hollirrose

Ok, I am not following my surgeons plan. Keep in mind I had my surgery in Mexico. It is funny that I would trust them enough to cut out my stomach but did not trust their post op diet. Their plan did not have a calorie goal. Here is their basic post op diet provided to me by Dr. Garcia in Tijuana. Meat-Must contain 7 grams per 1 ounce serving/Dairy-2-4 servings per day/Vegetables-1-3 servings/Fruit-1-3 servings/Starch-OK if whole grain/Fats-3 servings. I lurk on this forum all the time. What I noticed is that the successful vets pretty much have said that they followed 600-800 calories/60 or more protein/40 or less carbs per day. I started doing this from the beginning and the weight has just come off. I could eat more calories too, but I don’t. MFP keeps me in line. Sometimes at the end of the day I stare at my food log and regret the higher calorie food choices if I am hungry. J I also remind myself that I can have anything that I want. If I wanted a piece of cake or pizza I could have it. I don’t feel deprived (most of the time). I am also grateful that carbs/starches sit in my tummy like an elephant. It is a big deterrent not to eat them. It doesn’t hurt but it doesn’t feel good. At this point I basically eat meat/cheese/eggs/shakes. No starch and very few vegetables. BTW.. I think you are doing great. I was almost 75 lbs heavier than you when I started.

My fitness pal name is hollirrose. I would love to add anyone who friends me. Thank you everyone for all the positive comments! Sometimes a nice pat on the back just feels good.

It is nice to finally not be "circus fat"! . I feel good today!! I just had my blood work done so I can't wait to see the health progress as well.

I always like seeing progress photos so here are some of mine. I had surgery on 4/20/12 and have lost 85 lbs. A few of those were pre-op. I eat 600-700 calories a day that I track on MFP/min of 60 protein/min 64 oz water/max 25 carbs. I have totally got this! My only regret is that I didn't pick out a more attractive "progress photo" outfit.

Dr. Garcia did. You get a pre op diet/post op faq's when you book surgery. You also get a post op diet plan and follow up suggestions when you leave the hospital. You also get a welcome home email with much of the same info.

Ok.. a girl here but I want to answer some of your questions. Some of the questions I never even would have thought of pre-surgey. It soulds like you are trying to make the best decision for you! I as sleeved in April. Lactose intolerant?? I never had a problem with lactose before surgery. About two weeks after surgery I became very lactose intolerant. I knew that this could happen but was totally surprise that it did to me. I changed my Protein shakes, switched to no lactose “milk”, and kept some lactase pills around just in case. My intolerance has since just disappeared, which seems to be the norm around here. For some people it takes just a few weeks…others a year… and unfortunately some it never goes away. It is also different for each person. Some can’t do milk but have no problems with cheese or yogurt. Can you do spicy foods still?? Yeppers! Do certain smells turn your stomach that didn't before?? Yes and of all things it is turkey meat. I can’t stand the way it smells when cooking. I never had a problem with it before. Do any normal foods you ate previously not agree with you now?? I can eat anything…. but I feel uncomfortable when I eat anything like bread or tortillas so I avoid them for now. Any other things you can't tolerate after the sleeve?? Not really. food is just food now. I eat it …sometimes I still enjoy it.. but it is just food. This is not something I could have understood before surgery. I wish you the best of luck!!

Just to follow up. I never did get a response from Dr. Garcia. I also want to make it clear that I never would have emailed or called a US doctor directly. The only reason I sent him the email directly because that was what I was told to do when I left the hospital. His card with contact info had been provided to me if I had any questions or concerns. I forwarded my email question to Melissa and within just a couple of hours I had the an answer!

I almost forgot about her... She will be my next email if I don't hear back from Garcia today. Thanks for the suggestion!

Great suggestion Pooleyism. I will put this in the review section as well. I'm with you also.. this isn't negative just an honest account of the follow up. It is really hard to choose an out of the country surgeon. I try and remember what it was like trying to sort through all of the info. This is info I would have liked to know.

I had surgery in May with Dr. Garcia. I sent him an email with a post op question on Friday. So far no response. I am kind of disappointed with no reply. I'm giving it another day or so before I contact the company who booked the surgery (osi solutions) to see if they can assist. Don't get me wrong ...I am not unhappy about my surgery ...or the results so far... But geeze... I wish there was some follow up!

I called Malley's Surgical today and was told the support group is open to the public. She said there are several patients there who did not have surgery with Malley and specifically several vsg folks. They meet at 10 am the second Saturday of every month. The address is 10787 Nall Ave., Suite 100. Overland Park.

You can change your profile preferences to how ever many calories you want per day. Once you change that you won't get the starvation message.

I was able to drink a lot from day 2 on. I never felt uncomfortable with liquids and was actually concerned about the amount I was able to drink and how fast. My doctor didn't put any restrictions on how much to drink at one time. I was just told not to gulp. If you are able to drink a good amount then you are lucky! Have you seen the posts of people who can't even sip without feeling sick and full? Listen to your doctor ... But happy drinking!

Not much help from me.... I have an office job. I went back 5 days after. I felt great.

Thanks for all the good suggestions... "Morning sickness" is a drag!

Anyone else experience this? I have tried eating a little something before bed like a cheese stick but I still feel pretty yucky in the morning. Any other suggestions? It does go away in about 15 to 45 mins but it would be nice not to have this every morning. I'm about 5 weeks out and get in my liquids and protein.

I could have taken them or left them before... Now that I read your post I have a terrible hankerin' for a donut! I swear I can almost smell them..... :-P. I just finished reading a post about cup cakes with Peanut Butter frosting. Ohhh... Now I want a fresh, hot donut with peanut butter frosting! I'm outta control!

Oh... Now I going to have to put some PB2 I'm my shake tonight!

I can't do lactose now, well most foods that contain milk but not all. I get very ill with youget/cottage cheese/orange cheeses. Once my intolarace showed up I changed my eating habits. I have been taking a low carb approach and have been eating more meats and a few low carb veggies. I guess, if I wanted to get my calories lower I could eat lower calorie meat/fish options. It is great to see what everyone else is doing!

Good luck with the shakes! Drinking the protein shakes is an easy way to get at least 60+ in per day. I have been using the my fitness pal app on my phone. It is a fantastic way to keep track of calories and protein.

So I am getting between 600 and 750 calories a day ...320 is protine shakes. Are you guys not doing shakes to get such low calories? If not, how are you getting 60+ of prot.?

Google the PB2 website... They list the stores that sell it near your zip code. For me hyvee and price chopper. It is only $5 or $6 buck. Totaly worth a try!

I sent an email to malley's last week about the support group being open to the public... So far no reply. I will call them next week and get an answer.

3 day clear liquid/week full liquids/week mushy/real food!

So maybe this was a bit lofty... but for the last couple of days I was trying to get my protine in the old fashoned way--eating. I see that at about a month out that is an imbossible task. I do have unflavored protine that I have been using in my crystal light but wondered if anyone had any suggestions on a good tasting lactose free RTD shakes. I am a kinda rare becuse I do not mind premier, adtkins, or any of the mixes that I bought from gnc. As a matter of fact, I kinda even enjoyed the protine shakes. I could still tolorate my gnc powder with lactaid milk until a few days ago. I do prefer RTD shaks, tho.