Everything posted by devint
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May Sleevers-What are you eating?
Hi I was sleeved may 30th and have lost about 35lbs and I am still not cleared for certain textured food, like anything hard, crunchy, crispy, crisp raw veggies, or generally scratchy (like pretzels) on the inside of your mouth. I am also not allowed any grains (my doc is specific on carbs and allowables to reach his goal of max 50 per day) or anything with lots of "membrane" tissue like eating actual orange/grapefruit slices, grape skins or raisins, fruit peels, popcorn or regular corn. My typical day looks like breakfast and first snack, one a Protein shake and one a greek yogurt. lunch I try to eat leftover meat from the night before but usually can only get in about 3 oz before i'm stuffed. Today I "treated" myself to a whole foods hot bar, $2.12 and delicious! I'm a cheap date now! I have not done great with the afternoon snack, most days just skip to dinner, where I'm eating only meat and like 1 tbsp of veggies. I am paranoid about losing hair because mine is fine to start so I'm trying to eat as much meat and cheese as possible. Problem is tiny tummy gets so full so fast on them. I have only been able to get in about 700-800 per day unless I start grazing on Peanut Butter, then it's all over. I use Bariactiv Vitamins, took them once on an empty stomach and threw them up but since then eat them mid breakfast and ok. Like the others, powdery and fruit flavored. I'm also on Iron, b12, and a ppi acid blocker
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
Hey hope everyone's weekend was good. I tried corn on the cob, and that didn't stay down very good but boy was it good and sweet. It's amazing how sensitive my taste buds are to natural sugars now. I've also realized that I have been doing a horrible job hydrating over the weekends. Work days I've got a routine but need to push my liquids on weekends/ on the run. Go to the doctor tomorrow for gallbladder follow up. Anyone have a fun Protein recipe or way to get in more exercise?
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
I went and had bloodwork and an abdominal ultrasound to check on my gallbladder but won't know results till over the weekend. Gas and pain are just slowly increasing. I still can't believe I wasn't aware of the risks of gallbladder issues, 1/3 wls patients have trouble with it. Anyone's dr put them on actigall or similar meds as preventative? I've stopped wanting to eat now and that's a problem cause I'm down below 500 cal a day and it's goofing me up energy focus and weight wise. Hope ya'll are doing a lot better than me lol!
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Day 14
For the newbies coming into the first stall, I also want to throw out there that I've heard and seen that cycles play a big impact and can easy stall you for a week. Ultimately your body knows what it's doing and it will come off if you keep to the plan. Babish glad to hear the "number" is on the move again!
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
Oh my gosh! I just found out that the nagging pain i've been having behind/underneath my right shoulder blade is not from me "sleeping funny" or just general pain from vsg; i am having gallstone symptoms! Luckily the pain is not severe (yet) just dull moderate aching, but it has been keeping me up at night for the last three nights. I am praying that my doc tomorrow can give me some meds to help cause I do NOT want another surgery. discouraged.
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constipation! !
I use miralax, as I had it handy at the first onset, and my doc said it is one of the only ones you can take "chronically" meaning indefinitely if needed without having any negative effects on your bowel muscles. Beware any "laxative" and use "stool softeners" We feel your pain but with some treatment it usually resolves itself. And I'm just gonna throw it out there that I at least enjoy seeing the scale move down after that resolution. Probably not right that i see it as a mini victory, but it's the truth.
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
@@boccob81 I read somewhere on the forums that posture problems and weird muscle deficiencies that cause you to walk funny happen as the weight is rapidly lost. Basically your back and shoulder muscles are overcompensating for a stomach weight that's not there anymore, plus your abdominal muscles aren't fully healed from surgery yet. Best advice I found is to simple walk tall, sit straight up. If you're having trouble with your leg muscles though I'd be worried you're not getting enough Protein and your body is eating your muscles as fuel instead of fat. NSVs: I had to wrap string around my wedding rings today to tighten them up because they fell off my hands while washing in the bathroom. I also researched how to alter button up shirts so I don't have to buy all new for work just yet, just have a lot of sewing to do. I also went outside wearing a sleeveless shirt, to the grocery store, without an overwhelming sense of shame and self-consciousness. My upper arms still aren't nice to look at, but I just felt better about myself so I did it.
