McButterpants

I'm 10 months out and I have an appetite. It's not the same as before surgery, but some days I feel strong hunger and some days I can graze all day long. Here's how it's different than before surgery - when I feel hunger, true hunger, I eat a Protein filled meal. Breakfast is a Jimmy Dean turkey sausage pattie and a scrambled egg topped with some cheese. This keeps me satisfied for hours, especially if I wait 45 minute to drink anything. Prior to surgery, I'd be snacking in an hour or two. So I'm eating less than before at the meal and I'm not eating as soon after the meal...the sleeve is working. On days that I graze, it's usually because I gave in to the carb monster. Maybe I ate part of a bagel for breakfast or I ate something else with a lot of carbs. For me, carbs are like a drug - once I give in, it affects me the entire day. If I identify it, I can usually break it with a shake and a lot of will power. If I don't identify it I will spend a lot of time in the kitchen grabbing a few bites here and there. Early on, like the first 6 months, you need to change your tastes (cutting carbs), start moving your body, and change your lifestyle (getting Snacks out of the house, living the "protein first" rule, etc.). The sleeve helps you with that - it's simply a tool in your toolbox along with your will power, good choices, exercise routine, etc. Those are all tools you have in your toolbox that you need to use. WLS is not a magic bullet - it is hard work, harder than I ever expected it to be. Every day I need to make a commitment to myself to life my life a certain way - I need to eat protein packed meals, I need to limit my carbs and I need to exercise. Those are the things I can control. Some days it's hard work, other days are easier. I wouldn't say I have a "dieters' mentality", this is just my new normal and how I live my life now.

You should check with your doctor - as with everything else, different doctors have different thoughts on coffee. Some sleevers were given coffee in the hospital after surgery. Some docs, like mine, made me wait until 3 months, then made me pinkie swear that I wouldn't go back to drinking 5-6 cups of caffeinated coffee per day. I'm at 10 months and I enjoy 2 cups of real coffee and 1 cup of decaf every day...it's heaven in a cup!

What a great opportunity to share this with your sister! You have a person share the milestones with, complain about the bad stuff and Celebrate the victories! That is so awesome. Even though I had this site and a Facebook group, having someone close that is going thru the same thing would have helped. Welcome to the site! You will find lots of valuable information on this site. Ask lots of questions and search the site for past posts. Best of luck to the both of you!

Perfectly normal! When I set my tentative date, I panicked a little. When I sent in my deposit a few weeks later, I panicked. Each step as I got closer and closer to surgery date, it seemed like each milestone made things more and more real.

Hi there! Click on this link: http://www.bariatricpal.com/page/bariatricpal_chat.html We'll see you on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern!

You may not feel much restriction early out - I didn't. You are still healing. You need to follow your doc's portion control. Also, you want to eat until satisfied (the hunger is gone), not necessarily full. You need to eat very slowly and pay attention to your body and how it feels. You may not immediately identify how it feels - it takes practice. Good luck! You're going to do great!

@@snowkitten - you're going to be fine. Make sure you're drinking your fluids. You could be experiencing acid - talk to your doc. Lots of newly sleeved folks confuse hunger with acid - I did. Now, when I know I'm not supposed to be hungry, I pop a Tums and am usually OK. I drank decaf green tea - if it's OK with your doc, you might give it a try. It helped me with hunger as well. Good luck and hang in there!

I'll be honest, I wasn't prepared for the mental/emotional part of this journey. I had to work thru my food addiction and overeating issues while recovering from surgery - not optimal. Fear of failure is an issue - we have all tried and failed numerous times. I worried as well - this is NOT a magic bullet. You need to be committed and need to know that your life will not be the same post-op. You will not be able to binge eat - can you eat around your sleeve, sure! You have to be committed to not doing it. Can you stop at Starbucks and have a Venti extra-sweet whatever with extra whipped cream - sure, but you shouldn't. The sleeve doesn't make your decisions for you - the sleeve is a tool. It will help you reduce your portions, but you still need to decide what to put in your mouth and how much you move your body - that's what YOU can control. Do some people gain their wait back? Yep. According to my doc, it's mostly people that don't exercise and don't follow the "Protein first" rule. I went into this wanting to lose 106 pounds - that would get me to 150 pounds which was a magical number to me a year ago when I decided to have surgery. I'm at 73 pounds right now and I've lost about a pound in 8 or 9 weeks. That's a long dry spell. BUT, I'm not letting that get to me. I feel great, I'm very active and I'm happy, truly happy for the first time in about 20 years. I'd like to lose more, but I consider myself a success even if I don't lose any more. The scale does not rule my life any longer - I live by how I feel. I don't eat "bad things" very often because they make me feel bad.

