dropdeadweightdiva

HW 289

SW 273

CW 250

That's awesome in 7 weeks.. how are you feeling? you started basically where I did, although i am only 5'4..

My son was on my tablet so congrats chicogirl3 it's a great suggestion.. lol just unsure as to what my 2yr old did to highlight it or how to undo it.. Well he's always had good taste lol

I had my surgery July 21, 2014. I have had a problem for about a month now being constipated. Is that problem that is common. I started a couple of days ago eating Activia to see if that will help. Any other suggestions?

Completely common issue, sometimes the norm for a number of post ops.. Buy some powdered Fiber and add it to your shake or yogurt daily. I know a number of people that this has helped immensely and I use it to help thicken my daily Breakfast shake which keeps me full longer. Split peas are awesome for Fiber as well as all sorts of bean styles, artichokes, broccoli Also once you are a little further out you can try high fiber fruits like raspberries (because of small seeds you really want to guarantee you are beyond healed before adding), pear with skin, apple with skin. Carbs are a lesser desired add but bran buds into yogurt...

Would love to have a mentor!

m4nurse, Welcome to our little group! Are you pre or post op?

OMGOODNESS!!! I WANT A MENTOR ... MY DATE WAS OCTOBER 1ST...IM IN PAIN FROM THE GAS... MY STOMACH IS ACTUALY GROWLING BUT IM TERRIFIED OF EATING NYTHING .... I HATE VOMITING ALWAYS HAVE AND IM SCARED I WILL IF I DO EAT SOMETHING... I HAD HICCUPS YESTERDAY AND THAT ALMOST KILLED ME... SOMEONE HELP MEEEE

I am hoping you have an outline of stages for drinking/eating at this time.. Eating is not so much on your itinerary just yet but drinking, and not the fun kind lol, my oh my sip til you can sip no more and then swallow and sip some more. Agree the growling is gas shifting not hunger.. I hope it has alleviated a lot since your post. Puking is a little different post op, and not recommended this early out. Hiccups, hold your breath and swallow three times, my 8 year old taught me that and it works for me every time. There is an app called eat slower and you can set it for anytime between 0 and 3 minutes.. I used it allll the time when I was early out. Helped me pay attention so eating/drinking slower. It's free... Just remember that it does get easier not easy but definitely easier and more natural as you go along. I hope you are feeling much better now although for me it took almost 6 weeks to feel 'normal' again so allow yourself time to heal before you panic about what you just did to yourself.

@@Kpar909956

It is exciting. Have you started your pre-op diet? Do you have to do one? I am 3 days in to mine and starving. I am also pretty nervous about the surgery. Sometimes, I wonder why in the world am I doing this and then I remind myself of all the reasons this weight has become unacceptable to me. How are you feeling about everything? My youngest is 14, my oldest is 23, and my middle child is 18. What does CW stand for? I am not up on all the abbreviations. lol

CW is current weight

HW is highest weight

SW is surgery weight

NSV is non scale victory

I hope your pre-op isn't too much of a struggle and your nerves aren't getting the better of you! We're getting close now!

I would love a seasoned sleever to buddy with. I was sleeved in Oct 2012 and lost just over 100 pounds. I've been off track for awhile and gained back almost 25 pounds.

I'm determined to get back on track and although I don't have to get as low as I was originally I do need to take off at least 15-20 pounds and more importantly eat right, exercise and not use food as a go to.

Thanks,

Pamela

I know that feeling as it's sooo hard once you step off the wagon to get back on and stay on.. Once you are further out you get surprised by how much you can actually eat of certain things or how often throughout the day you graze and lose track of how often you are actually putting food in your mouth. Right now my stall is partially cause of my choices and partially cause it's just harder to lose closer to goal. Regardless I am finally over beating myself up for the misteps and just focusing on making less of them. So I set little goals rather than looking at the final weight ones, but I like the idea of having a vet further along to keep me honest and in that 'team' mentality for staying on track and accountable. My one year appointment is in less than two months and then my clinic cuts me loose. Did you have a 1yr out weight loss goal? I am trying really hard not to do that to myself as it's a marathon and not a race. The optimal loss in the first year is true but it's exaggerated to make a person feel like if they don't reach their goal in that year they're doomed. So I am looking to reach my goal after tummy plastics which is quite a ways off. So in the meantime I am plugging away to reach my pre plastics weight of about another 5-10 lbs and my small goal is to get back into weight training as I am definitely slacking off there.. So on that note my for the rest of October goal is to weight train 3x/week... and to get back on top of my fluids..

