johnlatte

In Tuesday AM out Wednesday PM. Could not get out of there fast enough. Had to wait until Dr. finished a couple of surgeries, as he wants to see all his patients before the check out (not just the PA).

Working on it. Was at 2000mg metformin and actos per day. Cut out the actos entirely and down to 1500mg of metformin. Getting checked in March and hopefully will come down another 500mg. Also looking to get off of cholesterol and hghbp meds as well.

Its not the easiest thing you will ever do, nor is it the hardest. You have to work at it after surgery. The weight isn't going to magically fall away. As far as "eating right", I am eating right now, making the right choices about food and portions that I should have made years ago. The surgery will change your perspective on food and how you eat. To some, they can't overcome that, and will be miserable (why can't I eat what I want to?). Some understand that for any amount of significant weight-loss is going to take a change in lifestyle. You have to be prepared for that. If you don't then you can expect that the weight will most likely return. That's not to say you can't go out and enjoy life and have great time, but that doesn't have to revolve around food and eating. Things like loose skin and such are minor hurdles compared to what could happen if we stay the way we are. Education and research are the keys to making sure that your surgery and your recovery go smoothly. Ask all the questions you can to your Dr. and your nutritionist. Go to the support groups and meet people that have had the surgery. While you will find a lot of info on the internet, I urge you take that with a grain of salt. This surgery isn't risk free, so you do have to do your homework. If you approach the situation with a totally honest and open attitude, about yourself and your life, you should do just fine. Hang in there.

Heard that..stalls suck..

It gets better. Walking is important. The gas will eventually go away. Make sure you do everything you can possibly do to get your fluids in. Dehydration is the worst thing you could have happen right now. Even if you have to ease up the proteins for just a bit, still get the fluids in. I get ya on the pains when trying to sleep. I hat to hit the hydrocodone hard the first couple of nights because of rolling over on the staples. It's a lot of annoyances early on, but it isn't anything that you can't get through. Just gotta plow!

There are a lot of variables as to "when" you can eat something. I am sure that your Dr. and nutritionist has laid out a schedule for you as you progress through your recovery. Meats are tricky with the sleeve. The denser and drier the meat the more issues that you could have. If you toss it in a blender and chop it up fine with a little liquid, you may not have much of a problem when you get to that stage. Right now, I don't have problems with chicken, or pork, but am not digging the red meats. They just don't go down right for some reason. Also if you do try it and it doesn't sit well, you might want to try again later down the road. The key is to go slow, make sure the meat is super moist (like cut it with fork moist) use small bites and chew it, for all its worth.

A stall at about 3 weeks is typical. Your body is adjusting to the changes and is holding on to the fat for dear life. The key things to do are probably what you already know. Get in your fluids. The fluids will help flush the fat out of the cells and will take its place there. Low carbs, high proteins, etc. Really get serious about the exercise. The more you can do, the more the body has to give up on trying to store fat and will start to burn it off. It won't hurt to up your calories, by 10 to 15% for just abit to get your system to burn fat again as well. You will stall from time to time, but once you figure out how to get things upright again, they get shorter and shorter. Hang in there

Hi, First you gotta get the fluids in. That's probably the most important thing you could do right now. Dehydration is terrible and is difficult to recover from. Try different things, like Powerade Zeros or Mios anything. Decafe iced tea. I am not a big Water drinker either, but I get mine in. Being sick compounds the need for more fluids. Ya just gotta do it. Try some SF Popsicles. They work well when you are really dry. Try swishing when you drink. You can take a sip, swish then swallow. It gets more of the liquid moving through the mouth and makes it feel like you have had more to drink that you really have. Mushies can be anything that will go into a blender or can be mashed. I make egg salad alot, it went down fine. Cottage cheese works too. I put roasted chicken in the blender with some Italian salad dressing and a bit of balsamic. That was really good. Greek yogurt gets the Proteins in and is very soft. You can splash a little sugarfree syrup into it and its good. You got this, but you can't NOT do something, got to get it going.

The sleeve is a tool, it is simply a reduction in the amount of food your stomach can hold. It reasonably possible for someone to be sleeved and continue to consume the amount of calories that would prevent significant weight loss. It would be difficult, but not outside the realm of possibilities. It is also possible that over time, if bad eating habits aren't changed, that weight would return. This is true for the sleeve, band or RNY.

My nutritionist advises against processed cereals as there are carbs that aren't getting reported in them. Her rule of thumb is that the carbs need to be 1/2 the protein. So with the milk, you are looking at 36g of carbs and 21g protein. I'm at 60g carbs for the day, so to me that's a lot. Just means more cardio .

