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I want to preface by saying that I am not trying to be judgmental or critical or harsh. But you CAN stop eating. The issue with allowing yourself to address the problem (compulsive overeating, binges, grazing) this way is that you could easily do the same POST OP, too. Many binge/graze/overeating habits rear their ugly heads post op. And if you can't sit down and eat an entire box of Cookies in one sitting post op, it's entirely possible to slowly consume the whole box in one day once you're healed. Nothing will stop that behavior or impulse but you. Let me again preface this portion of my advice by saying that there is no "right" or "best" way to achieve goal or approach your diet post op. That said, I very firmly believe that moderation is key. Okay, I'm not advocating cheesecake in the soft foods stage. But telling yourself before you're even sleeved that you'll "never eat certain foods again" is going to cause a sense of deprivation and resentment, which does (as you're experiencing) lead to binges, overeating and grazing behavior. Any food you love and enjoy right now is entirely possible to eat post op. Yes, you need to heal. And yes, you're probably going to have a Protein heavy diet in the beginning because you won't have room for much else and protein is the priority. But once you're nearing goal you will have to learn to incorporate a more balanced approach to food. Maintenance is not a diet. You cannot (or rather, should not) approach the sleeve as part B of your new diet. You cannot (again, should not) approach your diet as an all-or-nothing frantic race to goal...but then just throw off the diet and expect the sleeve, on it's own, to keep you there. You are not likely to fix this prior to surgery. I don't mean that to be defeatist. It takes a long time to break a lifelong bad habit and replace it with a good one. Food funerals are normal to some extent. But there is a definite line to walk and you should be very careful not to excuse a habit that you will need to confront and resolve later because you feel out of control around food right now. I hope that something there helps. There is a great thread (and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it) that has a mix of pre and post op people discussing disordered eating, and you should check it out. You aren't alone. Many of us have to fix these head/emotional food issues in ourselves before we can happily and successfully maintain. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/63618-if-you-were-a-binge-eater-before/ Good luck, ~Cheri

COOPS! I've missed your posts, lady! I just wanted to say that it's nice to see you. And you look wonderful, surgeon's goal be damned. It's been a long, hard road for you, but you're maintaining and doing well and that's something to be thankful for in any case. ~Cheri

Good on you for researching and finding a possible solution. No need to suffer if you can do something simple that can help. I hope the PPI helps and what you're describing sounds exactly like how I felt once I got pregnant. Early post VSG I felt the acid and heartburn that let me know it was an acid problem. But this time around it started with me feeling hungry all the time. A few days on the PPI and even the occasional nighttime heartburn isn't an issue any longer. Good luck, ~Cheri

Some of these things last well past the preop phase, too. There are still far less dishes to wash in my house. My refrigerator is never overloaded and cluttered (unless I'm catering an event or entertaining, anyway) and tends to stay nice and clean. And I never iron. Ever. It was one of the rules before I married my husband. He can iron or he can pay someone else to do it for him, but I never, ever iron. ~Cheri

Butterthebean is right. It's not really considered a stall until you're three weeks at one weight. And please, put your scale away. You will drop the largest portion of weight in the first four to six months, but weighing daily will make you bonkers. I'm speaking from experience - my own, and a couple years of reading about it on the boards here. In the beginning, weigh every few days or once a week. You'll see better results and won't be driven batty by the small daily ups and downs that are perfectly normal. In maintenance, it's important to weigh daily to stay accountable, but early on it only makes you frustrated. It's not a race. The restrictive diet you're on and the major surgery you're recuperating from have you wanting instant gratification but it doesn't work that way. Slow and steady, and a heavy dose of patience, are the way to go here. Good luck, and congrats on your new sleeve, ~Cheri

