hrhlaurie

To clarify about the tortillas, I can eat one small corn tortilla now. It was probably around year 2. Flour tortillas are still a no go though. I just buy a couple of street-style tacos and eat the filling. If I have room, I eat a few bites of the corn tortilla.
Lynda

Oh my gosh, you sound like you live with us! Diners, Drive In's, and Dives...Man vs food, No Reservations, Bizarre Foods, Food Paradise, you name it, we watch it. I think the strangest thing I'm doing now is buying stuff for my husband to eat....meaning, if I'm really craving something I can't have, I'll get it for him. It's bizarre. It's almost like eating vicarously through him! I just hope he doesn't gain all I lose!

Seems like everywhere I go there is an image of some kind of food with melted, gooey cheese or something similar. Im playing every mental trick I know to tell myself it isn't any good and I love my shakes. Lucky me, I get to have chocolate shakes every day...
Until this surgery, I never noticed how many cooking shows my husband and I watch on food network and other stations. Seriously, way too many shows on eating. I'll say this, if you value your sanity, leave the room when Diners, Drive-ins and Dives comes on. Just sayin...

I can see both sides because for many, some foods are kryptonite and you don't want to go back to those habits.
When I asked about pizza, I was thinking one bite, not half a pie. Mexican food, same thing, a quarter cup of some kind of mexican food mix, not a plate of tacos or enchiladas. I mostly wanted to see what could be tolerated post surgery. I love grilled fish tacos but thanks to the feedback here, I see now that the tortilla could be a problem, so I'll eat the fish and some veggies from the inside of one taco and still be healthy.
I think there is probably a middle ground on some foods but I'm going to avoid as many carbs and sweets as possible. However, if I have one small bite of something less healthy, I dont think my surgery was all for nothing...

My teenage son wanted Lil Caesars pizza so off we went. He comes back to the car with not only the pizza (yuck) but cheesy garlic bread. I know I can't have that but tell my taste buds that.

Oh my gosh NewTee, my stomach sounded like there was a rabid animal in it at about day 5. I was getting nervous worried that I was leaking or something lol Wasn't given a heads up on this by my Dr. !

So, mixed results on eating some favorite foods. Looks like pizza and Pasta may be behind me. The good thing is my last pasta and pizza were sitting my trip to Boston a couple odds weeks ago. Pizza from the North End and a pizza pie that was amazing. I can live with those memories. Some Beans and avocado and cheese and smaller clothes, excellent!

Today I was down a few more pounds, 5 since surgery and 25 total. My arms are starting to look a bit flappy where they were just big before. My inner thighs now have a new, looser look as do my hands and chin area. Daily changes to adapt to but on the road to 100 pounds weight lose I knew I was making trade offs. I had 6 months to decide if I wanted to stay obese or do what it takes to lose weight and be healthy. I am using stretch mark creme now and will start wrapping my legs and arms to tighten them until I can stay working out. Every little bit helps!

Every day I think about my surgery and alternate between relief that it is almost here and doubt that I'm doing the right thing. I tell myself that cutting away most of a perfectly normal organ is no big deal and the surgery is pretty routine by now. Then I wonder what my new normal will feel like once I get through my recovery period. I think that is the part that causes the most anxiety for me; who will I be once the majority of the weight loss is past and the novelty has worn off? Will I have some kind of normal life or will I never feel like myself again? Does anyone else feel like this?
Then I kick myself because I've been working towards this surgery since last Nov so I'm going to make it work and try not to worry about possible future anxiety. I dont know if anyone else did this, but during my 6 months of supervised weight loss, I didn't take it seriously at first, and considered it just part of the hoops I had to jump through for insurance. I gained a few pounds here and there and got a serious warning after the surgery class at the hospital where they told us that weight gain at this time could be grounds for a denial. I began my diet and managed to drop 10 pounds by my final doctor appt but I was worried before that weigh-in.
Now I'm 3 days in to my pre-surgery diet and I got a bit of a late start due to work travel. I missed the first 3 days of my diet but have been determined to make it up since the goal is to have a less fatty liver so no cheating during these 7 days. I thought this would be harder but I'm doing pretty well I think. I can't take some of my Vitamins but I'm not as hungry as I thought I'd be. I think I've sort of psyched myself into this liquids and one small meal zone so that food isn't really an issue for now. Feels like that could change any time but I'll take my victories where I find them. Went to dinner with my family last night, an italian place, but I was up to the challenge. I would rather get creative with menu choices than tell my husband no dinners out. We all needed this time to hang out together. I ordered a half-size spinach salad with grilled chicken and skipped the bread and I felt great and salad was good. After surgery I'm taking two weeks off from eating out at restaurants but pre-surgery I have more menu options.
I think this is the point where some might be tempted to cancel surgery because weight loss is going well. Did anyone cancel their surgery less than a week out? This must be diet amnesia because I'm sure we've all been on diets where we lost and gained it back. I know that I couldn't sustain this forever on my own and would invent a reason not to continue with a diet (vacation, stress at work, travel, family issues, etc) I think the success of this surgery is that we don't have to worry about weak willpower and failure. I'm lucky that I don't really have a sweet tooth but I'll probably have a pizza or burrito attack at some point. Right now, I'm living on every type of low or no sugar drinks and Atkins shakes. I like the Atkins shakes but I need to remember to order the powders? utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein for after surgery...
What sustains me are the success stories here where so many have lost weight and feel great. All of the medical statistics in the world can't compete with these real-life stories and I thank you all for sharing. I'm trying to keep up with this tradition and promise full disclosure along the way. My pre-op appt. is this Wed and surgery Thurs. Strangly, after reading other stories, I'm most worried about the gas pains! I wonder how soon after surgery I can drive and will feel like going out. I haven't seen many details so would love to hear what I might expect.
I'm hoping for another significant weight loss this Wed and will share my experience. To those just starting out, hang on, it's a bit of an emotional roller coaster!

