Kristina J.

I was sleeved 1/3/2013
Start weight 317
Op date 296
Today 187
Don't have very many or "good" before photos. I hid from the camera! Not any more!!!!!

Not for me. I can eat about 1/2 cup if that's all I'm eating.
I made the Mediterranean one the other day. It was delish!

I know what you're saying, and I do agree. But when I was banded, I didn't exercise and I didn't make the healthiest choices (even when I could). That's why I say that the band failed me, but I also failed. It helps me to acknowledge what I did wrong (like eating all the same foods, just smaller portions), so that I don't make the same mistakes this time!!! But I do get what you're saying and it's definitely a flawed system that failed us!!

I know what NurseBarbie is saying about not blaming yourself, but I do feel the same way you do. Yes, the band failed me, but I also failed the band!! Understanding where I went wrong was a huge part of preparing for my sleeve, and is still a big part of how I use my sleeve everyday. It's important to understand where we could have done better, while still acknowledging that the band is a flawed system!! I am thankful for my time with that evil little thing, because it really showed me my weaknesses and prepared me to conquer those weaknesses with the help of a system that is actually effective!! I love my sleeve and don't take any part of my journey for granted!! It all got me here!!

Thank you all for the well wishes. Everything went well. He did find a hiatal hernia that the gastro Dr didn't see and it was repaired. It seems very strange to think that I am now on the other side of this. So glad its done and over and I can focus on mending.

I' m leaving here in 5 minutes to start the 2 hr drive into my new life. See you on the other side!

I think you might be better served by determining a list of doctors, then narrowing down that list based on your needs and wants.
For instance, when I first decided Mexico was the route for me, I made a spreadsheet of all the doctors. Then I made columns for other information, like did they operate in a hospital vs some sort of outpatient facility, cost, whether they used a coordinating company or an in-house coordinator, etc. This helped me narrow down to 3 or 4 doctors that I contacted personally and then was able to further narrow down from there.
The reason I say this is because those of us who are post-op almost inevitably think our doctors are great. I know for myself (and I'd venture to guess for most) this is based on our experiences both pre- and post-op...but what makes a good experience for me might not equate to a good experience for you. I had varying priorities in a doctor which may or may not be the same as your priorities. Also, my surgeon was a part of a life changing event for ME. By nature (and barring any serious complications) I would imagine that most people have positive opinions about a care provider who helped manage a life changing event.
Once you've got a list of doctors, and are working on narrowing down those that meet your needs, you can do a search on this forum for specific doctors or ask about experiences with specific doctors. People are usually happy to provide feedback on their own doctors; it's a little tougher to give doctor recommendations without knowing any of the basic information about what might meet your needs.
~Kat

They probably didn't understand! But, in their defense, they probably meet women every day who swear they are going to drop a dress size, and don't. I also think you made the right decision. It will be fun proving them wrong when you go to pick the dress up!

I think a good rule of thumb is to look at the poster click on their profile.... Then look at their posts. Do they contribute to this site on a semi regular basis? Do they talk about things in their sleeved life other than their experience with their awesome doctor? and hospital? and coordinating company?
If not??
Well, you know what they say about a duck

Those who had great experiences do realize that those who did not are allowed to share their subpar experience without interference, right? The same applies on the flip side.

Quinoa is still fairly high in carbs, but at least if you're going to get the carbs, with Quinoa you can get a good and varied amount of nutrients and a little extra protein!! Here's a link to an awesome info-graphic comparing brown rice and quinoa.
http://www.prevention.com/whats-healthier-quinoa-or-brown-rice

I love this Quinoa Mediterranean salad I stared making. It's along the same lines as your recipe! I don't measure anything either, but I use cooked quinoa (I cook mine in chicken broth), and add red bell pepper, red onion, peeled diced cucumber, canned drained and chopped artichoke hearts, kalamata olives and some feta. I toss it all in a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and 1/2 - 1 packet of Splenda. Then chill it. So yummy!!!! I add grilled chicken to it for a meal or just eat a little as is for a snack. I love it!! I'll have to try your recipe too!!!