Yes, that's true! Wait - it gets better! When you start introducing foods. Stop drinking 15-30 minutes before you start eating (follow your doctor's rules), take minutes to eat 3/4 of a scrambled egg, wait 30 minutes after eating (again, follow your doctor's rules), then start sipping again! Then you have to start thinking about your next meal! But, it does get better - it can be overwhelming when you're new and into the first few months. I'm 10 months post op now and it's my new normal. Hang in there - it will get better! Congrats on making the decision to change your life!

You may not feel restriction this early - that's why it's important to follow your doc's or NUT plan with regard to types of food and serving size. Your "full" feeling may feel different post-op than it did before surgery. Another thing to think about - you want to eat until your hunger is gone, not necessarily "full"...There's a difference. I had to figure out the full feeling...I realized that when I was starting to get the full feeling, my nose would run or I would do a hiccup/burp thing. I learned quickly to stop at that point - 2 or 3 bites beyond that was painful! Make sure you're taking your time eating - it would take me 20 minutes to eat an egg at this point. Eat slowly and chew chew chew! Hope this helps.

Hi guys! We will be having a live chat session on Thursday, September 18th at 8:00 pm Eastern time. This will be a great opportunity to chat with others going thru the decision making process, to ask questions, offer advice or suggestions, etc. Would love to see you there! (This is the first scheduled live chat we are doing - there will be more scheduled and subjects will change. If you have a suggested topic, you can message that to me and we see what we can do about getting it scheduled.)

Hi guys! We will be having a live chat session on Thursday, September 18th at 8:00 pm Eastern time. This will be a great opportunity to chat with others going thru the decision making process, to ask questions, offer advice or suggestions, etc. Would love to see you there! (This is the first scheduled live chat we are doing - there will be more scheduled and subjects will change. If you have a suggested topic, you can message that to me and we see what we can do about getting it scheduled.)

Hi guys! We will be having a live chat session on Thursday, September 18th at 8:00 pm Eastern time. This will be a great opportunity to chat with others going thru the decision making process, to ask questions, offer advice or suggestions, etc. Would love to see you there! (This is the first scheduled live chat we are doing - there will be more scheduled and subjects will change. If you have a suggested topic, you can message that to me and we see what we can do about getting it scheduled.)

Hi guys! We will be having a live chat session on Thursday, September 18th at 8:00 pm Eastern time. This will be a great opportunity to chat with others going thru the decision making process, to ask questions, offer advice or suggestions, etc. Would love to see you there! (This is the first scheduled live chat we are doing - there will be more scheduled and subjects will change. If you have a suggested topic, you can message that to me and we see what we can do about getting it scheduled.)

I'm 10 months out and cannot chug or take more than 3 drinks in a row. If I do, it hurts. I've heard that some people can get back to drinking quickly, I am not one of them. I have learned my limits and strategies for getting in more liquids - I do hot yoga and staying hydrated during an 80 minute practice can be challenging when you can only take in a couple of ounces at a time. During meals, you should not drink. You should not drink 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal (follow your doctor's rules - some might be slightly different from this one). This will help keep food in your stomach longer, giving you a full sensation. This is important - if you drink while you eat, you will force the food out of your stomach and will need to eat sooner than if you didn't. If you haven't had surgery yet, this is the perfect time to start "practicing" for post-op lifestyle. Start cutting back on the amount you drink during meals, eventually cutting back to nothing. As far as diet soda, or any soda for that matter, carbonation is bad. It's bad for your body, it has no nutritional value. Post-op, the carbonation is bad for your new tummy. I've tried to have a couple of sips of soda and UGH, it made me feel bad. Again, start weening yourself off the soda. (I had to be caffeine free prior to surgery - my vice is/was coffee. I had to slowly cut back, then pinkie shake with my doctor that I wouldn't go back to my old coffee drinking habits.) This journey is a series of gives and takes. I can tell you, if I was given my choice to live my as I do today or going back to my old way eating copious amounts of food and doing what I want, I'd chose my life today. All the sacrifices, all the frustrations, pain, hours a the gym....so totally worth it!

I wasn't that close, but was in admitting and thought "I could bail right now and only be out $500" I was so scared, I think it was my "flight" instinct kicking in. I had three months from my decision day to surgery day - I worked to hard during that time. I changed my diet, started exercising, practiced eating like a WLS patient, started incorporating shakes, etc. I was prepared as you could be when I walked into the hospital. I was just so scared sitting there in admitting and the more I thought of leaving the more scared I got. I then glanced over at my husband and for some reason, I knew at that moment, this was the right thing for me to do. I CHOSE at that moment to go thru with it. That gave me power - the choice was mine to do it. It was weird. That was 10 months ago...short of marrying my husband and having my son, this was absolutely the best decision.

