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First, congrats! A number of ladies experience increased fertility with weight loss, despite how much we hate it when our docs tell us weight is a factor or no matter how many times we've been told we have a number of female issues. Somehow, with the weight loss, the body gets back on track and it surprises a lot of ladies. As you can see from all of the surprise pregnancy posts you'll find here! I was two years out when I got pregnant but still had a very limited capacity. I could eat one scrambled egg with cheese and one turkey sausage link in a meal and feel stuffed. As my pregnancy has progressed my capacity has increased as well as my appetite, so while it's still a bit of a challenge to consume enough, I'm doing alright. My situation was complicated by nausea. If I ate any meat, I'd get sick. I'm already lactose intolerant and while it's supposed to improve during pregnancy mine got worse - to the point where putting a tiny bit of butter on toast would make me ill. My Protein shakes were totally off limits for several months, too. So I really do understand the concerns you're having. The solution is to go back to the way things were in the beginning, when you forced yourself to eat around the clock to hit a nutritional goal. It means choosing your meals carefully so that you can get a well balanced meal in a tiny portion. It also means trying your darnedest to get back on those shakes and make them stick. I have been able to drink mine again for the last few weeks and I feel MUCH better and have more energy since I was able to do that. And I really can eat more in a sitting now. Your stomach should relax as you get further along and the hormones are really increased. That helps a lot. When you say your stomach hurts are you talking about cramping and nausea? Is it hurting after dairy? I first developed lactose intolerance with my twin pregnancy and the first clue was really uncomfortable stomach cramping after anything dairy based. I would definitely bring this, and the fact that you've had WLS to your OB's attention ASAP. I am on two different prenatals, additional Calcium, B12 shots and a special Iron supplement to keep my levels up. I am only just now, five months in, getting enough nutrition that my labs come back in good shape. While it's been a particular challenge for me, try your hardest to shelve concerns about weight gain. I was so freaked out a few months ago because I had already put on seventeen pounds. But here I am, 24.5 weeks out and I'm only up 15 pounds - somewhere along the way I lost a couple of pounds. And it's all baby (okay...baby and boobs, but I'm not complaining about that part!) and I really do realize that I'm going to do just fine losing this weight afterward. The biggest concern is making sure the baby is getting enough, and you sound like you're already working to help this issue. My doc told me and I believe it - the baby will suck every bit of energy and nutrition from my body and leave me tired, nauseated and run down before it will go without. So if you're at least trying, even when it's not easy, you should do just fine. So, try the shakes again. Try to set a timer to eat small, regular, protein and calcium rich meals. Eat as much of what you're able to eat as you can, within reason, of course. Foods that are really good for protein, besides meat are lentils (lentil Soup saved me when I couldn't eat any meat a few months ago), cottage cheese, seitan (if you like it), and of course Beans always help, too. Good luck, ~Cheri