The **** shaming is by far the most disturbing part of this whole discussion.
I've read plenty of disgusting judgmental posts claiming, "she should have kept her legs closed" or "what did she think would happen having sex with a guy 4 days after she met him"... All implying she deserved to used because she was so willing to put out!
Where are all these high and mighty women with their posts of disgust that this man hopped into bed with someone after 4 days?! Where is there judgement that he should have kept it in his pants? Why don't any of these women believe that, just like she "got what she deserved" and should be have karma "bite her in the a$$," that perhaps he got what he deserved for hopping into bed with someone so quickly and breaking the rules at work?!
People really disgust me. We are SO fast to knock other women down. I get it. He was kind and friendly. I had a good experience with him as my doctor too. But seriously?! Because he was good to you, there's no way he could have used another patient? Come on. So over all this ignorance.

True, true, and true!! Your statements are spot on. I KNOW I could easily gain back every pound I've lost - all I'd have to do is graze and make bad food choices. It's critical to learn, and then practice, the things you have outlined. Thanks for sharing some really important points.

I realy needed to hear your story. I lost 100 snd recently gainf back 40. I feel so fown about myself right now and lonley. I love eberything ypu wrote. I am 2 yrs post op. I'm finding it hard to find support. I'm going back on my diet. I love the smoothie idea. I've been thinking about that for a couple of werks now. I'd like to stay in contact to help motivate eachother. Again thank you so very much for sharing.

It's only Friday night and I'm already losing sleep over my surgery Monday morning!!
I might be more excited for this then I was for our trip to Florida/Disney world/sea world!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I need a margarita!!

I'm in the OC. Land of the super skinny stepford wife.

This may be the best post I've read here! I really appreciate your honesty and insight!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!

My body is just out of wack. I can take 1 oz of cream of wheat and 2 oz of Water this morning ok. It sounds like a party in my belly. Everything is waking up.

This will be different for everyone. As you've seen in previous posts, a lot depends on your particular disordered eating.
Many people have issues with trigger foods - white sugars, white flour, processed foods, soda, etc. - that make them want to keep eating and eating and eating until they're sick or until they step on a scale and realize they've put on ten pounds.
This can happen at six months out, one year, two years, three years...it can happen whenever you stop being vigilant and doing whatever it is you need to do to stay on track.
Many people mourn food and the thing they have used in the past to cope is food - so the first time things get tough they post about how they can't wait to eat a cheeseburger or the can't wait to eat with their families again.
Food is coming up in the conversation, but the conversation isn't really about food, you know what I mean?
A huge part of surgery is finding new ways to cope. Another part is finding a way to eat that leaves you feeling satisfied but doesn't lead you off the right path. There's a balance you have to find and it's different for everyone.
If I'm not feeling emotional or hormonal, food does not impress me. I bake several days a week - my house smells like fresh bread, croissants and creamed butter with brown sugar (my favorite smell in the world) all the time. I also cook large meals for my family. We love food here. We eat, but we do it wisely (for the most part!) so there is no need for me to simply "X" off entire food groups and say I can't have them forever.
For me, personally, crossing a food off is the best way to make it the most desirable food ever! I can't do deprivation or I binge and graze. That's my particular issue.
For some people it's exactly the opposite. They can't do moderation because they cannot stop until it's gone. I'm this way about soda, of all things. So I get that and it's real and I don't keep much soda in my house these days.
It's important to realize that we're all going to have to find our own path here. There isn't only one right answer. If it were that easy, none of us would be here. We'd have 100% of our stomachs and go to WW meetings.
I only say that because every now and again we see flame wars erupt here because two people choose different ways to eat and they both think they're the only ones that are right.
Glad to see all of the experiences shared here - I wish everyone success, even if we all take a different path to get there.
~Cheri

That's cool. Stop sucking down half of pizzas tho.