Climbed on the scales this morning and hit 202. That's down 185 pounds since I started my weight loss journey. I am amazed that I have this much weight. My bariatric nurse emailed me yesterday and wanted me to be on a panel for future bariatric patients to ask me questions about my success. I am so happy and feel so great. I wish everyone on the board to success in their journeys.
Mark, Edmond Ok

Thanks, good info. That gurgling does kind of sounds the way a drink does when poured through a funnel. I hate it when I forget to take a small drink and it backs up a bit.

I want hungry until last night and it surprised me. I don't mind the hunger as much right now during liquids and just send more Protein Shake down the hatch. As long as I lose weight every day, I can get through the hunger pains. Can someone in a stall tell me some coping strategies for when you aren't dropping pounds but you're hungry?

I added a couple of pounds after surgery too and felt so bloated from the iv Fluid and surgery. 6 days out and the excess fluid is starting to come off but slowly. Keep walking and drinking to flush everything through you. The weight will come off, just follow the diet your doc gave you.

Day 5: my husband went back to work and walking our daughter to the bus stop made for a first (puny) bm! I got about three hours of work from home done and now I am exhausted and getting ready for a nap. Today I've gotten in 16 oz Protein Shake w half dose of miralax; 8 oz of chicken broth blended with a can of chicken chunk meat; 12 oz of ice tea.
My barriers to getting back to "normal" are still needing half-doses of pain meds about twice a day, needing one or two short naps a day, and wearing any sort of pants or skirts with a waistband painful to my incisions which are only 1/2" above my waistfold and have 4" bruises around each one. I'm starting to feel bad for taking so much time off so I'm hoping things move along here.

I cant finish a whole shake yet and will start trying harder tomorrow. sleeping ok and not hungry or excessively tired. Getting up and down from chairs and beds is painful but im sure it will get better. I still have the hebiclens they had me scrub with before surgery so I'm still scrubbing my stomach and incision area with it to help make sure I don't get an infection.
I love not being hungry. Im trying to focus on walking and liquids and Vitamins but I need to build up my Protein. I'm glad the Atkins shakes still taste good to me since I stocked up before surgery.
I'll weigh this Thursday and compare to pre-surgery weight and see how I do. Glad I don't have to go back to work for a bit since I need more sleep than usual. I feel good and am so glad I didn't talk myself out of surgery due to nerves. I sure didn't want heart disease or diabetes and I was getting close to both of them I'm sure. Now I'm making plans to toss the xxl clothes out and in the store today I let myself really look at the normal sized clothes and can't wait until I'm shopping in the dept with the cute clothes and so many choices. Yeah, I'll give up some food for that pleasure!

I bought more approved drinks and lots of different Protein powders. Met with doc today and we are good to go- checkin at 7 for 9 am surgery MST. Cant believe this day is here!

I shared with my family and closest friends because I wanted to include them in the process and since I was taking the time to learn more about the surgery, it gave me a chance to explain it to them too.
Casual friends I told I was having some stomach surgery and left it at that. One co-worker asked me whether it was WLS and since she's over-weight I told her it was. She shared some of her mom's experience and asked me if she could ask me questions about the surgery and process, etc. If I hadn't been honest with her, I would have lost the opportunity to help her.
I figure if someone is going to be negative, they are probably already finding things to talk about me behind my back now so, either way, they'll be negative and criticize. You can't change some people. If someone asks, I tell them I had health concerns and this was the best way to help ensure I lead a long and healthy life. They might say it's the easy way out, so let them. Their words can't hurt you and who cares if something is easy or hard, as long as it works.
I guess, in short, supportive people will like you either way and the critical ones are already talking about you. If you say you are having doctor recommended surgery to improve your health, why would someone argue. They might ask if you tried ww, cause their sister's cousin's next door neighbor did well with it or some other weight loss program. I tell them that they do work and help but this is what my doctor recommended and my insurance co. agreed. Basically, I have a smaller stomach, nothing real radical. I don't see anyone having a debate when someone has a hysterectomy...
I guess I feel like meeting people head on is easier on me in the long run. I don't ask for people's opinion on how I live, vacation or my health choices and I don't plan to start now.
If you had a hernia operation, you can always say that the health problem was a wake up call for you and somehow the hernia repair has made you less hungry. You don't owe them more than that.
As always, my two cents! Hey, I'm only 5 days out of surgery so it's pretty real to me every day!

