joatsaint

For me, it really depends on the spice. When I was at week 3 and could eat purees, I was eating a mix of refried Beans, puree turkey hamburger, cheese and taco bell taco seasoning. I had no problems until I added the Taco Bell taco sauce, Frankensleeve would go into knots and it felt like rocks being ground up in a garbage disposal. I had no problems with Pace or Old Elpaso salsa. I'm in month 17 post-op and can still feel my stomach lurch whenever I give Taco Bell taco sauce another try, but I stir cayenne and crushed red pepper into most of my meals with no problem. It wasn't until about the 6 month mark that I could tolerate cayenne or crushed red pepper.

I can't remember a time when I didn't know about weight loss surgery. I've been overweight since grade school and have been researching different ways to lose weight since middle school. I can remember my parents taking me to the doctor and getting me a prescription for diet pills before I was 10.

Sorry to hear about your cold and I hope the x-rays turns out well for you. Getting used to eating so much less was a big adjustment for me too. At 17 months post-op, I still tend to have eyes bigger than my stomach... especially if there are a lot of things to choose from, like at a buffet. And I still struggle with leaving food on my plate, I come from the "clean your plate" family, but I'm getting better at it. It really helps to use saucers and 1 cup sized bowls to limit the amount of food I can bring to the table.

It was after I'd lost about 60lbs that I noticed that my feet stopped swelling. The more weight I dropped the less frequent I noticed it happening, along with a reduction in the random pains in my knees and ankles. I believe that people are most often told to stay off the scale because they get frustrated when the scale isn't continuously going down. Weight loss isn't a going to be a steady downward path. The body is going to figure out at some point that calories have been decreased and start trying to conserve it's food reserves, but eventually weight loss will begin again. I never had an issue weighing myself several times a day. It was just something to do and I wanted to see how much I weighed before and after eating, before and after peeing and pooping. I know, I'm weird... but I'm not the only one! Check out my blog post - How often do you weigh yourself? If start out with the attitude that there are going to be days when the scale isn't going to move and promise you'll be patient till the weight loss starts again, then you shouldn't be afraid to weigh yourself as often as you want.

This strategy may not work for everyone, but it works for me. I'm a sugar addict and just walking past a cake or donuts is enough to trigger my head hunger. When I'm in that type of situation, I try to fill up on Protein or low glycemic foods first. Then, if I still have that nagging desire to eat sugar and just can't resist, I allow myself about 1/2 of a 6 oz coffee cup of the treat. Filling up on protein and good carbs before eating sugary foods slows down the absorption of sugar and fills my stomach.

Me too, I had the knot from the stitches in the biggest incision sticking out. On my 1st post-surgery follow up, the doc grabbed a tiny pair of scissors and snipped the knot off and tugged the thread out. No big deal.

Congratulations on your surgery. I remember all the gurgling in my stomach, it went on for weeks post-op. I ate almost nothing that 1st week post-op, maybe half a Popsicle a day. I wasn't worried about food. Shoot, I was 200 lbs overweight.... there wasn't much chance of me starving to death for months!!! :-P My only focus was getting enough fluids. I'm a side sleeper and couldn't sleep on my side for about 3 weeks. I had to roll up a comforter into a log so I could sleep raised up like in the hospital bed. Good luck, every day will get a little better. I was hurting like Hell that 1st week, but by day 10 I was pain free and back at work.

I did my initial interview with the surgeon a week after I decided to have VSG. And I completed all my pre-surgery tests and was sleeved within a month. But I knew what I wanted and my insurance is very weight loss surgery friendly. I never felt comfortable telling anyone about my decision to have surgery. I had to tell my parents and my best friend, but that was it. It's been 17 months since surgery and I'm just now feeling okay about telling people - but only if asked, I don't volunteer any information. I would not suggest getting sleeved together. If one of you needs help during the1st few days post-surgery, the other may not be able to help. I'd at least stagger the surgeries a month or so apart. You both could go through all the pre-op tests together. You'll still be losing weight together and can be there to support each other through the process.

My doc didn't give me any meds for acid and I've never taken any. But you should really call your doc and get his answer as to whether you should be taking them or not. Every case is different and you need to go with your doc, he knows your situation better than anyone.

I've avoided cereal simply because it's so processed that they have to add things to it to make it taste good and shelf stable. I'm no purist, but in general, I try to avoid any prepared foods. Hmmmm...... now maybe it they could figure out how to make a cereal out of steak or hamburger. New from Kelloggs - Steakios, comes in two flavors, grilled hamburger or smothered steak. I'd try that. :-)

Really enjoyed your video. Keep them coming. You'll look back post-surgery and be glad you made them.

Congratulations!!!

I was eating 600 - 800 calories a day. But the amount of recommended calories is going to vary by doctor. My handbook says 50% lean Protein, 25% healthy fats, 25% carbs. In an 800 calorie diet, that's 400 calories of protein, 200 calories of fat, and 200 calories of carbs.

My doc said I could start taking showers after the 1st week. Before that he wanted me to cover the incisions with plastic wrap or water proof bandages. He didn't want the incision sites to be submerged in water. At one month he said I could start taking baths.

Welcome to the board, poke around and feel ask questions, or just lurk on the boards (that's what I did the 1st few weeks ;-P). You'll soon see we all have the same nervousness about surgery. I'm 47 and got my Sleeve 17 months ago. Never regretted it for a minute. I was nervous about the gastroscopy too, but it was no big deal in the end. They gave me the anesthesia, it felt like I blinked my eyes and it was over. Other than a little scratchiness in my throat, there were no issues.