I respect everyone that came here to share their struggles. It's hard to post non-positive things here and it takes courage to admit when you're sliding. I've posted at length about this in the past. I think that even when we tell ourselves before surgery that this isn't a magic fix, part of us will still want it to be one post op. It takes work to change. We are not fat because we eat too much. Okay, yes, we are. But WHY we eat too much is the real issue, not finding new ways to eat less so we can be thinner. Far too many approach this surgery like a diet. Every one of us can lose weight with 85% less stomach. The challenge is to keep the weight off in the long term, and while the sleeve makes that easier it does not do the work for us forever. I'll be 2.5 years out in January. I am currently five months pregnant, so I am also currently 18 pounds heavier than my goal weight. For me, there was a tiny bounceback - I set goal to 135, but had really hoped to hit the 120s as I'm not even 5'2" tall. That did not happen. My body LOVES the number 137. I can live at 137-139 pounds and not worry about anything I eat, and I will not leave that weight window even during my cycle. But the second I take it lower, it's a constant struggle and I have to be a calorie counter to keep those stupid two to three pounds off. So for me, I just have to accept that short of getting plastics, my body doesn't want to be 135 pounds or less, BMI chart be damned. That very minor issue aside, prior to pregnancy, for me, maintenance was very easy. And I have only gained fifteen pounds in five months of pregnancy, despite the fact that I eat about double what I ate prior, just because I really am hungry all the time and I have a larger capacity. But there is a reason for that! I spent the long seventeen months to goal learning how NOT to eat emotionally. Every time I put food in my mouth I tracked it, even four M&Ms. I made myself be honest about my intake because for me, this was the only way to stop excess. If I found I was eating more, or poking my head in the fridge more frequently, I asked myself why and learned to recognize emotional and boredom eating. This in turn helped me stop doing those things, for the most part. I did not eat like I was on a diet when I could hardly eat anything at all. I ate a reasonable amount of calories and carbs instead of restricting myself to 500 calories and 40 grams of carbs a day. I did this specifically so I could learn to eat normally, in moderation. I don't care how good your intentions are as far as eating healthy and making life changes go. The reality is that nobody here is going to live for the rest of their lives eating only 500 calories on a no-carb diet while heading to the gym for three hours a day. We cannot live that way long term. Sleevers NEED to use that first year to learn how to eat reasonably so that they can live at goal later. My tastes changed a lot and I enjoy eating healthier now and I choose to do it about 90% of the time. But I do not deny myself the opportunity to eat what I want to eat. I simply do it in moderation now. I could still get carried away if I allowed it to happen, I'm sure. But the point is that the desire to just stuff myself with junk food is completely gone. I don't even enjoy most of the foods that I once lusted over. For some people, therapy is going to be a huge part of overcoming this obstacle. For some, doing what I did can help. I read books about the topic. I read stories about regain here and on OH. I made myself focus on changing, even when it frustrated me and even when I really felt like I would go crazy from wanting food. Once the habits weren't habits any longer, it became a much easier journey for me and I reached goal in a very healthy state of mind. For those of us that did bounce back a bit, or for gals like me that are pregnant and watching the scale go up, albeit very slowly, or watching their waistlines expand it's still a challenge. We are all afraid of failure. Nobody here opted for the sleeve as their first attempt to lose weight! All of us tried and failed, many of us for years on end, before opting to remove most of a body part. I agree with a previous poster - there is no reason to start the negative thinking and the hate game with myself because I lose 90% instead of 100%. I cannot let the scale control me forever. If I have this child and cannot lose all of the weight afterward again (an issue I do not expect to have, honestly) then that's what my body wants at my age. I can only do so much. And I have come TOO FAR to let myself feel badly over a few pounds. OP, thanks for the very real post. Anyone prior to surgery should read these types of posts. There are a LOT of them out there. Most of us more than two years out don't hit VST to read the forums every day, so sometimes you have to do some searching to find what we've said on a topic in the past. But getting this out there for people to read is only going to help people. Because surgery on your stomach is not going to fix what's going on in your head and making you overweight in the first place, and thinking this will be easy will lead to disappointment and possibly failure. Good luck to everyone out there struggling. There is no reason that you cannot pick up and get back to your personal goals (assuming they're reasonable!) at any point after surgery. There was no magic window and your stomach at two years out is only slightly larger than it was at one year out. You still have restriction and if you use it like the tool it is, you can get back to where you want to be. ~Cheri

Girlfriend, post your after pic to your profile, too! You've done great, lady. And what would your life be without a little drama?

I broke out in a roadmap at eleven, due to puberty. I mean, marks in the ODDEST places - like behind my knees or across the top of my buns. With each pregnancy and with weight loss/gain as an adult, the marks only got worse and worse. I have tried just about every known cure and all I've been able to do is fade the reddish/purple a bit. Time really does do a lot. I have a terrible scar on my leg where I had two operations for a broken leg/ankle and with time it's faded very well. The reality is that they will never go away, though you can diminish their appearance with lasers (so I've heard) and they will fade with time. I will have plastic surgery but there will still be stretch marks even when I'm done. They say that good ways to minimize marks are to stay hydrated and keep skin moisturized. I honestly think some of us are just more prone to being cursed with them than other folks. Good luck! ~Cheri

