Fluffnomore

I'm 8 months out, and I do remember feeling tired of everything at 6 weeks out. I didn't have some of the physical issues, but I was still on full liquids at that point and it felt like it would never end. Remember too that you are probably releasing hormones as you lose weight and an emotional roller coaster is par for the course.
I go out to eat regularly, and I eat regularly. Just a lot less than I used to. But the good part is that it does come back, somewhat. I do not feel like a freak at restaurants (I used to), I just get a to-go box. So much of what you are upset about is temporary. There's a light at the end of the tunnel!

I was Fluffy on another internet board years ago.
I'm dying here, I should have gone with my stripper name. Tiger Stratton.

I have always hated cottage cheese. Such a bummer. But I am enjoying Jerky now, which is new for me. There's one called Krave that isn't widely available but I can sometimes get at Target. Yum.

http://www.kravejerky.com

My observation is that there are a couple of different approaches. There are those who have to cut everything cold turkey so that they won't be on a slippery slope back to where they were, and there are those who need to feel like they have wiggle room. I think this is a personality issue rather than a success issue, too.
I don't do well with mega-restrictions. I personally don't feel that there is anything that is off limits, but there are plenty of things that are poor choices. So I have a commitment to tracking everything and making good choices 90% of the time.

We have "nicer" fast food places that have a lot of choices here, like Patio and Portillos, and if we do fast food, that's where we tend to go. It's really rare that I will order a burger these days but if I do I like to order a better one than a McD's and eat half of it or less.

I do CrossFit, so we have a lot of lifting and a lot of other stuff...
I started CF in August and my surgery was in October. I had a strict 6-7 week recovery with no lifting and working out other than walking. And then, I was weak for the first month or so that I came back. Started to really feel myself getting back in the groove in February and March. But the funny thing is, even though I've been sick a lot of the last month and haven't worked out nearly as much as I should (averaged once a week) I haven't lost a huge amount of definition. I just love it and would recommend it for anyone. In fact, I can't wait to progress up in heaviness.

Inspiring! Love the pictures.

Sometimes when we are hurt, we shut ourselves off from everything. This saves us from the bad stuff, but it also prevents us from really knowing and having the good stuff.
Vulnerability in order to experience love and tenderness is a wonderful thing.

I haven't yet a clue what "maintenance" should look like for me. In my dreams, it is "eat whatever I want, just smaller amounts" but I suspect the reality for maintenance will more likely be "eat very carefully so as not to regain." I wish I knew.
My hope is that with tons of practice, eating very carefully will eventually feel like eating whatever I want, just in smaller amounts. Because with my "naturally skinny" friends, that is what I observe. It's not that they never indulge, but if I am paying attention they indulge in a very measured way.

I'm a big fan of leftovers. If I go out to dinner, I have the second half (or third, depending) for lunch the next day. Other non-cooking ideas: rotisserie chicken, refried Beans with cheese, deli meat, Protein Shake or pudding, steak, omelets. I'm lucky that I can eat most things but boredom has never been a huge issue.

This is part of the mentality you need to fight early on. You are really, most likely just fine. Protein Drinks are still counted as clear liquids and will do what you need. My liquid diet was 5 days prior, two weeks of clear liquids, followed by a month of full liquids. At 6 weeks I was able to add purees and soft foods. You can do this.

The short answer is that despite what many people believe, modern medicine is not an exact science. The long answer is that (and this is only my opinion) that there are many things providers take into account when they set up a post-op diet plan. The first and foremost thing they obviously consider is safety. Opinions as to what is safe probably vary. Another one of those things is that people react differently to the surgery. Some people have more swelling, more pain and more intolerance to certain foods than others. My program slowly reintroduced foods and I was told that a big part of that was because some foods are more easily tolerated than others. I believe Another consideration is that for long term success we have to permanently change our habits. It takes significantly longer to break bad habits than to establish or reestablish them. I think some programs move slowly with the post-op diet because we are most likely to strictly adhere to instructions in the time immediately after surgery and by moving slowly through the phases we are more likely to break bad habits and establish new good habits.
Follow your doctor's program. You don't need anything more substantial. You want something more substantial. I felt the same way. I never was mentally satisfied after eating a 1/2 cup of Tomato Soup. My advice is to do everything in your power to mentally convince yourself you don't need anything more substantial. After a few months you are going to be back to being allowed to eat whatever you can tolerate. At that point it is going to be on you to make the right choices. You are going to be surprised at how much junk you can eat if you try. Having been there and trying to get back on track right now, my biggest wish is that I had never tried eating the junk in the first place. If you focus on following the program and beating the mental aspect of not being satisfied now, it will be easier to avoid getting off track down the road.

