LadyIvy

Mine changes. First it was neck and shoulder, then I would hiccup right when it was time to stop, now its a feeling just under the diaphragm and the middle of my chest. Every time I think I have it figured out....

Ha. I should have read the posts below before posting. Sorry for the redundancy.

It may not technically be called dumping, however, the body gets used to not having the high quantities of fat and sugar. Eventually, you could readjust your body to handle it, but why would you want to do that? Also, anyone who has had food poisoning, gluten intolerance, or other food allergies knows that it does not necessarily take 24 hours for your system to react. The 24 hour rule is for food that your body does not have an adverse reaction to. Diarrhea is the body trying to get rid of toxins. If it took a day that would negate the purpose.

My pre op liquid diet limits were 70-90 grams of protein and no more than 30g carbs a day for a week before. I went with 8 days, but I wound up losing 13 lbs before surgery. (My weight loss always starts off quick and then slows down significantly). I love the EAS but found that the Pure protein has good flavor, lower cals and twice the amount of protein. The carbs are really addictive. If you can steel yourself to a few days of grumpiness, as you come off of them you will realize that not only do they not fill you up well for long, but you are much less hungry when you keep them low. I pretty much had to swear off all simple carbs, (they were one of my favorite things in the world). You have to figure out your triggers and keep those in the forefront of your mind. You are doing great. This is a learning process. Now you have learned something new about yourself and you need to not just forget it, but incorporate it into this life change!

Remember, what you see here are the group of people who had surgery and are responsible enough to still be a regular part of their support group. The people here will be representative of the more successful sleevers. However, it is great you are fighting to keep yourself healthy. I hope you make the choice that works best for you!

My body does not like straight sugar or high fat foods any more. I ate half a cookie on mothers day and had was in the bathroom all that day and half of the next. Now when I see the really sweet stuff, I don't have a desire like I used to. I know it will make me sick (it doesn't really taste as good either does it??).

You will be fine. I accidentally swallowed a small piece of vit c drop 4 days post op and never felt it. I was horrified though!

I usually take about 20 minutes. I don't have time in my day for 30 minutes every single time I eat. When I am alone, I will eat about a quarter of a cup and then just wait a few minutes. I do chores or other things and generally distract myself. However, I haven't really had the pain that others describe if I eat too fast. It is important to take the time to chew really well or it is rather uncomfortable though. It takes some adjustment but comes a bit easier post op I believe.

I give it a 9. The only reason I wouldn't say a 10 is because I have a lot of questions that came up post op that research can't yet fully answer. I wouldn't trade it for anything. It is a big adjustment and should be done in a point of your life where you have time for self reflection and adjustment. I am so glad I got my sleeve!

Glad you vented here Lu. It is a major life change and once its done there is no going back. I think that moment of panic happens for most everyone. It will be hard, we all wound up here because we are food addicts. Unlike something like cigarettes, we all still need to have a little bit of our addiction every day to survive. It makes it difficult. Hang in there, it gets so much better!

It does have to do with psychological adjustments, but your body is going through a lot of physiological stress too. It is trying to re-regulate after surgery and adipose tissue tends to hide pockets of hormones. As you lose weight, these hormones are rather randomly released back into your body. The combination of the two can have some very strange effects!

BTW. I don't know why I keep calling it a pouch. I guess I have just seen it so much from my FB groups that have had other types of bariatric surgery

Well Said!

I had a drain so really had to wear something loose. Also, the smallest incision on me was close enough to a bra strap I had to be a bit careful and not wear anything too tight.

No, but it does feel very strange. There is no way to describe the sensation, but it isn't pain.

Keep up the great work!