Do you have a monthly chart?? I'm now 4 months out and would love to be in the 140s like you are. Just wondering if I'm on track!

I went into surgery at 220 but started at 287 so my weight loss will be different than someone else's. Dropping weight prior to surgery will slow down the initial drop off but slow with a sleeve is still pretty fast compared to without one. I have been at my current weight plus or minus a cpl for 3 months now so a nice long stall lol.. At 4 months out I was 167lbs so down 53lbs from my surgery weight.. But please try to remember that there is no 'on track' answer as we all need to try very hard NOT to compare our overall journey to someone else's. Doing that will lead you to doubt and downplay your own accomplishments, trust me. I spent many a time in my head doing the .. someone else posts "204 and in a size 12" Meanhwhile I am down to 170 and in a size 12-14 leading me into the age old discussion of 'I hate my body type', people who weigh 30-40 pounds more than I do and are sizes below me..turning my overall great progress into a pile of I still feel so fat mush..... As long as you are making good choices 80% of the time, moving your body and getting in your Protein and fluids then you are doing great! And on those days when you feel fat break out the before pics and give yourself a big reality check!

My preop was 3 weeks liquids and 4 days prior to surgery my very involved nutritionist gave me the go ahead and take metamucil... sooo grateful and literally got off the gurney outside of the operating room to use the facilities then got wheeled through the door..

Another things I recommend is muscle milk.. the taste leave a little to be desired but the sugar content and calories aren't too bad and they have 30gms of Protein in one

I do not use it myself but I have heard of it among others who do use it. I know it won an award last year and everyone who has anything to say about it says all good things. I hope someone has personal experiences with it that they can share.

Mine also typically does just the one while still in surgery. I specifically requested one later in the week because I live about 3 hours from that clinic and did have post op complications and he agreed it was better to be safe than sorry.

I agree that WLS is definitely not the easy way out. But having done both, lost pre surgery and with surgery, there is a tremendous amount of life changes and stress during either method and I don't think it's fair to say that weight loss is harder for those of us who've had the surgery. The specific loss of pounds is easier with the tools that surgery give us than it was before we had them. That said WLS is not an easy road to be on. Keeping it off is absolutley the hardest part of weight loss and having a sleeve is definitely a life saver in that department for me. Bkrchk is right on the money.. I wish that weight loss was just celebrated by everyone who's ever been in those shoes and not played against the different methods to success.

It's normal for it to be every couple days with the new eating habits and style. A lot of people are in that same boat. If it is a concern to you then you could start adding fiber powder daily to a shake if you still use them or to something else if you don't. You can look into specific meds for such an issue as others have mentioned. Just know that it is normal and only a safety issue if you back up for longer periods of time and when it does move they are a strenuous experience.

You will find some foods agree with you more than others.. chicken may be a wait a while longer food for you.. For me eggs were a nightmare early on but now I have no issues with anything. One month out is still very very new so I would maybe instead try canned ham to start.. I am almost a year out and can eat much more than I could early on, but still nowhere near as much as before. Did your nutritionist or doctor give you a list of foods for the stage you are now at? Another possible option is thicker Soup varieties or chili.. you can add unflavoured Protein Powder to it. I know it's hard to wait the necessary time to finally feel like you are able to eat 'real' foods but I promise it's worth it. Good luck

146 to date but I did a decent amount pre-op

Yeppers on the fluids suggestion.. The liquid pre op headaches suck and the only thing that will head them off is water.. keep some by your bed through the night and when you wake up to turn over etc take a big sip.. drink a decent sized glass before bed .. and keep on drinking lol.. it gets less common as you go but they do turn up post op as well when you slack of on your Fluid intake Good luck with your surgeries ladies!

Agree completely with Jordan861. Pushing your sleeve early can cause rupture or stretching and delay healing. It is especially important during the first 6 weeks to baby it so that it has time to heal properly and completely. Your internal surgery site has had extensive damage to the nerves etc so just because you don't necessarily feel any pain post eating foods that are not recommended this early does not mean that you aren't possibly doing long term damage to it. You will transfer through the stages soon enough and before you know it you will be back to eating smaller portions of the good stuff. Just try to be patient because the alternative simply isn't worth the taste/texture.