I'm not even 5'2" and always had an hourglass figure. Without exercise, for the most part, my body shape (as in, my bust-waist-hip ratio) stayed almost the same as I lost weight. I went from 242 to 135 pounds, a size 18/20/XXL to 6/S. My weight did redistribute a bit between one and two years post op. Even when my weight remained constant, my waist got thinner and my bust filled out a bit more. I am no expert, but my experience leads me to believe that without strength training to reshape the body, our natural shape (apple, pear, hourglass) is what our body will tend to stick to even if we lose weight. And I didn't notice a very large difference in my shape and appearance (from round to curvy) until I had shed about sixty pounds. Somewhere between 50-60 pounds it seems that your body really starts to develop it's natural shape and everyone can really see the difference. Good luck, ~Cheri

I'm glad you're okay. Please, to anyone reading this, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS take any numbness or tingling in an extremity very seriously. Call a doctor ASAP - don't post here about it first! Clots are very serious. My mother (not a WLS patient) had numbness/tingling in her legs that was dismissed by her doctor. She is now permanently wheelchair bound, on warfarin and spends a huge amount of money on medical care and medications each month. Not to mention the loss of her independence while still in her forties and her inability to work for a reasonable income! I'm very glad the OP is okay, though, and I hope the pinched nerve resolves soon. ~Cheri

Take them with food, but remember that Iron absorption is lessened when you eat with your medication. Also, avoid taking calcium (or eating a calcium laden food) when taking iron. Take them separately. I had to switch to a chewable prenatal Vitamin and it worked much better and had a good balance of vitamins/minerals. I took it for more than a year even before I got pregnant. Now that I'm pregnant and everything makes me nauseous, I take a gummy vitamin and a separate iron supplement (the gummies don't usually contain iron) as well as B12 injections. I can say from experience that it is very important to keep trying different things and not just give up on the supplements. They made me so ill that I stopped taking them, but around one year I was fatigued, sluggish and forgetful. I was seriously deficient in iron and B12 and once I got my levels back to normal my quality of life improved immensely. Good luck, ~Cheri

