MichiganGirl

SD 4/22/14

I had surgery July 2, 2013 at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. I started this process at a high weight of 330lbs size 26-28, 4x women's. I am now 173 lbs and still losing, although more slowly for sure. I can now wear a size 12 and a size large shirt and dresses and I have such a fun time trying on and buying clothes now! Ann Taylor, banana Republic, The Limited etc- I now fit size 12 petite! I think I've developed a clothing addiction- good thing I swear by thrift stores! I'm running now, joining a rowing team and gardening up a storm. I get 1000-1200 calories per day and get 80 grams of Protein with that. My side by side before pic is from Feb. 2013 and the after pic is July 2, 2014- my 1st surgery anniversary. I'm still trying to lose about 20 more lbs, but even if I don't lose any more weight, I'm totally fine with that. .

JamieLogical...here you go!!

I was tired of being the "funny fat friend" and the fluffy grandma. I just wanted to be me. I hated shopping, photos and dreaded seeing old friends because of my embarrassment over my size.
Flash forward, I'm healthy , happy and outgoing again. I must admit , my sleeve is gift I gave myself.

I want to see respect in the eyes of others.... More importantly I want to respect myself.... And once again love myself.

Before 283 now 152
11 months post op today

I know exactly how you feel Melissayw816. Get you self some gasx strips that desolve on your tongue, they work great.

and.....
most importantly - even after I read everything I could get my hands on, I knew not to get upset with the liquid diet, the emotional changes, or how hard it was in the beginning. I warned my guy that I might have remorse or be a bit off. lol But it still happened. I still was mad at myself for going through something so drastic and having lack of self control to get to that point where surgery was even an option. So expect that going in - it's hard, it's emotional - but it's so worth it!!
Good luck to you! Stay the course!

In the immediate days following surgery it would take me around 3 hours to drink a Protein shake. I was sipping Water out of a little medication measuring cap (15-30 ml) - and even that would take me awhile. Just sip sip sipping constantly throughout the day. A little Water, a little Protein Shake. They don't expect that you will get your 70 grams of Protein or your 64 ounces of water necessary in during those early days. You are just working on getting what you CAN in. (but working on doing your best).
Once you start feeling better and the stomach heals a little more - you will notice that you can get a little more in to meet the requirements. Although by the end of two weeks I was really really ready for something else besides chocolate (sweet) shakes. I noticed that I was so incredibly full most of the time and kept gas-x strips on hand. This helped with the bloating and super stuffed feeling. I also kept Miralax on hand and that helped with getting things moving (that always helped with the super full feeling after a few days).
I don't know what everyone else did, but they had me off of all Vitamins for the first couple of weeks. I was taking omeprazole (prilosec) though. I would take apart the capsule and mix it with a small amount of applesauce. It works well. Some of the other medication that they prescribed from the hospital were either a dissovable-type pill or liquid.< /p>

In the immediate days following surgery it would take me around 3 hours to drink a Protein shake. I was sipping Water out of a little medication measuring cap (15-30 ml) - and even that would take me awhile. Just sip sip sipping constantly throughout the day. A little Water, a little Protein Shake. They don't expect that you will get your 70 grams of Protein or your 64 ounces of water necessary in during those early days. You are just working on getting what you CAN in. (but working on doing your best).
Once you start feeling better and the stomach heals a little more - you will notice that you can get a little more in to meet the requirements. Although by the end of two weeks I was really really ready for something else besides chocolate (sweet) shakes. I noticed that I was so incredibly full most of the time and kept gas-x strips on hand. This helped with the bloating and super stuffed feeling. I also kept Miralax on hand and that helped with getting things moving (that always helped with the super full feeling after a few days).
I don't know what everyone else did, but they had me off of all Vitamins for the first couple of weeks. I was taking omeprazole (prilosec) though. I would take apart the capsule and mix it with a small amount of applesauce. It works well. Some of the other medication that they prescribed from the hospital were either a dissovable-type pill or liquid.< /p>

and.....
most importantly - even after I read everything I could get my hands on, I knew not to get upset with the liquid diet, the emotional changes, or how hard it was in the beginning. I warned my guy that I might have remorse or be a bit off. lol But it still happened. I still was mad at myself for going through something so drastic and having lack of self control to get to that point where surgery was even an option. So expect that going in - it's hard, it's emotional - but it's so worth it!!
Good luck to you! Stay the course!

