SleeveDreamer

But as I was told, you must have carbs everyday when you maintain. If you don't increase your carbs when you get to maintenance, you will continue losing, so I need to increase my starch. My rice cakes only have 7g of carbs for one and no fat. I am allowed up to 150g of carbs per day on maintenance.

With me they are not. They fill me up nicely. The only thing for me that is a slider food is popcorn

The more weight you have to lose, the faster you will lose. You can't compare your loss to others, because everyone is different. I was 195 and now am 130. I only had 55 lbs. to lose but it was all in my abdomen and heading towards my heart. I had to have a two hour repair before he did my sleeve because 1/3 of my stomach had protruded through my diaphragm and was lodged between my lungs. I am 5' 4" and 62 years old. My surgery was 12/14/11. I have gone from a size 18 jeans to a size 4. If you are in a stall, try LilMissDivas Boot camp on here. There is no way you are not going to lose if your stomach is so tiny and you are not hardly consuming any calories. You will lose! Try focusing on measurements and see how many inches you have lost, but don't get discouraged. You will succeed.

My doctor says that a good loss is at least 5-8 lbs. per month that stays off. This is a healthy consistent weight loss. I was at goal at 9 1/2 months and I have averaged 7 lbs. a month that has stayed off. I weigh every day and always have and always will, and I never have gained even 1/2 lb. back! you don';t want to lose then gain, then lose then gain, etc. You need to keep on a consistent loss. He also said that the more wieght you have to lose, the faster you will lose, and the less weight you have to lose, it may be a little slower. But ask yourself whe you lost even 5-8 lbs. on your own! Even if you get into a stall, which you will, you will still continue to lose inches. There is no way that you are not going to lose weight with such a small stomach. It's not going to happen overnight. Please don't get impatient. Your time will come.

Before my surgery I was planning my meals that would be a couple months down the line from the Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies cookbook. I NEVER made one of those meals. All of my palnning and i never did make any of those meals. Just take it day by day. You need to sip, sip, water all day. You must stay hydrated. I could not stand the taste or consistency of powdered whey protein or Unjury powders, so i never drank them. I concentrated on Premier Protein shakes from Costco, and reduced sodium Wyler's chicken boullion cubes. I have always taken Bariatric Advantage chewable mulitple vitamins, chewable iron, sublingual B12. and gel vitamin D. I am 10 months out and at goal and I still take these same vitamins and still drink almost a gallon of water a day as well as a rtd protein drink. You will know what your restrictions are so don't worry. Your sleeve may not tolerate the things you would like it too. In fact your taste buds do change, so you can not really plan ahead like you may think you can.

It only takes 12 weeks for your sleeve to heal, that is why you don't have bread, rice, or pasta until then since they tend to swell in your stomach. I am almost 10 months and I am just starting maintenance. I was at my goal after 9 months. My NUT says I can have 1,200 calories a day and no more than 150g of carbs a day. I have really never been able to get over 800 calories a day in. So now I will just concentrate to eat foods that contain more calories and make sure I get in more carbs than I have been. I was out of town last week for a week with no scale and nothing but fried , fat foods in the deeps south. I concentrated on protein first, then a little fruit and veggies, and no bread (fills me up too much). I was able to know exactly what to eat while I was gone with no problem. In fact, I lost 1/2 lbs. while I was gone. I still can't eat over 8 oz. max at one time, but I will continue to have cheese sticks for snacks, or peanut butter and rice cakes for snacks. I also always have at least one rtd protein drink daily with 25-30g of protein. It is not hard to do once you get on your own plan. Don't worry about maintenance while you are still in your losing stages.

If you like chocolate, Trader Joe's has a great dark chocolate bar that is sugar-free. My NUT says dark chocolate is very good for you.

Any frozen preapred meals like these are FULL of sodium, which you don't need. They also have an enormus amount of carbs. You need to concentrate on protein first, then green veggies, then carbs, and you really can't do that with frozen dinners. They will not help you lose wieght after a sleeve.

Lundberg Rice Chips are very good and are an alternative to potato chips or corn chips. Also Dr. Kracker's Pumpkin Seed Crackers are excellent. I eat rice cakes every day with low sodium peanut butter on them. Sesame rice crackers from Trader Joe's are also excellent. Also my NUT says popcorn is an excellent source of fiber for us.

My NUT says peanut butter is one of the best snacks we can eat. You are allowed carbs. In fact they help you lose. Of course you can't go overborad. I have always been scared to have them too, but my NUT says you must have them even when you are losing. I was allowed bread at 12 weeks and crackers around 6 weeks I think. I usually have my peanut butter (low sodium) on a rice cake.

I have but I did not have alot of weight to lose. My goal was only 65 lbs and I lost it by 9 months.. I will be 10 months next week. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you will lose.

You my still have a gas buildup that you can't feel pain from. I would start walking as much as possible and increase your water intake so it is forced out!

Hmmm, I don't think diuretics would be a good idea cuz they will most likely dehydrate you, and you don't want to get dehydrated. I would check with your doctor to see if he has an alternative.

I know it sounds hard,but you need to walk as much as possible and that will really help the gas pain.

Congrats Tina! You are doing a great job. That is agreat weight loss so far. BTW, they sell SUGAR FREE dark chocolate bars at Trader Joe's! LOL!

Never had any pain after so never took any pain meds. Not everyone has pain so you may not. Also the drain keeps infection from setting in by draining out the bile and blood, so it is done as a precaution. i didn't even know he took mine out a week later until he held it up and showed it to me. Didn't feel a thing. If you have a choice of whether to have a drain or not, I wold say have it. Otherwise, where would all at bile and blood go? Ii would rather have it drain out than go into my body.

October 10th? Keep us posted. We are all here for you so don't worry about a thing! Praying that everything will go just fine for you!

My awesome doctor was Sunil Bhoyrul at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, CA. He is the best!

From a size 18 to a size 4. luv my sleeve!

Wow you look so pretty! that is an awesome weight loss! Congratulations!

I do eat pizza, just one piece, but don't eat tlhe outer crust end since I am a wathc my carbs fanatic!

Congrats, that is an awesome weight loss.

My doctor told me the reason I have had steady weight loss and no complications or nausea or anything is because I did and ate exactly what I was supposed to. he said so many people try to rush things and try to eat things they shouldn't too soon. and then they are sick so much and complain about it. If you do what your doctor says, you will be fine. Your time for real food will come before you know it and when it does, you will already be so much slimmer!

Your taste buds do change also. You may not want or crave what you did before! Good luck!

You have made a big decision that will change your life for the better and make you a much healthier person. Try to focus on the future and not the past. Think of the things you will be able to do with your son that you amy have not been able to do if not for the surgery and try to think about the new you. I went window shopping before my surgery and tried to imagine what it would be like to wear that size. I actually bought something in a size 8 before my surgery, and it gave me so much incentive cuz I wanted to wear it so bad! Now it is too big for me! Try doing that. You won't have time after the surgery to think about the past cuz you will be busy making sure you are eating right and planning right. Don't feel guilty about where you have been, but feel inspired about where you will be. Look at some of the before and after pics on here, and imagine what yours will look like! And read some of the nsv's and tell yourself that will be you soon! When is your surgery? Best of luck to you. Keep us posted.