I'm so sorry you are having pain and trouble sleeping. I found laying on my side with a pillow supporting my abdomen helped me a lot. I sort of lean forward on the pillow and am comfortable that way.
I'm still on liquids but the chocolate shakes weren't going down that easy shoo I switched to Atkins strawberry banana Protein drink with some vanilla Protein Powder. I guess every day will be trial and error as I figure out what works and what doesn't. But, I was down 5 pounds this morning from surgery weight and 25 pounds down overall from highest weight in March so I'll keep working this plan since it's moving me in the right direction!

So glad to be sleeping on my stomach again! Happy days are here again

Thanks for sharing, you are so right, I also can lose but always gain it back! Not this time!
Hey, guess what? This time when we lose weight, we can GET RID OF OUR FAT CLOTHES cause we won't be gaining it back! Woo-hoo!

Sleeved on the 29th and on the 30th I was miserable with stitches pain, nausea, general discomfort and feeling that anything I swallowed would come back up. I seriously questioned my sanity and why I had volunteered for this condition. On Sat I felt a little better and when they sent me home I took my percocet and tried to get all of my Water in. My Protein drink is lagging and im only getting 2 ounces in at a time so I'll try to do more tomorrow.
I slept better last night than I thought I would. I was mostly on my side but tipped forward with a spare pillow supporting my stomach area. I was so glad to be back in my own bed and sleeping all night without bp checks. This morning I got up and showered and we went to church and I never imagined I'd be feeling well enough to be out so soon. Ive been taking walks around the block but today I added walking at church, rest and Protein Drink at lunch, then went shopping in a couple of stores. I got tired and getting in and out of the car is slow going but I got in several steps so that's good.
I think I'm the only one who didn't do a leak test, or at least none when I was awake. Im getting Vitamins in but find the gummies easier than the harder chewable. I don't like anything too sweet right now.
Personal victory moment: yesterday my husband grilled and made dinner for oldest daughter and her kids. He grilled pork chops, cut up a watermelon, and put together some side dishes. It all smelled and looked really good but I had no hunger pains and no desire to eat any of it. I love having no hunger pains, ever! No food appeals to me right now and my life is liquids!
Found a new, wonderful water; watermelon flavored Hint Water. Just a bit of watermelon flavor but not overwhelming and not sweet so tastes better to me. Im planning to ride this liquid stage longer than they recommended since it isn't as hard as I thought it would be so I'm not going to rush foods.
I haven't weighed yet and will probably check weight once a week so I don't make myself crazy with little daily ups and downs.
So glad you all are on here too so we can compare notes and encourage each other. The day after surgery I was clinging to my docs reassurance that it would get better.

Before/ during (posted in another thread previously)

I'd like to join if not too late. I missed this post when I was in the hospital. Starting weight is 250, that is what I weighed on the 30th. Goal by the 4th is 225.

I've had some pains when drinking, right behind my sternum, and it's when I either take too large a gulp of liquid or when I take to many sips in a row and it feels like it's backing up a bit. Taking my time will be my biggest challenge throughout, I'm sure.
I looked in the mirror tonight and realized I've lost one of my chins! That's pretty cool. I was at 270 in March and this morning 248 so guess some of my lost weight was living in my face!

Sleeved on the 29th and on the 30th I was miserable with stitches pain, nausea, general discomfort and feeling that anything I swallowed would come back up. I seriously questioned my sanity and why I had volunteered for this condition. On Sat I felt a little better and when they sent me home I took my percocet and tried to get all of my Water in. My Protein drink is lagging and im only getting 2 ounces in at a time so I'll try to do more tomorrow.
I slept better last night than I thought I would. I was mostly on my side but tipped forward with a spare pillow supporting my stomach area. I was so glad to be back in my own bed and sleeping all night without bp checks. This morning I got up and showered and we went to church and I never imagined I'd be feeling well enough to be out so soon. Ive been taking walks around the block but today I added walking at church, rest and Protein Drink at lunch, then went shopping in a couple of stores. I got tired and getting in and out of the car is slow going but I got in several steps so that's good.
I think I'm the only one who didn't do a leak test, or at least none when I was awake. Im getting Vitamins in but find the gummies easier than the harder chewable. I don't like anything too sweet right now.
Personal victory moment: yesterday my husband grilled and made dinner for oldest daughter and her kids. He grilled pork chops, cut up a watermelon, and put together some side dishes. It all smelled and looked really good but I had no hunger pains and no desire to eat any of it. I love having no hunger pains, ever! No food appeals to me right now and my life is liquids!
Found a new, wonderful water; watermelon flavored Hint Water. Just a bit of watermelon flavor but not overwhelming and not sweet so tastes better to me. Im planning to ride this liquid stage longer than they recommended since it isn't as hard as I thought it would be so I'm not going to rush foods.
I haven't weighed yet and will probably check weight once a week so I don't make myself crazy with little daily ups and downs.
So glad you all are on here too so we can compare notes and encourage each other. The day after surgery I was clinging to my docs reassurance that it would get better.