7 Bites_Jen

I actually don't remember where I was at 6 weeks out, but I was on soft foods. I ate a lot of refried beans ... LOL I actually have a YouTube cooking show with my mom, and this weeks episode is about exactly that!! Here's a link if you're interested:

What eating stage are you on? When I was at six weeks I was starting soft foods - I know every doctor is different, though. For Protein, I had the HARDEST with protein powders. I couldn't - and still can't (at over a year) - tolerate them. AT ALL. I've heard a lot of people had success with nectar and a few others. You really have to play around with them to find one that you like and can tolerate. If you go to health food stores or nutrition centers, a lot of times they'll have samples for sales, and some places will actually mix you a shake right there.

At over a year out, I am still losing. Yes, it is possible to eat around it, but it is MUCH harder to eat around the sleeve than it is to eat around other surgeries. The thing to remember is that after a certain amount of time, your stomach relaxes, and you will be able to eat a LOT more than you were in the beginning. This is where the REAL work comes in. If you start to eat more carbs and eat junk, it's inevitable that you WILL stop losing, and could even gain some (this has happened to me!!). The thing to remember is that "protein first" is not just for a while - it's forever. Or for as long as you want to continue to lose weight. Be mindful too - your loss will slow down considerably after the first 6 months. You will likely go from losing 5-10 lbs a month down to about 4-5 lbs or less a month. DO NOT LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU. It is absolutely normal and ok! This won't mean that you're "eating around your sleeve" at all - rather that your body is adjusting to it. As long as you are losing every month, you're okay! Hope this was helpful!

I had heartburn pretty much since day one. I am on prescription meds for it now and they work pretty well, but I still have to carry Tums in my purse!

Hi everyone! I'm JenniJune and I have been a member of this forum for a while now. I would like to invite you all to come and check out my and my mom's new YouTube show just for people that have had weight loss surgery. It's called 7Bites (obviously, LOL). I owe this website a lot - I certainly could not have gotten through my surgery without it. But I still had a ton of questions. That's how 7Bites was born. I hope this show can be of some help to some, if not all of you! Please let us know what you think!

My mom and I both had the Vertical Sleeve surgery last year. Mine was in July and hers was in September. One thing we both noticed was that there weren't many resources out there that were just for people that have had weight loss surgery. There were a few blogs out there, and of course this forum and others, but one thing we craved was MORE. We both struggled with making the surgery work in the first few months. What could we eat? How could we make it edible without grossing us out? So many questions. It took us months of trial and error to come up with ways to make the high Protein lifestyle we needed work. Thus, 7 Bites was born. Our first episode has aired on YouTube today, and we are so excited. For those of you that know me, I am also known as JenniJune on this very forum. I owe VST a LOT for getting me through the first few months for sure! I invite you all to come check out our show - and be sure to tell us what you think!