erp

Gotta mention the sugar is high on the Calcium so for the first year I took liquid calcium citrate.

I need to get a Multivitamin and Calcium Vitamin that is chewable/suckable.

What's your favorite brand? I've tasted the fusion brand and I can barely take it down.

Surgery is 2 weeks from today!

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Not my favorite but cheap and effective- Flintstones with Iron in the purple bottle. Don't take gummies. Less expensive than the Bariatric versions: calcium citrate from Rainbow Light.

Welcome and best wishes on your path to surgery. If you have questions- just ask.

I started walking the day after surgery, just adding distance. Eventually about 3 months out, I started training for a 5k using a free app called couch to 5k.

There is a good recipe section on this website as well as a website called World According to Eggface.

I was on liquids post op for 3 weeks as part of my program. It was a learning curve to reintroduce food so going slow is fine but no food for months doesn't sound optimal for health. You potentially miss a lot of micronutrients that come from eating a well rounded diet if all you consume are Protein Shakes.

That is individualized preference so the best Vitamin is the one you'll take.

Initially you will only be able to sip a small amount at a time. That means you will probably want to cut your shake portions in half as well as possibly split that serving it into two cups. As far as shakes and Greek yogurt go, they are fine as sources of Protein but initially you may only be allowed Clear Liquids the first few days. Please refer to your Bariatric paperwork and dietitian for guidance.

800-1200 is likely much less than how much you were eating before surgery so you should lose weight whether your calories are 800, 900, etc. Personally, I was below that range at 10 weeks out- around 700 calories. Not because it was better for weight loss but because I couldn't eat that much. My plan called for Protein first, veggies then starch carbs. My diet did not have a lot of calories: 1-2 oz of Protein and a couple of bites of veggies at each meal is maybe 200 calories total. If I added a snack like a few nuts, I would get to 700.

I know these topics have probably been addressed a ba-jillion times on here, but I searched and searched and couldn't find a thread with the answers I'm looking for:

1. I am not telling anyone about my surgery except for one friend because I needed someone to take me home from the hospital afterwards. Obviously, I'll need to take some time off from work. For those who didn't tell their boss or work colleagues, what reason did you give for needing the time off? I told them I was having surgery- just not what for and legally they are not allowed to ask.

2. My surgery is on a Wed, and I was planning to return to work the following Monday (I have a desk job at a corporate office), or start working from home if I'm still in pain or feeling nauseous. Am I being totally unrealistic about how much time I'll need to recover?

Honestly, I think a little bit. I took two weeks off and was easily tired out when I came back for another week or two by the end of the day-- but nothing anyone else could discern. If I had to guess, I would say you need at least one week off. It IS major surgery, be kind to yourself.

If I had a lot of regain to drop I might want a different approach, but it's basically 10-15lbs (like I said I keep losing and gaining 5) I gained over the holidays and now that it's summer I've chosen to drop (vanity as I said--bikinis and crop tops and bodycon tanks and dresses). I feel like for that amount intermittent fasting is completely do able!

@@erp I do eat low carb/moderate fat/high Protein as a rule. I don't eat Pasta, bread, rice, etc at all anymore. But I don't eat low enough for ketosis. My understanding is you have to do that all the time 24/7 right? I may decide to do that if this doesn't work, but since I don't have much regain to deal with I don't want to go that extreme at this point.

I have let more carbs back into my daily diet in the form of fruits and oatmeal and the occasional "treat" (and yeah I do mean real treat like fig Newton Cookies or some crackers or even Fritos!) and am definitely cutting those on both my fast days and my non fast days.

Can you explain to me what you mean by focusing on recomposition? (My dang autocorrect keeps wanting to tell me I mean decomposition!). Do you mean my diet or my body composition? When I last had my body fat done (DXA scan--just before this gain) I was at 17%, athletic for a female. My activity level hasn't changed so I really believe other than this extra 10-15 my underlying composition is similar. I didn't mention that I also do hard yoga--vinyasa and Asthanga--about 4-5 hours a week. It's body weight, so not exactly resistance training but I am very happy with the muscles I have (yay yoga arms!) and between that and my running I'm putting in about 10 hours a week (more when marathon training) exercising which is about my limit.

