TheGamer

Grapefruit can impact how medications react in your body. The easiest way to explain it is that grapefruit makes many types of medicine be absorbed differently by the body, to the point where a normal dosage can become toxic.

Splenda is fine to add to your drinks. One of the things that I relied on early after surgery was sugar free hot cocoa with unflavored protein powder in it. I would take two packets and add two scoops of powder. Be careful not to make it too hot or the protein powder will get very gross. Warm drinks always sat much better on my stomach than cold things did.

My grocery store carries it with the baking supplies, but you can also find it on Amazon.

The "stuffed" feeling comes VERY quickly, which is why we need to eat slowly. A couple bites (for me) means the difference between full and part of my meal coming back to haunt me. As others have said, this is a tool. If you continue to have a poor diet or eat every time you can, then the sleeve will either not work or not work as well. The sleeve provides great restriction with solid foods. With mush and liquid, not so much. You still have choices to make, but having the sleeve has made making those choices much easier than it was before.

You might be tugging at your internal stitches, especially if you're forgetting that no lifting rule. It can be a very sharp pain.

I can't speak for others, but I usually am having a meal or snack every few hours so that I can get my Protein in by the end of the day. When I was still just a few weeks out I know I took my meal shake to the movies with me I think if you plan for it in your daily intake, there's no reason not to enjoy something at the movies.

Make a special event (when you're cleared for all foods) with the husband of going out to eat when you're able. My first meal out after surgery was a really big deal for me. We went to Kansai and it was delicious! Like most of us, I came home with enough food for 2 more meals

You may also want to try True Orange crystals for orange flavor. It's made by the same people who make True Lemon, which is super tasty for lemonade. It's basically crystallized orange and a really nice add in with none of the sugar or calories.

I had the same issue on my pre-op diet. They wanted me to have five shakes, my body wanted three by the end of my two weeks. I called the surgeon's office and explained the issue. They said as long as I was getting in 70+ grams of protein (my requirement) and my vitamins/minerals, three was fine. I'd suggest clearing it with your office, but I'd imagine the results will be the same.

No, it's not a scare tactic. While they don't know how large your liver was beforehand, you can very much see the difference between a normal and fatty liver in this picture: http://www.omsj.org/drugs/FattyLiver_files/image003.jpg In short, if you don't follow the diet, they will know because it will be obvious when they go in for surgery. My doctor explained that a fatty liver is more prone to tearing when they attempt to lift it out of the way to get to your stomach and will cause complications. If there's a risk, they will cancel the surgery to protect you.

I had some things that "helped" me accelerate my weight loss, including a stricture that kept me from eating solids for several weeks and a two week bout of stomach flu, so I know that it's not quite typical. Things are slowing down for me and I've been losing and regaining the same 5 pounds for the last two weeks XD, so I understand your frustration. When I stall, I usually try a couple things. First, I go back to basics. I write down everything I eat, down to the last bite. I focus on Protein first with no extras and getting all my Water in and I find that somewhere along the line I've been adding a snack here or there mindlessly. Get a little extra exercise, too. Some people swear by upping caloric intake to get out of a stall. I've also heard that people have good results with Diva's Boot Camp, if you search for that post. Nobody knows for certain why we stall when we're all eating next to nothing. Sometimes it's glycogen related, but sometimes we just don't lose. Keep perspective that even though it doesn't seem like a lot... it really is. Could I have lost weight without the surgery? Certainly not so much and certainly not without being absolutely miserable. I think sometimes the hardest part is just keeping perspective on our weight loss because after so long we finally feel it's going to work and we just want to be successful already and so we get frustrated even when we know it's not a magic weight loss surgery.

I've found that if I eat for my nutritional requirements (70 g protein) that my caloric intake is just naturally between 600-800 a day. Since hunger isn't really an issue, once I hit my protein requirement, I'm generally done for the day as far as food goes. Don't worry about days where it may be higher, just keep in mind that as long as you're eating less than your body requires to live, you're going to lose weight. Most of us were eating well over 2500 calories a day to sustain our pre-op weight, and even at my worst post-op eat-lunch-out-with-a-little-dessert day, I doubt I've eaten over 1200 calories.

When your doctor tells you that if the liver doesn't shrink, it could cause the surgery to be cancelled, it's normal to have fears about that. If you're following your doctor's orders, you will be fine. They've done this with enough people that they know it works. Stick with it and you'll be ready for surgery in no time!

