MyGastricSleeveLife

I'm not sure. I've used MyFitnessPal in the past with other programs & never stuck to tracking. Not sure if it's just my commitment this time or what, but so far I've tracked since the first day of my pre-op diet & haven't missed a day. I'll be 7 weeks out on Monday. There have been a few days where I've forgotten something or haven't entered things until the evening, but I haven't skipped. I think it helps that I have the iPhone app & have my phone with me when I make my food, so I enter it right away most of the time. Depending on your situation, you could use an app or laptop or just a small notebook to keep with you. Everyone is different, so you need to find what works for you. You could set alarms on your phone to remind you to enter stuff. You just need to take it one day at a time, one meal at a time. I honestly don't know why this time is different for me. It just is. Hopefully you can find a way that works for you. You could even get a magnetic pad or dry erase board that hooks to your fridge or somewhere in your kitchen. Good luck no matter what you use. It is important to keep track though.

I'm almost 7 weeks out. I'm on pureeds & can start doing some "soft" meats & veggies & such now. My doctor only wants me to do 3 meals & Water or Protein drinks between meals. Therefore, my schedule the last few weeks has been something like this..... 6:30 AM - 1/4 cup Egg Beaters w/ a little shredded cheese - usually takes me 30 minutes to eat it. Between Breakfast & lunch - I fill a water bottle with a Protein Drink & dilute it with more water to make it last longer & have my Protein & fluids together. It usually takes me a couple hours to drink it. 11:30 AM - 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup of marinara sauce & a tablespoon of parmesan - heated in the microwave for 1 minute - usually takes 30 minutes to eat. Between lunch & dinner - I fill a water bottle with a protein drink & dilute it with more water to make it last longer & have my protein & fluids together. It usually takes me a couple hours to drink it. - sometimes I just do a water bottle with crystal light instead of a protein drink in it. Just kinda depends on my mood and my protein intake for the day. 5:00 PM - 1 can of tuna (4 ounces) with 1 tablespoon of mayo - usually takes about 30-45 minutes to eat it. Between dinner & bed (around 9 PM), I usually have part of a water bottle with crystal light. Other things I eat instead sometimes are - refried black Beans, greek yogurt, string cheese. Earlier this week when I had to go to orientation at college & it was full of meetings & not many breaks, I took reduced-sodium beef Jerky and I found some travel cups of tuna that were already drained (but they didn't have mayo in them) & I took them in my backpack. There are also travel packs of tuna with crackers & mayo that are pretty easy to take in a purse or bag places. So far I haven't had to leave home too much because I'm not taking classes this summer & I work from home. I'll have to find some different things for the fall when I'm at school all day - either that or get really used to jerky & tuna! I know some doctors suggest more meals & not using protein drinks & I've seen others use string cheese & such as high-protein "snacks" between meals. I think it might be harder to get in fluids that way since we're not supposed to drink around meals/snacks, but I'm not sure since I don't do it that way. Hope that helps some. I'm not too creative with my foods at this point. Last night, we were out of the house & hadn't had dinner yet & my family stopped at Taco Cabana. I ended up ordering one chicken fajita taco, which is just chicken strips with seasoning in a taco without other toppings. I opened it & dumped the chicken of the tortilla & gave the tortilla to my daughters & I just ate the small chicken strips. Just remember "protein first" as you're progressing your diet. :-)

Check out this post I made here a couple weeks ago - http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/42408-medical-id-bracelet-great-idea/page__fromsearch__1 and also my blog post about it - http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/importance-of-medical-alert-id-bracelet.html - both have good ideas on what they should say and good places to get them. If you have a lot of medical history there are ones that are USB that can plug into a computer & hold more info or there are some that offer a site or 800 number where they hold more info that are either free or with a subscription. I posted some good articles on my blog post about it that have great info on what to put on it & why too.

Most people do it every month. I do mine every week. I do my neck, both biceps, my bust (the middle of my breasts), chest (under my breasts), waist, hips, and both thighs. I would definitely suggest at least your bust/chest, waist & hips.