Three Years Later - What I've Learned
Here's my experiences from the sleeve process years ago. I wish I had this information before getting the sleeve, so I wanted to share it with all of you:
GAINING WEIGHT
Gaining weight is easy: you simply eat when you're emotional, lonely, or not hungry. Even though my stomach would barely fit a slice of pizza, I could still suck down an entire large meat Lover's Supreme by eating a single slice, waiting until my stomach could fit some more and then eating another. Until the pizza was all gone. You can also do this with ice cream, burgers, fries, and all the other miscellaneous crap food widely available via drive thrus.
This is why you're required to see a counselor and nutritionist - to handle your eating issues. If these aren't handled, then DON'T BOTHER WITH THE SURGERY. You will simply get fat again by eating smaller portions more frequently. If however you only eat when you're hungry - and stick to good foods then you're golden. Now OBVIOUSLY if you did that in the first place you wouldn't be fat. So surgery is a booster shot to your weight loss, and new way of life.
Think of it as waging a war, and surgery is a tank. Now a tank is a formidable weapon. Can run over enemies, shoot some big artillery but eventually if all you have is that one tank, you'll probably lose a prolonged battle. So you gather some strategy and military air support (diet changes), some recruits and soldiers (lifestyle changes) and NOW you have a master battle plan for your war. And ultimately a better thought out path to success.
You invested a lot of money and pain into this - don't screw it up.
FIRST FEW MONTHS
The first six months your weight will drop amazingly fast, because you're out of surgery and can only eat Soup broth for a week. And then slowly mushy foods come in, followed by a few solids. You don't really need a blender, there are ample canned goods you can eat. Baby food, blending a steak and other shocking posts you read about aren't required: just shop for other things that qualify. Going out with friends during this period is depressing, since your diet is so restrictive, you're staring blankly at the menu for a long time and finally decide on Water.< /p>
Get everything you need together before coming home. You'll be on some pretty loopy meds when arriving home, and won't be in any shape to hit the local Walmart. Nor will your family want to bother with it - so plan ahead.
FOOD AND STRETCHING
You can only eat maybe a half cup of food during the first couple months. Then a cup after about five months, then two cups after longer. You can hurry this process along by stuffing your face until your stomach hurts so bad you need to go lay down, or vomit. But if your eating problem is that severe then see my multi-faceted approach to surgery from above.
Each person is obviously different, but stretching your stomach (to me at least) seems difficult and a venture of pain and suffering. I can feel my stomach naturally taking in more food over time, however I've cycled that back down by going a few days drinking only delicious fruit smoothies. This makes my tummy literally shrink back to where it was after surgery, or pretty close, dependent upon how many days I go. You can also accomplish this via more extreme methods like water or veggie juice fasting, however banana/stawberry/pineapple with some coconut water and ice in the blender tastes much better in my humble opinion.
If you do continue to gorge like a tick on bad foods, then yes your stomach will stretch. I've met a few people who's stomach has returned to normal size. Again - everybody is different, I'm just telling you MY story.
How much food you can eat varies by food type:
RICE - I can eat maybe five spoonfuls of this before I feel sick. Stuffing in another three before my body registers that I'm full and it's a vomit party. You need to eat slowly - there's a point in which eating more means bending over the toilet. And once you've experienced that joy, you quickly learn where the limit resides. Rice expands so you gotta be careful. An average meal of fried rice and an egg roll is a full day's worth of food, that requires splitting up.
SODAS - Equivalent to drinking battery acid. I've met some people who've acclimated back to it, but why bother?
MEAT - Steak is bad, try like five or six bites before calling it quits. chicken is similar. Fish goes down a little easier, and you can eat more, maybe because it's flaky.
SALADS and FRUIT - I can eat one banana. Two is painful. Ditto with grapes, strawberries, etc. These foods process through your stomach quicker, so you can eat a little more often compared to stuffing down a sirlion.
PIZZA - Takes me about 12 hours to suck down a large thin crust. Regular or deep crust, I end up tossing half of it into the trash.
Desserts - They hurt. Bad. And then make me sleepy, ticked off and depressed. I mostly stick with natural sugars now like fruits and veggies.
RESTAURANT EATING
Eating out with friends has a lot of rules tagging along. You must wait 30 minutes after drinking water before eating (which works out great, since that's how long food takes to arrive). I order an appetizer or split a full meal with a friend, so this is not a big deal. I see and hear lots of drama about this mingling around, but it's not THAT bad, and you can easily make it look perfectly normal without telling people you had surgery. You don't need a little happy note from your doctor saying you had surgery, just get a doggie bag or go halfsies with a buddy.
CONCLUSION
These are just my two cents, and I hope they help someone.
I lost about 100lbs, then gained back 50.
I'm in the process of losing again thanks to a diet change (I went 100% raw food) and exercise.