Chimera

Welcome guys technically I need to lose 188 - but its close to 200! Best of luck on your upcoming surgery!

When you have your sleeve with the intact valve at the bottom of the stomach, coupled with the much smaller size of that stomach - pressure builds up and thus the gurgle lol. I was cracking up at my last support group meeting because two sleevers on either side of me had the gurgle going on - then I started in ha-ha.

I can relate - I just came off of a set point weight that I lingered at for years, when I would lose I would gain right back up to it and stop - until I eventually gain past it. Losing past it has been a bit of a challenge. I am approaching my 8th week post vsg (saturday) and losses are starting to slow. I think I am getting into the pattern that I will probably experience through the rest of this journey - lose a pound or two and then stay at that weight for days to a week - I have not yet experienced a stall that lasts a few weeks, with all of the great support and advice here I hope to weather it gracefully as so many others do. Looking at the trend over weeks is something that makes me feel better - such as what weight I was at last month on this day - that is when I see a better number. I think my goals are reasonable, and that is 10 lbs a month.

Sweet! I loved milk those first few weeks, it really helps when everything else is tasting like caca lol. Congrats on your halfway point

There are no long term stats for the sleeve - it is too new as a stand alone procedure. The stats from my surgeons practice~ RNY Gastric Bypass: patients lose 50 to 80% of their excess weight within 2 years. Sleeve: patients lose 50 - 70% of the excess weight within 2 years AGB/band: 50-65% in first two years. VSG can be the first surgery for folks with high BMI's - it can be converted to a RNY or a Duodenal switch if things are not working.

I could only get 1/3 of an egg down after a month - I can now eat one egg over easy and a slice of turkey bacon (most days - sometimes it is just too much) - now scrambled eggs I seem to have a harder time with for some reason and cannot get much down at all. My husband who had his vsg two weeks before I did can eat 2 eggs.

Eggs were my best friend - and I made chicken salad in the food processor, it seemed less disgusting as chicken salad than just pulverized meat. I focused more on the protein and fluids, and still am - the advice to mix veggies in with the protein is good to know and I am going to try that. I do have a thing for summer nectarines so I have those a couple times a week as their own meal.

Congratulations on half-way - I want to be there too! 14 more lbs to go

One of the providers at my surgeons office says that they do occasionally prescribe Phentermine post surgery to their bariatric patients if they are struggling - I would consult your doc.

woo - that is very high - I think a lot of folks around here try and keep it 40 g and under during "magic year" - or our biggest losing phase. My NUT wants us to have 600-800 cals, 80+ g protein, and I try and get between 20-40 carbs a day - which come mainly from fruits, and my vitamins and calcium chews contain carbs. I dont worry about fat, with what we are supposed to eat it is usually fairly low, yesterday I had 29 fat grams, day before it was 17, etc - never seems to get that high - it is the carbs that are the devil lol.

I think it is important to remember that written text carries no inflection - whatever our reaction is tends to be more about ourselves than the writer...I really don't think that Benjamin means harm - he is one of the most positive folks around and always has good advice. shake it off, no one is out to get you. I think most of us struggle with head hunger after surgery - I know my head and my mouth certainly can get me in to trouble, as they always have - so I have to work the tool and follow Dr's and nutritionists recommendations to be sure that I am doing things right - yes it sucks. But hopefully it will get easier with more experience. It's like it was when I quit smoking after 28 years - that craving is like a needle skipping on a record it was so strong, then it eventually begins to subside. I think you should prepare and do your best to take care of yourself during these family events that center on food - make a healthy choice and get those 5 best bites youv'e ever had thank goodness for a board like this where we can share our feelings, no matter what they are.

I can't seem to resist the nectarines in the stores right now - they are always as hard as a rock when I get them so I buy 4 at a time and ripen 2 at a time in a bowl on the counter - so 2 nectarines a week for me right now - I know that they are higher in sugar than other fruits, but I enjoy them so deeply and I savor them that I think this is a good thing for me, emotionally and physically. I don't eat much carb on a daily basis as it is (usually under 40g). I've spent a lifetime just gobbling garbage that was no good for me, and not paying any attention - I am very mindful of the nutrition count of that little nectarine and I enjoy every morsel of it. Once they are no longer in season I wont have them any more until next year It is an astronomically better choice than the things I would eat pre-surgery.

Congratulations on an amazing achievement - I too have arthritis and some days are simply agony, hoping that all of our sore joint heal as we lose more lbs.