My only regret was that I didn't do it sooner. Everything has been fine, and so far I am pretty happy with the results. Still have a long road to go, but it will happen. It has changed my view on food, eating and has allowed me to jet a lot of emotional baggage, so it was well worth it. I didn't tell anyone much about my surgery. My immediate family knows. I have always been tight with my business, so I didn't see the need for anyone else really to know. Might be something that I reconcile later, but right now it ain't their business so.....

hey there, I read some of your blog posts. I really would love to do the Disney 10k as well with my kids. I totally understand your frustration, but I don't think that there's anything wrong with your sleeve. We all want this to go really fast, but hey we didn't get there overnight either. I might suggest a couple of things. You are working out like crazy so that's a good thing. You will need to up the protein big time, so that you are building muscle and burning fat. Try to spread the protein out across your day instead of getting it all at once or in larger portions. It will make you feel fuller longer. Liquid is so key, I see that you are struggling with it. I would make this a big big focus right now. The thing that water does beside keep you hydrated is that it will push the fat out of the cells and replace it with water. I really think it would be a great idea if you religiously tracked what you eat on myfitnesspal or some other app, I have found that I eat better, eat less and get a better understanding of where my calories, carbs and such are coming from. I noticed from some of your other blog entries that you were estimating your carbs. That right there tells me a lot. Do it for a week or so, just so you get an idea. Don't worry about what other people are losing. A lot of people that have a lot of weight to lose will lose it quickly, so it is not uncommon to see a 5 or 6 pound a week loss. However, even in our sleeved state, that isn't particularly healthy and could very easily lead to the weight coming back sooner. Two to three pounds a week is great, one pound is fine, if it goes away forever. Hang in there, I absolutely know that it is hard. I want to be at goal right now, but I would rather be healthy and lose the weight slowly and not have to fight it down the road again. This is my last goat rodeo with weightloss, so I am planning on doing it right this time. You are heading in the right direction, just don't get down and frustrated, that's when little things start adding up. Its gonna be good, I truly believe it!

Was sleeved the same day! Down 40lbs and feel great. Would like to be further along, but it will get there.

You may want to ask you Dr. for some promethazine or ondansetron for the nausea and vomiting. It will pass, but it is annoying.

A couple of things to think about. The body will fight you like crazy to hold on the fat that it has stored. This is a very normal process that happens 2-3 weeks after surgery. Since the body has been getting all the fuel it wants and then some, it reacts badly when the wheels suddenly come off the bus. The best thing I can recommend is not to cut back on calories. This is only going to make the problem worse. Try increasing the amount of protein you are getting. Drink the water as it fills the fat cells and doesn't give them the opportunity to push more fat in their place. Do watch the simple carbs (creamy soups, milk based products etc). That satisfies the system and it thinks that it is getting lots of fuel (fat) to store and then it decides not to burn any, just store it. Cardio exercise helps as it speeds up the metabolism, pushes blood through the bloodstream and therefore gets the body to release some of the stored fuel (fat). A little weight training helps as well. Good luck, don't get discouraged, once you figure it out, you won't stall often.

green ginger tea works really well. no bubbles no sugar very soothing to the gut.

I'm down 40 as of today, sleeved 11/20.

This is one of the reasons, why I haven't mentioned my surgery too much. People sometimes have this weird interest in how much weight you are losing and what you are eating. I don't think that they do it intentionally but still it is annoying. Laura said Butt. Nuggets.. snort.

Looks good!

Any Dr. that took that attitude, would not be my Dr. much longer. People that take the attitude that this is easy, are super clueless. I am really surprised that she said that you would "appreciate it" more? Appreciate what exactly? Either through surgery or the old fashioned way, the result is still the same, you going to be MORE healthy. Is there a risk of regaining the weight? Sure, but isn't that the case if you took the weight off the old fashioned way? I mean hellooooo reality check here please. Stay strong here. If the surgery is going to help you, then stay with it. Drs. are just people with degrees, some have more smarts than others. Sounds like your's might have missed a class or do along the way.

I don't think that there is a black and white issue that is going to get easily resolved on this board. I think the help you need may best come from having a good conversation with your nutritionist, and maybe possibly someone that focuses in eating type disorders. The surgery is only one part of a very complicated equation. There's nothing magical about the surgery that is going to make the weight go away. It takes a ton of effort and commitment. A change of lifestyle, especially in the first few months, is key to having a successful outcome. Getting on a sound nutritional plan, and staying there is really the only way to make this whole process worthwhile. Many will tell you that they can eat what ever they want, but if you are having issues with what you are eating, a real significant change is something that you might really want to consider. If you are eating carbs and off the menu, you are not doing what you need to do to be successful, even if your capacity to hold food is less. The body can adapt to anything you put into it, and if you continue to put carbs in there, that's pretty much just like eating sugar and the body stores that for later instead of burning it for energy. I hope that you fine the answer that you seek, but I really do hope you talk to your nutritionist about it. Good Luck, I wish you nothing but success!

Some folks have a drain installed (I did) there was a pretty significant incision on my lower right side Like 2 inches. This was were the tube came out and was stabled around the tube. They took the drain out before I left the hospital and the staples came out the next week.

I made the decision that if I was going to crawl up on a table and let a surgeon cut out my perfectly good stomach, then I would do what it takes to make my self as healthy as possible. So no soda for me. That was my choice and I am committed to it. But it is just my choice and I am not advocating that for anyone else. There are a couple of schools of thought, some being about the bubbles, some being about the chemicals in the soda, some being about studies saying that diet soda leads to other bad eating habits. Soda is no big deal to me anymore and I was a big Diet Coke with Lime and Diet Dr. Pepper drinker. I feel so much better without that in my world now. Like the OP said, a fine glass of wine or a great piece of chocolate now has more appeal.

7 days

Congratulations, you look awesome!