Kindle

Sorry you got bad news, Jaime. Have you been only eating 600 calories on purpose? That seems super low for 10 months postop. I don't track or measure anything, but I did count calories for a few days about a month ago and I was in the 1400-1600 calorie range. I can see how you would be malnourished as well as not losing weight by consuming so little. What deficiencies do you have? Has your dr switch up your supplements or given any suggestions?

Artificial sweeteners really hurt my sleeve immediately postop. So did plain Water, so I drank regular sugar stuff for 3-4 months. 100% juice, regular Vitamin water, Sobe, pedalyte, etc. but everything tasted too sweet to me anyways, so I cut all these things 1/2 and 1/2 with water. Since I didn't like sweet stuff I never bothered with SF Popsicles, Jello or pudding. In fact, I think I still have some boxes in my cupboard. Herbal teas actually became a big hit with me....no sweetness!! Unfortunately most Protein powders have artificial sweeteners, so I tried to find ones sweetened with stevia. After 4 months the artificial sweeteners didn't hurt any more but I don't really like the taste. I add regular fruit juice, berries, fruit, milk, Torani syrups, etc to my Protein shakes to mask the flavor. Now I can drink plain water, but If I do drink sports or vitamin drinks, they are not the zero calorie stuff. You can do most anything in moderation. As for it affecting my weight loss, I hit goal (down 88 pounds) around 7 months and have maintained for 4 months so you tell me..... ☺️

Sign me up. This is my first challenge. I'm below goal, but my restriction is less and the old habits are knocking on the door. I was 141 this morning and I would like to stay in the vicinity of 140 through the holiday challenge. Good luck, all!

No offense taken...even when it's in the form of "too skinny", "skinny Minnie", "how'd you get so skinny?"or even "skinny bitch". I consider them all compliments and it beats the silent, non-comments people never said to my face, but we're thinking, when I was fat.

What loss of appetite?

HW 238 SW 216 CW 141 TPG 88 TPL 97 Up 4 pounds this week. Interesting. Haven't done anything different.

There is no one formula of how to lose weight. This is your individual journey and what works for others may not work for you. I've lost over 100% of my excess weight and have been maintaining below goal for 4 months. And this was without 1 single postop meeting with a nutritionist. I also never counted calories or measured my food. I haven't always eaten sugar free (artificial sweeteners upset my stomach the first 4 months) and never restricted my fats. I eat when I'm hungry and only until satisfied, not full. This may mean 3 times/day or eight times a day, depending on what I ate and what I'm doing that day. I get 30-40g Protein from a shake everyday and this frees me up to eat a balanced diet of protein, fruits, veggies and whole grains instead of having to load up on protein at every meal. Basically Just like a "normal" person. I think a healthy variety lends itself to long term success because I don't feel deprived. I'm not saying to do it my way, I'm just saying there is more than one way. Seriously, with all of the nutritional education you've already gotten, plus ideas on here, and a little common sense it's not hard to know what and how to eat. Listen to your body, not your nut. Her generic instructions may not be the best for you. I say do it your way, while sticking with the general rules of Water, protein and Vitamins. If you lose, great. If you stall or gain, assess what and how much you are eating as well as your exercise, and make adjustments that fit your life (not what your nut's weight watchers handbook says). Maybe there's a reason for the statistic of WLS patients only losing 65% of their excess weight....the "experts" only know what their talking about 65% of the time. Same goes for the sophomore gain. If you lost all your weight following restrictive, unnatural rules, then it only makes sense you would gain once you tried to maintain a normal lifestyle. No different than every diet we've ever been on. Just lose it in a way that fits your life in the first place (even if this means slower) and it will be easier to maintain that loss. Good luck with those voices in your head ????

Atkins, south beach, Core Power and EAS, all make a RTD, but they all have more carbs and not as much protein as Premier. Muscle Milk isn't too bad. Their pro series is very comparable to Premier.

It's funny you are all mentioning prosciutto. It became a craving of mine just this week and I've had some the last 2 days. Gonna make prosciutto cream cheese roll ups for breakfast this morning. ????

It's only water weight (the Epsom salts dehydrate you and is something athletes do to temporarily "make weight" before an event) so as soon as you drink a bunch of water and rehydrate, the scale will read the same as before. These numbers don't matter. It's the fat weight you are trying to lose and no amount of Epsom salts will get rid of fat. (Although the walking 6 miles is a good idea)

I don't own a scale. I weigh myself at work, on Friday, fully clothed, with shoes (or boots). I try to do it when I first get there, but that's after I've had coffee and sometimes breakfast. But sometimes I don't remember to weigh until after lunch or right before going home. I really don't care about a pound or two (or more) difference due to not pooping that morning or clothes or water weight or whatever I Ate for lunch. It's the long term, downward trend that matters. Worrying about small daily fluctuations is the cause of a lot of distress for a lot of people on here. Relax. Trust the process. Stop obsessing over the numbers and Enjoy the journey.

Took me 11 days to get back down to pre surgery weight. No big deal. I considered it a good thing that I was so well hydrated.

I had surgery at 3pm, was back in my room by 5ish, but then went back to sleep until around 9pm when I got up, peed, Facetimed with my sister, emailed some friends and dosed, walked and watched TV all night. Was back to my hotel at 9am. Then proceeded to go shopping and sightseeing with my sister. So move that up to a 7 am surgery and it would have been like going home really late that night. I'm sure if you are having problems they will, of course, keep you overnight.