SoCal is exactly right. Those of us with huge first month numbers are generally MUCH heavier. Yes, I've lost nearly 100 pounds since my surgery in October, but I started out at 383! I've been bouncing around the 280s for the past couple weeks now. My weight loss is about 4 pounds a week, on average. Always keep perspective when it gets frustrating. People like me look at you and go "Gosh, I wish I was that skinny already..."

Yeah, I wish this had been a common procedure ten years ago. I'm not complaining about doing it at 36, but sooner would have been better I think that anyone who is considering getting any weight loss surgery has probably tried to lose weight more than once, or twice, or ten times... For me, this was what I did after I had given up on ever doing another diet ever again. I knew unless I had help, I would never successfully lose weight. My whole life had proven it. The surgery completely changed my (very unhealthy) relationship with food. I could eat like nobody's business before I had surgery. I'd go to the Chinese buffet for lunch and eat three plates full of food. I'd justify it by saying it was my only meal of the day. I'd still snack later on I think the biggest change is that food doesn't have the power over me that it did before I had the sleeve. I can say no now. I'd even say that food has lost a lot of the appeal it had. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE delicious food, but I can kind of take it or leave it now. I don't have to have it. I'm not the person making a straight line to the donuts in the break room any more. I never thought I would look at a "normal" plate of food and realize just how much food we eat. I go out to eat now and what would have been a normal meal is now three or four meals. I'm happier, healthier... My high blood pressure is gone, I no longer take anti-inflammatory drugs to keep my joints from locking up, I sleep better, breathe better, and I have more energy. Having said all that, this is a decision only you can make. You are the only one who can decide if it's right for you. If you're not certain, wait until you are.

It took me about a week to feel semi-normal. Two weeks out I felt much more like myself.

When I go to the movies, I bring jerky to chew on. For soft food, I'd maybe do cheese (laughing cow wedges) or something similar.

Nah, fixing it doesn't hurt at all. When mine was done (you're under when they do it), I got instant relief from weeks of pain.

The gurgling is pretty normal post-sleeve, so don't worry about that. I had a stricture that was fixed during a routine EGD. For me, the stricture made getting *anything* that was not liquid nearly impossible, even something as simple as applesauce or mashed potatoes. I experienced extreme acid reflux and began aspirating stomach acid, and ended up sleeping in a recliner because I couldn't sleep any other way. The pain was pretty constant, and I only got relief from keeping a heating pad on my stomach and drinking warm liquids as much as I could tolerate. I don't know that stricture would show up so soon post surgery as I believe it's a result of the opening in the pouch healing too tightly. One week out you're still swollen and healing. You're probably still on clear liquid diet or possibly progressing to full liquids. Unless it gets intolerable, I wouldn't worry at this point.

If they say anything, just tell them you're doing a shake diet. They don't need to know it's the lead up to a surgical procedure and with all the liquid diets and cleanses that people do these days, drinking meals for dietary purposes isn't all that strange.

I had a start weight of 383. I'm currently hovering around 100 pounds lost since surgery on 10/22. If I get to where my doctor wants me (150), I'll be dropping about 230 pounds total (my personal goal is somewhat higher - 180). I chose the sleeve in part because it was permanent (no worrying about adjustments and sweet spots) and because it was not malabsorptive (because who wants to never have chocolate again without getting sick). I'll have assistance with portion control for the rest of my life and for the first time ever I feel like I can get to a reasonably healthy weight.

I second that BA Vitamins are vile and should be avoided. They may be good vitamins, but they taste like... well if you try one, you'll see >.< I eventually ended up doing what a lot of people do, which is going to gummy vitamins and supplementing my minerals. My last round of blood work was good on everything, so it seems to be okay.

Everyone will stall. It doesn't matter how well you follow guidelines, stalls and slow weight loss are, at times, inevitable. Here's the short version sum-up: If you are eating fewer calories than you are burning, you *will* lose weight. This is not negotiable unless something is seriously wrong. If you do a search for "week 3 stall" you will see that most of us, around week 3, for no discernible reason... will stall for a couple weeks. This is a normal thing, so don't panic. Just keep focusing on learning good habits and the weight will come off.

I don't get gray hair. I prefer to tell people I'm growing fiber optic cable!

How's your blood pressure?