Oh wow - looks like there are some great recipes there, thanks so much for sharing the link

We have really had to adjust to get used to this as well - I had my first restaurant meal last week - a 7 oz. sirloin that I worked on for days - was eating it each meal and I still couldnt finish it before I couldnt stand how 'leftover' it had become lol. The first few weeks I feel like I threw out tons of food - now I am using the freezer more and realizing my husband and I just cant eat that much - it helps having a 16 year old who has dubbed herself "The Black Hole" because she is happy to eat our meal leftovers - she is not overweight but has lost a few lbs. herself with no carbs or sugar in the house - well, except for low fat tortillas, we don't eat those and she likes them. I think it takes a little bit for our brains to catch up to the fact we won't be able to eat that much - it is such an ingrained habit to cook a mountain of volume - even cooking normal portions is too much - just gotta keep practicing

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Very exciting! Surgery day can be scary, but it is the best day ever

Go girl! That is awesome I began with 188 excess to lose to achieve goal, with some big milestones approaching. Congratulations on your hard work and success, you look beautiful

Fat isnt the problem - carbohydrates are Atkins is excellent - Primal is even better. I would suggest finding a few simple recipes that you both like that are Protein based with veggies on the side - she will be on liquids for a while after surgery and it takes a bit before she can eat again and when she does it will be like 1/3 of a scrambled egg my husband and I keep it pretty simple, do a lot of grilled meats, aged cheeses, and though it slows weight loss fruits - it is hard to resist the summer fruit in season for me so I will have a piece every few days. There are some fine recipes shared in the forum here and here are some links to very popular recipe sites that folks here frequent. Bariatric patient who has awesome recipes: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ This gal is a recipe blogger who tailors recipes to Weight Watchers - lots of good stuff, especially her wonton muffins. http://www.emilybites.com/ Primal site - primal/paleo are very similar with Paleo eliminating dairy, which can be rough for new surgery patients because it is a great source of protein and nutrients. In a nutshell, eating this way" meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds.I have a big group of freidns who are firefighters, and this is how they eat. This will be farther down the road post surgery, but there are folks here who enjoy eating this way (myself included) and it falls right in line with post surgical recommendatons. Excellent recipe section. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz20oAM2VNa Best of luck - spend some time with this board, the amount of valuable information as well as the kindness and generosity of its members is staggering

Recently found this recipe on Mark's Daily Apple - which is devoted to eating primal - a way of eating I have been moving towards for a while - with Protein first as my cardinal rule - after one of my good friends who is a firefighter raved about it (her gang at work eats primal, and the are crossfit folks - cannot imagine people more fit.) Hilarious name - and I have not tried these yet but they look yummy. http://www.marksdail.../#axzz1zss9QFOX

Welcome - I had a long time to prep, wasnt scared at all and then the weekend before surgery was petrified It was worth every scary moment.

Yes my vsg was done in Seattle - Dr. Ross Mcmahon at Swedish Medical Ctr.

I guess it depends on what your surgeon prefers in the pre-surgery diet - some Doc's want patients on all liquids - my Doc has us do Atkins induction - high Protein, low carbs (20g or less), lots of Water, Vitamins etc. I actually ate quite a bit of cheese (aged sharp cheddar) and did just fine with shrinking my liver - ate lots of chicken, low sodium Soups might be a nice savory option. I know that I lived on the protein chicken broths I purchased from my Dr's office post-surgery as I do not have a sweet tooth at all and much prefer salt/savory. I am one of those that does not do non-fat, I will do regular or lowfat cheese - evenutually I would like to ditch the artificial sweetener but it seems like it is in a lot of stuff used immediately post op. Unless your doc wants all liquids, eggs, chicken, broths, will still comply with the liver shrinking that needs to happen during the pre-op dieting phase.

You could start by trying out Protein shakes to see what you might like. We use Premier Protein ready to drink shakes - you can get a case of 18 them at costco for around $24 (160 cals, 30 g protein, 3-5 carbs depending on flavor, and 3 g fat) My NUT's at the surgeons office throughout my almost year of pre-op dieting always have us choose protein first - and my pre-op was similar to Atkins induction (less than 20g of carbs a day), lots of chicken, steak, fish and non starchy veggies. I quit coffee before because I have problems with addiction, and it is a vehicle for spoons of sugar - I also started to really cut back on processed carbs - i.e. anything made with white flour - breads, baked goods, rice, no popcorn - NUT even said that there are no essential carbs - but rather our bodies will convert fat into the best fuel ever. Also watch the fruit - yes it is full of nutrients but also quite a bt of natural sugar. Good stuff but it can slow weight loss. So lots of protein via shakes - chicken, fish, beef - all lean meats, green salads and veggies and lots of Water - if you have your bariatric Vitamins start those - they make you feel great.

I find that this is one of my biggest challenges. Especially with timing the Vitamins (usually the trusty Protein shake, which I can choke down once again, is the answer) Sometimes I will take a teeny tiny sip if I feel I absolutely have to - but I have gotten in the habit of leaving my drink bottle in the other room because it is second nature to want to reach for it. I eat Soup a lot so I can still drink - I wonder if that is cheating lol.