Stacie

We are similar height and starting weight. I am 5'3" to 5'4". HW was 243, Surgery weight was 230 and now I am between 136-140. I wear a 6/8/10 depending on brand, mostly small shirts. I am not sickly looking at all, and have some extra skin. I am not working on losing anymore, but I am still losing, so I am not sure where I will end up. I can't imagine being below 130 though.

For me, being overweight for so long really skewed my thoughts of "healthy" weight.

salad stuff such as lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, tomatoes? Still love salad, one of my favorite foods, love cucumbers too. I usually take the skin off. I try to eat Protein with my salad, cottage cheese, tuna, cheese, eggs, etc.

fresh fruit such as grapes, berries, etc.? yum, eat all the time, but small amounts at one time. No problems.

sandwich? I rarely eat a sandwich. Kinda miss the idea of a sub, though I am sure I could try one now. I usually just eat the Protein part, turkey, chicken breast, pulled pork, etc, without making it a sandwich.

bread for toast? not a huge fan of toast. but I can eat it fine. I prefer a bit or two of hashbrowns to toast.

tortillias? I can eat a corn tortilla with carnitas, etc. I can not eat a whole flour tortilla. But I can have some bites and then take out the filling and eat that part. I can eat tortilla chips great.

rice? yes, I just eat a little bit. When eating with others, I try to order the healthiest option and then take a bite or two of fried rice, lo mein, breaded dishes to get a taste in.

Would appreciate to know if anyone can eat these things or is this one of those trial and error experiments? I have heard others have problems with some foods, so I do think it is a trial and error thing, I just got lucky, or I like to say: I dealt with the bad stuff in the beginning, so I was due for the rest fo the ride to be smooth sailing!

Thanks!

can you tell me what your typical day is of eatting and how much of it you eat? Do you ever miss being able to eat bigger portions the way you use to? Are you happy you did the procedure?

I had this same feeling, that I would miss eating bigger portions. That I would feel like I was missing out. I do not miss it (VERY rarely) and I am so happy to have the sleeve to "keep me in check". Looking forward to my first Thanksgiving with my sleeve and I will make myself two small plates, one to eat right away and one to save in the fridge for later (3-4 hours) so I still get what I want. Maybe I will post a picture of my meal. I will focus on the turkey and salad. but I will have a bit of everything.

I eat absolutely anything I want to eat. I have never watched carbs or limited myself. Yesterday I grabbed a bag of Cheetos at Target. ate about 8 cheetos and was full/satisfied. Prior to surgery, I could have eaten the whole bag, easily. I feel that not limiting myself will help with the diet mentality, I don't want to hate myself for binging, etc. I just want to make smart healthy choices and have a healthy relationship with food.

The big thing that I think is hard to understand until you are here is: You really, truly, honestly, don't WANT the foods you wanted before in teh same quantity. I never feel deprived, even though I rarely eat more than a small bite of carbs. I am never really hunger. But I know I need to eat and need to eat healthy, nutritious food (Protein and fruits and veggies). I prefer not to eat carbs because they fill me up so fast, especially bread and pastas. I focus on the meat/seafood portion of the meal and eat a bit of carbs just to satisfy a small craving, taste, or texture desire. When I go for fast food I get chicken tender type choices, I try to order something that isn't mostly bread or carbs. If I eat Italian I order the meat dishes, never Pasta dishes. If I am really craving a burger, I get it, but I can only eat half the meat and even less of the bun. Recently I went to a professional conference and got a box lunch. It had a turkey sandwich, chips and a brownie in it. I ate 1/2 the sandwich meat, but only 1/4 the sandwich bread. And about 1/2 the brownie. Saved the chips for later (they are still sitting in my pantry 3 weeks later) and then I ate the other half the sandwich (just took the turkey out) about 3 hours later on my way home, later that night I went out for Mexican and ate chips and salsa and 1/2 of a chile relleno and couple bits of Beans and one bite rice. I eat such small quantities in one sitting, I need to eat more often to get all my Protein in.

I hope this helps some. For me it was just so foreign of a concept to imagine not being hungry all the time. Not thinking about food, etc continuously. I couldn't even imagine it. But now, 11 months out tomorrow, I feel so normal. I still love food, eat anything I want, but it doesn't consume me like it did before.

I wish you all the best in your journey!

It is so hard and frustrating. But it will all be a distant memory and you will be wearing smaller clothes in no time, so just hang in there. Try to distract yourself, keep busy to your energy level. Get out and do something non food related. It gets better.

I keep wondering about this too. Actually I know three people IRL who had gastric bypass, 2 have regained and the other one is now a severe alcoholic, so my stats skew to 100% fail, but obviously that is not true. Scares me some because this has been too easy for me. I hope I am learning better habits for when it gets harder....

Could it be gallbladder related?

I would focus on the fact that NEXT Christmas, you will be wearing much smaller clothes and have a dainty little plate of food to nosh on while everyone else is out gaining 10lbs.

This is where I am this year!! Love it already, people keep talking about diets and too much Halloween candy and I just sit back and eat my kitkat!!

I had my surgery Dec 24 of 2009, but really with the week long pre-op diet, it stopped eating "normally" Dec 16, 2009. So this was prime Cookies and holiday party time. The pre-op diet was much more difficult than the post op for me.