I think that it depends on a lot of factors and honestly, you're not going to know until you're closer. I had a dream weight of something in the 120s (I'm now 32, 5'1" and started at 242) which would put me in my ideal BMI range. It was not going to happen. I lost at a pretty poky pace all along and those last fifteen pounds took me five months. Once I hit my "realistic" goal of 135 (BMI of 25.5) my body did not want to stay there. It was a constant struggle to keep the scale under 137 pounds. I could eat anything I wanted and stay between 137-139 pounds, though. Keeping it lower took so much dedication and restriction that I was losing my mind. In maintenance, I was between 135-139 on the scale on any given day and am perfectly comfortable with this range. That puts me at a BMI of 25.5-26.3 - in other words, overweight. Bottom line: my body doesn't give a damn what the BMI chart says. It doesn't care what my doctor says. He thinks I should weigh in the one-teens! My body does not care about my vanity, and the fact that I'd like to weigh as much as I should have weighed in high school. Perhaps after plastics I'll lose those additional pounds; I do have excess skin that will need to be removed. But my point is that you can't really know how far your body will go. Determination, good choices, getting active, etc. are all going to push you ahead on your journey and get you far. But those extra steps might be more of a challenge than you can/should take on. You won't know until you're there. Some folks get right to their dream goal and even blow past it. I think more of us settle into a pretty comfortable range of weight that's far healthier than we used to be, allows us to look great but isn't perhaps as small as we'd *like* to be. So my real opinion is to keep on slugging away and see how far you can take it without living on a restrictive diet for the rest of your life. Keep that number in mind as your goal weight, but be open enough to change it if need be. Accept that the REAL goal we should all have is maintaining our losses for life, not reaching a "magic" number on the scale (no matter how much it pleases our vanity to do so). The journey is only just starting once you reach goal. Maintenance is forever. Good luck, ~Cheri

YES!! This is exactly it. I feel like a broken record sometimes, but I really feel that the longer period gave me time that I really needed to make those new changes into habits I could keep up for the long haul. I had so much time to work on why I ate and how to stop the emotional eating or grazing. The end result as far as my weight loss is still the same, I just feel like I had a better foundation for maintenance than I would have had if I'd flown to goal within a six to nine month time frame. That's not to say that people that take less time can't maintain successfully. I just think that taking the time to do the head work and really get those habits incorporated into normal life is critical. I also think it's harder to focus on the bigger head/emotional issues if you're flying to goal with no stops or stalls on the way. I've seen too many really great, inspirational people stop posting here because they didn't want to keep posting once their weight jumped up a bit after reaching goal, or once they stopped the all-or-nothing approach to food or exercise. Neither one of those things makes anyone a failure but I think a lot of people feel that way about it because they never do shake that dieting mindset. ~Cheri

You shouldn't have to do that! You could argue that you've made very serious lifestyle and diet changes to support your swift loss, too. It's not as if you got within twenty pounds of goal so quickly by eating 400 no carb calories a day and watching television all day. In any case, I'm always jealous because the boys lose so much faster than the girls. I can't think of a single guy posting about months long stalls or consistently slow loss! ~Cheri

I didn't puree anything - the idea of just pureeing a "normal" food and eating it is absolutely repulsive to me, as is the idea of eating baby food from a jar. I didn't even feed that stuff to my kids - I made my own. I did eat soft foods like small curd cottage cheese, ricotta, refried Beans, homemade sorbets, yogurt, etc. I started to realize I had lactose intolerance around this time, too, though, and finished up the very short soft foods stage with things like non-dairy smoothies, mashed bananas, cream of wheat, beans, etc. Good luck, ~Cheri

The biggest thing that will help you - and this applies before or after surgery - is discovering WHY you're an overeater and dealing with whatever issues were at the start of the behavior. Life after surgery will make this a little easier, but it will not fix the issue for you. It will still have to be confronted and resolved for long term success. You are not alone in this struggle. Everyone here has some measure of disordered eating and all of us have poor habits. The idea is to confront them and deal with them. If counseling is not helping to address the actual cause of the problem, perhaps OA will help if you try again. If not, there area number of books that will share personal stories of people that have dealt with these issues. There is also a thread here: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/63618-if-you-were-a-binge-eater-before/ with people both pre and post op discussing disordered eating and how to cope. Many people transition from overeating or binge eating into out of control, mindless grazing. You can definitely achieve great success with the sleeve, but the easiest way to sabotage yourself would be allowing that transition happen and set you up with new bad habits. Good luck, ~Cheri

You should be fine eating the chicken and cheese. The tortilla and lettuce might cause you real grief. I'm not a super strict carb counter but you might be. If you're not, the yogurt parfait might be a nice carb splurge, and the oatmeal would be good for a nice Fiber boost (you're likely not getting much at seven weeks out). Salads are hard for many people. I still cannot eat iceberg and I'm more than two years out. I can eat other greens but I'm not sure they offer those options at McD's. Online menus are your friend. There is a balance to be learned as far as eating well but living a normal life is also important. Find the middle ground and do what works for you. ~Cheri

Sorry to hear that! The texture on mine is crunchy - my husband says they're like corn nuts but I'm not sure I agree. They're definitely closer to a roasted nut and not soft at all. If you're willing to give them another shot, I'd either cook them at 450 instead of 400 or cook them longer. ~Cheri