My guidelines had eggs later on, like week 6. I started with cottage cheese, applesauce, ricotta cheese, & refried beams when I first started puréeds. After about a week of that, I tried tuna with mayo & chewed really well. Eggs are really acidic, so you might want to stay away from them a while longer. Just take it slow & try to liquefy things as much as you can before swallowing & take your time between bites.

I haven't used them since surgery, but I love Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds DVDs.

Thanks for the input. I haven't been brave enough to try to sleep without my mask yet to see if I sleep well without it or not. I know my pulmonologist said mine was probably weight related, but I'm not supposed to actually see her again until December or January. I guess I'll just see how things go as I lose more & move forward.

http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/time-to-rejoice-and-time-to-vent.html

I love MyFitnessPal

That's so cool!! How did you know when you could get off your CPAP? Did you have to do another sleep study?

My GYN said there shouldn't be any absorption issues with the pill, but I decided to go with the Nuvaring again (have used it in the past) just because I'm more confident that I know (or hope) it's working. I was told just to use condoms the first month on the Nuvaring. My surgeon has a "contract" that says women should do everything possible to prevent pregnancy for 18 months, but it doesn't say anything about using a second form of birth control. Accidents happen no matter what you use & I don't believe they can take any action against you is you become pregnant. I think it's just to reiterate how important it is to avoid pregnancy. It was more a contract so that I said I was aware of the risks involved.

If you look in the "Fitness" section, there is an "official" MFP thread with tons of names. I'll add you. I'm mygastricsleevelife there too.

http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/week-6-weight-pictures-and-measurements.html

I know this has been discussed some in the past because I've been in on some other threads for it, but I just wanted to start a new one because of a great site I just found out about. I know there is debate over whether a medical ID bracelet is necessary or not. I decided to get one just for my own peace of mind. I just put "Gastric Sleeve VSG - No Blind NG Tubes - No NSAIDs" on mine & thought that would be fine because the place I got it from really didn't have space for contact information or anything else on it. I just figured it would be okay that I had my surgeon's card and other information in my purse. A couple weeks after surgery, I was talking to a friend who said she had one made also & she said how she put contact info on hers. She said she had never really thought about it before, but had recently witnessed an accident and she and her husband were the first people on the scene of the accident. The woman in the accident was in the car, but her purse had gotten thrown out of the car and it took them a while to find it. My friend said this got her thinking about the bracelet. She said she put most of the same info I did, but also that she's diabetic & also her husband's name and information (and I think our surgeon's number too). Today someone was talking about it on my surgeon's support group and someone mentioned that they got one with a ton of info on it. She said it has her name, birth year (not full DOB), contact info for her son, her procedure & date of surgery, No Blind NG, No NSAIDs, and our surgeon's name & phone. When we asked her where she got it from, she said it was from Road ID (http://www.roadid.com/). I looked at the site and think it's awesome how much information they can fit on them and they're reasonably priced. They even have options for a wrist or shoe one and some other options. They also have an option for an interactive coverage (which is a subscription) where you could put a more complete profile that EMS could access online or on the phone. Anyway, I just thought I'd share because although I pray that none of us ever needs emergency assistance, it eases my mind knowing the people who would help me would have the necessary information. I had never thought about how important the contact information is in a situation where my wallet might not be right there! I haven't found other sites that offer the same amount of information on a bracelet as the site above for a reasonable price in the past.