Using medical malpractice claims as an example of why not to go overseas isn't always a great argument. My mother was given a totally bogus diagnoses for numbness and tingling in both legs (was told it was a kidney stone pressing on the sciatic nerve) that resulted in her being partially paralyzed, wheelchair bound and on Warfarin for the rest of her life. She'd had an aneurysm. She spent nearly two months in a medically induced coma once they finally figured out what was wrong. She had to go to a different hospital to get someone to acknowledge that blue feet and numbness in her legs was a serious concern! And she HAS insurance. When all was said and done she was saddled with over a hundred thousand dollars in medical expenses. She lost her job...or rather, still has her job but is only given about ten hours of work per week. She is still fighting for disability, two years later. The state she lives in caps malpractice suits at $150,000 so lawyers will not take the case. Three separate malpractice lawyers told her she had an excellent case because the very idea that a kidney stone would cause paralysis is laughable, but nobody was willing to take on a complicated case for what amounts to a pittance in lawyer fees. So please, let's not pretend that even American citizens, with insurance, in America, are fully protected under the law. This is not always the case. My mother is wheelchair bound for life, has lost her independence completely (she now lives with my sister and is only 49 years old) and she has been forced to live below the poverty line without any help from the government or recourse with the medical hospital and doctor that put her in this predicament. Furthermore, it is comparing apples and oranges to point at overseas medical training programs and say "Americans train longer, and therefore are more experienced." In other countries, even in Europe (Germany and Italy, where I've personally lived and received care) doctors are not generally educated on all medicine - they are specialists that focus their education on one medical specialty for several years instead of learning about general medicine for several years AFTER pursuing a general degree. This cuts their training time down considerably. Many foreign doctors have expressed to me (not doctors providing my care, but rather those I've personally known on a social level) that they're amazed that American doctors can be proficient at any one skill, since they're learning so many different areas of medicine before narrowing into a specific field. This is also a reason that becoming a doctor overseas is not the status profession it is in America. Your education does not cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars and you are not paid an extremely high salary to compensate for your twelve years of education. Doctors are respected, yes, but no more so than any other professional. In fact, in Germany, Italy and especially the former Soviet Union there is no real glamour in being a doctor. It is far more respected and admired to be a professor in a university, for instance, than a doctor. In any case, I think that these continual anti-Mexico posts are a bit redundant and in many cases, far too biased. Nobody coming here to criticize care in Mexico actually had a negative experience there! They're just afraid that it could happen. I could say the same for doctors in the US. It's a silly round-and-round. And frankly, instead of providing information and being supportive, it turns into a battle for-or-against that does nothing to change anyone's mind or even to disseminate information. Truly, if you don't believe people should go to Mexico, there is no need to post about it beyond stating that you wouldn't and why. Hearsay helps nobody. Saying "I've read horror stories" could apply to any doctor in any country. I'm sorry, but the medically induced comas and leaks on VST lately were all AMERICAN SURGEONS. So please, accept that some people will go to Mexico whether you think they should or not. And some people will be more comfortable in the states. Sometimes it's a money thing but not always (as I previously stated I could have gone anywhere and many others face these options, too) and likewise it is not always a "last resort" option. Accept that some people are more comfortable with something you are not. There are dozens of these threads on here and what ultimately happens is despite the good intentions of some of the posters, it turns into an us-vs.-them debate that DOES border on prejudices that are most often based in hearsay and rumor than actual fact. Everyone has "heard of someone" or "saw a 20/20 report" or "knew a doctor that said" or "ran into one case that proves this is the norm" and honestly, I hardly see anyone with personal experience that is negative contribute to these conversations. People are so happy with Dr. Aceves that they rave about him without being compensated. We happen to take unfair criticisms of him, due to the fact that he's operating in Mexico, as offensive. If you don't know him and he didn't operate on you, what right do you have to say that his care is substandard? Basing it on rumor, hearsay and assumption offends his many happy customers on here, sorry to say. And you will not convince those of us (hundreds of us!) that had a positive experience in Mexico that it's more dangerous or terrible to go there, so there is no need to continually refresh the argument with a new topic! Vent over, I'm just annoyed that I'm repeatedly posting these same logical arguments and it keeps coming up over and over again. If you're not comfortable with Mexican surgeons the answer is simple: don't use one! ~Cheri

I'm just more than halfway done (phew!) and figured I'd post an update. We just had an ultrasound and the baby is doing great. We had a few tiny scares in the beginning, mostly due to spotting (vanishing twin, doctor thinks) but things have gone very smoothly since. Development is going great. We did get a peek at gender and it's pretty clear that we're expecting a girl. I'll be 21 weeks on Monday and I'm up 15 pounds. I'm not thrilled with my gain but I'm not surprised, either. The reality is that I've always packed on pounds while pregnant (97 pounds with my first, 78 pounds with twins) so this is actually a really low gain for me. I was also on hormones for weeks as we did a frozen embryo transfer to get pregnant. Mentally, it's a very real struggle to put on weight, but I'm doing okay and trying to shelve all of that until after delivery when I can focus on my body again. My biggest struggle right now is my inability to eat anything dairy - even a pat of butter to fry an egg will make me sick. I'm also having a really hard time eating Protein. I can only get my shakes in some days and most meat makes me sick. The smells of it cooking, the textures and even if I can get meat into my system I usually sick it back up again. This has been a miserable pregnancy in that respect! I actually MISS my very high protein diet. My inability to eat most things has me eating as much tuna salad as my doc will allow and lots of lentil Soup. I've been making seitan just to get by and get some protein in and that's helping. eggs also help but I still have a limited capacity. I remember the early days post op when I'd dream about carbs because I was restricting them. Now I'd rather skip a meal than eat another sandwich or more toast. Attached are a few pictures. I hate that when I'm pregnant my face gains and my upper arms plump up, but I think I'm doing okay. I can still wear my pre-pregnancy pants with a band and I just wore a pre-pregnancy shirt yesterday so I'm probably not as huge and bloated as I feel. But my calves are swollen, so all of my cute boots from last year aren't working. Hope everyone else that's expecting is doing well, too! If the worst complaints I have from this pregnancy are a difficult diet and fat calves, I'm doing pretty darn well and I know that. ~Cheri Baby! 19w4d 19 weeks 20 weeks, front 20 weeks, side