I think that you're right - to some degree vanity has to enter into the equation. Yes, we can be influenced by co-morbids or lifestyle changes that will make our lives better. But in so many cases we want to feel normal and we want to feel comfortable in our bodies. I still have a face shot, but you can see my collarbones and tell I'm livin life at goal. Of course I do have a full body shot on my profile. There will always be some people uncomfortable with posting their pictures on the internet. It amazes me the range of people we have here - some folks bare all and do before and after shots in a bikini...something I would never, ever feel comfortable doing at any stage of my journey. Not even after plastics! I'm just never going to be okay with showing that much of me to anyone but my husband! ~Cheri

Perfect answer, CowgirlJane. There is no honeymoon at all, ever. The closer you are to goal and the less you have to lose, the slower those pounds come off. ~Cheri

I was seriously deficient in Iron and B12 and am slowly improving now that I've been on B12 shots and a prescription iron for the past year. I will admit that until sometime around one year post op I was hit or miss on my Vitamins, mostly because they made me so sick. Now I take them every morning and every evening, with shots taken twice a month for B12 and I feel so much better. In my case, taking my vitamins and getting on better supplements made a huge difference because I was very fatigued, forgetful and had dizzy spells before I started taking them regularly. I (usually) eat a very balanced diet but have always had issues with anemia, being borderline anemic at the best of times. It's been that way since childhood and I should have known it would worsen with WLS. Ah well. It's worth putting in the time and effort to find a pill regimen that works if you've got a deficiency, for sure. ~Cheri

This is exactly the approach I used (prior to baby) and can honestly say that once the habits of choosing better foods and not grazing or eating emotionally were under control I almost never had to track my food. I stayed very easily and comfortably in a four pound window and had no real troubles regardless of what I was choosing to eat. I could "afford" a splurge like dessert because I chose good things 90% of the time. The challenge comes in when you love food and are surrounded by tasty but not so healthy choices all the time. I imagine a long vacation would hurt me, especially eating out all the time. But there's no reason that "maintenance window" can't work. I think most of us do that, don't we? ~Cheri

I have to laugh, actually. I have read so many "OH is so much more positive" posts lately but here's the funny thing. When I went to visit the other day I ran into a rant posted on the 23rd that was JUST LIKE MINE. Well...not to brag but mine was way more better. Anyway, the reason I prefer VST is the way OH does their sleeve forum. There aren't separate boards. All the posts go into one board and you have to actually sift through all of the questions that are exactly the reason I get so frustrated to find the one or two that is posted by a person that is actually open to help and advice, not just looking for validation or for someone else to do their research for them. It makes me crazy. I'd post a link to the post that was similar to mine (though shorter) but I'm pretty sure they'd frown upon that here. Anyway, I don't mind new folks coming here - it's not like you're magically more knowledgeable as soon as you cross the one year line. But I do not want to see "our" forum turned into a place where I'm giving even more support back to the new folks instead of having a place to socialize and discuss with people that have made it farther out. It's DRAINING to just give advice (often the same advice again and again and again) and never get any support or replies to your posts in return, you know? Having this place be a safe zone from that nonsense is likely to help us vets actually stick around. Getting bombarded by more questions about loose skin, stalls and how many carbs to eat is going to make me snippy with people. So, consider yourselves forewarned: Cheri plans to get a bit territorial about this area. I don't care how far out from surgery you are if you have relevant VET topics to discuss and contribute to. But DO NOT (please, DO NOT) make this your "ask a vet directly for advice" forum. Cause the vets will leave. At least I will! Eh. Hormones make me less, erm...diplomatic than I could be. Plus, I'm hungry. Literally, I mean. It's noon and I forgot to eat. That makes me cranky. I'm off to eat at my friend's lovely western style cafe/coffee shop, the only one of it's kind in Bishkek. Later folks! ~Cheri

I had on and off symptoms of lactose intolerance that were mildly annoying prior to surgery. Post op I was absolutely intolerant and unable to consume any dairy for several months. Some time around one year post op the situation improved. Prior to my pregnancy (my intolerance is always worst when I'm pregnant) I was able to consume small portions of even cow's milk, yogurt and cottage cheese. Hard and soft cheeses didn't bother me at all. The only food I absolutely cannot consume even in tiny portions would be ice cream. If I really want something like that, I choose one made with coconut milk or a sorbet. And honestly, ice cream was never a food I really loved so it's not an issue for me to give it up. ~Cheri

