Thomas CPA

It is pretty much a fallacy about stretching stomachs. Those who eat in hot dog eating contests don't stretch out their stomachs. Next don't fret over carbs. Losing weight is simple math, burn more calories than you take in. It has nothing to do with carbs and there is way to much worrying over the whole issue of carbs. I take in 100 grams of carbs on any given day and lose weight by working out 4 to 6 days a week either at gym or tennis. Carbs burn first and then fat but without initial carbs the body goes to fat and yes muscle which is why Protein is important but as my doctor said you only need 60 to 80 not 80 to 100 grams per day as sleeve is not as restrictive as bypass. Regarding ounces to eat. Keep in mind your stomach is the size of a medium banana. If you ate something that size made of lead you would be eating several pounds at a time. Forget ounces and consider volume. I can and do eat more than 6 ounces at a time and still losing weight. Don't worry you are doing great.

Sounds like good news and weight loss seems normal. Do try to do some weight training to build your muscle to help replace lost fat in arms and legs, it will help keep sagging skin to a minimum. You will see it in mirror if you get some new clothes that fit right. Under Armour sells some good compression shirts that pull everything in. Don't buy a lot of clothes as it will get expensive but some tighter shirts should see the results as well as those around you.

Good luck to you both. Don't worry about throwing up, you will have nothing in your system. You fast the night before so you stomach is empty for surgery and best you will have is water, jello and broth for first few days followed by more liquids. Biggest problem I had was not passing gas which causes build up and pain. Speaking of pain, don't wait to ask for medication, use it. I was able to drive day after coming home without problem. Enjoy the journey to your new body. Looking forward to hearing of you success stories. In no time you will be enjoying being able to sit comfortably in restaurant booths and having to pull the seat towards the steering wheel

Change up routine. I put myself on a stall for two weeks to stop the fatigue of losing to fast. Then I started increasing calories and carbohydrates and gym work and lost 2 1/2 pounds in last three days. One of the problems is the body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism starts to stabilize. You need to shock it to start burning machine again.

Hi Yvette, Don't know about the Mexico surgeries but some advice in general, Learn to eat small meals and eat slowly. For the first couple of weeks you are on a liquid diet then mushy diet. I went to solid foods in week 2 and my doctor wasn't concerned as long as I could handle it. I just figured if I chewed 50 times it was equivalent to putting it into a blender. I was, and many others, able to drive day after being released. Do take a stool softener as you reintroduce solids it may get rough. Try and drink the 8 cups of water a day and take your vitamins. Anyway, I am Tom and live in Los Angeles and hope you have a successful procedure. I started June 2010 at 305 and through change of eating habits and exercise I dropped to 236 when I had surgery on August 4. I am now in my ninth week and at 195. Only 15 more to my goal of 180. I feel great, got back to gym in week 3 took about 2 weeks to get normal 1 hour workout in and about 4 weeks to start getting my strength back that I had prior to surgery. Looking forward to hearing about your journey.

Have a Chili's about 1/2 mile away. My only problem was spicy shrimp and flour tortillas. I left that food in the restaurant, fortunately I was seated near the restroom that night

The stomach is tissue and will enlarge and shrink. Even those who eat in those hot dog eating contests have same size belly, stomach is rather elastic. If you cut down on food intake your stomach would feel like it shrank.

Next day if I wanted according to doctor. I went in for surgery on Thursday, released on Sunday, drove on Monday. Did not have a problem driving. I have a van so I didn't have to bend into a small car, don't know if that would make a difference.

Starting with week 3, I went back to gym. First week was slow, 1/2 at best could only walk on treadmill for 10 minutes. By week 4, I I alwas back up to an hour. First four weeks of working out I sweated profusely. Now at 8 weeks I have a normal 1 1/2 hour workout of 30 minutes running on treadmill and 1 hour with trainer doing resistance, weight, training. I have used a trainer for last couple of years, she has other clients who had surgery and is good at helping me regain lost strength. The quick weight loss affected muscle as well as fat. I am at end of week 10 today and almost back to strength level that I was at preop. I also play tennis at least once a week.

Kaiser is great. Got the options classes, surgery, follow up appointments with doctor, nutritionist, blood testing, and if I get three rashes the abdonimalplasticy. Surgery was zero cost, not even a copay. Personal physician does all medical follow up and will do the scheduled blood testing for vitamin, minerals...

I lost 67 pounds in less than a year before the sleeve and another 36 after the sleeve and never counted carbs. I exercise and know you need carbs so you burn it and carbs help burn the fat first else you will burn muscle as you exercise. I lost over 100 pounds and carbs were never counted but from what I know of what I ate, I am sure my carb count was around 100 to 120.

From another perspective the lap band is not intent to diet, versus being forced to reduce food intake. With Sleeve you have a reduction in stomach but very possible to still overeat. Everything else you say sounds like weak excuses, the diet doctor and pills - those are cheats and doesn't show you will reduce intake instead it says you want something else to make you lose weight instead of your own willpower. If you are serious at wanting to lose weight then start counting calories, increase exercise to at least 3 days per week of 1 hour each and walk another 1/2 hour 4 more days. Forget the fads the pills, do what you really need to do, eliminate fatty foods. Go to leaner cuts of meat, eat vegetables when snacking, go from whole milk to low fat or non fat. Change cereals from high calorie to low calorie, reduce breads.... Sorry if I sound mean but it sounds like you want an honest answer as to why insurance may not see your attempts as proof that you will do what needs to be done versus using the lap band or sleeve which will not resolve your problem until you make a genuine commitment.