Try not to stress too much - anxiety will only make it worse! I'll say that it was definitely unpleasant to do the swallow test with contrast but it only lasts a very brief time. I do remember the taste being awful but not to the point where I threw up. I hope this goes smoothly for you. ~Cheri

Syntrax Medical can be purchased on Amazon or Drugstore.com - I've used both. The instructions are actually pretty normal: one to two scoops of powder to 4-16 oz. of liquid. The scoops of unflavored are much smaller than the scoops of flavored Proteins, too. Each scoop contains 40 calories, 25 mg sodium, 50 mg potassium and 10 g Protein. No fat or carbs. There are 41 scoops per 1 pound container; each container costs about $16 or so. I can open the container and take a big whiff; it smells like powdered milk. That, for me, is the biggest draw of this particular protein. unjury, Isoflex and Integrated supplements all smell terrible to me and that affects their taste. I find this protein completely unoffensive. It's possible to buy samples of Unjury. I very highly recommend you do that before making a choice and buying a large tub of it. I did the samples and wound up giving every sample from them but the one I opened away. The guy I gave them to asked me how I could even drink the stuff and HE gave them away. It's different for everyone. Some people love the stuff but I can't stand it. It's also possible to get samples of the Syntrax Medical (or just about any other protein you'd like to try) on Vitalady's site. Good luck. ~Cheri

Gluhwein! The only reason liquid calories during the holiday escaped my attention is because I'm currently pregnant, and therefore trying not to think about all I'm missing! Hot buttered rums? Egg nog, of course. Wines from around the world...oh yes, the holidays are an easy time to accidentally consume far too many liquid calories! I made egg nog last year for a holiday party and did a small batch with lower calories because a number of our ladies here watch calories. It went over quite well, though in all honesty, when the only ingredients are egg yolks, cream, sugar and spices, it's not easy to cut calories! I used lower fat cream with a combo of milk (it was thinner, of course) and I cut the sugar and used half splenda. To me, it wasn't nearly as yummy - I could taste the artificial sweetener - but the other ladies raved and appreciated the gesture. And yes, it was much lower in carbs and fat this way. I'm sure you'll have no trouble modifying your favorite recipe. And I've found that while I still enjoy potatoes, they no longer have power over me. Same goes for sweets, especially now that I'm expecting. Our tastes really do change dramatically! ~Cheri

