Indymom

How far out from surgery are you? Many times an increase in acid production (or acid reflux) can mimic a hunger pain, so it may be what you're feeling if you're very early out. I don't believe I felt actual "hunger" for at least a month or so, maybe more. Now that I'm close to 5 months out I do feel hunger again, but it's not like it was pre-op.

Sounds good, I'm going to try this recipe but use leaner ground beef. I love meatloaf!

Feeling awesome today . . . tracked every bit of food that went into my mouth today, and I stayed within my plan (about 800 calories/35 carbs/75 protein). I also did a 50 minute strength class at the gym. I thought it was going to be a lot harder to get back in the swing of things, I'm so glad to be on track again. Now I'm ready for the pounds to start dropping again, I feel like I've been stalled FOREVER!!

I also didn't have 12 classes - my surgeon works for a bariatric center of excellence, and I only had one full day nutrition class. There were also a number of pre-op support groups I could have attended if I chose to. I also didn't have a pre-op diet requirement - I only had to do Clear Liquids the afternoon and evening before surgery. My surgeon said that he'd never had issues with the liver being in the way (not sure if he based that upon my starting weight or with all patients). It's good that you're already getting yourself in the mindset of eating a 'pre-op' diet - starting to focus on healthy, clean eating now with emphasis on Protein will be a good jump-start for you when you get closer to your surgery date. I'm sure you'll find out a lot more details when you get started.

I wasn't much of a soda drinker before surgery, so I don't worry about having a few sips here & there. It's not a trigger for me and I also typically would never even finish one, not even a 12-oz can. So for example, when I took my daughter to the movie today she wanted a frozen coke. I bought her one and probably had 4-5 sips of it. It tasted good, but awfully sweet. I don't drink much anymore but if I do happen to have a night out with friends and a little too much to drink, I love to have a bit of a McDonald's fountain coke the next day for my hangover. I swear they put something magical in that stuff that helps cure any hangover!! NOW, let me say that one of my trigger beverages was sweet tea . . . when we would go out to eat at places that had sweet tea I'd usually finish at least 2 glasses before we even received our dinner . . . UGH. When I think back about all that caffeine and sugar it makes me crazy! I don't let myself drink tea at all, because even making decaf iced tea and sweetening with splenda is like a sweet tea trigger for me. Luckily I'm mostly drinking plain Water, it doesn't bother me and is better than anything else anyway!!

Tucked-in shirt with jeans and a cute belt . . . I tried to tuck a shirt in today and I'm just not quite there yet, too much of a pooch still. ) Little black dress!!! Sleeveless shirts in the summer (but this may still be tough, so far my batwings are lookin' pretty rough)

LindaS, I always watch for your posts to see how you're progressing! We were sleeved just a day apart and have very close starting weights and WL goals. I think we're about on the same track too with our weight loss.

Post-op I bought a bullet-type blender and an immersion blender. I honestly used the bullet-type blender exactly once (I use the immersion blender all the time, it kicks ass at emulsifying my salad dressing!!). My food stages, though, though, weren't as limited as many I've seen on here. I was allowed to have things like soft cheeses (cheese sticks) and refried Beans during my full-liquid phase; and during my purees phase I didn't have to necessarily "puree" things unless they weren't soft enough (my nutritionist said I didn't have to actually puree things like canned tuna and chicken as long as I chewed thoroughly - only denser meats would need to be pureed. I didn't ever consider baby food - YUCK! I hated feeding it to my daughter so I couldn't have even attempted to eat it myself. Also, to answer your question about why you have to watch your diet closely with such a small sleeve . . . there are many, many foods that your sleeve will not restrict. You could certainly sit down and eat a half-gallon of ice cream without giving it a second thought and it would just slide right through the ol' stomach. You have to be sure that you're getting enough Protein, because protein WILL be restricted in your stomach and you'll only be able to take in a limited quantity. While you'll experience rapid weight loss early on with your sleeve (since you're likely only going to be able to take in a few oz per meal for the first few months), once your capacity increases, you'll be eating more "normal" meals and it's very easy to make poor decisions (I can speak from experience). I use a food tracker to make sure I'm hitting appropriate calorie, carb, fat and protein targets daily. I'd love to eat bacon and eggs for Breakfast every day, but unfortunately while high in protein, that breakfast choice cranks my calorie and fat numbers up too high for me - so I choose to have canadian bacon and egg beater omelettes instead. Still very satisfying and filling from a protein standpoint, but MUCH less high in calories/fat.

