johnlatte

My surgeon, assigned me to a nutritionist, and I met with the nutritionist once a month. It's part of the educational process of what I could and could not eat post-op. It help me TONS and I was really glad that did it. My first nut. appointment post-op was with a different nut and that didn't go well at all. Woman had a serious load of attitude, so I made all my future appts. with my old nut even though she is in a different office and is way across town from me.

1 year and I plan on sticking to it.

seated curls (or standing, but seated seemed to work better for me), Olympic bar curls. All kind of variations on the multi cable rack.

Watch the carbs...track them with myfitnesspal or some type of tracking program. If you are working out more than before you possibly are putting on some muscle, so you can expect some gains. Make sure you are getting all your protiens and waters in. More cardio helps too. At about week 3 your body adjusts to the sleeve and holds on to the fat much harder than before. Going as low carb as you can, and getting in all your exercise, is going to get you going again.

My nutritionist is keeping me off of bread and cereals for at least 4 months. I've had a couple of pieces of popcorn it was fine. I am off as many processed and white flour carbs as possible. Don't need them, as they were the biggest part of why I needed the surgery to begin with.

My Dr. recommends 1 year before alcohol. Absorbs into intestines very quickly. Lots of carbs, empty calories etc.

Good for you!! Good luck with your journey.

Goodwill have been awesome for me. Also a couple of other thrift stores have been good. Ebay works good too. I'm a shorts and t-shirt guy anyway. So it doesn't matter that much. I bought a couple of pairs of track pants at Wallyworld that have a drawstring. Wear them to the gym and out and about on the cold days.

I haven't told anyone except my wife and my best friend. I didn't get real specific with her either, just said that I was having stomach surgery. I was sleeved on a Tuesday and took vacation days, and went back to work on the following Monday. I was never a big lunch with the guys kinda of person, so it hasn't been too hard. I don't plan to tell anyone, it isn't their concern.

I didn't tell my PCP until after I had my sleeve. BUT he was all on board and started figuring out how we were going to get me off the meds. I was pretty shocked, but he's been a good guy since I started seeing him. Now my endocrinologists is another story. He just kept prescribing more and more and I just couldn't take it anymore. That's what get me started on the road to WLS. Now I fax my sugar tests to the PCP every two weeks and his nurse calls me with the plan of action. Hang in there, there are good Drs. I was lucky, but I know that there are more out there.

I'm about the same spot. The only issues that I have had, was if I ate to big of bite or eat too quickly. Haven't tried alcohol yet and made it a goal to stay off for a year. I can pretty much eat what I want, but am still eating a lot of "soft" foods. Eggs though still kinda give me a problem if they aren't cooked just right.

I didn't have one. I did, per my ins. co have a 6 month supervised nutritional plan, but they really never gave me a diet to follow, just watch what I eat and exercise.

I don't have a lot but... Completely off of Actos Cut 500mg off of Metformin Lost 3 pounds over the holidays (a first) Started Couch to 5k with a goal to run with my girls. These were some big goals for me, to get completely off the meds (still have several to go). . I truly am not too worried about how I look or how others look at me. Didn't bother me when I was big, doesn't really matter to me now. The big thing for me is the healthy part.

Check the type of shake your are drinking as well. If they are "sugar free" they can contain a lot of things like manitol or sorbitol. Neither of which do good things to the digestive track. Also drink lots of water. The runs can cause big time dehydration, which in turn can tighten the pipes and then you have this endless loop of tight and loose going on down there.

Downloaded the app on my phone and started today. Day 1 was simple. Skin around my incisions was sore a bit from the running segments. Plan to stick with it and my 2013 goal is to run a 5k with my daughters, who are both competitive runners and run track. Used to run a lot before a broken foot and a ton of weight gain stopped me. Can't wait for the first race some time in future...wish me luck!

I'm not a big fan of the powders..I've tried them all and never found one I can hack. I could live on Premiers though. Wish that they made more than two flavors but I switch back and forth.

Drinking out of a water bottle is a lot like drinking out of a straw. There's a lot of air moving through. I had to give up straws and small neck water bottles. Regular cups, Tervis cups with a bigger opening all seem to be fine. Can't gulp, got to sip. Sometimes I forget and take a big gulp of something and man does that smart

Okay...valid fears for sure. But let me throw something out. Are any of your fears worth how you feel right now? Meaning, you will have a lot to over come (some of these fears and some you haven't even thought about). But what's the end game? You'll be healthier, you'll look better, you will definitely FEEL better and you can go out and buy wicked swag. I'd bet all that and a bag of fat free Doritos that those things outweigh all the fears you can come up with. Will you crave..yep,..will the pre-op suck..depends, but probably...tortured..not so much, and every time you step on a scale or buy that swag, you won't even worry about that....The sleeve is a tool, you have to work it to make it work for you, but the benefits are life changing. Every journey starts with that first step, don't be afraid to take it!

I think that every Dr. and every NUT does something different. Never heard of the 5 minute or 30 minute rule. They basically want me to get the right number of nutrients and protein in. I got popped by my Nut last visit for not eating enough. She wanted me to set my phone to ring every 2 hours and eat something. So I overall I don't think that there are hard and fast rules, nor is every rule wrong. Just different Drs. do what they think works for them. Your mileage may vary!

Super awesome!

dilaudid in the hospital in the IV bag (yummm). Liquid Hydrocodone after the fact. Only hit is a couple of times to help sleep after I got home. Still have almost a full pint bottle.

Soda is the one and only thing that I really do miss. I was a big diet Dr. Pepper drinker. Really miss it, even more than beers..

this is a great list! I was only in the hospital one night and half a day, and when in with a pair of sweat pants and came out the same way. Didn't need a toothbrush or shampoos. I literally stayed up all night after I woke up from recovery and just cat napped around the hits off the dilaudid. I had these plastic pump up leggings, that kept me up anyway (the pump was loud). The nurses kept coming in and checking my vitals, and sugars and breathing and changing my IV bag etc. I watched sportscenter until about 6:00am then put on my sneaker, made a bio stop and started walking up and down the halls. Then I started on the 1oz Water, 1oz Protein, and when home at about 3:00pm. The do's and don'ts are good although I never quit caffeine I've never had any nausea or have slimmed or spit up though. Dr. prescribed Carafate and nexium to keep the gases and the stomach acids down.

I was sleeved 11/20, and transitioned to solid food on 1/1. I've been eating chicken, ground beef, even steak, if it is really cut up small. I still drink the protein drinks and eat a fair amount of soft foods. Cottage cheese, humus and yogurt are my go tos. the only thing that I have had problems with are eggs. Still can't seem to get them down, no matter how they are cooked or what I put on them. No major loss.

I'm a professional chef by training. I took off 6 months to get this surgery out of the way and take care of some other things. I always used a spoon to taste, and still do for the most part. When I never ate a lot when cooking on the line, but boy did I eat once I got home. I am going back to work this year (got to find a job soon). But I will have a box of tasting spoons available to check out the dishes. I don't see the job being the problem, its the time I'm not at work, that I need to be aware of.