Dee in my case it's mostly circumstance but I'm forced to make most things from scratch. It just takes far too long to wait on food to arrive from the states. So I make my own granola bars and now that we've been eating them for over a year, my kids won't eat the box of store bought ones my husband picked up on a trip to Tampa. If there's a food you want in your diet because you enjoy it and it makes your life easier, it might be worth trying to see if you can replicate it yourself in your own kitchen. It puts you totally in control of the ingredients, portion sizes, flavors, etc. It seems time consuming at first but once you fit it into your routine you'd be amazed at how easy it is to set aside a small block of free time for this. I wouldn't say it's the biggest cost savings, but I do know what we're eating and that makes me happy. As for my own check-in, staying on track is something I need to re-boot every few months now that I'm living a post-goal life. It's odd. It's never an immediate collapse into bad habits. It's that tiny bit here and extra portion there. Being pregnant after WLS is HARD. I didn't expect it to be easy but my diet is so bizarre because of the inability to eat meat (baby doesn't like it) and my lactose intolerance. Good quality Protein choices are getting hard to find here. I'm very, very grateful to be going back to the states in two weeks. There are so many more convenient (but still healthy) options for protein there that aren't easy to find here. If I want any kind of bean I need to think about it a day or two in advance so I can buy them at the market, soak them and cook them before making them into a dish. It's not the end of the world it's just those added steps that make my life more difficult than it needs to be! I hope everyone else is doing okay keeping on track. We tell new folks this all the time but it really is a lifelong commitment and the work is only beginning once you reach goal. I think if more people understood what that really means they wouldn't be so worried about their rate of weight loss. ~Cheri

I flew about fourteen hours from San Diego to Germany within three days of my surgery. Take it easy, walk as much as you can and sip as much Water as possible. Ask the steward to bring you a liter bottle of water and keep it with you, so you don't have to ring them or wait on them to come by and offer more. Compression hose might be helpful for your circulation so soon after surgery but that's up to you. ~Cheri

Even now there are times I cannot eat and drink at the same time. There simply isn't room. I can either eat my portion of food, or I can have a drink. The only time the drink flushes my food down would be exactly when I don't want it to - things like chips, Cookies, popcorn, etc. - slider foods - that a drink will wash down. So I also try to avoid drinking if I'm splurging on a junk food like that. It's easy to mindlessly eat more than you planned if you're drinking a drink while you snack. I'm careful to portion out my food because of this. For a really long time you'll want to just eat or drink. I can drink something like Water all the way up until a meal, and then not drink during the meal. I'll wait a short while (maybe twenty, thirty minutes) after I eat to resume drinking. ~Cheri

I have a tip for you that is going to save your sanity and help you feel better. Ready? Do not compare your rate of loss to anyone else's. I know, sounds so easy. Everyone loses at a different rate and the person dropping twenty pounds in two weeks might stall out for six weeks later. No telling. I didn't lose a single pound until the last week to ten days of my first month. I lost at exactly the rate my body wanted to lose at, no matter what else I did to tweak my program. This is how it works. We do not get to control the rate of loss, and we will stall and hit plateaus on occasion. You will definitely notice restriction when you're actually eating. In fact, you'll likely feel frustrated because you'll know you need to eat more food but will only be able to fit a very small amount for a while. Everyone has a moment where they feel like they'll be the first person ever to completely fail to lose any weight with surgery. And we're all wrong. We have varying degrees of success, mostly based upon how we dealt with our head issues and how well we worked at changing our bad habits into good ones. But we all lose weight. Relax. Really, relax. Put the scale away before it makes you crazy and don't pay attention to how other people lose weight or it'll make you crazy, too. There were times in my journey I lost so slowly it's nuts. Seven months to lose 32 pounds? Five more to shed the final 15 pounds? So what? I'm still a success, still made it to goal and even pregnant get to wear small/6 clothing and look pretty darn good doing it. Focus more on addressing the head hunger that will creep in and busting those bad habits like grazing or emotionally eating rather than on achieving scale success. The scale will happen if you keep doing the right things, but working on yourself will help you keep the scale in place once you're at goal. ~Cheri

I only avoided coffee for a brief period and only because I chose to, not because I was advised to do it. I have one every day. I wish I could have more, honestly, but I can't tolerate caffeine like before. Just watch for acid issues and for a stronger reaction to the caffeine, but otherwise there are a lot of us that never gave up coffee for any length of time. ~Cheri

You'll be fine. Just go really slowly. I was amazed that I felt full after two or three spoonfuls of warm broth but immediately post op your stomach is still very swollen. ~Cheri

No, but only because they don't sell them where I live. I have to go to a Turkish market just to find the dried ones. That said, it's possible to do it with canned chickpeas. Just rinse them well and then toss them with a little oil (very little - just a tsp or two to make the spices stick - and if you use canned Beans you might not even need the oil) and your favorite spices, then bake at 400 on a lined baking sheet for 30-45 minutes, until they're dry and crispy. ~Cheri