I'm about to reach 18 months post-op and I've lost 154 lbs as of today. I have been overweight since grade school and was sleeved at 47. I was worried that the surgery would be another empty promise like all the other "miracle" weight loss products I saw on TV. My entire mental attitude changed right after surgery. No more food cravings or the compulsion to eat certain flavors. I assume it was because of the reduction in ghrelin production. My biggest battle has been not letting myself get back into the habit of eating when bored. I've never truly felt hunger since surgery. My stomach growls, but I don't have that mental need to eat. I've stalled out on my weight loss several times, but as long as I go back to eating correctly, the weight starts coming off again. I work with several ladies that have had the Gastric Bypass - 1yr, 4yrs, and 10yrs. since surgery. They are all happy with their weight loss and have maintained it.

Boiled eggs were one of the toughest foods on my sleeve - very hard to break down. You might try soft scrambled eggs instead and see if you have the same reaction. chicken, eggs, whole wheat bread and vegetables were some of the foods that took the longest for me to get adjusted to post-surgery. Frankensleeve felt like a garbage disposal trying to grind up rocks when I ate something he didn't like.

This is what I lived on: scrambled eggs, creamy peanut butter, greek yogurt, refried beans, cream of mushroom soup, and very well pureed lean meats like turkey hamburger.

The 7 or 8 days post-op were the "What the Hell did I do to myself????????" phase. I was pissed at the world and depressed at the same time. But I knew there was no going back. I was in a lot of pain, but knowing what I know now, I'd do it over again in a second. Each day will get a little better. Remember, this was no minor thing you had done. It was major surgery, no matter how "everyday" it seems to be portrayed in the media and online. Your stomach had a major trauma. Your system is putting all it's resources towards healing and you probably still have some of the residual medication from surgery in your system. Hang in there, it does get better.

The pre-op diet for me was hard. At the time, an all liquid diet was mentally stressful. After all the years of being on diets that failed, I couldn't believe this one was going to do me any good. Just the thought of being deprived was causing me stress. But I made it through. And I can say that it was much tougher than the surgery. If you can get through the liquid diet phase, surgery is a breeze!

I can understand your frustration. I would make it easy on myself and tell the doc who I'd like to continue therapy with, get the surgery and then decide if I wanted to continue therapy or not.

Hey guys, Atkins is still giving away their Quick Start Kit, which includes 3 Atkins bars - completely free. I did an Unboxing and review video of the contents, it's posted below. The link to the Atkins free offer is below the video. http://goo.gl/1mAv8A - This is the link I promised to the sign up page for the free Atkins Quick Start Kit. There's no catch, they need your email and shipping address, they even pay shipping and handling. The kit included 3 different Atkins bars - one small, one medium, and full size meal replacement bar. All 3 were delicious, it was hard not to eat all three of them. Just a word of caution, the bars are sweetened with sugar alcohols, so those of you that can't tolerate sugar alcohols might not want to eat the bars. The kit also includes some literature: 2 coupons for $1 discounts on Atkins bars, snacks, and meals. An Atkins approved food booklet and the Atkins Quick Start guide that explains the Atkins diet and the phases. As well, there are links to the Atkins support community and where you can download the Atkins app. The Atkins app will help you: *search for nutritional info, *keep track of your carb intake, your weight and how close you are to reaching your goal, *provides a daily meal plan or help you design your own, *has a database of the foods considered acceptable for each phase, *and has a restaurant guide to help you make Atkins friendly food choices when dining out.

Hey guys, Atkins is still giving away their Quick Start Kit, which includes 3 Atkins bars - completely free. I did an Unboxing and review video of the contents, it's posted below. The link to the Atkins free offer is below the video. Meal Replacement bar. All 3 were delicious, it was hard not to eat all three of them. Just a word of caution, the bars are sweetened with sugar alcohols, so those of you that can't tolerate sugar alcohols might not want to eat the bars. The kit also includes some literature: 2 coupons for $1 discounts on Atkins bars, Snacks, and meals. An Atkins approved food booklet and the Atkins Quick Start guide that explains the Atkins diet and the phases. As well, there are links to the Atkins support community and where you can download the Atkins app. The Atkins app will help you: *search for nutritional info, *keep track of your carb intake, your weight and how close you are to reaching your goal, *provides a daily meal plan or help you design your own, *has a database of the foods considered acceptable for each phase, *and has a restaurant guide to help you make Atkins friendly food choices when dining out.

I was able to ditch my CPAP 9 months post-op. It's been 8 months since I stopped using it and I get enough sleep to feel rested. I started experimenting with sleeping without the machine when I started having problems sleeping because my machine was pumping so much air into my stomach that I'd wake up. I was passing so much gas that it was literally waking me up. :-P I wasn't able to go off the machine when I tried sleeping without it at 8 months post-op, but I tried again a month later and noticed an improved sleep and I wasn't waking up every few hours. I am pretty sure I still have some light apnea, but it's no where near the severity it was. I occasionally wake up because I wasn't breathing, but I still wake feeling like I've gotten enough sleep. Before the CPAP machine, I could barley function at work and I spent all my time at home trying to catch up on sleep because I was so sleep deprived.

For me, it's hard to separate the two (restriction/healthy eating) in determining which I rely on more for success. I pretty much ditched all my unhealthy foods right after surgery and then relied on my restriction to keep me from over eating on healthy food. After the 1st year, I let some old habits (eating when I'm not hungry or just eating out of boredom) creep back in. Even though I was eating really healthy stuff (Beans, lentils, low glycemic vegetables and lean protein) the calories stared adding up and my weight loss stopped from December 2013 to March 2014. I had to get back on track and go back to carefully watching my caloric intake. And when I wanted to eat, I had to think on it and decide if I was really hungry or was I just bored and wanted something to do. Now, I'm no healthy eating purist, I still let myself eat a little dessert here and there. But I know that if I take in too many calories of any food, my weight loss is going to stop.