Wishing you a uneventful surgery and speedy recovery. Welcome to the greener side of the grass.

Sorry to hear about the delays. Glad the news is good and you can both move onto the surgery as planned. How amazingly generous of you to give up your spot for him. I hope they consider that when rescheduling yours and speed up the process for you.

Marybeth, love love love your post!! Especially your coin purse analogy, gotta remember that one!!

I would love to have a mentor on here. My MIL had rny about 10+ years ago so some of the things she can't help me with. I just turned 28 and I have 2 kids, my surgery date is 10/20/14, so I am starting to get really nervous about everything. How did you deal with it? I cant start my liquid 2 week diet until 10/5, and am so not looking forward to it as I dont do well with being really hungry. That being said, I'm afraid I'm not going to do as well as I want to with this. Ive seen some people say that they are hungry all the time and honestly I was relying on the surgery to make that go away, at least for a while. Im the type of person that once I start thinking about food, like a specific item, thats all I can think about until I have it. I've been getting better on not doing that, but I'm afraid that 6 months out I'll be back to old habits and undo everything that i've went through. Any advice?? Thanks so much

Admit this may be a long one so I apologize upfront for that!

I was ridiculously out of control in my eating habits therefore I was also crazy worried about my ability to make the change. I did begin changing my habits before surgery. I began walking short distances as the 8 stairs up from my basement had me huffing and puffing. Initially I dreaded having to walk the 3 blocks to pick up my children from school. For almost 2 decades I never really dealt with hunger because I often ate so consistently I don't think I ever allowed myself to get hungry. I woke up and thought about what I would eat for Breakfast, after Breakfast i focused on lunch but had Snacks, etc... I literally ate from wakeup, to my head hitting the pillow and often got up to eat more before I actually fell asleep. I remember eating 2 footlong subway subs in a sitting, and this wasn't a one time marathon thing; driving to 7-11 at midnight for junk food and then eating most of what I thought I would eat over 2-3 days. So I get it completely. Frankly I was scared sh**less that I would fail, or sabatoge myself along the way. Shortly before my first meeting with my center I had gestational diabetes but it went away immediately after my pregnancy. I admit when I am pregnant I am completely in control and anal about what I put in my mouth so lose weight throughout them. Of course post nursing forget about it! So after finding out I had no choice but to switch to formula I actually managed to become a full blown diabetic in about 5 months. It was a flurry of chocolate, fries and slurpees! My point being you and I are very much alike in being obsessed with food 24/7. So if I can do it anyone can do it!

I found out I had become a diabetic at my first appointment at my bariatric center, March 12, 2013. That was the day the light went on for me, even if it was dim when it started. I walked 15 minutes that first day and I hated it lol. That night I completely lost all control of my sanity as every emotion under the sun came out over every little thing. For a second I thought OMG I am pregnant!! But no, apparently I am an emotional eater so now instead of eating, all of a sudden I was feeling everything and it was completely overwhelming. For this reason I strongly recommend trying to get at least 2-3 days of healthier eating out of the way prior to your liquid pre-op. The mental part of this is by far the hardest, so getting a small advantage before really does help. So expect to be very hormonal when you start out.

Tricks of the trade pre-op.. I chewed a lot of stride gum especially during my liquid diet (3 weeks), lifesaver, that is my biggest thing to this day, although no I don't promote it post op as we all know it is a no no and I was 6 months out before I tried it. I drank a lot of low calorie fluids and I planned ahead for meals (before liquid pre-op). For the first little while I kept junk out of the house. I have kids so that's hard, so I chose to buy things they like but I don't, like all dressed chips, or cotton candy ice cream.. My fave thing being a large cup of lite hot chocolate with fat free hazelnut Creamer in the evening as a treat and it kept me pretty full.. so I would do it at my peak struggle time. I started keeping fruit that I really liked around, cherries and raspberries and I would go to town. Not ideal but it was certainly better than the alternatives.. smart pop was another fave pre-op.

No I was not perfect I had bad days, still do, but I started to convince myself that it didn't have to be a bad day.. instead it was a bad couple hours and then I let it go, guilt has no place on the road to success. It will not motivate you, it will only make you feel worse!! I made a list of all those things i wanted to be able to do post op... and a list of all those things I never wanted to feel or have happen to me again. That was emotional, then I put them up in a cpl places around the house where I thought they would most benefit me. I also included a list of the consequences of failing to follow my liquid diet. Number one of course being a cancelled surgery!

