Twyla

I'm in Steilacoom!

Anyone here in WA? In the Tacoma area? We just moved here in June and I don't know ANYONE. Hit me up! I just got sleeved Oct 9th.... taking it one day at a time.....

Anyone here in WA? In the Tacoma area? We just moved here in June and I don't know ANYONE. Hit me up! I just got sleeved Oct 9th.... taking it one day at a time.....

Anyone here in WA? In the Tacoma area? We just moved here in June and I don't know ANYONE. Hit me up! I just got sleeved Oct 9th.... taking it one day at a time.....

Hi Frye. Glad to hear you are ok. 82 lbs. is a lot and I am not surprised that it would take a toll on you. It broke my heart that you were feeling dumb in the ER, and no doctor should make you feel that way. That is their job and they are doing you no favors. So if you are ever in a similar position again ( and I really hope you wont) remember that doctors have to CARE for you. Warm wishes for you!

I know from past experience, if I deny myself, I will binge big time and go completely off the rails. I don't view the sleeve as a diet, but I make conscious decisions about what goes into my mouth.....and for the first time in my life I'm happy to do that.
If someone chooses to eat foods which I would choose not to eat - that's not my business. If someone asks for thoughts or advice I will say if I think its a good idea (or not), but I won't berate them. I'm not perfect.

I've seen a lot of the negativity and harshness around here talked about for a while. I didn't see it at first, but I see it now. Yikes!
We all have a different path and journey. What works for some may not work for others. This is a lifestyle not a diet for me. Having said that I think that means different things for different people. For me it means make good choice but also don't deprive myself. But I don't impose that on anyone. The goal is to be able to live a normal life like a normal person with healthy eating habits who can live in society.
That means eating Protein like chicken, sea food, steak...and veggies and salads most of the time. I don't totally ignoring a food group like carbs. Not all carbs are bad and normal healthy people don't totally ex them out of their diet. I stick with good carbs most of the time, and If I want some roasted red potatoes well damn it I'm going to make them! That means every now and then things like fast food and desert are going to be eaten by me. I had cake on my birthday, I ate a few pork dumplings from a thia restaurant. I had a few bites of a biscuit. And you know what? I don't feel bad for these choices. Because for ME this worked. Moderation. Something I didn't know before.
Pre op I didn't have healthy eating habits. I could never just have ONE cookie. If I had fast food I had the large meal with the fries. One bite didn't exist in my vocabulary. I didn't know how to leave food on my plate. Now I feel I've found a balance.
I DO however get this doesn't work for everyone. People have food addictions. Certain foods can trigger binge eating- even with a sleeve. Some choose to stay as far away from these foods as they can never to include them in their diet again. Which is commendable and I applaud you all for it because I don't think I have the power to say 'never again'. Thats amazing and truly commendable!
I don't think the problem people have on here is with anyone choosing to not participate in eating these foods. As I've said different journey for all of us. The problem is the way people who DO eat them and admit to it are treated and called out. No one should be belittled, scolded or called a name for their choices on either end. This is directed at no one in particular, but I've seen it in several threads.
No one should be afraid to ask a question or share their input in fear of being called a name or made to feel inferior. If someone is posting things like 'I'm eating cake and Cookies, why am I not losing weight?' Well yes I can see how that would warrant comment. But even then there is no need for snark, rudeness or name calling. People, especially new people see this and become afraid to say anything for fear of getting their head bitten off.
This was longer then I meant it to be, but the point is that this is a different journey for everyone. Some are more strict, some more liberal. But everyone deserves respect and to allow their experiences to be heard. This goes for both sides- left and right wing that's my two cents (this was probably more like a quarter though then 2 two cants though lol)

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to life after the sleeve, much the way the one-size-fits-all approach to dieting doesn't work. If it did, we'd all pay our Weight Watchers dues, avoid comorbidities and enjoy life as skinny people after successfully completing our first diet.
For people without comorbids, it's usually NOT a health-related choice to have the sleeve. If you don't have high cholesterol or diabetes or high blood pressure, you're not making the choice to do this for the same reason as someone who does.
I really dislike the "food Nazi" attitude. It's one thing to criticize someone that jumps on a board and complains about slow loss, stalls or discomfort after they confide that they're eating off their doctor's nutritional guidelines or that they're doing binges and grazing.
It's another thing entirely to assume an all-or-nothing approach. For some people, that works. For the vast majority of us that have dieted most of our lives, it doesn't work. It didn't work before and it won't work this time, either.
You will see me say this over and over again. The sleeve is NOT A DIET. It's not. If you treat it like one, odds are good that you'll experience the same success you achieved on all those diets you did before you finally opted to have surgery.
The sleeve is a tool. Yes, we should make good quality food choices 90% of the time. If we can do that, why would we restrict ourselves with the other 10% of our choices?
I did not remove most of an organ so I could stay on Atkins for the rest of my life, sorry. It's easy to be a carb Nazi in the first four or five months post op. But at some point, sanity has to set in and you have to learn to eat normally.
This is not about getting to a set weight on the scale. That is the easy part, believe it or not. The challenge is STAYING THERE. It's being out there, post op and able to eat a larger portion of a larger variety of foods and being able to eat without doing it emotionally, grazing or binge eating. Maintenance is infinitely harder than the loss phase, and maintenance lasts forever.
So learning how to eat in moderation, how to deal with the social customs and rituals we've built around food and doing it all without feeling deprived and resentful is a huge part of this journey.
If you lose 100 pounds by eating 400 calories and 30 carbs a day, congrats. Your loss is no less a success. But tell me how you're going to stay there for the next thirty years without regaining if all you learned on your journey is how to diet more effectively?
Good luck. It's important that we realize that VST is a place for us to share a wide range of experiences and feelings about this surgery and life afterward. Attacking someone for choosing a different way to live, when that person has shown success and isn't complaining, is not okay.
~Cheri

