deedeemuffin

My surgery was November 27th. So, as of Tuesday I will be 6 weeks out. I have been cleared for all foods...even solid meats. My office is so anti-milk, though. It's weird. They want my Protein shakes to be either RTD or made with Water & less than 4 grams of carbs per shake. I think the shake you make sounds great. I think that I am going to give it a go with more "real" foods. I will use healthy options, though. I think that I am less likely to cheat if I am having more reasonable food choices. I see my NUT again in 2 weeks so, I think that I will give it a try until then & see how my body responds. I am also returning to Yoga tomorrow which I love. Thanks for being here to help!

It was almost like losing my mind. I was a total space cadet. I couldn't drive, because I couldn't concentrate. It was awful. Never again!

It seems like people here have one of 2 problems...either they can barely hold anything down or they can eat just about anything they want. Either way, it is really hard. Note that in my original post I sais that it took me 4 hours to eat 10 chicken nuggets & have my drink. That's half a work day! I had to take very small bites, chew very well & take a lot of breaks. Totally the wrong thing to do to myself. I am glad this page helped you, though. This is a HUGE adjustment for all of us. I am just glad to have found so much support when I posted about being so down myself. We'll get there...I don't know when, but we will.

I am hearing this a lot. The reoccurring theme seems to be my plan is very restrictive & that may be why I am having such a hard time sticking to it. I have to say the week of water I was WEAK & shaky. I was dizzy. I couldn't drive. I could barely get up. I called the doctor & they wouldn't clear me for anything else. Thank God that is over!

I have to say that I have not had that pain eating yet, but maybe if I start eating more food rather than liquid I might get a full feeling. I have a feeling for most of us every day is a fight for quite awhile. Maybe even the rest of our lives, but I did not fight today. Tomorrow I will!

I too find myself comparing myself to others on the boards especially. I also have been in the 380's probably at least ten times over the past 3 years. It would usually take me 2 months instead if the 2 weeks it took this time. I think I have a fear that my body won't let me go below 380. I think that when I get into the 370's it will be more real that this is really working. I will definitely keep my psych & nut appts. I have had victories. I am losing weight differently this time. The ONE pair of jeans that I own are now too big at the waist. Maybe I need to start writing down my NSV so I can look at them when I am feeling down.

My instinct right now is to eat how you're describing. It is just contrary to my surgeon's offices plan. I am one of those people who feels the need to do things "perfectly". When I don't, I just throw it all away. It is something that I am working on. Maybe the plan they have is not the right plan for me. I night need to adjust my thinking...eating healthfully & mindfully but not as rigidly as my worksheet says to do. My surgeon is Dr. Wayne Weiss & I am in New York. The Hudson Valley area. I know my surgeon's office has a support group meeting twice a month near me (many more not so near to me). I have just been afraid to go. Afraid that I'm the only one doing badly.

You are absolutely right. There is definitely some fear involved. I know what is at the root of some of it, but not quite sure how to let go of that particular fear. I'm hoping maybe the psychiatrist at my surgeon's office can help me with that. I definitely appreciate the prayer. I will take all the prayer that I can get. It's hard for me to ask for it outside this board since only my very immediate family & one close friend know about my surgery. I didn't want people to judge me.

Yes, all my surgeon's patients have the same post-op diet. It is Phase 3 for them. They give you a sheet. Phase 0 was 1 week of water only. Phase 1 was 2 weeks of protein shakes & water. Phase 2 was adding some soft protein & veggies. Frankly, I thought Phase 3 was going to allow me to eat more "normal" food, but portion controlled. Less than 20g of carbs per day is Atkins Phase 1 all over again for me. There was a reason I only lasted 6 weeks on THAT diet!

Thanks. When my boyfriend got home from work tonight I broke down & told him how I was struggling. He was truly shocked. He told me how he was so proud of me & was noticing how my body had been changing. He said he had no idea that I hadn't lost weight in 3 weeks because he was just thinking how my face & stomach were noticeably thinner. My doctor cleared me for yoga this week. I told my boyfriend that I missed it but it really wasn't in the budget this month. He told me to go & he would pay for it. So, I will be going to a Gentle Stretch Yoga class tomorrow morning.

Thank you for breaking your rule of never posting again. I truly appreciate it. The book you recommended sounds interesting. I do have a Nook, although I am a little new to the technology. (it was a Christmas present) I would love to hear how you could share the book with me!