So I actually made it through all 3 weeks or 22 days as my nutritionist miscalculated lol. A ton of gum, broth to break up the sweetness, I was allowed 2 cups of raw green veggies/day added garlic salt or seasoning salt.. no dressing allowed! It makes you an idiot about a week in, prepare to write things down as you won't remember them. Drink tons of fluids as the day 3 headache is a nightmare and will likely last a cpl days and nothing will touch it but hydration so stay on top of that.

Post-op hunger concerns... I have hunger, boy do I experience real hunger. Now I am not trying to scare you, I didn't experience hunger like this until about 7 months out. So I have had a lot of time to work through better choices and options when I am hungry, the nice thing about being early out is that it won't take much to reel in said hunger if you are one who feels it. Have a cup of broth, some greek yogurt and boom it's gone for another couple hours. Also remember that your intake is soo limited that it is okay to feed it. Sometime just choose to feed it with fluids. That is the biggie, learning to decipher head hunger from actual hunger from thirst!! Once you get that straight your life will quickly become much easier. So pay attention to what each of them feel like, not as hard as it sounds I promise. Further out you can eat more, and I fall off the wagon the last time I was off for almost 4 weeks, stopped exercising too. I gained 5 pounds. The difference is that this time the weight gain actually scared me, having been a 'normal' size for a bit now I got comfortable and this was a well needed reality check. Now considering how much I was eating 5 pounds was kind, so the surgery really is just a tool. You still need to fight those demons for life but when I think about how much weight I could have gained in that same time period preop.. no comparison. I also dropped those 5 pounds during my 'taking back control' week. But what I didn't do is beat myself up for it, I went on a fabulous food vacation and when I landed back in reality I dealt with it. No guilt, just moved on and smartened up. So being kind to yourself is something that gets easier as you go through this process. It's also one of my favourite NSV's..

Sorry so long I admit I am horribly wordy... hope that helps alleviate some of your fears

Just remember to advocate for yourself. This road is anything but easy from approval to post op. You are far from alone in this journey. I hope you get the news you want, but in case you don't just remember a lot of people now post op were told no throughout their journey too.

I hope all those who had surgery this month are doing well and had a positive experience!! Welcome to the losers bench ladies

Hello, glad I found this forum. I just had my surgery August 27 and I seem to be really stuck at the same weight, which I lost in the first two weeks, when I was just on the broth post-surgery diet.

Are there any tips, besides exercise, that might help me? What did all of your doctors tell you your Protein intake should be in the months after surgery...and for how many months? Maybe that's my issue; not getting enough. I just started walking since I'm at my almost-4-week mark and okayed for light exercise.

Also, what should my Calcium and Vitamin D intake be? I'm worried I'm not getting enough Calcium at age 50.

Thank you,

Marybeth

A lot of people stall out for 2-3 weeks at about 3-4 weeks out. It is very annoying but as long as you keep doing all the right things it will move. Calcium is 12-1500mg/day but you the body will only absorb 500 at a time. Vitamin D for me is 2-3 pills a day, but initially mine was low so presurgury I was taking 7/day to get to where I needed to be. I also take a prenatal Vitamin literally before I shut my eyes as they make me nauseaus, so wait til my eyelids can't stay open and down it or it will keep me up as the room spins..I recently decided with my nutritionist that I am taking in enough calcium through milk, cheese, and yogurt that I don't need to supplement anymore. But that's me, so I advise you to talk to your nutritionist.. I am on a manditory 66grams/daily of Protein since day one post op. I have a scale of appropriate amounts from my nutritionist if you want me to find yours, but again that is a conversation to have with your nutritionist..

Again besides the obvious eat well and exercise.. Add Fiber powder to a shake per day also drink like a fish and I don't recommend chewing gum if you every were a swallower.. then stay far away..and you are too early out for this option now anyway but i do chew gum now and it is a huge help for cravings.. I know it can create additional gas for some but it doesn't for me so that is a personal experience.. and like I said don't even consider it until you are 4-5 months out if you think it may help.. some drop their cheese intake and definitely drop off on your carbs when your are stalled.. good luck! just don't get too frustrated as your body adjusts to the new schedule and calorie intake which for the first while I was told should be between 650-900/day if you can do that much, just work your way up..