It freezes great too! I broke it out into 4 oz containers, froze them and they are a grab&go for my lunches. Lately I've been heating it up, adding it to sliced cucumbers with a little light sour cream. Yum!

Made it today and just finished eating. AWESOME!! Even my 5 year old ate it and loved it. I served it with tostitos instead of tortillas because I was in the mood for nacho style. This was sooo easy. Thanks for Sharing!

Do you have a costco? the whole roast chicken for $4.99 is such a steal - cheaper than buying a raw chicken. tuna is another great low cost Protein. For something different with tuna, try blending it with a little mayo so it's a smooth spread. Great with crackers. I like the Special K crackers, but they are a splurge price-wise.
For veggies, frozen is often cheaper and very tasty. One great advantage to frozen is no waste. Just take out and cook what you need.
Here's a chicken pot pie my family loves:
12 oz. shredded chicken or turkey
10 oz. frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn, and green beans)
1 onion, chopped
1 can low fat cream of chicken Soup
1/2 cup milk
piecrust
Sautee onion in a little oil. I use about a tablespoon. Stir in frozen veggies, chicken or turkey, milk, and soup. Pour into a 9" pie pan. Top with piecrust and bake at 425 till crust is done. 30-45 minutes. Just eat yours without the piecrust.
I also make big batches of Beans, chili, and vegetable soup and then freeze them in gallon baggies. They thaw out fast.
For fruit, whatever is in season now. At first I could only eat non-acidic fruit. Applesauce was a lifesaver then.
Lynda

If you're grazing it's not going to fill you. Basically, you'd be eating artificial junk that slides while leaving behind a craving for more artificial junk. Empty calories and artificial crud should be avoided by all of us. While I advocate a balanced approach to eating, without denying yourself, I also advocate healthy eating and the use of moderation.
The ways to feel full? Protein first. Lots of Protein, including shakes, will help you feel full longer. Eat a reasonable amount of good quality carbohydrates so that you don't feel deprived and have energy. Eat real fats, in moderation, so that your food is more satisfying and tastes better.
Eliminate as many artificial, fat-free fake foods from your diet as possible. These things do not satisfy you and the sleeve is not a diet. You do not need these foods. The goal is to eat real food, in moderation, so that you feel happy and satisfied without turning to foods that lack nutrition and cause you to crave.
Address your eating habits NOW. You're grazing? Stop it. I know, it sounds so easy and simplistic and almost cruel to say. But that's the reality here. The sleeve gave you a limited stomach and will stop you from eating a pizza in a sitting, but nothing is ever going to stop you from eating a cookie an hour around the clock. If you choose to continue eating out of habit, boredom or due to emotional triggers, you will have trouble reaching goal and trouble maintaining. That's the absolute truth.
There is no shame in wanting or needing counseling. Our stomachs did not make us fat. Filling them up beyond capacity for years on end, for whatever reasons we did that, is what makes a person obese enough to require surgery. Address the cause of your obesity and you'll find that life gets a lot easier. It's time to discover why you eat when you do and correct that behavior. Building healthy habits now will help you maintain for life. Treating the sleeve like a diet and then cheating on that diet will lead to the same success as past diets did prior to surgery. That is to say, it won't work.
Good luck. There is no shame in admitting that this isn't easy. It's not. If it were easy and the sleeve were a magic tool we'd all have 100% success and never complain or hit a roadblock. This is using a tool to change a lifetime of bad habits and food issues. It takes time and it's not always forward progress.
Work on it and do your best to overcome these things and you can only help yourself be happier and healthier for the rest of your life.
~Cheri

Great stuff here guys thank you for the replies!! When you come on here and read low carb all the time it's easy to forget that there are good carbs.
Cheri excellent post! I also look at VSG as a lifestyle and I don't feel like that included depriving myself. It doesn't mean I can feel free to eat crap either. For me a balanced diet has always been the goal. Clean eating is so appealing to me now also. It's amazing how much my outlook on food and eating has changed. Fresh veggies, roasted potatoes things like that are so appealing to me these days where as pre op I LIKED them but didn't crave them.
I'm very excited to try some recipes with quinoa. I was introduced to it by my ex a few years ago who was all about health food at the time and I kind of just turned my nose up at it. I had it again before surgery a few months ago and really enjoyed it. There are tons of great recipes on Pinterest for it btw!
Thank you for the input everyone! I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling like carbs have gotten a bad rep. Not all carbs are bad