Everyone is different, but I really do believe that part of overcoming our food demons is actually facing them and not ignoring them. Eventually we reach goal and we need to learn moderation and to control our emotional eating or we'll find ourselves trapped in lifelong diets. I hosted Thanksgiving for a crowd just four months post op. I did not deny myself anything. I took tiny bites of whatever I wanted when I was hungry. I found that I had no desire to try certain foods at all (pie was way too sweet) but other foods were oddly compelling (I couldn't get enough of a Brussels sprouts with chestnuts dish and a fresh fruit arrangement had me back for pineapple over and over again). All in all, I finished the holiday feeling perfectly happy, perfectly sated and I didn't gain any weight. In fact, I continued to lose at my usual pace throughout the entire holiday season. If you really want something, try a very small taste. Satisfy the urge and more often than not you'll find that the food memory is better than the food itself. Or perhaps it will just be really delicious and you'll be glad you didn't miss out. Learn to say NO. Learn to say, I'm not hungry or I don't want a cookie or I'm trying to make better choices when someone pushes food on you. It's OKAY to pass up the cookie tray at the office without making a scene or hurting anyone's feelings. The very best way to keep myself accountable is to record every single bite I put in my mouth throughout the day. If I ate an apple slice with cream cheese dip, I would go so far as to put the approximate recipe for what I ate into myfitnesspal. Why? To me, my success was worth the trouble. This was the best way for me to know if I had a little more flex or if I was losing control. Surprisingly, by allowing myself bites of what I wanted instead of trying to eat to my old stomach, I was able to eat pretty much anything I wanted without denying myself anything. When I tried to deny myself, food was in charge. I was resentful of what I couldn't eat, envious of the portions on everyone else's plate and in a negative mood all around...which of course, can lead to emotional eating. Food was my every thought - either what I would eat or what I could eat or what I had to avoid eating. That's a ridiculous way to live your life! Do not give food that kind of power of you, and learn to accept it as fuel and yes, something that can be delicious. Find a way to make this happen that works for you, because food isn't going anywhere and neither is the holiday season! You'll have to find what works for you. Avoid leftovers (except roasted turkey, Protein is always good!) and accept food gifts with grace and then share them so you won't be tempted to consume them yourself. I really do believe that the best way to avoid feeling unsatisfied is to skip the fake stuff. If you're going to eat a food, make it good enough and high enough quality that a few bites will satisfy. Everyone is different, but for me, I was far more likely to eat three fake sugar, no fat Cookies because 1) I could justify it as a diet food and 2) my body wanted more, searching for the real sugar and fat it had been craving in the first place. Your sleeve is going to stop you from siting down and losing control with a huge plate of food. But it is NOT going to stop you from eating a cookie an hour if you choose to do it, so try to keep your grazing under control. Good luck. This is part of the challenge for everyone. Learning to live a new life with better habits is WHY you got the sleeve. Okay, and to be skinny, too. But really, you won't stay skinny if you don't do the other part. So approach this like a challenge and do your best to make yourself proud. ~Cheri

Certain foods should wait until later, even if they fit your doctor's allowed food list. eggs cause problems for a number of people. In fact, until I was more than one year out I could only eat one scrambled egg with cheese. That was it - that was a meal for me. And it took me months to be able to eat the entire egg! It eventually gets easier but you should go slowly. While it's important to eat a variety of foods so that you aren't bored or missing out on nutritional needs, it's also important to listen to your body. You want to be able to consume most of your Protein through food, and only being able to eat two bites of egg means you'll be eating around the clock if you insist on eating a lot of eggs. Come back to them in a few weeks and keep looking for new things to try that might work better. In the beginning it's hard for everyone to eat more than a bite or two and it's normal. For me, eating was a real chore until several months post op. I used that opportunity to record every bite I was eating and to use that information to overcome my food demons and bad coping skills. It really helped. There's a positive side to everything! Other foods that cause problems for some people, in case you didn't know: lettuce, tortillas, rice, bread and Pasta. Good luck, ~Cheri

Thank you for your post. I honestly believe that the people that happily and easily maintain are those that adopt healthier, lifelong eating habits as opposed to those that use the sleeve like a diet. We lose weight a little more slowly in most cases but once we get to goal we seem to maintain far more easily, and without a lot of the "food baggage" that so many forget to shed on their journey! You've done a wonderful job and look fantastic. Great work. I would point out though, as a slower loser that did experience loose skin that a lot of this is genetic so I hope that all newbies don't assume that a slower loss means they'll escape skin issues. Some of us are just destined to have them and some folks win the genetic lottery in this respect. Congrats again, you've done wonderfully and look beautiful! ~Cheri

