Koofka

Howdy all. Just had a moment that felt worthwhile of sharing here. About 10 weeks out of my December VSG and just slid on a pair of 48 jeans. Think its probably the first time I have been wearing 48's in at least the past 5 years. At my pre-surgery highest weight I was sporting 56's, and 56's with an elastic waist that seemed pretty generous. 2 months later and all those clothes are up on EBay. Just a waypoint along the way, but those threshold numbers seem to hold a bit of extra meaning. Motivational to think that, after today, it will likely be the last time ever wearing pants in 50 plus sizes. Thanks for listening .

Congrats. Losing a 100 seemed like a far off dream pre-op. Closing in on it myself and cant really believe it. Keep it going!

Had the exact same idea as far as calling it abdominal surgery and no one else's concern - but turns out people tend to pry and you are pretty much left with the choice to either spin a web of bs or just fess up. I chose the later route as it was just way too much trouble to worry about keeping the lies straight (you have a bunch of stuff to pay attention to post op, so why add to the mix). Since then haven't particularly felt judged. Afterall, most of us are going through WLS not only to lose weight, but to alleviate a number of existing or potential health issues that are weight related. Explaining WLS to most people that way seems to be pretty easy for them to understand.

Found the Isopure powders to be some of the best tasting Protein drink options out there. The Premier drink packs from costco were probably a close second. My lady also bought tons of other things like Propel, Mio, Crystal Light, and other things, but since I have always been a Water drinker, ended up leaving those untouched. My only stay away advice would be any Protein drinks with Vegan on the label. Most of the ones I tried tasted like trying to drink a dirty branch. Half convinced now Vegans are some sort of S&M cult.

Truth be told, post-op farts tend to be few and far between. So perhaps enjoy em while they last.

You can also hook your Fitbit into MyFitnessPal via their app library. Works pretty well and bidirectionally - so the MFP data feeds back into the Fitbit dashboard. We also added an Aria to the mix which took away the need for manual weight logging on both MFP and Fitbit.

Hey Recycled. Great idea. Tracking has been getting a bit stale of late. Koofka on MyFitnessPal.

I generally have used a hiccup as my barometer. So far has kept me from overfilling / dumping. But on the mushy stuff i seldom even had that. Suggest just starting slow. Like 1 or 2 tablespoons of each new food until you are sure you can tolerate the amount and type of food. Believe I had worked up to about 5 tablespoons quantity wise by about the 3rd week.

Ended up doing self pay here in Colorado. Certainly wasn't cheap but upon talking to the insurance rep for my company ( small group insurance ) he indicated there are very few insurance options in the individual or small group marketplace that offer coverage for WLS. This may change in the future as the AMA has more recently labeled obesity a disease and insurance companies should eventually shift policies in response. That said, in my opinion, 6 weeks out and a good bit of weight down, the money is an afterthought compared to the results so far.

Some great links in this thread. Thanks all for these.

I had really good luck with the Isopure powders and just mixing those with Water. Also the premade Premier shakes from costco. Some of the Vegan shakes I tried tasted like drinking a dirty branch. Somewhat convinced now that Vegans are some sort of self-hurt club.

Hear u losin it. Think part of my worry is for 6 weeks I have been scared of looking the wrong way at a peanut (one of my pre sleeve vices) and now all of a sudden I am supposed to have some.

Yeah, thinking fear might be a part of it. Fear was certainly a component of not cheating. Thanks

Wow. You look great. Congrats!

So finding myself in an odd spot (at least compared to the pre sleeve days). Hit 6 weeks post op today and instead of diving into some previously forbidden treat or having some hearts desire meal, I find myself not shifting off of the soft foods diet. Thinking its two fold, one is the process is working, 6 weeks no cheating and I am down quite a bit of weight and feeling good about it. So maybe one part is, why screw up a good thing now? Though, just as the docs knew what they were doing with the diet so far, I am sure they know so going forward. The other part is the schedule. Eating mostly Protein every two hours has me pretty much absolutely sick of eating. Even though I am probably only netting 600 - 800 calories a day while usually hitting 90 - 120 g of protein. But eating different stuff doesn't have that much appeal when you are just sick of eating stuff. Anybody else have hesitation leaving behind the post op restricted diet days?

