alley-gator

Utah is the worst. It has more fast food restaurants per capita than any other state which is awful. As a busy nursing student & mom sometimes it can be so hard to eat healthy on the go!

I am 4 months out & my weight loss has slowed downvin a big way. I searched the threads for this but wasnt really finding what I need. How many cals is everyone eating a day? I was 253 starting weight and now at 192 and totally stalled. This is a typical day for me:

Breakfast: 1/2 c cottage cheese, premiere Protein Shake.

Lunch: 2 emily bites cupcakes ofbone flavor or another.

Afternoon: beef jerkey or cheese for snack, maybe greek yogurt.

dinner is usually chicken or fish.

Some days I end up snacking. Most days I am right around 1200 cals which seems like too many? I can easily do more than that if I don't track though. My nut isn't super helpful so what do you guys think I can do or change?

Yep, I am in salt lake. 8 weeks post op today & down 42 pounds including pre op diet.

Oops sorry I wasn't on one until 4 weeks post op.

I would suggest taking it. I was on one until 4 weeks post op, & now 8 weeks post op I've got an ulcer. I wouldn't chance it. I never had reflux either. Not once.

I think I may have an ulcer as well. What were your symptoms? What did the doc prescribe for you?

So Water and liquid just sit really uncomfortably. Like literally it hurts and makes it feel like I have air bloating my sleeve. About an hour after I eat, maybe two, I am seriously hungry like I could eat a whole cow. Sometimes I am sick to my stomach, but it is mainly just a painful hunger feeling. I have no choice but to eat something, and then I feel better. It's slowly going away with the Meds.

So I am almost 8 weeks out, and at my appointment this last week I found out I probably have an ulcer. Dr. Is 90% sure that I have one. So I am now on ulcer Meds, which are helping so obviously I do. Anyone else had this happen? Nothing that I eat causes pain or upsets my stomach, but liquid anything still does (water, Protein shakes etc). Because of this my weight loss has been on the slower side, judging by what I have seen here in the past few years researching. Also looking at others who had surgery at the same time, I am losing slower. I am okay with that, but I know that if I could get all my liquids & Protein in I would be helping out the cause. Any recos on what I can do to speed it up with an ulcer??

Surgery date 12-20

Pro op diet loss 14

Post op loss 24

Beginning weight 253

Current weight 213

liquids about 30/40 oz a day

Protein 50-70 a day.

Carbs about 50 a day

To those of you who have had ulcers or who are a ways into this... What high protein foods went down easiest? I need sort of bland stuff to let my ulcer heal. I've done lots of cottage cheese, string cheese, cupcake bites, Protein Bars, Protein Shakes, Greek yogurt. Some of it is getting old.

I seem to be a bit lost here. Would you mind showing what it is you are referring to?

Are dirty pictures allowed, otr?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

I have had pcos for 13 years, and never got periods on my own. Did 2 years infertility treatments before getting pregnant finally. Since surgery 6 weeks ago I have had 2 perfectly timed periods and I ovulated on my own in between. My Hair growth is mainly on my face, and I've noticed that getting better. It grows slower. Hopefully it will keep getting better....the weight hasn't been coming off super quick for me, I've lost 32 total, 14 preop & the rest in 6 weeks since surgery...I hate pcos!

Ooooh yeah. easier orgasms, more orgasms, more natural lube, better positions...and horny as hell!

I had the vertical sleeve on Monday 1/14 and was ok the hospital for four days. It seemed so easy to do the liquid diet there and get the essential fluids and protein' date=' but now that I am home I don't feel like I am getting enough of either.

On top of that my boyfriend and I live together, and I know that he has to eat (lol), but the smells remind me of the foods I used to love. It's torture. I am now constantly questioning my decision to have the sleeve surgery in the first place. Should i have let my love of food consume me? I am so uncertain right now. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.[/quote']

So I was right where you are a few weeks ago. If you look at my past threads, you'll see that you are not alone. Keep your head up, you just have to get through the next bit of time and you'll feel so much better about food. Just keep following the plan, and one day soon you will realize it isn't so hard. One thing I learned after the fact that no one ever told me, is that ghrelin stays in your system for about 30 days post op so don't plan on food cravings changing overnight, but they will change! Good luck!

It's so hard to know what it was! I almost get scared to get new foods unless I am at home for a period of time after.

Geez its like I don't speak English. Sort, autocorrect kills me sometimes.

You look great!!

I have not tried cherry cause I'm not a ferry fan, but I did have issues the first couple of times I ate chobani tight after surgery. I am 4 weeks out now and seem to do okay with it.

I only knew about shaving down there when I come to the US. In my country only the prostitutes shave and we can guess why ( with all the traffic) but when I got here I started doing it' date=' end up with bumps, cuts, a mess. I dated an Indian and he was not into shaving at all so I got lucky , now back to my culture, no shaving at all. He even wants the armpits so I draw the line, these gotta go but if I need something special like a car, a vaca paid for, hello armpits hair, check in my hands!!!! Now you go back to my country, shaving is a trends for some.[/quote']

You seriously crack me up. Both of your posts had me laughing so hard!!

Here is the box I use, it was 7 dollars for a pack of 4 and its turned out great! It even has measurements ob the sides.

[ATTACH]8206[/ATTACH]

Good luck this semester, I started back today too

My school has microwaves, so this weekend I made a bunch of cupcake recipes and I have a little tiny lunch box that's fits 2 perfectly, and it has a little ice pack in the lid, its awesome so I do that. I throw a string cheese in, and I am good, but you could do cottage cheese & fruit, egg salad, tuna salad, etc. I love the little box because I can't be lifting a lunch box around all day on campus.

