Newfoundlove

Biotin is a very small pill, so I started taking it at four weeks out. I take two pills a day. One in the am and one in the pm.

I have a great NUT. She doesn't want me counting carbs as much as grams of sugar in each serving. 6 grams or less unless it's non-fat yogurt, and 12 grams or under for all other dairy. Because the rule is protein first, at least for now, I couldn't get a high carb count if I wanted to.

I slept in a bed from night one, I just propped myself up the first couple of nights. I also used a small, firm pillow to hold against my stomach when getting in and out of bed for the first week or so. But, I was able to sleep on my left side after the third night. Couldn't move to my right side until a week or so later as that stomach muscle was a killer.

Hi everyone. I was out of town on business so couldn't check in until today. I lost five pounds this past week! Yippee! Now at 215. Challenge goal is 210. Maybe I was too conservative in my goal setting, but it's my first challenge and I'm early out so I was not sure what to expect. Need to update my ticker.

I have a whole case of Premier Chocolate Protein Shakes that I am trying to use. Day two I had to really choke one down, so I switched to vanilla with orange Crystal light which was tastier. But I was feeling guilty about the chocolate going to waste so thought I would add a very small amount of peanut butter to one, blended with ice in the Magic Bullet. It certainly was tasty, but took me a lot longer to drink than usual (20 minutes is my usual time). Took me over an hour to finish. About 20 minutes after I was finished, I started feeling totally crummy. Not nauseous, kind of dizzy and really gassy and bloated. I spent the next 30 minutes running to the toilet. Apparently my sleeve is not ready for the sugar in peanut butter. I only used about a half-teaspoon full, but it was too much. Lesson learned! I'll stick to my orange-vanilla protein shakes from now on. At least I am getting in my 64-72 ounces of fluids a day so no dehydration.

You are right on target. I'm five weeks out now and finally can eat 4 ounces of yogurt and cottage cheese, but most anything else is still only 2 or 3 ounces (especially dense foods). I added some avocado to my cottage cheese now too (LOVE cottage cheese) and that's really helped with adding some good flavor. But to me, it feels so good to even have just a small amount of something that really tastes good. The Mushie stage was boring to me because there wasn't much I could add to vary the taste buds. Once you get on regular food, hopefully you'll feel better even though you'll still be eating small portions. Hang in there!

I use the Costco fully cooked chicken strips, cut them into bite-size pieces, add thinly sliced green onion, finely chopped celery, sliced red grapes, sliced almonds, non-fat mayo, salt, pepper and some toasted curry powder. Yum-O, and keeps in fridge for a long time.

In my pre-op nutrition class, we were told to buy demitasse spoons and cocktail forks and to use 4 ounce ramekins to hold the food for the first couple of months. I do this for everything that I eat, including yogurt, etc. Having the smaller spoons and forks really, really helps keep the bites small. I did find myself putting another bite into my mouth before I had even swallowed the first bite, so now, I put the utensil down and don't pick it up again until I have swallowed. If it's a new food I am trying, I take a bite, chew really well, swallow and wait a minute or two just to make sure it's going to settle fine. So far, everything has settled well except for Peanut Butter. But, I just started on solid foods so I'm sure there will be some other foods that I will introduce that won't be that kind to me. There rae also some foods that I used to love, that I have no desire to try now, like bananas. I also used to crave salty and savory items like nuts and chips and have absolutely no cravings any longer - which is a good thing! I can actually gulp Water down without an issue so I still tend to drink fast, but I've not had any issues with it -- not even gas, so I haven't changed that.

I had outpatient surgery, so I walked out of the surgery center to the car, then walked about every two hours, sometimes more frequently when I had gas. The hardest part for me was standing up straight because the right stomach muscle was so sore. I walked around hunched for the first day and then I found a small, firm pillow, held that to my stomach and it was easier to stand up straight without the pain. Walking also helps improve the blood flow which helps with healing too.

I had this too, but as soon as I started drinking warm fluids, (chicken broth) that helped to give me the full feeling. I used to LOVE watching the Food Network channel, but now I have no desire. It will pass.

I agree with previous comments. Don't think about what you used to be able to eat. This is going to be a new normal for you. At three weeks out I was on soft foods and my NUT included hard boiled eggs cut up in egg salad. But, also, I could only eat 1/4 cup of food at that time. I had a few instances of eating a little too fast and missing the full signal until it was almost too late, and let me tell you that you really don't want to realize that too late or you will feel like poo! So, I really did just measure everything out into 1/4 cup then 1/3 cup and eating slowly. Now, at almost five weeks out I can eat a little faster, but I still measure everything out. Most foods I can get 1/2 cup of, but not always. Sometimes, I get the signal after five bites or so and I stop. I also use very small utensils (cocktail forks and demitasse spoons) to limit the size of the bite I take. Items like dark meat chicken take me longer to eat though as I have the chew the heck out of them to get them to go down well.

Thanks for this post and to all of you who have replied. I just ordered the Genie Bras from their website - www.geniebra.com . Six bras for $59. I had spent some serious money on bras last Summer at Nordstrom and one bra was around $60 so the Genie Bra is a good value.