I definitely feel like it would help if I had more freedom in my food choices. Your program sounds so much more reasonable. My program says no more than 6g of carbs per meal/snack. Do you know how hard that is? The alarm for the vitamins is a good idea. Probably taking them out of the box they were shipped in would be a good idea too..

Yes, the program my office uses is very rigid & "diet" like. When the nutritionist gave it to me this week I thought that I was going to cry. I really thought that at this appointment I was going to be cleared for most healthy foods & just need to watch my portions. As far as how anyone can help...just replying & sharing your experience is help. I am not a person who usually asks for help & am not great at it. So, I guess this my attempt.

I haven't posted in awhile because I have been so disappointed in myself & my journey so far. I have seen other people post about struggling & have seen a lot of people criticize them. I don't need that right now as I am already hating myself. I thought that I was prepared for this journey, but the reality has hit me hard. I had a large part of my stomach removed & I am never getting it back. I will never be able to eat the way I used to again. This should be a good thing, right? The first couple of weeks were the easy part. I went down 31 lbs. in the first 2 weeks & that is exactly where I have stayed. I am still 381 today. This is not a stall. I did have a stall during week 3 where I was completely on plan, but not losing anything. I actually gained. Then the small amount I gained came off & I haven't moved at all now for 2 weeks. This is completely my fault. I haven't been exercising. I haven't started my vitamins. I don't get in all my water every day. I don't follow my nutritionists guidelines. So, I am obviously not expecting that I would have gone down anymore. I have read so much on this board about people not being able to tolerate foods, sliming or vomiting. I know that is difficult for those people & I am not wishing that I would be sick. It's just that I have been able to tolerate anything & everything that I have tried. My offices food guidelines are very strict & I have not kept to them. According to my nutritionist my diet should be Breakfast: 1 protein shake, Lunch: 1 protein shake, Dinner 3 oz. of protein, 3 oz. of vegetable & 3 oz. of salad, Snack (if needed) 1/2 a piece of fruit or 1% cottage cheese. Period. No drinking milk (not even in tea, coffee or protein shakes) though I am allowed cheese & yogurt & no carbs except what naturally occurs in the aforementioned dietary outline. I need to total 60-70 grams of protein a day, less than 20 grams of carbs per day & at least 64 oz. of water per day along with my vitamins & exercise. I do not know what is holding me back from following the program except my own mind maybe. I want to be able to treat myself. I want to enjoy my food. So, that is what I have been doing. I have been having flavored lattes multiple times per week over the past two weeks. Today I spent over 4 hours getting 10 chicken nuggets & a large mocha frappe into my stomach. I had nothing before & I know that I won't have anything until tomorrow. I have also been allowing myself 2 cigarettes a day. I am sharing all this for different reasons. One reason is there might be others going through the same thing & I want them to know that they are not alone. Another reason is that I need massive encouragement. Before anyone suggests professional help, I have already set that up. I am seeing my nutritionist again in 2 weeks instead of 4 because she knows that I am struggling. My surgeon's office also has a psychiatrist on staff that deals specifically with bariatric patients pre and post-op & I have set up an appointment with her. For years I have lost & regained the same 30 lbs. over & over again. I have not been below 380 in about 3 years now. I knew that getting sleeved wasn't going to "cure" my obesity. I just thought that I would have a longer period of time before I would be able to tolerate different foods & that I could resolve any other issues before then. I am feeling so sad & just beating up on myself. Yet, I keep giving myself a reason to beat up on myself every day. Every day this goes on the worse that I feel about myself. This should be incentive enough to stop, but I haven't. I have so many reasons to treat my body well and I am not. Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this or know anyone else who has? Do you see something that I don't? Any words of encouragement? Any hope for me?+31

I will be 4 weeks out tomorrow. My boyfriend's family does their Christmas on Christmas eve so I had 2 days of holiday meals. Christmas Eve I had 3 one inch cubes of cheese, 2 slices of pepperoni & 2 crackers. Two hours later at dinner I had 2 tbsp. of squash, 2 tbsp. of green beans & 2 bites of filet mignon. On Christmas Day for breakfast I had 2 pieces of bacon and about 1/4 of a cup of an egg & cheese casserole. I didn't have anything until dinner time. Then at dinner I had 2 bites each of stuffing, mashed potato and green bean casserole along with about 1/2 a small slice of turkey with gravy. Three hours later I had a sliver of chocolate cream pie. It is really amazing. What is a usually a 2 day food extravaganza for me was reduced to a about 2 small salad plates of food. Part of me was sad at first. Especially when it came to the filet mignon. I can usually eat two huge pieces of it, but this year after 2 bites my stomach started to hurt. It was my first time eating beef since surgery. Looking back today, though, it was such a better holiday. I had so much more interaction with family and friends. I wasn't obsessing about food the whole time. I wasn't in a lethargic food coma & this is the first holiday where I haven't gained weight.