OCC does a "double buttress" oversewing technique along the entire staple line.

Have him talk to his surgeon. I had no pain postop and required no pain Meds. I don't thing he should be that miserable at this point.

The only thing that keeps you from losing 100% of your excess weight is you. I lost 100% of my excess weight (88 pounds) in 7 months. At 10 months I'm down 100 pounds which means well over 100% loss. Don't worry about the stats. They don't mean a thing if you remain committed to YOUR goal.

I'm over 10 months out and still have a protein shake everyday. I start with any number of base flavors (vanilla, chocolate, banana, strawberry, cake batter, Apple, lemonade, cherry, peach, piña colada) and mix in Torani syrups, mio or dasani flavor drops, fruit, berries, PB2, etc. and my fiber supplement. Basically whatever I'm in the mood for that morning. I make a large (24-32oz) smoothie with 30-40g protein and drink it as a mid-day snack. This frees me up to eat a healthier balance of fruits, veggies and whole grains rather than having to eat protein for every single meal and snack. My sleeve is too tiny for both.

And you can do this with most anything.... Vanilla protein powder + water + mio tangerine drops (or I use OJ) makes a great dreamsicle. And I mix Muscle Milk Cake Batter with milk, plain Greek yogurt and Torani syrups like Irish cream, gingerbread, pumpkin pie, and sometimes crushed nuts and freeze for a yummy protein ice cream treat. Muscle Milk Red Velvet Cake, milk, yogurt and Torani caramel syrup is also divine. Syntrax nectar cherry, Apple, grape, lemonade and peach make good Popsicles.

That is such a better plan! So glad you figured out a way to make this happen without all the added financial stress. You won't regret it. Like I said, Once I decided to have surgery, my "truck down payment account" became my "WLS account". And I don't mind driving my skinny butt around in my old rust bucket at all!

Just FYI, There is an alternative to injections and large oral pills. I take 500mcg sublingual B12 3-4x week. They are tiny tablets that dissolve under your tongue. My B12 level was high normal on my 6 month bloodwork. $11.25 for 250 tablets. I had surgery 10 months ago and I'm still on my first bottle. pretty cheap even if you did take them everyday.

B12 injections were an option for me, but I chose to go with the sublingual instead....a lot less hassle. You need an Rx for the injections and then you have to deal with the SHARPS dispensing protocols for the needles.

There was wifi at OCC and the Marriott, so I could iMessage, FaceTime, Skype and email for free. I turned my phone to airplane mode to make sure no text messages or calls came though because I would have been charged international data/phone rates. You can always check with your provider to see if you can add an international data/calling plan for just the one month.

I made crust less quiche (eggs, spinach, turkey sausage, cheese, unflavored Protein powder, milk and a little pancake mix). Cut into squares and freeze individually. Throw in the microwave for 30-60 seconds, grab and go. The pancake mix stiffens them just enough so you don't need utensils. Other favs are homemade protein pancakes with sausage, Protein Bar, Bob's Red Mill 10 grain hot Cereal with a little vanilla Protein Powder and blueberries, huevos rancheros, and apples with Peanut Butter. But the steak wrapped in lettuce sounds delicious!

So this is going to piss off a lot of people. But I call BS on everyone that says they are a "private person" or "its nobody else's business" when trying to justify why they don't admit to having WLS. Saying you had your gall bladder removed or a hernia repaired or any other number of fake surgeries instead of WLS is "sharing" a personal health issue, just not the one you actually had. If you needed a knee or hip replacement, would you fib and say you sprained something to explain your brace and/or crutches? Do you hide your need for insulin if you have diabetes? Do you all wear contacts instead of glasses so people don't know you have bad vision? How about if you needed your appendix removed? A kidney transplant? Can you seriously say you would come up with a "story" to cover up the fact you needed these surgeries? What are you all afraid of? Why are you ashamed? This was a huge commitment for all of us. Why aren't you willing to stand up and defend your convictions by being honest about your decision to have surgery? Some people claim they don't want to hear negative feedback. Well how is the social stigma of obesity and WLS ever going to be overcome unless those negative people hear and see all of our success stories for themselves. Every time I am asked about my weight loss I see it as an opportunity to educate. Maybe next time the subject is brought up, that person can say "I know someone that had VSG and she looks and feels great! Why don't you give her a call". I don't mean to offend, I just don't think "privacy" is the whole reason why WLS isn't admitted to and talked about openly.

I agree with Inner Surfer Girl. Buying something you can't afford is never a good idea. I understand wanting to get this surgery ASAP, but it's no different than buying a car you can't afford, or clothes or a big screen TV or taking an extravagant vacation. Seriously, to pay 21% interest and a $2000 loan fee is insane. And what's your financial plan if you have complications? You could end up in a hole you'll never get out of. If you really want to try and improve your credit score, I suggest you not "impulse buy" this surgery until you can afford it. I've got an excellent credit score with credit card limits far exceeding what my surgery cost. But I didn't get here without working at it. Since this wasn't an emergency surgery or crucial necessity, I chose to wait until I could save enough to pay cash. I had already saved a bunch over the last 2 years with the intention of buying a new truck. I postponed surgery an extra 6 months until I had enough to cover it. I put my plane ticket on a cc, but I paid it off within 3 months when I got my income tax return....and I was only paying 6.9% interest. Oh yeah, and I'm still driving that 15 year old truck, but have started saving again. Don't mean to be mean or preachy, but the loan terms you are being offered are outrageous and you may be setting yourself up for even more problems.