Welcome aboard. Nothing wrong with lurking about and reading the postings, some are funny, some informative and unfortunately some of bad tales. Glad you enjoy your surgery and the trip you are going on in losing weight.

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Hope all you with the machine will be free of it one day.

Good luck with future sleep studies. I am in shock also that you don't even need an adjustment to the settings. The surgeon said I would probably get rid of the CPAP at 2 months post. The staff member at 2 months prior was negative thinking only 5% ever get rid of cpap. Even one week after surgery the settings were way to high, I tried it one or two nights after 5 minutes my throat and stomach hurt from the pressure. I hope you will get rid of the unit, I know it is no fun being married to the machine. Has the doctor looked to see if you can have the surgery to remove the excess flap that blocks the airway?

Hi Debbie, When I was first diagnosed I was in the upper 200s to low 300s. My sleep study showed over 120 incidents per hour. Two months prior to surgery in June (surgery August 4) I dropped 65 pounds and sleep study had me down to 45 incidents per hour but because finger sensor had a problem the doctor wouldn't change diagnosis. Two months post surgery (end of September) I dropped another 38 pounds (coming in at 198) and sleep study showed 0.7 episodes per hour, just waiting for sleep study doctor to email my primary doctor (Kaiser system) so I can arrange to return machine. I quit using it 6 months ago as I couldn't stand the pressure and I wasn't waking up with a soaking wet pillow. So basically I lost 107 pounds but it may be less as I don't know how much I weighed at initial diagnosis. Good luck you getting rid of yours. I can't wait to get the signed receipt for returning it so I can burn it and do the final happy dance. Tom

Some good discussions going on in a friendly manner.

Normally you should be able to take a full pill now, most of us were on a regiment of daily Vitamins. One pill is not going to fill stomach. From what I have seen on this board it appears normal to have days when you are constantly eating and days when food isn't even missed but you got to moderate those periods. If you have problem swallowing a whole pill, put a little olive oil on it so it slides down easier or anything you like taste of like ketchup

Learn to eat slow and chew a lot. With smaller tummy you have to spread meal out. Start taking Vitamins and exercising, you will want muscle to replace lost fat, at least in arms and legs. The doctors I have recommends a good Multivitamin, B-1, B-12, Calcium in certain amounts for the week. While you may save some money by going south of border, you need to prepare for post surgery. With Kaiser they have a two week and four week follow up appointments. They arrange meeting with dietician in month 3-4, you go through routine testing for vitamins... After the surgery you will want the follow up to make sure you are not hurting yourself by not eating right. It is not just reducing calories but getting enough Protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals so you don't hurt your muscles or central nervous system. Count calories and protein in what you eat, read labels for calories, protein, carbohydrates, trans fat. And most important, find shortest route to Salvation Army to donate all those oversized clothes. Good luck!

Congratulations on your accomplishment, now celebrate and buy a new article of clothing.

Starting a friendly discussion of Carbs because I read a lot of stuff on the board where people seem fearful of taking in carbs and I question Why? First, I hear many people talking about taking in 6 grams of carbohydrates in Vitamins. Looking at all my vitamins there are no carbs listed because the numbers are in Miligrams not Grams. In other words, unless people are taking some sort of gummy Vitamin, you really shouldn't be getting carbs. The worst I saw was people saying they are getting 6 grams which is still insignificant. Second, based on what I see at various university health websites: Carbohydrates are necessary to Provide fuel for muscles Support the central nervous system Enable fat metabolism (burning off fat) Prevent Protein from being used The minimum recommended requirement I see is 130 grams/day and for athletes 250-1,000 grams/day depending on the activity. In fact you should take carbohydrates in before exercise as it is burned first and prevents protein from being taken from muscles. Carbs by themselves are not going to make us fat, it will be lack of exercise and calories. So my part of the debate to start off with is easy, eat carbs, our bodies need them for good health. Our bigger concern should be hollow calories (calories with low protein or calories with high trans fats) not carbohydrates.

At that stage I had ground beef with gravy, cottage cheese, blended Progresso soups, Greek yogurt, eggs (soft scrambled, poached), sugar free pudding, any vegetable you can mush with a fork (peas), bananas, deli meats well chewed (hey I cheated a little)

I know the main incision was a bit knotted for 5 weeks or so but not really painful versus annoying. If pain is consistent you should consult your doctor.

Basic fact of life, you need to take in food to live so you will get back to eating. There is a difference to being nauseous and throwing up. Try slow on foods, try some toast or saltines. Chances are when you were a kid your mom gave you crackers and milk. Go back to basics. Take in a little cottage cheese. You don't need to eat a lot just start off small and add a little each day. Else, perhaps the doctor can give you something for the nausea.

I own my own business, mostly desk work and worked part time for the first two weeks. As for harder work like you are doing it took me until week for to get to gym and lost a lot of strength and endurance. It took a week to get up to working out an hour and six weeks to get moderate strength back. Somewhere around week 6 to 7 I quit sweating profusely and got normal endurance but I also had to bring weight loss to a halt because the quick weight loss was to fatiguing when trying to fit in exercise. You may find that even after 5 weeks you may not do as much heavy lifting as a waitress or house cleaner needs. Know you may not want to hear it but take it easy, you do not want to injure yourself getting back to early or trying to much to soon.