Justinh125

Check out this website called "portion distortion" from the Natnl. Institutes of Health: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/portion/portion.cgi?action=question&number=1 It's a rather shocking comparison so you can see just how much larger different foods are than they used to be.

Honestly, I just waited it out, and then I was fine once I got to move to pureed foods. I just kind of dealt with it...only had to do liquids for about a week after surgery.

Yep, I had a friend visit who has always been thin. We were eating and I was noticing that the amount of food on his plate looked absurd. I was thinking "wow, he must be extremely hungry, look at all that food!" In reality, it was probably less than I would have historically eaten in one meal. Certainly nothing that a "normal" person couldn't handle. What used to appear as a perfectly normal plate of food now looks like the giant buffet from stomach-pain hell. Amazing how our minds adapt and change.

Though my doc had me walking a ton right away (I started with at least an hour every day,) they didn't want me doing anything else for about a month after surgery.

Note: Imodium is an opiate that doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier. Basically it means that it has effects on the rest of your body similar to morphine but doesn't kill pain or get you high because it doesn't get into your brain.

I got bored quickly with the pre-op and the early post-op diet. I just got bored with liquids, but fortunately it gets better. Sounds like it's working well for you though, so keep up the good work!!

Call your doctor. I would strongly recommend against taking that stuff without calling your doctor. I don't take any pills that are designed to effect my stomach/GI tract without calling my doc. Too risky.

Here's another example of how I feel like the sleeve has changed things for me: This weekend, a very good friend on mine came to visit. We've known each other since we were about 12. As long as I've known him, he's always been extremely thin, and I've always struggled. In fact, there were times where he's tried to gain weight but couldn't do it. But what's interesting is that he never thinks about calories or which nutrients or anything. When he's hungry, he eats, and that's that. For the first time, I got to feel a little bit of what it's like to be like him--being able to eat when I'm hungry and not have to worry so much about over-eating a giant meal and dealing with the consequences. Per meal, I probably only ate a tiny fraction of what he ate, but I felt full and satisfied. No longer was I the one having to sit there and obsess over calories and portion sizes. No "diet" could have done that for me personally.

For me, it doesn't feel like "white knuckling" anymore...anytime I used to diet, I felt hungry all the time, and it was perpetually frustrating. Now, when I'm hungry, I eat! And since it's only a small amount of food, my total food intake for the day stays very low. But when I eat, it feels extremely satisfying, even though it's much less food than I used to eat per meal. So for me, the biggest difference is that this doesn't feel like "white knuckling" anymore.

How wonderful!! Isn't it great when you realize you can fit into clothes that were previously too tight?

Some of the CO2 gas will have to diffuse through your bloodstream. The only way to help speed this up is to walk a good deal as often as you possibly can. The gas will use the laws of physics and travel upwards towards your shoulders.

My doc's rule is that if the pill is the size of an "M&M" or smaller, it's ok to take. If not, I break it in half unless it's a delayed-release, in which case I switched to a different form so I could get it down.

The narcotics made me "itchy" and I didn't feel like scratching all the time so I tried to get off that stuff fast.

I found Premier Protein shakes to be reasonably tasty, and it's 30g protein per 11oz of fluid, so you really get a ton of protein fast that way. Maybe it will agree with you too.

You're starting soft foods already? That's fast for your first week. Chicken, fish, beans, etc all have good protein. Or try a Primeir protein shake...30g right there

Ok, consider it done.

I don't think I have a va jay jay, but for me it was diabetes, hypertension, liver failure, kidney failure...etc. Just tons and tons of health problems.

Really? Uh oh. I get the "foamies" often. Is that bad?

A little over 20lbs down or so....

Like they say, never trust a fart for any reason. Assume anything even remotely suspicious is "DEFCON 1" and the clock is ticking.

I guess they don't teach this at "fat guy" school. I missed out

I don't disagree with this. Almost every girl I've ever dated was at least as large as, if not larger than me.

Maybe he could pull/slap/smack something other than hair? I'm sure it's totally hot...just saying...

For me, if I over-eat even slightly, I get this to at least some degree. If I over-eat too much, I start getting a mysterious white foamy substance coming out of my mouth. And if I REALLY overdo it, then I just puke for a while.

I would strongly discourage you from drinking anything within about 5 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal. Why? On Tuesday, at work, I accidentally forgot that rule, and drank some Water with my lunch. Then I had to run to the bathroom and vomit for about an hour afterwards because the water just tossed the food out of the sleeve. It's a hard habit to break, but as long as you sip slowly all day, you can stay hydrated. Just stay focused.