Brighteyes, how soon did you go back? When was your surgery? And what specifically did you start with when you went back?

Thanks to both of you. Listen, I'm no tough guy. I was the one in the back doing the knee push ups and ring rows and lifting about half of everyone else. I look like I'm having a seizure when doing burpees, and as for jumping and running, let's just say I could…but I would limp for a couple of days. I'm looking forward to attempting those things again with less weight pounding on my poor joints (only hope that the weight loss will reverse some damage.)
Laners, why no swimming for so long? Was it too hard on your core? I confess I have been wondering if I'll even be able to do sit-ups at 6 weeks. How far out from surgery are you now?
CBJ, I echo what Laners says. I am finding a great deal of inspiration from the vets who post. I want to do this correctly and with as few complications and injuries as possible. My surgery was smooth as could be and other than being tired I feel pretty good now, so I do not want to jeopardize that.

I was sleeved 10/24. From August through the night before surgery I have been doing CF about 2-3 times per week. Obviously I have been completely off now…my doctor has a 4-6 week lift restriction.
At my one week post-op last week with the surgeon and the PA, the surgeon said his guideline is start the regular exercise program 4 weeks out, putting off any lifting over 25 pounds until 6 weeks. HIs guideline: If you do it now and it hurts, stop. If you do it after 6 weeks and it hurts, do it anyway. He said if I want I can do some limited PVC work now…but frankly, he doesn't really know how CF works. I said, "What about weight lifting, say anything over 50 pounds?" He said, "I don't want you ever to do that!" laughed, and left the room.
After, the PA stayed behind and said, "Do NOT go back to CrossFit until at least the 4 weeks and maybe the 6 have passed. He doesn't know what it is. And don't worry about the last comment either…though I hope you will be very cautious and work back up to where you were."
Well, duh. I fully plan to aggressively scale; I will have lost a lot of muscle tone. But for those of you who are CF people, how long after surgery did you go back (or start)? What were the issues you had?
I should add that I also had a hiatal hernia repair during my surgery, just in case it means something different for lifting.
Thanks!

Great thread. But I'll refrain from posting a photo of my bariatric pudding and/or my Cracker Barrel scrambled eggs from earlier. If I had one of those.
In a few weeks, though…watch out.

I have absolutely no problems going out to eat. I like having leftovers.

Oh good! We have identical garbage bags too. :-)

Ugh. I am overwhelmed like this. About 5 years ago with the gallbladder saga I ended up being about 40 pounds less than I am now. So I do have some of those sizes still in my closet.
But I found myself last weekend trying to put some bags together for charity, and I realized that I am terrified to get rid of stuff. I mean, it's November. In 6 months I really should be at least 30 pounds lighter, and that's if I lose very slowly. Which means that by next summer I will need new everything. So why am I having trouble getting rid of stuff? Maybe because it sort of still fits. I seem to have lost 4 inches in my waist and about 1 inch from everywhere else. So what is my problem? And ALSO it's not like these are really nice clothes! Like you guys, I had started to just grab things that fit, regardless of what looked right on me. Target, Kohls, Walmart, Kmart, and sometimes Macy's.
So is it a leap of faith to get rid of things now, or do I just wait until it's obvious that I can no longer wear them under any stretch of the imagination?
I will say that I bought a pair of dark wash jeans in the style I like in the next size down and put them away. I am in jeans every day because I work at home, and I know I will get to them eventually. But that's the only thing I've been able to do.