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
Hw 309 Sw 288 est Cw 250
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
It's Monday morning and didn't I forget to weigh in this morning? Holiday weekend throwing me off. And in more ways than one. I skipped logging food and steps Friday to Sunday this weekend and I also found myself pretty dehydrated this morning so I'm focusing on getting lots of Water in and I am experiencing a stronger "water nausea" feeling. I've found that keeping the water room temp helps with that, and flavor squirters. Over the weekend we went to North Carolina and I really pushed my capacity with pulled pork bbq binge, like half a cup of it every 3 hours i was there (hey at least it was soft and protein). It didn't stop me that, from what my dr said, our suture lines inside are still healing and creating scar tissue to cover the staples. I have to remember that it's not everything back to normal yet and to take it easy on my body a little longer. I'm starting to get really self conscious about my changing body, noticing the skin getting loose on upper thighs and arms, and the parts of my body I didn't want to go away (chest and bottom) are the first ones my body decides to pull from o.0 But it's all for the good of the whole health wise. hair loss is something I'm scared of too and read an article that recommended…. spraying apple cider vinegar on your hair and then letting it there for a half hour and then rinsing with cold water?? Don't know if anyone else has heard of this but apparently it's a mega conditioner and helps prevent hair loss under stress/hormone changes. It also said you can take a tsp diluted in a cup of water before meals and it will work similar to metformin to reduce insulin spikes after eating. I haven't decided if I'm going to try it yet but if anyone has experience or seen that validated I'm interested in hearing about it.
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Week 6: May 27-31st Sleevers
I have not been working out hardly at all in the "go to the gym" sense but I'm challenging myself to up my step count and have been logging both steps and food religiously for 17 days today My high was 11k but I was shocked and embarrassed to find that my "normal" routine only had me about 3500 steps per day! That's very couch potato! So I've been pushing myself to find new ways to step more (even doing 100 steps in the stall each time I go to the bathroom which, because of my Water intake, is a lot!) I have also tried to increase my workload around the house with things like laundry, dishes and vacuuming. Big problem is I still get lightheaded when I bend over and come back up from postural hypotension, so it can be challenging/annoying to lose my balance/focus. My dr said, keep it at light cardio type activities with no lifting over 20 lbs and no jiggling/pounding so even jogging is off limits till my next appointment in a few weeks. My favorite foods right now are chicken waldorf salad, greek yogurt (eat it everyday!), Peanut Butter and hummus. I read a great article yesterday on Bariatric Foodie for one ingredient add-ins to spice up Protein shakes and I am amazed that my love of Protein Shakes could be renewed but it is! I had one with unflavored protein, chocolate fudge sf pudding 1/2 a box, and 3 drops of coconut extract. It was seriously like drinking a mounds bar, so good. This morning I had vanilla protein with "TrueOrange" which is orange essence crystals, no sugar. CREAMSICLE oh man it was good. So SF pudding mixes, just a few drops of extract, or the "TrueOrange, TrueLemon, TrueLimes" make a world of difference and make me look forward to protein shakes again!! I take bariactiv Vitamins, 2 chewable Multivitamins, 2 chewable calcium+d, 1 Iron, and nasal b12 every monday. I also do the calcium chewables at night (when I remember) because the bariactiv calls for two doses per day but i just never get around to the second dose, but a caramel sweetie somehow gets me to take it Gents move on, but for ladies esp anyone pcos… I have really bad pcos, to the point the fertility dr said nothing i can do to help you just go lose weight and hope. Post op I was told that oral contraception wasn't reliable for bc and for regulating the hormones enough to maintain a regular cycle. So I'm also supplementing with 550 mg dong quai root, which is an herbal, but it has a blood thinner effect and also draws blood to the pelvic region which helps both with cycles and with constipation. It's also supposed to help calm tom and stop pain and cramps. I can feel a huge difference even though I haven't had tom since surgery I can feel it coming hopefully soon. I have also noticed that the pain in my ovaries has all but disappeared, no stabbing/pulling feelings. So I'm hoping its working some magic for me, because the pill itself tastes gross so it's a pain to have to take it everyday.
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What's the best position for sleep post-op?
I am an active sleeper, rolling like a croc all night long. I spent the first 2 weeks in a recliner that my husband moved to exactly next to the bed from downstairs. Since I've gone to the bed, most nights I am mildly uncomfortable when I wake up with an achiness but for me by the time I tried at 2 weeks, the tugging/pulling feeling was gone. Also (I don't know how smart this was) but I wore compression type spanx to bed up to my bra line and that really "supported" me for the first little bit in the bed. That was only about three or four nights.
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Whats your "full" signal?
I get a sharp pain under my right ribs that seems random, then I burp usually a weird sounding groaning burp, and it feels like something settled. If i'm SMART I stop there instead of "oh the burp made more room" but I have gone the bad route and found myself miserable. It takes practice, patience and paying attention to figure out how your body is going to end up working on the hunger side. I'm glad for your progress so far!!
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When can I start working out after pos sleeve
One thing surprised me because it didn't come up til afterwards. At my 1 month checkup my dr tells me not to do anything "Pounding" like jogging, running or vigorous bedroom stuff, and also NO ab work or anything that increases the "abdominal pressure" at all including Zumba and aerobics classes. He said the minimum it takes the suture line to heal internally is 6 weeks and that's minimum. Weight lifting limited to 20 lbs, so I'm not even doing lifting yet until he clears me to go higher/normal amounts. Starting out, I was walking from day one and now can do 3 miles at one clip (get a pedometer, you master what you measure) Once the incisions are scabbed up good, it's ok to swim in most cases. Some of my comrades went bike riding, but I was afraid of falling and hurting myself trying to catch myself. Good luck to you!