I'm also four weeks out and started experiencing some nausea, especially early in the morning. First thing I do now is to get a glass of water down and I've upped my water intake considerably so I am getting more than 70 ounces and that has really helped me.

I'm trying to get ready for a stall. I had a week where I only lost two pounds, but two pounds is two pounds so I didn't stress about it. I'm almost five weeks out and have lost 18 pounds and I'm happy with that. Last week I lost four pounds and was ecstatic. I know I will hit a stall, and I will just put my scale away for a week or more and perhaps just take my measurements. I really want to just power through the stalls if I can. I travel for work so maybe I'll hit a stall while I am traveling I admire you for powering through your stall - it must have made you feel great!

I'm four weeks out and now cleared for most regular food except for lettuce (not enough nutrition in it anyway, so that's okay). At this point, I'm still eating only 1/3rd to 1/2 cup depending on the food. I put all of my meals,including Vitamins (except dinner) together the night before in a lunch box. Here's what I had today: AM: Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (black cherry Chobani this morning) - about 4 ounces 10 AM: Babybel Cheeses - 2 of them AM: 24 ounces of Fluid - some through hot decaffeinated tea, others through Water with Mio Drops Lunch: 1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese with 1/4 small avocado cut up 3:00 PM - Premier Protein chocolate shake - I put tons of ice in mine as it's the only way I can get it down PM: 24 ounces of fluid - water with Mio Drops Dinner: not sure yet - but probably left-over chicken thighs, or I may make a frittata, as I have spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese. PM : Usually after dinner I have a pot of decaf tea. All of this gets me over 65 grams of protein and all of my fluid and keeps my carbs low.

You may, or you may not have reflux. I've had none and I'm four weeks out, but my doctor has me on a PPI (Prilocec) for three months. I know lots of other people who have never had reflux. I'm also enjoying eating. At four weeks, my NUT has me on mostly regular food. I just make sure whatever I eat is high in Protein and moist. I like to cook, so I found a great bariatric cookbook by Sarah Maria Leach and she has recipes for all stages of eating (liquids to soft to regular) and all of them have been awesome. She also offers suggestions for how to enhance the meals so your family can eat what you eat, and that's what we do at my house. I have not yet gone out to eat though. I'm eating such small portions that I just don't want to waste the money/food. But this Friday we are going to a restaurant for dinner to Celebrate my daughters HS graduation, so I will just have some Soup or maybe split some fish with my husband. I've really chosen to do this with a positive attitude and it seems to be working. I've had a couple of days of feeling tired, or slightly yucky (had to force myself to eat), but generally feel great and now have tons of energy because of the amount of protein I am consuming. I've followed my surgeon and NUT's instructions to the letter. I came out of the surgery being able to drink without any issues and most foods and drinks have been agreeable - although the Protein shakes took me a couple of weeks to get used to (I had a low carb diet for pre-op, so didn't do the shakes). I did find I can't eat Peanut Butter yet, it has too much sugar in it for me. And yesterday, I tried a very tiny bite of bacon and spent the next hour or so in the bathroom. But, you have to learn what your sleeve is gonna like and what it is not. The forum members are here to offer you their support. You're going to do great. Think positive!

I also had a hietal hernia repair same time as my VSG. I had a very uncomfortable feeling from shoulder to shoulder in front. I thought it was the anesthesia, but my surgeon said it was from the hernia repair. It was just a little annoying. Didn't hurt when I swallowed though, which I thought was weird. The sensation went away after about a week.

I am having this too, totally unrelated to the surgery. Mine is peri-menopause symptom. Very annoying but my doc checked me out and I'm fine. Don't mess around with that though. Glad you are going to see your PC.

I would add Jennie-O's Turkey Pot Roast. Discovered this wonderful food last weekend. Really high in protein, and so darn moist. You cook it in the microwave. it has a bone in it which you remove after cooking. Just simply delicious and very filling.

Try Colace, or some thinned down apple juice. Also, for me, yogurt keeps me really regular. I was allowed yogurt by week two.

My NUT said Chobani Greek Yogurt, non-fat, any flavor is just fine. She said with the high protein, it's an excellent choice and told me not to worry about the carbs for this one. Pretty much everything else that I am eating is so low carb that one high-carb meal a day is not an issue.

This is the famous 3-week stall. My surgeon and NUT told me to expect it. Do a search on this forum and you'll come up with all kinds of posts. I had what I would call a mini-stall - only lost a pound (barely), but this week I lost 4 pounds.

Sleeves can absolutely have dumping. My surgeon even gave me a sheet on what it is, how it feels and how to avoid it. I've had it twice now, one with peanut butter too soon after surgery, and today because I "had to" have a bite of bacon my husband made for breakfast. It was a small bite, and I chewed the heck out of it, but two seconds after I swallowed it, I knew I was going to have a problem, and I did. All symptoms noted above and many trips to the bathroom. Lesson learned.

My anesthesiologist put the sedative into my IV first. He said, "I just gave you a couple of glasses of wine in your IV" and I said "red or white" and laid my head down on the table and that's all I remember until I woke up. My first time under and no issues.