If it's diet recomposition I would love to hear more input! Yesterday on my fast day I was at 58% Protein (101g), 14% carbs (22g) and 30% fat (23g). How does that look?

Finally no one has touched on whether or not I should lose those last vanity pounds. Honestly it's a matter of I'd like to revisit seeing my ribs and hip bones more clearly. Is that ok? I just have gained a bit of "softness" there that I prefer not to have over my bones and muscles. (To be completely honest, my husband prefers this to how I was "boney" before and I don't want to tell him I am trying to lose it again!)

I am very conscious of another member of our community who took things too far and wound up in treatment for anorexia. I don't THINK that's what I am doing here, but want a reality check which I seem to remember her getting and ignoring. Please, give it to me straight, I can handle it!!!

@Jess- we are in the same boat from a decision making stand point. I was weight stable for about 2 years and then over the holidays, I gained a few lbs and was 9 lbs (144) above my lowest weight of 135. I decided this summer to take the extra fluff off and a few more. I am currently around 133. I appreciate your sensitivity to Bella and like you, my current WL is 100% vanity, I have no "need" to lose weight.

Here's my point on body composition. All WL is not created equal. I don't just want to eat at a deficit, I want to eat at a deficit that will allow me to lose fat and maintain muscle. That is why I am doing a modified Keto- I am trying to spare muscle while losing fat. I don't want to cut calories so low that I cannibalize muscle. Like you, I always have made sure to get my protein in but at least for me, a lot of my recent fluff is from letting too many naughty carbs creep in (cucumber and celery did not do this to me!). So my question to you is, is that 10-15 lb gain, fat or muscle? If like me, you suspect it's mostly fat (and water), then I suggested Keto to go into a "burn body fat for fuel" mode. With this approach, I have also temporarily cut back on my workouts again to spare muscle. If you try Keto, then based on your macros from yesterday, you need to up your fats. Even if you don't want to go Keto, most active women need more than 25 grams of fat for hormonal balance (if yesterday was a fast day, then a day or two of really low fat is no biggie). My ratio has been 1:1 (fat:pro&carbs) daily macro breakdown has been 50% fat, 35% protein, and 15% carbs (by way of comparison, traditional Keto is 3:1 or even 4:1, modified is 2:1 or 1:1). I'm averaging 1300 cals a day. For sanity, I have taken 1 mini diet break (Fri-Sun) where I exceeded my carbs, which gave me some extra energy to workout over the weekend. I am hoping to maximize these last 4 weeks to get down to 130 before I reverse out of this diet- gradually upping my carbs and bringing down my fats along with increasing my activity level. I will gain a few pounds on the scale as my glycogen stores are replenished but I should have re-comped my body to an overall lower body fat level. In your case, I am surmising you would be back to your 17%.

Sorry to take your thread totally off topic, 5:2 works well for many people (talking about you @Feedyoureyes, Georgia, Daisy, etc.). I however cannot handle perceived deprivation- seriously, I would count down the minutes and obsess over what time I could eat again!

Sounds like a double whammy- you switched to shakes and cut calories. Since you are pre op why not just get all cals from food? You would probably find that more filling. Similarly why 1500 cals? Sounds a bit arbitrary. What was your calorie intake before? And what is it on workout days?

Ann- Old vet threads have a ton of links.

Jess- I think 5:2 or similar is great. Just wanted to suggest Keto as an option as well. Low carb, moderate fat is working for me currently. I'm certain the first 5 lbs were Water but I am now at a new low weight at almost 3.5 years out. Lastly, since your 4s still fit, you may want to focus on recomposition- a diet specific to leaning out and add resistance training to your exercise. I plan on reversing out of my current diet at the end of next month to focus on recomposition, specifically to add muscle.

