JulyBride

I am supposed to drink 64 oz of calorie free beverages a day. I drink Sobe Life water the 0 calorie kind and diet Lipton green tea both come in different flavors.

I am 9 months out from surgery and have lost a significant amount of weight. At this point I feel like I am eating too much. My nutritionist and doctor never gave me any specific amounts to eat or calories to count. They basically told me to eat slowly and until I am full and then stop. Of course they said to eat protein first and then veggies. I continue to lose weight although not as rapidly as I did in the beginning. At times I can eat a whole sandwich and other times I can eat a cup of cottage cheese and be full. I still eat WAY less than I ever could have before. And I have never eaten to the point of nausea or being sick so I don't really know that I am over eating. Has anyone else noticed or felt that they are eating too much? I don't want to stretch my stomach out and fail at this and am getting a little concerned about the amount of food I can eat. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

My program also told me that it is considered the first part of a two part procedure. Such as the DS or full bypass. It was originally meant to help people who were at too high a risk for the full DS or bypass. However, you can choose to never go back in for the second part which most people here have done. On the other hand, if you are unhappy with your weight loss my program stated that most insurances will cover the second part because they do not recognize the sleeve as a stand alone procedure. And since most insurances only pay once for a lifetime this might be good for some people.

My doctor perscribed me a pill for heart burn but I can not take pills until 2 months so I have to mix the powder with something. I have found chocolate pudding is the best. I really don't want to eat the pudding any more but when I skip the pill for a while I end up with heart burn bad. Does anyone have any suggestions for over the counter meds that do not have to be mixed?

I had reflux before the surgery but very minor. Two Tums would take care of it. I have been trying to keep track. The meds the doc gave me almost instantly work when I mix it with pudding. I am trying to only take it every few days to keep the reflux at bay. I don't need it every day at all. I just don't like wasting part of my food intake right now on the pudding but the powder doesn't dissolve and it tastes bad mixed with anything else I've tried.

I am happy that this thread was posted because it is exactly the question I was going to ask tonight. I feel like all I eat is a piece of grilled chicken or a grilled hamburger patty. I know I am supposed to have protein first so I eat a whole patty and am full. I know that part of the reasons other diets have failed is because I get bored with the food and I am getting there already. I need to figure out some other foods otherwise I feel like I am going to go nuts. I try to keep reminding myself that I am only 5 weeks out and I am still healing. But I am off of most restrictions at this point except I am not allowed to have raw veggies or fruit until 6 weeks out. I asked my nut about how many oz of food I should be able to eat and she told me that there was no set number but to figure out my full signal (pressure in my chest) and then stop. According to all of my paperwork I am not supposed to snack but I still eat something every few hours or I get the feeling that my blood sugar is low. I have a headache, etc. Does anyone else still snack at this point? I am so concerned about over eating maybe I am not eating enough at each meal. Also, my nut did not give me any guidlines regarding calories. She just said 70 grams of protein so I have not been watching calories. How many calories are the average person with the sleeve consuming?

I have found that my cravings are very similar to before. I always had cravings for a lot of junk food. But what is way worse is my mood swings. I am not a crier by nature and 3 weeks out from surgery PMS hits. I was emotional, would cry, and sort of mean. My husband thought I was losing it! I am hoping my mood swings at least go back to normal eventually. I really don't like being an emotional wreck for a week!

I have been off work for a month since surgery. Tomorrow is my first day back and I am feeling very nervous. It takes me all day to get my water and protein intake. I am concerned that I won't have enough time at work to get in what I need to. I am also concerned about what to pack for my day for food. I have been eating a lot of cooked food but I am not always going to be able to reheat so that might not be a great option. I spend a lot of my job in the car visiting families. I don't want to eat poorly because I'm on the go which was a habit I fell into before. I am hoping that by packing my day of food it goes better than it used to. Anyway, just venting.

I am taking birth control but was told not to take pills for two months. What is the main reason for this? I don't believe by crushing the BC I am getting enough of it in my system. I will be 4 weeks out Wednesday. The pill is so small I wonder some days what it would hurt to take it. But obviously I want to follow doctor's orders too. Any thoughts?

Actually that was helpful. I had started to post but then something distracted me and I accidently hit send or post instead of cancel. Couldn't figure out how to delete it. :001_rolleyes: With that bein said your post did provide support and a newer look because I have been feeling a little down. Thanks for taking a stab in the dark!