I would be curious to know too why someone would go from India to Mexico for surgery. Really? my name is India I live in San Diego,

i've never been in this situation, but seriously, you are young! it's great that you have a new found confidence in yourself and you should be out enjoying it and dating and seeing what's out there! i'm getting surgery around may and i've worried about it changing who i am too, but honestly, it is a life changing experience and it WILL change you. and that isn't always necessarily a bad thing. sounds like it has changed you for the better (more confidence, more social), and that is nothing to feel guilty or ashamed of. have fun, and don't let your boyfriend make you feel badly for it. and honestly, anyone who says **** like, "i liked you when no one wanted you" is NOT worth your time. that was a d**k move.

I like the Buddig wafer thin lunch meats. They're cheap, 2 oz, only 90 calories and they are easy to carry around and taste good. Sometimes I eat one of these with a babybel for my lunch as well. Oh and the chicken and turkey each have 10 grams of Protein, that's the beat part!

I like the Buddig wafer thin lunch meats. They're cheap, 2 oz, only 90 calories and they are easy to carry around and taste good. Sometimes I eat one of these with a babybel for my lunch as well. Oh and the chicken and turkey each have 10 grams of Protein, that's the beat part!

You mention that you are off your thyroid meds. Not sure why you were on thyroid but I've heard most thyroid patients take the meds for life. If your thyroid wasn't functioning properly it doesn't just start working because you have lost weight. You may need thyroid medication to break your stall and to get your metabolism working again. Just a thought:)

Went to a military ball with my hubs last night. I've been in a stall for 3 weeks and pretty frustrated. Luckily, I fit into a dress I got to wear once after lapband surgery! Money is tight so I couldn't afford to buy new, but I sure will in the spring when I'm much smaller. I decided to weigh this morning too, and MY STALL IS BROKEN!!!!!! Woohoo! 2 more lbs gone forever! So, now I'm down 34 lbs total since my surgery October 9th. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Oh and I read on here that someone liked the salmon burgers from costco so I picked some up. I have to say, they are AMAZING! Yum-o!!!!

Went to a military ball with my hubs last night. I've been in a stall for 3 weeks and pretty frustrated. Luckily, I fit into a dress I got to wear once after lapband surgery! Money is tight so I couldn't afford to buy new, but I sure will in the spring when I'm much smaller. I decided to weigh this morning too, and MY STALL IS BROKEN!!!!!! Woohoo! 2 more lbs gone forever! So, now I'm down 34 lbs total since my surgery October 9th. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Oh and I read on here that someone liked the salmon burgers from costco so I picked some up. I have to say, they are AMAZING! Yum-o!!!!

Went to a military ball with my hubs last night. I've been in a stall for 3 weeks and pretty frustrated. Luckily, I fit into a dress I got to wear once after lapband surgery! Money is tight so I couldn't afford to buy new, but I sure will in the spring when I'm much smaller. I decided to weigh this morning too, and MY STALL IS BROKEN!!!!!! Woohoo! 2 more lbs gone forever! So, now I'm down 34 lbs total since my surgery October 9th. Can't wait to see how this plays out. Oh and I read on here that someone liked the salmon burgers from costco so I picked some up. I have to say, they are AMAZING! Yum-o!!!!

That looks delicious!

Before surgery, I had my group of friends tell me if there is anything I need to just ask. After surgery, I let everyone know that I'd love it if someone would come pick me up and take me out for some hot tea.
Guess how many came to my aid? Yep! Zero.
And this after I'd helped some out of tight spots, helped move, been a shoulder, etc.
recently, a strictly online friend of mine made the best statement that I need to remember:
" If you can't be my friend when it is inconvenient, you don't deserve to be my friend when it is a benefit."
It's time for us to take care of us. Viva la revolution!

I am a guzzler and am definately glad to hear that it wont always be sip sip sip! I am only 5 days out but i miss chugging!

Walk, walk, walk, walk.
That is the only way to get rid of all that Gas.
My surgery was on the 7th. I too could not get in the liquids.
I just made myself get at least some in. By Day 3 I went onto Gatorade. That al least has the Fluid and electrolytes your body will be needing.
By day 4 I was getting at least a 16oz bottle of Gatorade in. I started adding in Water and AppleJuice.
At this point, a week out, I am doing pretty damn well.
Don't get discouraged, I know you will. Just keep looking up and forward, this will pass.
I had a horrible time with heartburn before surgery. Non since the surgery.
How are you taking that Prilosec. If it is the capsule. That getting stuck might be some of your pain.
I can't even take the smallest of capsules. Tried my Migraine med after I got home. Damn thing was in my stomach and felt like a Knife in my chest for hours.
Good Luck, and Walk, walk, walk.....