I can just hear the APB:
"We have a situation here…a WLS patient who will not keep her clothes on…"

Don't worry too much. You might have it for a long time. I still do and I'm almost a year post op. It's like clockwork though…when it's done in the morning, it's done all day. Another long time poster and I refer to this as poop Soup.< /p>

Hey everyone, since I started this thread, I wanted to provide an update on my condition (especially for the ones who are going thru a rough time).
For some reason (and I used to read this in other posts and didn't really believe it), this last weekend I finally felt SO much better. It literally happened in just a day or two. I just felt so much better. And I was finally able to get in my 60 grams of Protein (first time). I even went to the gym to start the strength and toning part of my workout.
I think the biggest reason I started feeling better is I wasn't in anymore pain. Pain from the surgery, pain from drinking too fast, nothing. Now, if I experience something uncomfortable, I know what it is and fix it. But the biggest thing that finally clicked was the mental adjustments I had to make, they finally fell into place. It took a few weeks but I am finally learning what I need to do to help my new body adjust to this.
People, doctors, whoever can tell you you need to mentally prepare yourself for this surgery beforehand. I'm sorry but there is absolutely NO WAY you can mentally prepare yourself for something like this. You don't know what type of recovery you'll experience, you don't know what mental battles you'll endure. So you don't really know what to prepare yourself for.
I can tell you it's going to get better but that doesn't help you now when all you want to do is self medicate yourself and just sleep the day away. All I can say is it does suck right now and it's ok to regret what did at this moment. I had people tell me to write out my feelings or talk to someone. But when all you want to do is crawl under the covers and not talk to anyone, those are the last things you want to do.
Honestly, there is nothing anyone can say that is going to make your situation better right now. You have to get thru this part yourself. And only you can figure out the mental adjustments you need to make. It's your recovery......you complain, whine or vent as much as you want. You have gone thru a major surgery, you now have to get thru the mental changes. One nice thing is I'm now able enjoy the small victories like the 40 lbs I've lost in the last two months. And in a few more weeks, I pray you will be able to too.
Thank you to everyone for your stories, suggestions and advice. This site and everyone on it has truly been a blessing. No one can truly understand what this journey is like unless you've gone thru it.
Good luck to my "Sleeve Sisters" and PM if you need anything.

I can just hear the APB:
"We have a situation here…a WLS patient who will not keep her clothes on…"

Carbs are not the devil. I ran a marathon in my 20s and I completely remember using it to justify eating like a pig! LOL. And for us the carb loading thing was social more than anything.
I do crossfit and I run, usually 3-5 easy miles. On those days, sometimes the day after I am a little more lax about how many carbs I eat. If I were to train for a marathon again I think I would probably take the same attitude. I rarely work out more than an hour now, so even when it's hard I don't have to fuel during it. And I rarely make a point to fuel before if I have eaten well that day.

Well, I think this is life, isn't it? There are days I really hate sitting and being still with myself because I start to think about all of the ways I am a failure. That unpaid bill, that project that is sitting over my head, my laundry room being a disaster, that uncleaned closet. My avoidance techniques include reading compulsively, and getting out of the house. I have to be very careful these days with some of the old standbys: cooking an elaborate meal, drinking wine with friends. Not to say they don't ever happen; I just have to be careful.
I have my days when all of my negative feelings are focused on the weight loss journey and my "lack of success" or at least my not going as quickly as some others…and that threatens to swallow me up. I also have days when I can actually understand in my pea brain that I'm doing okay.
Overall I think the hardest thing is being both gentle and responsible with oneself. Somehow, I never learned that as a kid or young adult, and that has been something I have had to learn in the second half of my life so far. There are good days and bad days. The best days are the ones that I can honestly say to myself, "Today? That went okay." Neither the high nor the low. In other words you are in good company. One foot in front of the other, my dear.

I am careful with what I eat and I track everything but I would never call it a diet. The tracking is for my information only and helps me stay focused and grounded. I did stop tracking for a week when I went on vacation and I maintained/lost a tiny bit that week.
I know people who have done really well limiting themselves and being incredibly strict and focused, and people who have done well with some of the above responses (I eat whatever I want, just less) and I don't think anyone can judge from the outside which approach will work. I have taken a moderate approach. I don't call anything off limits unless it makes me feel physically ill. I exercise hard, about 3 or 4 times a week. I lose a little more slowly than some but (despite my ticker, which I can't seem to change) I am about 13 pounds from my personal goal at 10 months out. I actually adjusted my official calorie count up recently with the aim of not eating back my calories when I work out. In other words, just calling it 1300-1400 calories rather than having my goal as 1200 calories and eating more the day of or after exercise. Strangely that has taken some pressure off. I have yet to eat up to the new amount. Who knows? I think I do better mentally with just a bit of slack, but that's me.