Best of luck to you! You're going to do great. I consider my surgery date as my re-birthday! It truly was the first day of the rest of my life. The first few days are going to be rough. You may have thoughts of "What did I just do to myself?" "Did I make the right decision?" All perfectly normal thoughts and feelings. Just ride them out. Remember you're recovering from major surgery - listen to your body. Rest when you need to. Walk when you can. Sip your Water - you don't want to get dehydrated while recovering (that happened to me and it sucks). Know that you may not get your minimums for water and Protein those first few days - do the best you can and get as close as you can. I'm 10 months out (today, actually!) - short of marrying my husband and having my son, this was the best decision of my life. Good luck! We'll see you soon on the losers' bench!

You look great! Congrats on your success.

I'm 10 months out and doing things I never imagined I would go! I went on an alpine slide this summer and i had to ride up on a ski lift! 70 pounds ago, I wouldn't have done it. I work out a the gym and the other day someone asked me a health question. Seriously? I talk to people I don't know. A year ago I was almost a shut-in. I rarely left the house and rarely spoke to people. I now strike up conversations with people at the grocery store and I find that people talk to me more now as well. I go to a hot yoga class every day - if you would have told me a year ago I was even going to attempt hot yoga, I would have laughed. A whole new world has opened up for me - this surgery and the subsequent weight loss is helping me become that person I was supposed to be. I have gained confidence, I have a better relationship with my husband and son, I have reacquainted myself with friends that I shut out over the years, I'm trying new things. For me, this surgery was not only a life-changer, it was a life saver!

I had some pain, but not as much as I did with my c-section. I didn't need pain medication except for immediately after surgery, I took 2 pain pills because I wanted to sleep, not necessarily for the pain. I was up and walking the day of surgery - as soon as I was out of recovery, I started wandering the halls, it was more comfortable than sitting or laying down. I had my surgery on an out-patient basis - I was in at 6:00 am and out by noon. Complications - I had none. You can do some research on the web about complications and the incidence of such. I was worried about leaks, going under anesthesia, etc. You and your family have to weigh the risks. Do some research on your doctor as well - you may find he has lower than normal complications or you may find the opposite. It's important to spend time researching and information gathering. I did not tell my boss - it was pretty easy, I telecommute full time. I asked for time off and worked the week after surgery 1/2 days. No one knew and no one knows now that I had surgery. I had read that some will say they are going for gall bladder surgery or something like that. I can't shed much light on this for you. Sipping Water - here's a way to practice. Take a cough medicine dosage cup - the small ones that are on the top of the bottle. Fill it up about 3/4 of the way - that was a sip for me. At 10 month out, I cannot gulp, but I can take bigger sips than that. I have read some people can gulp after surgery, I cannot. I can take 3 drinks of water at one time, but need to stop there or it hurts. You will find, thru practice, what you can tolerate after surgery. Spend a lot of time here or reading blogs of people that share (a link to mine is below if you care to read it) - there's a lot of friendly people here that share a lot. People will ask questions that you never imagined, so you'll read those. Information is power - get as much as you can. Best of luck to you!

I could always lose 20 pounds...I've lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds doing that. Losing and gaining, losing and gaining. Wash, rinse, repeat. For me, sustaining that lifestyle was not possible. There was always something that happened that stopped me from continuing on the diet or exercise program. My husband hit it on the head when we were discussing this surgery - he said, "This will force your hand to change your lifestyle and maintain it." That is so true. If you think you can continue on doing what you're doing, that is great! Maybe you should give it another try on your own. For me, I knew one more time, wasn't going to work for me. This surgery was my solution. Best of luck to you!

I know I'm always going to have batwings...It's my tax for allowing my life to get out of control for for the past 25 years. With that said, here are some things I've been doing and my arms have reduced in size and the batwings are a little smaller...I started doing Hot Yoga, this is toning all of my body, but I've noticed it in my arms and thighs more than anything. Also, when I do the elliptical, I lift one leg up and pump my arms (think of skipping on one foot) - this forces you to move the machine mostly with your arms. You feel a burn after about 15 seconds. Then I switch to the other leg for 15 seconds. Then I "pedal" normally for 30 seconds. I repeat this for 5 minutes.

You can't control IF a complication is going to happen. Follow your plan provided by your doc. That's what you CAN control. You've made it thru the past week with no complications - consider that a success! Focus on your fluids and Protein intake and taking care of your body. Rest when you need to. Walk when you can. You're going to be fine - worrying about things is not going to get you anywhere.

I agree with the posters above - most likely it's thirst or acid that you're confusing with hunger. Many new sleevers confuse acid with hunger - I did as well. I didn't take a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), I dealt with it on my own. Now, 10 months out, if I feel that feeling, I pop a Tums and it usually go away. Also, if I start craving foods at weird times, it's almost always because I am low on fluids. Make sure you always have a Water bottle at the ready and sip throughout the day.

I admire you for sharing the photos - thank you! As a side note, you're beautiful and congrats on your loss.