I am 3 weeks out

I had my gallbladder out 10 years ago so that's not it. It seems to have lessoned, haven't had a shooting pain in an hour. After I started passing some gas after the colace so I think it might be extreme gas and lack of BM. I only ate the chilli that was different then any other day. But my dietician had said it was ok. She specifically mentioned Wendy's chilli. But it is heavier than anything I've had yet so maybe just the difference in food and lack of BM. That's what I'm hoping. Did laps around my house and that seemed to help tpp. Thanks for the replies. I love how you can throw out anything on this forum and you get support.

Yesterday my 4 year old neice stayed over. I ended up having to carry her a couple of times and she is obviously beyond my 10 lbs weight limit. However I was the only adult around. I also ate a little Wendy's chilli without blending it. Tuesday ends my mushie stage. Around midnight last night I started to get sharp pains in my right side just below the ribs. It is still going on this morning. I also haven't had a BM in 2 days so I just took some colace. I also am going to start my period soon. I am hoping this pain is just from the bathroom situation or something else that will go away. Has anyone else had this type of pain? Or by lifting my neice did I do some damage?

I am 3 weeks out and seem to be doing fine with things. However I still have diahrea almost every day. If I don't have it I generally don't have a BM that day. Is this normal?

My doctor gave me the clear for 30 min of cardio that gets the heart rate up on a treadmill, eliptical, etc. No lifting weights until 6 weeks out. Including laundry or vacuuming. Which my husband loves. :thumbup1:

I meant 3 weeks out! I was thinking about how much time I've been off work. But that includes wedding vacation!

Thanks for the info mellifrits. I will try drinking something warm in the morning. I am 5 weeks out Wed. I just feel like I should be able to get more food or protein in. But I know I have to work on slowing down too. Thanks again for the help!

I have questions for fellow July losers! I am concerned that I can't eat anywhere near enough food to have a normal protein intake. I am in the second week of the mushie stage. I can eat about 6-7 bites of cottage cheese or whatever and then I get pressure in my chest which I was told was my full signal. So I am still mixing a lot of protein drinks in order to get my protein counts. Is this normal? I have low energy levels and I am wondering if I am getting enough stuff in me. I also had a drain removed last Tuesday which was hurting my ability to sleep so I could just be catching up. I also feel like I have a ball of something in my throat that is making me gag at times. It makes me want to throw up to get it out but usually I just gag a lot and then spit up some phlem. This happened before the surgery too when I would have a sinus infection but it is constant now. Anyone else have this problem?

I am out 16 days from surgery and started mushies 3 days ago. The food seems to go down fine but every time I eat I get very gassy. This will happen from the first bite. Also at the first bite sometimes I feel a heavy pressure in my chest but this will happen throughout eating as well. But won't happen with every bite or every time. I am concerned I am eating too much or too fast. I watch the clock and take the 20-30 minutes recommended to eat. But sometimes I feel like I'm eating too much. I am getting my protein in and I generally only eat food 2-3 times a day. If the gassiness is going to go away I can deal with that along with the pressure I just want to make sure I'm not doing something really wrong here that will stretch my sleeve. Any advice would be appreciated.

emilygrace, 3 days with a NG tube and you didn't kill any nurses? You are an angel. :001_smile: I was so irate for just a day and a half that the nurses were probably getting sick of me! The gagging was the worst. But like I've told my husband and parents, if that is the worst complication then it will be worth it!

Hello everyone! Just wanted to give a update. I was sleeved on July 28th. I had recently posted that I was concerned about my liver and not being able to keep it from becoming an open surgery. Well, that wasn't a problem, however, I had the unfortunate experience of having the staple gun malfunction and misfire the line. Surgery apparently lasted almost 6 hours instead of 2. I woke up with a NG tube from my nose to my stomach, a JP drain in one of my incisions, and a catheter. The doctor said because the staple gun misfired they had to make the top of my sleeve smaller than they would like. But it is the same size they used to make them but have since started making the top bigger. According to the doctor when they discovered leaks it was usually at the top and by making it a little bigger this has seemed to reduce the number of leaks. He said that just because mine was smaller didn't mean I would have a leak but the NG tube and JP drain were precautionary. The NG tube caused me to gag and feel like I was choking. I ended up on anti-nausea meds that made me so sleepy I couldn't really wake up for over a day. I was awake I just didn't have the energy to do much and would fall back asleep quickly. I couldn't talk because my throat hurt from the tube. I had to wait until Friday the 30th for my leak test. It showed nothing and the NG tube was removed. Shortly after that it was like I was a brand new person. They removed the catheter and I was up walking around. I was sent home Saturday with the drain still in and I have to strip it and drain it a few times a day. Since being home I've been doing pretty good. Seems to take me all day to get my 64 oz of fluid in but I've been doing it. I take at least 2 walks a day up and back my 1/4 mile long driveway. I go back to the doc on the 10th for my 2 week check up and hopefully to get the drain removed. I haven't weighed myself since surgery date so I have no idea how much I've lost since then. In the end the first day and a half was miserable but I am thankful it wasn't worse! Good luck everyone on their journey and i hope to keep you all posted as I make my way onto the losers bench!

