DestinClair1983

HW: 284.6 SW (surgery day) 272 CW: 192.4. Sleeved 10/24/13. Hope I can make it to goal by the 1 year mark!

Make sure you're measuring it out so you won't have to worry about whether you're eating too much of it.

Welcome AV! You've come to the right place. There is a wealth of information on this site, and a lot of people willing to help whenever you have a question or a problem. Congrats on your surgery!

I started eating popcorn when I was allowed to eat regular food, which was six weeks out from surgery. I had no problem with it. Make sure to measure it out though, because you can definitely eat wayyy more than you want to.

Maybe try to drink more water, exercise more. Make sure you're keeping accurate track of all that you're consuming. It could just be your body adjusting, maybe you're still losing inches even if you're not losing pounds, which I know firsthand how frustrating that is. If all else fails, what I have done and has worked for me is to eat more calories for a few days, for me It was anywhere from 1200-1500 calories, and then go back to 600-800 calories daily, and the scale would start moving again. Of course I would gain a pound or two initially with the upped calories, but when I would go back to the 600-800 range, I'd lose those few pounds easily and them some, and then continue to drop steadily...until the next stall hits lol. Good luck!

I'm 7 months post-op and still dealing with the excessive uncontrollable burping. I think that's one of the biggest negatives that I've experienced after surgery lol, it's so embarrassing.

I actually had to stop taking my multivitamin, because every time I took them, I would get violently nauseous and throw up. I thought maybe waiting a month or two before starting them again would help, but when I retried taking the multivitamin, I still got sick even several months out from surgery. I've been meaning to try the gummy bear vitamins, but haven't gotten them yet.

For me, it was around the 5th month that I noticed that I could eat considerably more. I was relying more on the feeling of fullness to know when I had to stop prior to that, but now I have to make sure to count the calories, try to eat small portion sizes although I don't always do that unfortunately, and I know that's something I have to work on.

I had gained more than a few pounds at my last weigh-in and I was terrified that they were going to delay my surgery because of it, but the CRNP didn't say anything about the weight gain and I surely didn't bring it up lol. Afterwards, someone else told me that as long as you didn't gain over your original starting weight, it wouldn't delay the process, so hopefully it'll be the same for you. I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck!

I was on Clear Liquids while in the hospital for 2 days, and I was allowed to start full liquids once I got home, so I was on the same plan as you will be. During the first week or so I only drank Protein shakes and Soup for the most part.

Good luck, Laurel! Wishing you the best

I didn't use her, but I did want to chime in and say that U of Penn's bariatric program is excellent. The CRNPs are very supportive, and the pre and post care with them is great. My surgeon was Dr. Noel Williams, who I believe is the director of U of Penn's program. Good luck!

Honestly, you look great to me. You are not fat. You've accomplished a great feat, and I know sometimes when we lose a lot of weight, in our minds we still look fat. That happened to me 10 years ago when I lost a significant amount of weight. I looked in the mirror and saw fat, even though I was in a size 6-8, my BMI was still in the overweight range. Everyone told me I wasn't fat, but I refused to believe it, because I wanted to believe the mirror, and my BMI, and the mirror said I was fat. I realized looking back after I gained all the weight back that I actually did not look fat at all, it was all the body dysmorphia. So, believe me when I say, you're looking wonderful and healthy!

I definitely agree with the others, it's very important to stick to the lifting restriction for the amount of time specified by your surgeon. You do not want any issues down the line by lifiting too soon and causing some type of injury or pain to your healing stomach. If there is no way you can work without having to lift 50 pounds, I agree that you should request some more time off until the restriction is lifted.

I was out of work 8 weeks because that's how long the doctor had me on lifting restrictions which I can't have at work. I got FMLA for those 8 weeks. I told my employer exactly 3 weeks before the surgery. Everything worked out smoothly, I was worried about the paperwork involved etc, since that was my first time ever being out of work for so long and having to use FMLA but everything turned out okay.