I buy the carmelized onion chicken burgers from costco - they are pretty expensive but they are a yummy lunch and EASY. They are about 4 oz so I can usually eat 1/2 to 3/4 of one of them along with some veggies for lunch. Very good. I also try to buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco at least once a week - we have it for dinner one night then I use the leftovers for a lot of meals. Right now I'm loving a chicken greek salad - I put about 2-3 oz of the chicken on a small bed of greens with diced cucumber, red onion, feta cheese, a couple sliced black olives and this yummy greek salad dressing recipe I found online. I also love buffalo-wing flavors so I'll dice up a few oz of the chicken, and saute in a small saucepan with some Frank's red-hot buffalo wing sauce and a little shredded 2% cheese. The other night I made a turkey tetrazzini without the Pasta - I sauteed some sliced mushroom and onion in a saucepan, then I made a roux with a little flour/butter and added milk until it was a nice white sauce consistency. I stirred in a few oz of diced white meat turkey breast I had left over from Christmas dinner, and added a dollop of sour cream and salt/pepper. It was really good, even without the spaghetti noodles and buttered breadcrumbs on top.

Glad you enjoyed the cruise! I've cruised before, but am going on another one in mid-February . . . I'm really excited about it!! I just have to buckle down so I can get into the size 12 swimsuit I bought on clearance a few months ago.

That ring is GORGEOUS and such a romantic proposal! Congratulations to you! I have already told my husband that I can't wait to renew our vows at 10 years and I'll be in a slinky, sexy wedding dress instead of my frumpy 'fat' wedding dress.

I think of complications as issues due to the surgery itself (such as a leak, a stricture, an infection in an incision site, etc.). If that's what you're asking, then NO - I didn't have any complications at all. I recovered very easily from surgery with minimal pain and was back to work and my 'normal' routines quickly. My only major complaint early out was some difficulty with acid reflux, and a slight modification to my medications corrected that very quickly. Struggles? Maybe not major, but it was certainly a challenge adapting to a new way of life post-op. Very early out I struggled with figuring out when to take all my pills, how to get in all my Protein when it was difficult to drink fast, and how to get all my fluids in. I don't think any of those things are considered major struggles though, just the normal post-op course of challenges. I know many people have had it much more difficult as they've had issues with nausea, problems with dehydration and rehospitalization, etc. I consider myself very lucky to have had a fairly easy journey over the past 5 months.

Way to go! I was able to take the bra extender off my sports bra about a month ago and FINALLY broke down and bought new bras a week ago. I had gone from the first set of hooks to the very last one and they were still too loose and looked almost silly on me. I'm now in an XL or L shirt too, and I totally agree that it's such an awesome feeling to shop in the "regular" section of the stores. I bought a few new things at Kohls and I was amazed at the selection for non-plus size. HURRAY!

I've "stalled" for a while now, I was very sick from my colitis so I got off-track on my exercise . . . then the holidays came and I didn't make terrific food choices . . . . so I'm also kicking the new year off with getting back to basics. I'm not necessarily doing the full-blown "bootcamp" but I'm back to the gym, and back to tracking EVERYTHING I eat (even if I eat something that isn't great for me). I haven't gained, but I've stayed at the same weight for a month now. If you're only 3 months out your lab levels will probably still be OK. My surgeon told me that they don't even draw lab panels until after the first year (unless they suspect an issue or deficiency) because he said it honestly can take that long for a deficiency to appear. Just get back on track with your Vitamins - putting an alarm in your phone is a great idea! I have one of those weekly pill organizers that has 4 spaces for each day (and each day's organizer removes from the base) - I sit down on Sunday afternoons and fill the whole thing up for the week. Each day I take it with me to work and sit it on the front of my desk by my keyboard, so I am constantly glancing at it during the day. That way I always remember to take my pills. Good luck to you!!!

I literally planned out a daily schedule of when to take my pills, when I needed to drink my Protein and when I needed to eat - because I also had a ton of pills I had to take and couldn't take certain pills with others. As far as eating, I ate 2 oz per meal, 3 times a day - so I would have 1 oz of applesauce and 1 oz of cottage cheese, or 1 oz cheese stick and 1 oz of SF pudding (these were all foods that were allowed during my first phase). I had to space out my pills by about 5-10 minutes apart, and I take a lot (my colitis meds alone are 8 pills a day!). I also had to be sure to fit in my Protein shakes, and I usually had 2 a day - one first thing in the morning, and one in the evening. It can be hard in the first months! I felt like I was always putting something in my mouth between my pills, my Water, my protein and my food . . . . but it is much better now that I don't have to space my pills out so much and don't have to worry about protein shakes. Good luck to you!