I am a very A type personality and have been obsessed with making sure I do everything the right way. Between this site and sparkpeople.com, I kept track of every tiny little thing. I do believe this is important, but I am an all or nothing kind of gal and have a tendency to go overboard. I was working out 5 hours a week and eating between 600-900 calories daily as my NUT recommended. I had lost something along the lines of 2 lbs in 3 weeks, and although I was losing, needless to say, I was rather frustrated. Last Saturday, two good friends of mine got married. The next morning, I woke up and left with the family for a 5 day camping trip (which included apartment searching, meeting with my grad advisor etc.) to the beach. I decided that I was going to take the week, not do any more exercise than I would naturally get on a camping trick. Jot down what I ate for when I got home, and just trust my tool. I followed the rules about drinking and listened to my pouch. We carried a lot of proteins but we did eat out 4 times on the trip (everyone who hadn't seen us in a while insisted on taking us somewhere). When I went somewhere, I didn't order what I used to, even though it was vacation, I paid attention to my new lifestyle. I moved food around a lot on my plate and pawned lots of stuff off on my husband (who still managed to lose some weight on this trip). The only junk I ate during the trip was a smore I made when we did a midnight camp fire on the beach. I felt a little guilty, but allowed the feeling to pass. I also found out that I get very frustrated when I cannot snack and drive. It is the first time since surgery that I had to give myself an attitude adjustment about food. I felt successful when I couldn't get snacking out of my head, and literally purchased and apple (which was a major NSV because I was completely pleased and satisfied). I stopped eating when I felt full, ate slow, kept people distracted from my intake with conversation and did my best not to obsess. The results: When I weighed myself this morning, I found that I had lost 4 lbs in 5 days! I used my log to plug everything in to sparkpeople and found that I was managing about 1200 calories a day (all those times we had to go out). I found that when we did have to go to a place that was not so healthy, listening to my pouch and making smart diet choices led to a 300-350 calorie meal, vs the 2000-4000 that I could have easily consumed at a restaurant before!! What did I miss the most? Vegetables! I knew I needed my protein, so I got them whenever I could. However getting veggies in while camping can be quite difficult. I learned so much on this trip and need to keep reminding myself to just listen to my body. It knows exactly what it needs!

About a week in my case. I had to hold my tummy still until about week 3 though, the shaking made me sore. Everything had to stay rather "vanilla" for about a month though.

I was soooo hungry for the first 10 days of mushies. When my stomach growled it hurt like crazy. I dropped everything to get to food. Then it went away for 2 weeks and I was never hungry. After that time period it sort of crept back in. I have decided that if it has not been at least 3 hours already since my last meal, the first thing I will do is drink something. This serves two purposes: #1 Lots of times my stomach now growls when I am actually just thirsty. #2. If I was not just thirsty, I have to wait at least 30 minutes. Since I have the time on my hands anyway, I take the time to prepare something really healthy and yummy. By the time it is ready, I am good to go. I do still feel hunger, but not the way I used to. I feel it more above my diaphragm and less in my stomach. Often now, it feels like I want to burp and that really isn't the problem. Good luck figuring out your body. For me, it is beneficial that I feel hunger because I only ate once a day pre-op and hardly ever felt hunger. This is keeping my metabolism up so that I don't fall into old habits.

It wouldn't hurt to talk to a professional. However, you should know that when you lose massive amounts of weight at one time, hormones trapped in the adipose tissue that is dissolving randomly begin to release in your blood. This can last for the entire weight loss period but is worse in the beginning when you are losing quickly. If you find yourself not able to do or enjoy normal activity for 3 weeks or more, get some help.

Okay, thats wrong on so many levels!

I have some bad news for you. You can't target areas to lose weight. As the weight comes off, it will come off in the order it wants to. The best you can do is build muscle in those target areas so that when it does slim down, you have tone in that area. I build muscle really fast. The problem is taking off the padding so that you can see the definition. For example, I only lost a half inch in my thighs so far, (but my thighs have always been like small tree trunks. I was a gymnast, dancer and powerlifter in high school.) However, a month ago, I had a TON of cellulite and it is almost completely gone. I have found that whatever shape you started is close to what you are going to end up with when you hit "normal" weight. It has to do with activities that defined your body in the developmental stage as well as genetics. Just keep going the way you are it will all even out even if some places take a little longer.

Glad you are feeling better. We were worried about you

I have been in and out of physical therapy since November. My MRI indicates that I have bulging disks pressing on my spine as well as multiple disks that have extreme degeneration. The doc said apart from shots, massage and surgery, weight loss as well as strengthening the muscles that support my neck and spine are the only way I can get some relief. I am inclined to believe this, because this first 30lbs has shown me a WORLD of difference

You still don't do dairy products. Eggs are a meat. Dictionary. com defines: dairy product noun milk and butter and cheese