I had no choice in my date because my insurance was changing Jan 1 and this was the only date the doctor offered. I have to say it was AWFUL to be completely out of commission on Christmas eve and Christmas Day, so I wouldn't suggest those for actual surgery, but it all was fine otherwise. I would say go for it!

Congratulations!

You should be so proud of all your hard work!

Wow, I am so sorry you are going through this. What is your doctors plan to treat this? When I had my leak there was another patient with an ulcer (Bypass pt) in the hospital, but I don't recall her entire plan or progress. I hope that things go smoothly and you are healed quickly. Have you heard from your doctors how common this might be? It looks like you are out from surgery the same as me. What were your symptoms of the ulcer?

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, let us know how you are doing.

Sassie, I also missed your first post, I am hoping you are all healed and on to enjoying your sleeve now. I am thinking about you, post an update if you get a chance.

I would check with your doctor. I still had regular bowel movements with a liquid only pre op diet of one week. Also, after my sleeve I had a feeding tube for 3 months. I was having only liquid bowel movements and thought the same thing as you, "I assume that is just what happens if you are only getting liquids in" But it turned out I had C Diff. Have you been on any antibiotics lately?

I was just going to post this same question! So I will just bump it up, any more recommendations for Protein bars?

I am headed to NYC this week and I am looking for a couple Snacks I can take with me. I am going with my mom and sister and they will likely just eat two meals a day. I get full SO fast (at each setting) that I need to snack to get any real Protein in.

So I am thinking of bringing string cheese, pistachios, almonds, beef jerky...

Any other ideas? I am not concerned about fat or carbs.

Thanks guys!!

I lost about 85 pounds in seven months, but I have had skewed results because of complications, so I would say I lost 85 in five to six months, since I gained weight for a month or two after surgery.

I think 70 pounds is really doable based on your starting weight.

How exciting to have a cruise to look forward to, I bet it will be a great inspiration to you on your journey! best wishes!

Carrie, I am very much praying for you and your family. I would like to echo that you really need to talk to someone professionally. With your current feelings post op, and the upcoming move, that is a lot of big issues to tackle at once when you are not feeling on top of your game. It sounds like this is a major depressive state and just keeping a smile on your face will probably not be enough to weather through this, get help for your children if nothing else. Many hugs to you, from another person who had much depression and complications following surgery.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow!! best wishes!

way to go! how nice to get such a great start on things!

The only thing I feel like I sacrificed was an unhealthy relationship with food. For the first time, I'm behind the steering wheel, and food is just idly sitting in the passenger seat.

This is how I feel too. Only a couple people mentioned it, but it feels wonderful to me to eat like a "lady". I just eat small, but really, more normal portions than I ate before. So eating a piece of pizza fills me, and I feel so much better about myself mentally and physically. I also have been blessed to be able to eat anything in moderation. I eat cake and just finished up some reeses pieces, in fact. The big difference is I have had the same small bag of reese pieces for about 6 months now! (do they go bad?) whereas before surgery I could have finished one off in an evening. And cake, I love it, but I only eat a piece about 1" x1" in size. I love gong to a party and taking a small plate with a little of everything and not even finishing it all. I love that I am not sitting in the corner of the room wishing I could stuff my face with all the food and constantly sneaking bites here and there so people can't really tell that I am eating like a horse. It is liberating beyond belief.

pistachios!

At the time of my surgery I had an 18 month old, 3.5 and 5.5 year olds. It was a bit rough not being able to pick them up, and I had the same restriction as previously mentioned - No more than 10# for 4 weeks. But you can still be present and active with him in other ways. Taking walks with the stroller is great, puzzles, lots of books, coloring, more tv than usual. I wish you all the best in your recovery!

Thinking of you and hoping you are doing well!!!

Looks like I am going to be the lone dissenter and disagree. I think this is a pretty major surgery to have in order to lose 60 pounds. I really think it is. Maybe that comes from almost dying after the surgery (and I was in great health and no comorbities prior to surgery). We really do not know the long long term effects of this surgery. Talking to someone 3-4 years out is hardly long term. This weekend I saw a patient who had a gastrectomy due to ulcers 20 year ago. She is now 68 and has severe osteoporosis and broke a hip from a minor fall. She also has dentures at a young age due to deficiencies, she lost most of her teeth. Made me think a little longer about what I have done to myself. I will not say I regret the surgery, though for a long time I did, I suppose 3 months of not eating any food whatsoever (all nutrition through a feeding tube) will do that to you. I am very pleased with the success of my surgery at this point. But I personally do not think that this is a good option for people with less than 100 pounds to lose. I also think it will make a big difference that your husband is completely supportive before going through this potentially dangerous process. I wish you all the best in your journey.

Oh, but that is the beautiful thing about the sleeve, it makes you stop for yourself!! It is like a dream come true to enjoy anything you want in moderation. I have not deprived myself of a single thing throughout my whole sleeve journey, and still dropped steadily. I am at a potential stall, but wearing size 8 pants and less than 15 pounds from goal I am not going to sweat it in the least. When I am ready to drop these last pounds I know that it will not be any trouble to buckle down and do it. And I won't even have to feel deprived in the least. I heart my sleeve!

How are you doing now? I have been thinking about you so much! I wish you the very best recovery. take care and give us an update when you are feeling up to it.

I am near goal and thinking about trying it for my chin also. I was hoping when I lost my hair that my facial hair would also decrease, but no such luck!