I'm 5' 4"

HW 263 (stopped weighting after that)

SW 232

GW 140

CW 133

120 pounds lost. Expect what you accept. I only accepted 100% of my excess weight lost.

My group is awesome. I still go when I can- a few times a year at over 3 years out. It is run by the bariatrics nurse and nutritionist. The doctor talks for an hour about surgery and then splits. That's when about a dozen or so post ops show up and we answer newbie questions, share our experiences and then have about a 30 min educational program like a plastic surgeon from the local hospital. I go when I can, it helps me stay focused since maintenance is for life.

...We all just have to listen to our bodies and stop trying to decided what is going to happen when ultimately we have no control over it.

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I disagree- I absolutely have control over my weight. That's why I got sleeved, to regain control of my body. I would never suggest acting to one's detriment, e.g. If something causes me pain, I listen to my body and stop doing it. However giving up control got me to 265 lbs.

I miss the old style forum for veterans. I read every topic pre-op including the vets forum but couldn't actively comment until I actually was a vet. That made complete sense to me. Just like not posting in the Men's Forum. I also still don't post in lap band or bypass forums. The change from Sleeve Talk to Bariatric Pal was jarring and the vets forum was the most jarring, it lost all intimacy and its community as a result. I think 18 months post op is a good demarcation.

Mini rant: Frankly, I'm surprised I can still see straight from all my eye rolling at the times someone 5 or 6 months out posts their experience when veterans are called upon to answer questions from pre ops or newbies. Similarly I cannot handle the all bad advice when regain happens to vets from people still in the honeymoon phase ("do the 5 day pouch test" - omg, make it stop). We need a shelter.

My doctor put me on phentermine before referring me to bariatrics. It worked for about a month but it's easy to eat around. You can also take an ephedra/caffeine combo aka EC stack. In either case, working with a doctor is the right way to go. Good luck to you.

How long to wait: at least 1 year and preferably after you have hit your goal weight.

Same rule applies WLS or no WLS: you gain 25-30 lbs total

Eating: 300 cals more a day in 3rd trimester.

Terra's whey, Pretty Fit, Designer Whey and Jay Robb are all sweetened with stevia and taste good.

Sizes have changed a lot since most folks on here were in high school. What was a size 10 is now a 6. Other than being a single digit I didn't have a goal size given how much it varies by brand. I wouldn't recommend setting goals by clothing size but rather by weight, body fat percentage, or even BMI.

I thought most people set their own goal weight...do your surgeons help you come up with one? Mine didn't. I arrived at my goal weight based on a BMI of 24.5 which is right there in healthy territory but I'm sure I may have to live with being "overweight".

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Unless you don't follow your plan or put in the work to be more active there is no reason to settle for less this early out. I believe I hit my goal in part because I saw no reason why I couldn't. Stay focused and positive.

Good morning (or afternoon) guy, I am going to buy some Protein powder today and was wondering, what Protein Powder do you use? What is a good recommendation?

I heard Whey Protein is good but I know that whey is basically milk and some of us can't tolerate dairy. (I can though).

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Whey in isolate form is optimal though don't stress if the whey is in another form. Focus on low sugar per serving, e.g. 5 grams or less. A good protein powder should have 20-30 grams of protein a serving. Personally, I avoid soy and all collagen Proteins as well as anything with known heavy metal content- thus I usually try to find brands sourced in the USA. A few brands to consider: Terra's whey and Designer whey protein. If avoiding whey, look at Jay Robb. He makes an egg protein.

After I lost all my weight.

@@erp Where did purchase it? Have you tasted the Lift?

VSG 6/17/2016

I got it at Stater Bros. supermarket. Haven't tried Lift, generally not a fan of Atkin's products personally.

The chips are salty and taste a bit like cardboard. You can have them when you are cleared by your surgeon.