Yes, you can take your supplements and Vitamins and get your nutrients, but you have to eat and I'm sure you would hate to find out the other person wasn't doing what they needed to do because they were in a race with you.

No, I think it is good to be aware of this. I think I lost too quickly as well. The consequence of it, for me, was a huge loss of muscle mass, lost 3/4 of my hair and have so much extra skin, it's ridiculous. But, as time has gone by, my extra skin has lessened, whether that is naturally being absorbed or elasticity, I don't know. I have been at the club working out lifting weights to try to regain my muscle, which has been coming back. My hair has just recently started coming back ... I think ... At least I don't have the handfuls of hair I used to have falling out. Yes, it was fun to get to goal quickly, but now on this side, if given a choice, I would have rather lost the weight slower. I was eating only 400-600 calories early on and running everyday. I should have focused on getting more calories in, I think. Just male sure you are getting your Protein in (I was not very good at that) and your nutrients. Just do the best you can.

Do a search on the site for hair loss. Lots of threads

You are not under feeding your sleeve ... believe me. I don't think that is possible. And yes, it is horrible. Only had to happen once for me to change, but I think some of us have to push the limits to know where they are. Search the site for slimes to learn more from people's experiences.

Like already mentioned, bananas contain a huge amount of carbs for the serving size. I think early out, when your activity level is still a little low, they should be avoided as Proteins should be the first priority. For myself, I run 20-30 miles a week and do other exercise activities. Bananas are a staple part of how I get my carbs in to maintain this level of activity. So, I think it depends on your activity level.

Nuts were one of my staple foods pre-op. I have tried them several times at different points in the past 8 months. Each time the result has been the same. My sleeve does not like them. It hurts. The stomach acts as the mechanical part of digestion and for me, I don't think my stomach can break down nuts well enough. I'm sure if I chewed them more I could handle it, but for me, chewing nuts down to a butter consistancy is gross. Can't do it. I like and can eat peanut and sunflower butter, though.

Well ... the hair loss question ... should you be worried about it ... and your previous hair loss experience was stress related? Let me summarize a quote from George Burns when asked his secret to longevity. He said: "I don't worry. If there is something happening in my life that I have no control over, I don't worry about it because I have no control over it. If I can control it, I don't worry about it because I have control over it." So, you are most likely going to have hair loss. Is worrying about it going to make it better? Probably not. Is there anything you can do to stop it from occuring or lessen it? Maybe, but from what I have read, the best thing you can do is to do the right thing with your program. Get your Proteins, Vitamins and Water in. Just do the right thing and know that you may have to wear a wig. I thought, at 5 months out, I was going to bypass the hair loss thing when, after putting gel in my hair, my palms were fuzzy with hair. Seriously fuzzy. It got to the point where I ended up shaving my head down close, as you can see in my avatar. If I was a woman, I would have had to wear a wig, for sure, but guys can get away with a close shave, so ... So, worrying about it isn't going to help, but having a plan will. It will cause less stress (and hair loss) if you have a plan in place and accept that you may have to put it in play. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

Listen to Dooter. She is absolutely correct. I had this happen to me once when I ate too quickly. I did the same approach of taking smaller bites and then evaluating how I felt after that bite ... about a minute, then either took another or stopped. We can't scarf our food like we did before, nor should we want to. We just had 85% of our stomach removed, for crying out loud!! Just slow down and all will be fine.

Are you battling the sleeve? Eating restrictions? Battling old mindset of making poor eating choices? Battling exercise? Emotions? Can you go into it a bit deeper?

Yarkered, I just checked out your site. Can't find the nutritional information for the products anywhere ... strike one. Almost all of your products contain caffiene ... strike two. I found an ingredient list and the first Protein listed is enzymatically hydrolyzed (predigested) collagenic protein isolate which, from my research on protein supplements, is known to be one of the lowest quality Proteins out there ... strike three. Sorry, but this doesn't come across (at least from looking at the website) as a product I would want to try. I don't want to hijack this thread with this offshoot topic ... you are entitiled to a public reply, but you can message me if you different information.

The 30 minute rule pretty much applies always. This is a new behavior we have to learn if we want to feel the restriction our sleeve gives us. While on the liquid/puree/mushy stage we are consuming liquids with the meal, you will be soon eating solids, so this is a good opportunity to transition to this new behavior. Drinking before, during or right after eating solid foods will allow that food to flush through your system quicker and you will not feel the restriction you would otherwise. For many of us with eating issues, this would allow you to eat more food ... more calories ... more bad choices.

Perhaps not. I don't know anything about the product. It may be good stuff. Can't blame a saleperson looking for business ... that is their nature.

Debly, check his first post on this thread. He is a salesman for the product. His only posts have been on this thread.

I absolutely love your post. Talk about inspirational. I think you have the best attitude regarding being sleeved. You get it. You have found what works for you and are living the life. Your life. You are not a slave to food, the scale or opinions. Congratulations.

Yeah, I will definately be checking this one out. Thanks for the review.