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Post surgery bowel movements?
Mine was day 6 or so. I was advised to take Miralax because I was nervous of being poisoned! But it turns out the pain pills were the culprit, plus "low residue" diet aka no solids in no solids out. Ive read in other posts to keep your doc posted and if its less than day 10 don't worry too much.
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Losing too much weight?
I can understand your concerns because I share most of them. I got my VSG May 30th and already have skin sagging and flaking issues. From everything I've read, hair and skin effects are directly tied to how fast the weight is lost. But that's not the only factor, things like how big you were, how long you were big, Water intake, exercise regimen and plain genetics come into play too. Obviously the Nut will have the best advice for you, but I would say if you're meeting your Protein, water and exercise requirements and wanted to increase your healthy fats with Peanut Butter or avocado or even hummus with olive oil, you shouldn't be afraid to increase your daily caloric intake with these as long as your other needs are met to "slow" down the loss to something YOU are comfortable with. My doc (everyones different) said that as long as you're under 1300cal you're fine and going to keep losing. Hope you figure out what healthy means for you. Hair or skin issues are still better than living Big.
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One year
Wow congrats you look great! What a difference a year can make!
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Newbie here.....
Thanks for stepping up in the limelight! The more the merrier on these forums. I personally am 5 weeks post VSG and these forums LITERALLY surpassed Facebook for me in terms of support and constant checking for this symptom or this noise or this pain or whatnot. I am also so grateful for those who came before. I suggest (presumptuous I know but still) that you find others that are at a similar stage as you and start a little thread group with them. Mine has about 20 ppl in it who were all sleeved at the same time and the weekly weigh ins and support is phenomenal. I also recommend checking out the positive and negative posts so you have a good vision of what lies ahead after surgery and input to help you make the right decision if you're not set on it. If you have any questions along the way, shoot them my way or post and there's lots of help to be had. Good luck to you and the new body you get will be healthy and fabulous!
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Goal photo's
As a 1 month newbie, I want to say the new you is a definite testimony and all the contributions to the forums help "keep it real" both of which are important for people in my shoes. Thank you for making your journey inclusive of all of us!
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Shoe size!?
I was told by others in my in person support group that your feet will shrink both width and actual size. On average, went from Wide to Medium and then lost either a half or whole size with a weight loss around 100lbs. I personally was into 10 double wides, which is a special order only not available in stores, so I was particularly looking forward to shopping in the medium section and actually buying "off the rack."
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
Wow everyone's making really good progress! Even with the "stalls" some (like me) were experiencing this is still a lot faster than I could have ever lost on my own willpower. Congrats to everyone! So far, for those who posted on yesterday's weigh in, as a group of 12 ppl... We lost 92 lbs combined pre surgery. We lost 336 lbs combined since surgery! The average loss per person 28 lbs. The median loss is 27lbs. The most lost by one person is 46 lbs. Impressive! Keep making the hard choices to stick to plan and keep telling your stories!
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
MONDAY WEIGH IN Hw 309 Sw 288 est Cw 254.2 So pleased my 257 stall finally lifted. Over the weekend I went out to eat twice, once at panera and once at Mexican and found easy Protein to eat and have a fridge full of leftovers. I'm questioning if taking my Vitamins first thing is really the best plan for tiny tummy. Do you take them at a different time because of bleh slight nausea? Thanks for the advice on the healthy fats!! I checked my mfp log and I was def low fatting it without realizing. Is anyone doing Zumba or aerobics classes yet? My surg said wait to at least 6 weeks for anything with ab muscles but wonder if you're doing it how it's tolerated. Thanks!
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
Is anyone else having problems with dry flaky skin? I had it around my incisions at week 2 and figured it was probably something normal with surgery but now my upper arms have it, even with dry brushing. Am I the only one? Thx!
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
Basically stay the course.. If you're doing enough protein water and any real measure of activity, you will lose it eventually. Stalls happen while your body is trying to catch up. Measure your inches lost for motivation not just pounds. I'm in the same boat.
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
AND @@lylabelle yeah no, I didn't do that. hope you have a good safe trip, and worse case we can add it all up next Monday too. Time flies too quick that's not far off! I ran into an unexpected side effect. Our daughter,7, has lost 3lbs since my surgery but she and we are happy with that just unexpected. Anyone else seeing the family effect happening?
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Week 5: May 27-31st Sleevers
@@mrsfitzpatrick I think she meant loss but autocorrect is brutal. Take it from a chronic texter. I also wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable and will do my best not to going forward. @@WhoKnows YAYYY I've never heard of an exclusive gym but that sounds awesome! High level of accountability for sure. Nsv Got a haircut today myself, not drastic but enough to force me to see my face and neckline has changed for the better.