I was one week on water. Then 2 weeks on protein shakes & water. My next stage was being able to eat almost anything except fruit with skin, raw vegetables or carbs. Everything just had to be cut up super small, chewed really well & eaten over a long period of time. Also, I need to eat my protein first. My nutritional guidelines are 60-70 grams of protein and less than 20 grams of carbs per day. I meat with my nutritionist again on Thursday. Waiting to see what will be added then as I am really missing my raw baby carrots. All offices are different, but I hope that this helps.

Thanks. As of today I am back down to my pre-gain weight. My weight went down 2 lbs. on the 21st. No movement yesterday & then down 4 lbs. today. So, I am moving in the right direction. I have been on the boards a lot this week & I am seeing that a lot of people have stalls & fluctuations. Not everyone (actually not many people that I've seen yet) loses steadily. So, I am learning that it looks like I just need to stick with my program & the weight will come off. It just might not be the way I am expecting it to.

You too

I had my period before I had surgery & then it returned less than a week after surgery. It was VERY heavy for 2 weeks. My doctor's office said that it is normal to have really erratic periods because as we lose weight quickly our fat cells are dumping estrogen into our system. Lucky us. As we get closer to our goal weight our periods should regulate. Good luck to you!

I had the same problem. I gained 5 lbs. in 5 days. Then the scale didn't move for a week. It just started to go back down again yesterday. So, it's not completely unheard of. Good Luck!

I am 3 1/2 weeks out & I have been the exact same way. I was thinking that maybe I had too much stomach left too. I have been able to eat everything that I've tried. I have also been able to eat a larger quantity of food than I thought that I would be able to. I talked to my nutritionist & she said to add cooked vegetables. Now at each meal I weigh or measure out my protein & I add soft veggies. It really helps & will make me feel full. For example I will have 1/4 cup off egg beaters & add cooked mushrooms. I was hungry with just the egg beaters, but with the mushrooms it is filling. Good luck!

You're losing at least a pound a day so far. That's awesome. Everyone's journey on here is SO different. I am a little over 3 weeks post-op. I started out very heavy as you can see by my stats. I dropped 38 lbs. in 2 weeks. Now for the past 10 days I haven't lost anything. As a matter of fact I was gaining a pound a day for like 5 days! It stopped & I am down 2 of those 5 lbs. as of this morning. I am following my nutrition plan 100% too. I am finding the scale is not always the best judge of my effort. I have had people telling me how much thinner my face & stomach look, but I don't see it at all. I do feel it in my pants waist, though. I was comparing my loss to others sleeved on the same day & getting very frustrated. I guess the point of all my rambling is we have made a huge change. It is going to take awhile to get our bodies regulated & our heads wrapped around this new lifestyle. Hang in there. Keep doing what you're supposed too & you WILL get to your goal. I know that I will too. It may not be as fast as we thought or wanted, but we are headed in the right direction.

I called my surgeon's office & was finally able to speak with someone late Wednesday afternoon. They said that it was fine for me to now take my water pill when needed. I just need to monitor my blood pressure, get in plenty of water, etc. So, I took one yesterday morning. This morning I am down 2 lbs. since yesterday. So, I am more than likely just in a stall with some fluid retention & not actually gaining. I am definitely still retaining some fluid in my nerve damaged lag, but got up too late this morning to take my medication for it. So, I will just stick to my program, take my water pill when I can & hope for the best.

My Dr. also wanted 60g of protein & 64oz. of water. That was after a week of only water following my surgery. The office also said that it was totally normal to not be able to get everything in. At first I was able to get 2 shakes (46 g of protein) & about 48 oz. of water. Doc said that was fine & to increase as I felt comfortable & not to push the sleeve too much.

Thank you. I actually have nerve damage in my left leg that causes it to swell quite regularly. I have a water pill that I usually take to keep the swelling down. I was told by my surgeon to discontinue it after surgery so that I wouldn't get dehydrated. My leg is at the point that I would usually take my medication. Maybe I'll call the surgeon's office & see if they'll clear it for me to start again. Funny that I didn't think of my leg until you mentioned the fluid retention. I guess that I'm so used to it by now, but I was always able to take my medication in the past.