I HATED

There's a very real opinion in America, particularly among those affiliated with the healthcare industry, that the only place in the entire world to receive adequate healthcare is America. As someone who has lived overseas for much of the last nine years, I'd have to point out there there is perfectly adequate and quite often SUPERIOR care elsewhere. America's system is so bogged down with bureaucratic restrictions and liability concerns that oftentimes finding a good doctor just to help you get over routine illnesses can be a problem. Search out the word "leak" on this forum and tell me how many US surgeons vs. Mexican surgeons you find in those posts. No, that's not proof of superior care or more experience. But in my time here on VST and on OH I have seen only a bare handful of complications from Mexico and the vast majority of them were stateside doctors. The most important factor is RESEARCH. Do not assume that a US doctor knows more and will perform excellently simply because he's a US doctor. Do not assume that a Mexican doctor is safe just because someone else said so. Do your research. And if you choose to have the surgery know that leaks and other complications are a very real risk, regardless of surgeon, and can happen to anyone. They're rare but that is no consolation if you're the person in a medically induced coma for weeks because of a problem. And I, for one, could have gone to any doctor I wanted as I was self-pay and money wasn't a concern. I researched three: Dr. Curry in Cincy, Dr. Nick in Plano and Dr. Aceves. I opted to fly all the way from Germany to see Dr. Aceves because his team was wonderful, he has nothing but glowing reviews here and on OH (or did in 2010) and he has an excellent record of skillfully performing this surgery. My great experience is one that has been shared by every other patient of his I've seen. I can only name a few stateside docs that get the same glowing recommends Dr. Aceves gets (Dr. Cirangle comes to mind) which in and of itself, says something for bedside manner if nothing else. ~Cheri

I'm glad to hear this! You should notice an almost immediate improvement in your blood sugar levels and if you get a panel done at six months out you should see a real improvement in your A1c. My sugar was high immediately post op and I did require a few doses of insulin, but by three days post op I was completely off of all diabetes medication and have never looked back. I'm now two years out and my sugars remain in the 80-90 range all day long without major spikes. Good luck, ~Cheri

Have you tried mixing shakes with other things? Your surgeon must have the notion that your sleeve is bigger than it is, or that you have time to nibble on Protein around the clock to reach the usual daily goal of 60+ grams of protein daily! Everyone is different but there is NO WAY I could have reached my goals with only solid food until around nine months post op. I hated shakes until I started mixing my nectar chocolate/vanilla/cappuccino with coffee or tea each morning and drinking it either hot or iced. There *might* still be a chance for you to find something you like. In the beginning I kept trying to work with RTD Proteins and they made me sick to my stomach. I also couldn't tolerate super sweet things and developed lactose intolerance, so it was a challenge for me to find a protein I liked, too. Foods I used to boost my protein: Cottage cheese Seitan (if you like it - I make my own) Lentil Soup - lentils are a great source of protein with very low fat content and high Fiber Meatballs are a good suggestion, and turkey or chicken seems to go down easier than ground beef Instead of just an egg, scramble it with a little cheese and meat if you have room to eat this much I am more than two years out and until sometime after one year out could not possibly eat more in one sitting than one egg scrambled with cheese or half a cup of cottage cheese. And I still start almost every day with a protein coffee or tea, so that I can reach my personal protein goal of 90+ grams daily. Good luck, ~Cheri

I think there's this perception sometimes, with both surgeons and patients, that we're going to have this surgery and the weight will just fall off. As if the only factor in every single obese person's weight is purely a willpower/quantity thing, and removing most of your stomach (or banding it, or making it a pouch) is going to just immediately solve what years of failed dieting and exercise couldn't. If weight loss (or gain) were a simple numbers game, every person that tries Weight Watchers would be reach their goal and stay skinny for life. It's NOT that simple for many of us. It works for some people, but for many others (especially those that reach the surgery point, like us) there are other issues like metabolism, insulin resistance and hormones at work. These things are not immediately resolved just because you slice out 85% of your stomach, unfortunately. And many of us never find out WHY we don't lose as quickly, we just deal with it and slowly plod our way to goal. I lost, on average, just barely over 6 pounds a month. I took 17 months to lose 107 pounds. I maintained very easily once I got there, but it was a longer journey than I expected. You started out with a smaller amount of weight to lose and you've managed to shed more than half of the weight to your goal in four months. That is not a failure, that is actually quite an accomplishment. Readjust your mental view on this and don't let a label your doctor has applied to you affect your feelings about your success. Because this is a success story already, and you will achieve your goal in time. Best of luck, ~Cheri

Oh, and it took me MONTHS of viewing eating as an onerous chore to get to the point where I could really eat. For more than a year my max capacity was one egg scrambled with cheese. So it's normal to feel a bit frustrated with eating in the beginning, and it's definitely a challenge. For me it seemed to be a challenge longer than for some other people. And while my doctor is one that's frequently used on these boards, I still felt at times that my capacity was smaller than other people. And even at two years out, the thought of a whole pizza baffles me. I used to do that! With wings, too, and soda! Now, once slice of very thin crust and maybe a few bites of a veggie salad and I'm done. ~Cheri

This afternoon for lunch I had one cup of sausage and lentil Soup. I was stuffed. Yesterday for dinner I had an egg salad sandwich (1 medium egg + 1 egg white, mayo, mustard, spices) on homemade toasted bread (sliced fairly thin). I ate the whole thing except the bottom crust. I just didn't have it in me. I was pretty full afterward. For dinner tonight I had one homemade meatball with a little marinara. It was about 2 ounces but dense Protein still gives me trouble now and again. I was comfortable and satisfied, but I'll need to eat again before bed because it wasn't much food. A typical Breakfast is one egg scrambled with one turkey sausage link. If I'm exceptionally hungry I'll also eat half a piece of homemade bread, toasted. With jam, if I'm feeling really fancy. I am two years out and I am currently pregnant. This is my increased pregnancy capacity. Prior to being pregnant, the only way I'd eat a whole sandwich was if it was grilled cheese on super thin sliced bread. Most days my max capacity is about 6-8 ounces total of whatever I'm eating, with the exception of non-toasted bread, rice and Pasta. Typically those foods fill me up after just a few bites. Except the other day, when I felt like I was starving and ate six whole varenyky. They were awesome and I was happy, but again, prior to pregnancy I'd have been thrilled to eat two, and maybe a few bites of soup or salad with it. So in my case, capacity is very significantly lower than pre-op, even now that I can eat about double my pre-pregnancy (but post-op) portions. ~Cheri

I drink a lot less coffee now, because one cup is plenty. More than two and I feel jittery and uncomfortable. If I have coffee after noon, I'll have trouble sleeping. These are new issues post op. I also feel like I was more sensitive to caffeine in the beginning because I avoided it for several weeks post op while on my strict liquid diet. I still start my day with a coffee Protein shake (though I can't do that now that I'm pregnant; I'm even MORE sensitive to caffeine right now) and find that I enjoy my morning coffee but I can only have the one. It might be something that you're able to work up to - you're still fairly newly sleeved. I don't experience any physical withdrawal or anything when I can't drink my coffee, but mentally, I'm a grump. I'd count down the months until I can enjoy my daily cup again but I'd just get frustrated! ~Cheri

I do sub-Q injections in my belly of B12. In the beginning, I had one shot every week and I gave them to myself after my doctor showed me how to do them. As my levels adjusted, I got them every other week, and now I get them once a month. While I can't say I ever noticed a reaction like an inability to sleep, they did help immensely. I felt more rested even with the same amount of sleep, I had more energy during the day and my memory really improved. All of this led to me feeling less irritable and generally easier to be around. I was also diagnosed with an Iron deficiency at the same time and started taking a prescription iron supplement around the same time, which might explain why I had such immediate effects. I felt better within two days of starting both supplements. They say B12 also boosts metabolism but I honestly didn't notice any increase in weight loss or appetite. I simply felt better, which was my goal. ~Cheri

I can't see why you'd have to wait a long time but you could easily ask your surgeon. If you do go with a cover up make sure to find an artist that specializes in them, or at least has several great examples in his/her workbook to show you. My DH had two covered up. He didn't really vet the first artist and not only is the ink already fading but the cover up is imperfect. It's not bad work, it's just not as nice as it could be. With the second cover up, we looked at three different artists before choosing one. It's a spectacular job with great ink, and it very creatively hides an old, embarrassing tat. Years later it's not fading at all and still looks awesome. So, all that to say treat your tattoo artist like you would your surgeon and research! Tattoos are permanent and letting some guy that only knows how to do flash attempt to work a cover up is a huge mistake. Good luck, ~Cheri