It doesn't really just slide through. In the sleeve, we still have our pylorus which is a little valve at the bottom of the stomach that leads into the small intestine. Some absorption still gets done in the stomach & then more in the intestines. It's just that we can hold more Fluid than denser foods and they do go through the stomach faster, but not just completely "right through" it. It's not like they're skipping the stomach completely. As far as the bougie size, there are a number of pictures floating around this forum and elsewhere on the internet that show the difference in sizes and it really does not make a lot of a difference even from the smallest to largest. Therefore, personally, I don't even consider that as far as capacity goes. I know some people have said that taller people sometimes can consume a little more because they have a longer stomach than shorter people, but I'm not sure how true that is. My surgeon told me to limit myself to no more than 4 ounces (1/2 cup) during a meal once I started on the pureed stuff. It sounds like a little bit, especially compared to the fluids, but it's completely different having 4 ounces of Beans or tuna than 4 ounces of Protein Drink or pudding or even creamy soups. Sometimes I can only have 2 ounces of the denser stuff & I'll be full for at least a few hours afterward. It really just depends on the person and the food & sometimes even changes from day to day. Everyone has different "full" signs. I learned that I start getting hot & just feeling generally "icky" as I start to fill up. Luckily, I haven't take "one bite too many" yet. Most people say they throw up if they get to that point. It's challenging, but not impossible to learn your own full signs and stop before it's too much. Just hang in there & take your time as you progress your foods.

My paperwork says no straws for 3-4 months. A lot of people take in more air with straws and also take in too much liquid at once. I had Water bottles with straws before & just bought some without a straw before surgery. One day about 3 weeks out I decided to try a straw again & it just wasn't comfortable, so I've stayed with the no-straw water bottles for now. They're kinda a pain when driving, but I've done fine with them. Some surgeons say it doesn't matter & some say never. It just depends on the person.

Give it time. I didn't feel restriction/full until I started on puréed foods. Refried beans, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, tuna. I feel very full with all of those. It's completely different than liquids. I can still have a full can of soup just fine but only 2-4 ounces of the puréed thicker stuff. You'll get full. Just don't worry about it too much right now.

I haven't found it hard at home, because I just don't have my water bottle or anything to drink near me at mealtime. However, last night we went out to eat for the first time since surgery and it seemed very odd not to have water at the table at the restaurant. It definitely takes some time to get used to.

Most of us use MyFitnessPal. Some use Lose It.

http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/first-time-at-restaurant-since-surgery.html

My dietitian said to look for either whey or soy isolate because they are the best. I think the whey is slightly better than the soy from what I've read, but both are good and what we need. It is better to have isolate than concentrate. You want to stay away from collagen protein sources.

Greek yogurt is great because of the higher Protein that's in it compared to regular yogurt. You just have to be careful with the carbs especially with kinds that have fruit in them. Grilled chicken is great too.

http://mygastricsleevelife.blogspot.com/2012/06/now-i-remember-i-love-exercise.html

Honestly, if you eat things slow enough and chew well or liquify them in your mouth more before swallowing there isn't much difference in the two stages other than "full liquids" are technically still liquids. I added more water to mashed potatoes to make them more watery and used them during my full liquid stage. I'm on pureeds now and I usually have tuna with mayo, ricotta with marinara, refried black beans, and greek yogurt for my main foods. I thought that cottage cheese was considered a puree, but a friend said our surgeon told her it was a full liquid. It's so weird how different people classify things into the different stages. I definitely notice restriction and fullness with the pureeds more than I ever did with the full liquids. Just go slow and try adding one new thing a day and see how you do with it.

I take my own 2 kids and some neighbor kids to school & home. I wasn't supposed to drive as long as I was on the narcotic pain medicine & I know some doctors say to not drive for at least a week after surgery. It just depends on the doctor. I took the pain meds for 2 days after surgery during the day, but then I only did at night. I had surgery on a Monday. My husband worked from home during that week so he could take the kids to and from school, so I didn't do much that week. The Monday after surgery, when my husband went back to work & I did the driving around again was really tiring because of surgery & because I hadn't done it in a week. I would honestly see if there is any way your husband could get time off or your extended family could help or friends could help out for the first week or two. Everyone's recovery is different, but the first week is definitely the hardest & especially since you have one that isn't in school yet you might need extra help. It would be hard to be with the little one all day by yourself right after surgery!