"Mrchris" this is a really good topic and I'm glad you brought it up. It's really interesting! Whether I'm more vulnerable or not (and I don't feel that I am even post op)' date=' if I decide to stand up for what's right and it's important enough to me to get my a kicked, I'm still going to stand up for myself. I think the key for me is "importance" of the situation and is there a physical threat to me or my family/friends. If someone honks their horn at me for switching lanes abruptly and coming over on them, that's rude of me and I deserve it. But if that person later pulls up beside me at a traffic light and wants to make it a bigger issue than it is, and advances towards me physically, well, then it's on. Because I have a right to defend myself/family/etc and I will, even if I think I'm going to get my butt kicked. To answer your question on if I feel more vulnerable, I think the answer is probably no for me. In my 20's, I was 6-4, 320 ish and though I was strong, I feel that my current self at 6-3, 228 (yes I think I've shrunk in height), can kick the crap out of my "20 something self". I'm quicker, more fit, now taking Muay Thai lessons, and with my current lifting approach, probably even more explosive than I was in my late 20s. I think that if I was in this hypothetical battle with the younger version of myself, that as long as I stay on my feet and not make it a floor (wrestling) event, that I would win. Even if it did go to the mat, I think I may be able to tire out "20's Mark", then move in for the hold and defeat this younger version of myself.

With that said, if Brock Lesnar, or similar type fighter, was really mad at me and came at me to kick my a, I would probably feel VERY vulnerable. But if I felt the situation was important enough for me to defend myself, I'd still give a futile try. So for me, I guess it's all relative. [/quote']

My favorite part is that you've actually been contemplating a fight between old you & new you lol! It's obvious that this isn't the first time you've gone over this in your head. Love it.

It's a good question.

In my neck of the woods (Abu Dhabi' date=' UAE), there is virtually no pre- or post-op support. One week before surgery, you show up at the hospital for blood work, a chest X-ray, and an echocardiogram. They want to make sure you're strong enough to survive the surgery. That's it.

I researched this surgery for a solid year-and-a-half before undergoing it. I consulted with three different surgeons, interviewed a half-dozen patients about their personal experiences, and read as many journal articles on the procedure and early recovery process that I could find. I was well-prepared mentally for the surgery but, as others have already written, no amount of mental understanding can prepare you experientially for what you will encounter. The specific phenomenology of this surgery varies considerably by patient given each person's history, overall physical and mental status, particular issues with food, and—no less so—personality organization.

Writing entirely for myself, I was so fixated on the mechanics of the surgery (particularly how much pain there would be and whether I'd be able to return to work in three weeks) that I really didn't focus on what it would be like, for example, to consume nothing but fluids for two weeks. I mean, by day 9, I felt like I was drowning!

From what I've read on these forums, I do believe a lot of people unfortunately delude themselves into viewing the surgery as a cure for their obesity and, of course, it is not. Now that my staple line is completely healed and all the swelling has subsided, I see how easy it would be to start eating excess calories if I wanted and I'm only 32 days out.

My wife is a Filipino and, just the other night, she made a big pot of a tomato-based dish consisting of ground pork called Giniling (better known by its Spanish name Picadillo in the States). I happen to really like this dish. According to the food database on MyFitnessPal.com, Giniling has 554 calories per cup and, "of course," you can't eat this dish without rice. At that point, as I'm on a 1290 calorie per day program and only had just over 300 calories left, I watched my wife and brother-in-law enjoy big scoops of Giniling poured over large mounds of long-grain rice while I ate my two ounces of deli-sliced turkey breast and one ounce of cheese. (I can cry now just thinking about it!)

I can easily understand how pissed-off patients become when they realize (some much later than others) that the sleeve is not going to do all the work for them. If they don't make the effort to track their food intake on a daily basis and exercise at least three times a week, it's very unlikely that they will reach goal and it's very likely they will regain at least some of the weight back.

The bariatric surgeons here don't emphasize the persistence of food cravings, the pesky phenomenon of "head hunger," the fact that they don't remove your taste buds along with your stomach, or that you can still easily go way over your BMR caloric requirements for the day even after having had 75 to 80 percent of your stomach removed! It's simply not in their best interest to stress these facts of life for the typical VSG patient.

Sure, it is truly a lot easier to do the right thing after getting sleeved, but it's certainly not a walk in the park by any means.[/quote']

Well put, sir. My initial rant was fighting with head hunger & being miserable with it, for the reasons you outlined above. Thanks for a quality response.

I had a harder tiime with my gallbladder surgery...however this could have been because I also had surgery on a broken ankle at the same time...2 for 1 special lol...In hindsight not the smartest move...had the worst gas pains cause I couldnt get up and walk it out' date=' and then they put on crutches and that is all ouchie as they cut up my core..[/quote']

Oh this sounds awful

Yup' date=' she knows everything.[/quote']

Otr is on the prowl ladies! You all better watch out!

I have one & have used it a few places. Rodizio grill let me use it for 7.00 what a steal!

hmmmmm.............

back on topic

alley-gator

how do you feel "mentally" after reading all the great responses???

just as importantly' date=' how are you physically feeling today???

everybody cares about you (and OP in the same situation) thats why you are getting so many responses

hope all the words of wisdom from everyone have helped

your problems/situation will improve, promise!!!

would i lie to you [/quote']

Thanks for checking on me! I feel pretty good, this week has been much easier physically & mentally. And after not losing for 2 weeks, I started losing again. I start school again tomorrow so its good distraction from thinking about food.< /p>

Some role model you are....

Lol!

I was on full liquids the whole post op time. Who even knows with all the differences.

Otr driving all the time, how do you fond time to post?

Gmanbat you should stop beating the old folk. Having a smokin wife doesn't mean you can beat people up.

Here I always thought you were such a gentle guy.