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well. It seems like forever since I last posted. The wedding was this past Saturday and was a great day. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. I am down 20 lbs since I started this journey although I can't update my ticker because I am on my husband's computer not mine. I had started a partial liquid diet earlier than I was supposed to in order to help the process along. I knew it would be difficult sticking to the full liquid for 2 weeks with all the craziness and I was right. However, I stayed away from sugar so I am hoping my liver is alright for the surgery. We also now have a 14 year old foster child who came to live with us at the beginning of the month. She is a joy and a blessing but certainly has kept us busy! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to join the losers bench!:thumbup:

Nurse_Ally that is hilarious. Come on up and enjoy the snow whenever you would like, it is almost always here. I love living in Northern Michigan but when it is snowing at the beginning of May going somewhere warm sounds like more fun! That is great about your daughter and grand child. My fiancee and I just found out our foster care license came through today so we are very excited! We started the process due to a specific situation and we may get placement of our friend's child but if not then we are looking forward to the foster care journey and helping other kids. I work with abused and neglected kids every day so I know how important it is to find good homes for kids. I'm jumping off my soap box for now! I keep having these weird connections to OK so I think I'm destined to end up living there some time. I know I'll visit some day. My fiancee gets sent to the postal school in OK when he has to learn a new machine for his job. I couldn't stay with him before because we weren't married but next time I will be able to. Thank you KathyM and momof3girls for the congrats. It is going to be an exciting year! :001_tt2:

Hi everyone! I am being sleeved July 28th at the U of M hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, four days after my wedding. We are waiting to take the honeymoon until it is cold in Northern Michigan and I am ready to wear a bathing suit without a t-shirt cover up! I will be 30 years old at the end of this month. I gained about 80 lbs in 7 months in high school out of the blue with no real explaination. I was eating the same meals my mother always cooked, played the same sports, etc. Of course in college I gained some weight due to beer drinking and cafeteria food and was diagnosed with adrenal gland problems my senior year of college. The doc put me on a steroid to treat the adrenal issues and I gained another 100 pounds. Since then it has been decided that I was misdiagnosed and did not need the meds. I have been unable to lose the extra 200 lbs on my own and have decided to take control of the issue and have the sleeve. I have been extremely lucky in that I have very low blood pressure, no acid reflux, I am not diabetic at all, no sleep apnea. Really none of the co-morbidity issues so my insurance is approving it all on my BMI. The things I am looking forward to the most: *Having kids safely and to be able to play with my nieces and little cousins without getting winded. *Being able to shop for clothes especially professional clothes for work. *Sitting at a booth in a restaurant without asking my fiancee to move the table toward him. *Sitting in an airplane without using a seat belt extender. *Having ENERGY after work. *Being able to sit cris-cross on the floor. *Crossing my legs easily. I could go on and on but that's a good start! Good luck everyone with your journey!

I understand how you feel. I went to the informational meeting and everyone was all for jumping right into surgery and I was thinking, hold on, am I really going to let them cut my stomach off? But what pushed me over the edge was just sitting back and really thinking about all I have done to lose weight. I have done a 50 lbs yo-yo for years. I also have a lot to lose, 200 lbs. I realized that I have lost and gained that 50 lbs more times than I would like to count. The reality is in 10-15 years from now I will be in the same spot continuing to yo-yo and contemplating the same surgery but by then I will have a lot of health problems and the docs will be pushing it hard. So I can jump in now and have the rest of my life to be healthy or I can wait and live with this extra weight for another decade and still have to have the surgery. In the end you have to be secure in your decision but know that this forum is full of people who will support you and help you with any questions you have. Good luck and know that you are not alone! :thumbup: