joatsaint

My doc told me to take any good multivitamin I wanted. I started taking vitamins about the 2nd month post-op. I've been taking the Sam's Club brand multivitamin tablet, a sublingual B-12 tablet from Wal-Mart and 1000mg Calcium citrate per day. I haven't had any stomach upset from any of them.

Thanks for the info. Doing these was harder than I thought because I am not much of a talker. I turned the camera on and then thought, "Oh crap, how do I start the conversation?" :-P

My doc didn't put a limit on SF popsicles or SF jell-o, but my stomach did. I wasn't able to eat much of anything for the 1st 10 days.

This is from a post byNJMOMof2 Symptoms of a leak are: Fever, rapid heartbeat, sever stomach pain, vomiting According to my surgeon, after 14 days you have a less than 1% chance of a leak. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/22197-what-are-the-symptoms-of-a-leak/

I had the sleeve, but 2 ladies in my office had gastric bypass. We are all losing weight and happy with our decision. I chose the sleeve over the bypass because it creeped me out - thinking about the doc rerouting my intestines. :-P The other things that pushed me towards the sleeve - 1. I don't have to be as careful about becoming Vitamin deficient. Bypass patients have to watch this more closely - but they tend to lose weight quicker. 2. Sleevers don't experience dumping the way bypass patient can. Sleevers still have the valve at the bottom of the stomach that regulates the passage of food into the intestines. Bypass patients can experience dumping syndrome by eating the wrong things and the food passes too quickly from the stomach to the intestines. From what I've read and seen in Youtube videos, this is not fun!

I found that when I took my calcium citrate increased my energy too.

What kind of info are you hunting for? There are so many books out there that it's hard to pick one or two that cover everything. I can tell you that I've never bought any books, I've found everything I needed on this board, just by visiting every day and looking at the new questions posted. We have so many of the same concerns and questions, that eventually some one will post the answer I'm looking for. And a lot of the time, I see things posted that I never thought about, which later were useful. The best way I've found to search this site for head hunger is typing the following into Google - site:verticalsleevetalk.com "head hunger" You'll get lots of personal stories and experiences from people that are going through the same things you are thinking about. If you really want a book, then I would look up "Emotional First Aid Kit" on Amazon and read the reviews to see if any other books are compared to that one or if the reviewers suggest other titles.

Hello VSG'rs this is my 1st video review, hopefully not the last. I'm trying to do a series of reviews/question answering from the topics I see posted in the forum. I would like to get better at doing these and would appreciate your input/opinion (positive or negative) about the video.

I mix Isopure unflavored whey protein into my soups and in refried beans.

From what I understand, a normal portion of meat is 4oz. Once I was on full foods (starting week 6), I only able to eat 4oz in total per meal. I bought some Glad 4oz storage containers to eat out of, so I wouldn't accidentally overeat and have stomach pains (do that once, and you will be very careful about how much and fast you eat!). Now at month 9, I am able to eat about 8 to 10oz per meal. Sorry, I never took any photos of my meals to show the size.

I don't go around telling people that I had surgery. If they ask about the weight loss, I tell them the truth, I am eating less and exercising more. And my co-workers can see that I'm eating less, eating healthier and walking a lot at lunch. If someone directly asks if I've had WLS I tell them that I did. I just don't make a big deal about it. Just remember if you tell someone at anytime, but you can't untell them.

Sugar free Blue Bell popsicles and Crystal Light lemonade.

Yes, this is completely normal. For at least the 1st month post-surgery, I never felt hungry and couldn't tell when my stomach was really hungry or if it was just my old habits making me want to eat. One solution I found was to get some 1/2 cup plastic containers from Wal-Mart. I would eat 1/2 cup of whatever 5 to 6 times a day to get in my calories. I knew that I could hold 1/2 cup without over-filling my stomach. Hope this helps. Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

Thanks guys. Hopefully my pic will inspire someone that's on the fence about WLS to realize it really is worth it.

Just wanted to show off a little. Bought a new suit this month and then ran across a vacation pic from July 2012. If you look closely at the July pic, you might notice a cruise ship hiding behind me. :-P

I tried the sugar free Hershey's dark chocolate at Wal-Mart. I thought it tasted really good.

I am not completely off mine, after 9 months post-op. But, I am able to sleep some nights without it and I've had to adjust the air-pressure down. If I lose another 20 - 30 lbs. I think I may be able to get off of it permanently.

yes, it is normal, your body is still bloated with all the IV fluids they pumped into you post and pre-op. I gained about 6lbs the day after surgery, but it was gone in a few days.

I don't like exercise. I don't get that post workout rush so many people talk about. "Oh, I have so much energy after a workout." I call B.S. I think this is a buch of hype created by marketers, much like women who've had children encouraging other women to have kids by saying, "Oh, childbirth is painful, but it's the kind of pain you forget." Yeah, right! They just want you to suffer like they did. :-P So post-op, I had to figure out how to get in some exercise without thinking I was really exercising. Here are the ways I've been able to sneak in more exercise without really exercising: Parking far away from the entrance at the mall or superstores. If you've ever been to a mall or Super-Wal-Mart, you know what I'm talking about. Wearing a backpack to work. I started using an old backpack as my lunch box after my old lunch box became overflowing with vitamins, protein powders and shaker bottles. It was an old one I had bought a few years ago when I went to college. It still had the school supplies (pens, pencils, calculator, screwdrives, and floppy disks (yes! we still used 3.5" floppies in 2005!)) and one of my old school books. The book weighs about 5lbs and I just left everythinging in the bag. It probably weighs around 20lbs with all my junk in it. I park at the far end of my office parking lot and wear it into work. It's almost a thousand feet from my car to my office. Do that twice a day and I've gotten in almost an extra quarter mile of walking. That's a sneaky way of burning a few extra calories without really exercising. Now if only I could get Security to let me walk up the stairwell to my office. :-P Bathroom workouts - squats, wall push-ups. Another sneaky way to slip in a little extra exercise is to workout in the bathroom. Each bathroom break, I do 40 wall push-ups and 15 squats. It's easy if you have a handicap stall. The one in my office has handrails that are perfect for using my arms to help support my weight when I do toilet seat squats. They're really simple, I stand up and sit down on the toilet, trying to use my legs (and not my arms) as much as possible. The wall push-ups are really simple as well. I stand as far away from the wall as I can - and still be able to lean forward safely. I lean forward with my hands about shoulder width apart and rest my weight on my hands. Then do a push-up, 1 second down, 1 second to complete the up motion. I started out at 10 push-ups and now 2 months later I can easily do 40, 2 to 4 times a day. Stairwell workout. My office moved from a single story building to a multi-story office building in January. Now I have access to the stairwell on the 5th floor. I walk down to the 1st floor and time myself going back up to the 5th. A round trip takes approximately 5 minutes. Do that 2 or 3 times a day and you can build some endurance in the legs. Walking the long way around the building. My office is pretty big and is shaped like a baseball diamond, so no matter which direction I turn when I leave my office, I can make a loop around the building and get back where I started. So I always make a complete loop around my floor whenever I leave my office. Or if I have the time, I make a loop on the 5th floor, walk down to the 4th, make a loop there and walk back up to the 5th. Pretty sneaky, huh? So these are some ways I have been able to sneak in some extra exercise without it really feeling like I'm exercising. Hopefully, you will take some inspiration from my tricks to find your own ways of working just a little more exercise into your life. Keep Pimpin' that Sleeve!

One of the scariest or infuriating things I encounter is when I've made a new low on the scale and then gain back 3 or 5 pounds in the next few days. And then it takes a week to get back where I was. I know it's just my body getting adjusted to my new lifestyle, but it is infuriating to see it happen. After reading so many success stories about losing 20 plus pounds per month in the 1st 6 months, I WANT IT TOO! Not 10, not 15, I want my 20+ pound loss, just like clockwork - gimme, gimme, gimme! But that isn't the way my body wants to do it. So I'll just have to get used to the way it works. In fact, the gains are my fault. I allow myself a "cheat" meal on Saturday nights and one more on Sundays when I visit my parents (twice a month). It's not that I eat more food, it's just less healthy. For example: Friday morning weight in: 296.8 Saturday night was Golden Corral buffet night. Over the hour I was there, I had about 4oz of meatloaf, 1 fried chicken strip, 1 big cauliflower floret w/cheese, about 2 tablespoons of Shepard's pie and about 1/2 of some kind of pecan gooey thing. I didn't stuff myself, just ate until I was full, waited while my friend hit the buffet again, and I ate a little here and there as my stomach emptied. The following Sunday happened to be one of the 2 days a month I visit my parents. At lunch we had Churches fried chicken. I had 1 fried breast, 1 single serving of mashed potatoes, and 1 biscuit. This is not the normal fare, usually mom cooks meat and vegetables. I wasn't able to eat the whole thing in one sitting. I broke it into 2 meals, one at 11am, the 2nd at 2pm. The rest of my meals for the weekend were my normal fare: turkey hamburger w/cheese and spaghetti sauce or turkey hamburger w/gravy and chopped cauliflower. In a 4oz bowl. Monday morning weigh in: 302.4 - almost a 6 pound gain! I can only assume that all the salt and sodium caused quite a bit of water retention. I don't believe I really over did it too much on the calories. Now it's Thursday - 4 days later - and I'm back down to 298.4 - 4 pounds. Not surprising really, it's happened more than once. That doesn't mean I have to like it! I think it might be a good thing to switch up foods this way, my body won't get accustomed to a certain calorie count/protein/carb/fat intake. I just won't go overboard on the bad stuff and eat it more than 6 meals a month. Now if only I can get over my fear of seeing the scale move up instead of down! And I'll watch and see how my body reacts long term. If turns out that it's causing stalls or long term weight gain, I'll have to go back to the basic diet and cut out the bad stuff. NSV! Now, where's my light saber? I have to punch a new hole in my belt.

Here's mine, but you have to have a warped sense of humor to tolerate it. :-P http://www.verticals...pected-journey/

That looks really cool, but my first thought was, "Really? A pencil sharpener for carrots?" :-P

Rule #1 - Cardio Walking is not wonderful. The only part I do like is getting outside and attempting to beat my previous time. Yesterday, I walked an 18 min. mile. That may not sound like much, but when I first started my mile was around 30 mins. - if I could do a mile. So, I am trying to follow the program and get better, and faster but I can’t say that I love every minute of it. Walking is boring. If I could get away with it, I wouldn’t walk. Maybe if I could figure out some way to bring my computer with me on a walk I’d have a different attitude. And while some people are very adroit at using smart phones for everything, I tend to crash into cars, trees, and big rocks if I don’t concentrate on where I’m going. I always try to walk with a buddy. That way there’s someone to talk to and hold me accountable for showing up. And, it’s a safety thing as well. If we happen upon a bear or wolf on the trail, I don’t have to worry about out running the bear. I only have to out run my buddy! I’ve thought about getting one of the new exercise office desks. So I can stay in the house and walk. Basically it’s a treadmill with a desktop mounted where the controls are normally placed. I could walk and surf at the same time. But if history is any predictor of the future, it will just become another thousand dollar clothes hanger. Running - I think it is one of my bucket list items. It would be nice to be able to run again. I don’t think I’ve ran more than a few steps since high school. Even then, I really couldn’t run more than a quarter mile, but even that distance seems like a pipe dream at this point. So, I will only be running if someone or something that wants to eat me (and not in a nice way!) is chasing. And, let’s be honest, the evil thing will more than likely get me. Just like in Zombie Land – “The 1st to go were the fatties.” That reminds me … I need to check my bathroom and make sure there are no zombie clowns waiting in ambush. Keep Pimpin That Sleeve!

I don't spit, I swallow!

Premier Protein chocolate shakes #1 in my book. EAS carb control chocolate shakes are a distant 2nd, will do in a pinch. Those are the only 2 could stand. I've tried Muscle Milk, it was okay, about the same as EAS, it was just too expensive.