Thanks all. Successfully resisted the urge to tub it thanks to the feedback here. Have an appointment Wed and will seek the Docs ok. Had dissolvable stitches so perhaps that is part of need for the rule.

Thanks. Suppose its just one of those getting back to normal things that I am a bit impatient for. Will ask the doc for an official pass at my appt this week.

So I understand the basic rule is no baths or hot tubbing until 4 weeks or so after surgery once your incisions are healed. I am 3 1/2 weeks post op at the moment and my incisions appear to be well healed. Pinkish lines over each incision with minor scabbing on a couple. Happens to be a gorgeous hot tub day up here in the Colorado mountains with a new foot of snow down. Think there is substantial risk to doing the tub thing a few days ahead of my 4 week date?

Wow! Congratulations, your progress is amazing. Only 2 weeks out here and only hope to do as well at this.

Thanks for that, interesting info. At the moment, I am still early in the process an only on pre-selected softs at an ounce every two hours. Tend to use the shakes or drinks in-between for some variety from the Water. So re: splitting, how long a period would you think is necessary to spread a drink over to make sure your body is capable of taking advantage of it? Edit: Ran across this link that implies the 30g in a sitting limit is more related to post workout muscle repair: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/know-your-nutrients/how-much-protein-can-the-body-absorb

Isopure powders have done the trick for me, 50g in a 12oz drink. Makes the 75g a day target pretty easy to hit so far. The Isopure drinks are 40g to a 20oz bottle, but would suggest tracking down a variety pack (we had to find one online) to find flavors you like the best.

My doctor used an interesting analogy to explain my questions on the amount fluids I was getting down in the first week post op (100+ oz daily - I also had surgery 12/11). He said to think of your new stomach as a funnel, in that fluids will flow nearly straight through while food (and I am only on pre-select pureed / soft at the moment) will take much longer to pass through.

One of the odder thoughts I had pre-op was feeling guilty as if my stomach was a bad pet who was oblivious to the fact that it was about to be euthanized. Another, hopefully more useful thought I had, was with regard to the permanence and how it would be limiting my ability to enjoy food - something that I felt delivered significant pleasure pre-op. My eventual reasoning for coming to terms with this was that the joy of food was only fueling my weight and associated health problems - problems that were severely restricting my ability to enjoy life overall and would only cause greater hinderances as I aged further.

Hello all - new poster. 11 days post op for my gastric sleeve, spent the first seven days post op on liquids only and have been on a pre-select soft food diet for the past 5 days (oh what fun). Coming up with more and more odd combinations of refried bean, greek yogurt, egg white, sugar free pudding, and cottage cheese. Sad what passes for an "omelet" at the moment. Something odd I noted almost immediately upon arriving home was my sense of smell, particularly with regard to how foods smell, seem particularly altered. Have a household that has always enjoyed cooking and have done so several times for my lady as a thank you for how well she has been nursing me and the aroma of the foods is just nowhere near as full as pre op. Is this common? At least one other full bypass patient at my 1 week check in mentioned a similar change. Is it permanent or something that changes over time? Thanks all - and best of luck to all those on or getting ready for the same journey.

Live in Colorado where MJ use is becoming more and more socially acceptable. After full disclosure with my doctor's the advice was to stay off for a week pre op and at least until you were off the narcotic post op meds. Indicated there were some medical leanings that MJ may inhibit the receptors the pain meds act via. Though, during what my lady and I thought was one of the more amusing pre-op moments, the nurse shared that "if the pain meds don't seem to be sufficient, go ahead and smoke a bowl".