I don't think I will ever NOT feel like I'm on a diet. My guess is that most skinny people (with the exception of those lucky few that are simply blessed with killer metabolisms and/or are workout junkies and can truly eat whatever they want without gaining) are constantly dieting (or are at least aware of what they are eating on a daily basis). If I don't enter everything into my food tracker that goes into my mouth, I will get completely off-track and fast. What are some examples of a meal you might cook for your family and what are you cooking for yourself? I try to make meals that are adaptable for my sleeve eating and my family . . . for example, I will still make spaghetti and meatballs. When I make this meal, I make sure I'm using a lean meatball recipe (or using italian turkey meatballs); I will eat more meatballs & sauce and only a very small portion of Pasta. I always try to have some salad or vegetable too. The only temptation I avoid when I have this meal for my family is the garlic bread, if I make it for them. Another favorite meal of ours is taco or fajita night. Instead of having tortillas or taco shells with mine, I just make a yummy salad with 2% shredded cheese, lots of the meat and then salsa/veggies. I might have just a few tortilla chips with it for a little crunch (or half a crunchy taco shell). Good luck!

If you're weighing yourself every day, you'll definitely see some fluctuation. I was guilty of getting on the scale every day (OK, multiple times a day!) but I only "officially" weighed in once a week. Keep in mind that daily fluctuation is very normal and can be due to Water weight, approaching that time of the month, etc. If you're 3 weeks out, you could also have hit a stall as a lot of people do around that time. Just be patient, keep on your plan, and the weight loss will eventually continue!

So weird but I was just thinking about this today, because AF came yesterday and it's been much lighter than it used to be. Is this something that typically happens due to the weight loss? What a nice surprise if so!!

As my capacity has increased (I'm almost 5 months out), I've found myself sometimes tempted with making bad food decisions - and I've found that while I'm hitting my Protein targets, my calorie and fat counts are higher than what I would like them to be to continue losing. I've revisited a whole set of recipes I used to use religiously in my Weight Watchers days . . . and because the WW points model is based largely on high protein/low fat/low carbs, I've found that many of my old "standby" recipes are also going to work out great for me for my sleeve eating as well. My favorite food blog EVER when doing WW is www.skinnytaste.com - and I thought I would post some of my favorite recipes too (and some I want to try!) They are all chicken recipes, we're chicken junkies in our house. We made this one for dinner tonight again - we make it at least once a month - it's really awesome! http://www.skinnytas...rlic-white.html I haven't made this one yet but can't wait to try it . . . http://www.skinnytas...hetta.html#more I really liked this one - I might make this now without breading the chicken, though - I don't know if the breading would agree with my stomach as well now that I'm sleeved. I think it would still be really good though, either with just sauteing the chicken in the pan by itself or just lightly dredging in flour rather than doing the egg white/breadcrumbs. http://www.skinnytas...en-piccata.html I like this one a lot too - with my sleeve, I think the recipe "as-is" is too many carbs and not enough protein for the serving size, but I may modify a little bit. http://www.skinnytas...en-425-pts.html Enjoy!!

As my capacity has increased (I'm almost 5 months out), I've found myself sometimes tempted with making bad food decisions - and I've found that while I'm hitting my Protein targets, my calorie and fat counts are higher than what I would like them to be to continue losing. I've revisited a whole set of recipes I used to use religiously in my Weight Watchers days . . . and because the WW points model is based largely on high protein/low fat/low carbs, I've found that many of my old "standby" recipes are also going to work out great for me for my sleeve eating as well. My favorite food blog EVER when doing WW is www.skinnytaste.com - and I thought I would post some of my favorite recipes too (and some I want to try!) They are all chicken recipes, we're chicken junkies in our house. We made this one for dinner tonight again - we make it at least once a month - it's really awesome! http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/03/chicken-and-mushrooms-in-garlic-white.html I haven't made this one yet but can't wait to try it . . . http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/05/grilled-chicken-bruschetta.html#more I really liked this one - I might make this now without breading the chicken, though - I don't know if the breading would agree with my stomach as well now that I'm sleeved. I think it would still be really good though, either with just sauteing the chicken in the pan by itself or just lightly dredging in flour rather than doing the egg white/breadcrumbs. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/05/chicken-piccata.html I like this one a lot too - with my sleeve, I think the recipe "as-is" is too many carbs and not enough protein for the serving size, but I may modify a little bit. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/crock-pot-santa-fe-chicken-425-pts.html Enjoy!!

I have zero regrets. Sure, the first few months are tough and it's definitely an adjustment to get used to the eating plan . . . but as the pounds drop, it makes it all worth it. I also did very well with my surgery and had a very quick and easy recovery, so don't be deterred by a few stories of complications, etc.

I don't know if I still have one of my big pairs of jeans but that's definitely a motivator - love that pic!

I think that Dial antibacterial soap works too, my instructions were to shower using Dial the night before and the morning of surgery.

I went back to work after 6 days but I really took at easy at work the first week back and worked short days. I was still pretty tired and sore, but working was manageable (I have a desk job). I made sure to walk some every day, even if it was just around the block - the walking really helped me get rid of the gas pains quickly.

Those of you who are still within the first month, your energy levels won't be too high yet - remember, your body is still recovering and healing. Just keep pushing the protein, try to get your calories at a decent level, and keep sipping the liquids! I promise you that it gets easier!!