....and regarding the husband bringing in the pizza? WRONG. That is not support in any way regardless if he isn't going to change his habits, he should be supporting you. He signed up for the whole marriage thing right?

I'm a June 24th'er. I have found that I can eat more than I imagined I could at this point. Normally my day looks like this:
Breakfast - (1 egg) egg salad, 1 egg omelette with veggies & veggie sausage patty, 1/2 c cottage cheese, Fage yogurt w/fruit 0% fat, or New Direction shake
lunch - tuna/chicken salad (3 oz) & crackers, leftover chicken/ground turkey/ground beef (3 oz) & 1/4 c veggies,
snack - 1/2 c refried Beans (with cheese/salsa), laughing cow wedge (light) w/whole grain crackers, 1/2 c bean salad w/veggies
dinner - chicken/fish (scallops, salmon, whitefish, tuna steak) (3 oz) & 1/4 veggies, ground beef/turkey (in many different ways) Mostly dense Protein (3 oz) and veggies.
snack - chocolate or lemon pudding (New Direction), sugar-free Jello, 2% milk, or fruit with milk
I usually try to fit in no more than one Protein product a day from New Direction (they are pretty tasty now that I don't HAVE to drink them lol). It helps to get my protein up to 70 grams. Most of the dense protein I eat is also wet (I dunk it in SOMETHING).
I find that I have more restriction in the morning, then everything tends to fall apart as the day goes by. If I had leftovers from lunch, I could turn around graze on them as the hours went by, so I concentrate on NOT grazing throughout my evenings. So far, that's the hardest part for me. I could eat more than 3 oz and I could have more than a 1/2 cup - but it's the plan and I'm sticking to it!
My calories range from 700-800 calories per day. A few times I've been at 1,000-1,100 - a few times around 600.
But apparently I am a slow loser (based on surgery patients only though). Lost 36 pounds before surgery, and 9 weeks out I am down 23 pounds. Now according to my friends at work 23 pounds is great! But for surgery patients, I am slow. Trying to not get frustrated and from what I've read on these forums.... If I stick to the plan, it will work. I've said this over and over to myself these past few weeks. So that is my advice to you. Stick with it and we'll both go far.

I too am a Michigander. Had my sleeve done at Sparrow earlier this summer.
Sparrow uses New Direction Protein products. They are pretty tasty! (with the exception of having to have them before and immediately after the surgery...THAT got old quickly)
Good luck to all of you!

I agree with the others. I probably could've gone, but it would have been pretty slow going (walking and moving slowly) and I'm sure I wouldn't have stayed long. Plus I wouldn't have wanted someone to accidentally bump into me or jostle me about.

I think it would help to step back and get a little perspective. This surgery is a commitment for the rest of your life. The preop is only 2 weeks for shit's sake. I was so excited for this change, I actually started my preop 2 days early just to be able to say "yeah, here I go!" It makes no sense to put this much effort into whining and complaining and questioning something that is a tiny fraction of the big picture. You want to be thinner and healthier, right? A couple weeks of liquids is a small price to pay. The years of maintenance you have in front of you is a hell of a lot harder than that. You might as well start changing your relationship with food now, because that's what it takes to be successful long term.

I was going through pictures and I just had to share these before and after pictures. Beginning weight: 318
Current weight: 145
 

What about getting some unflavored Protein powder and putting it in a more savory broth and drinking that instead of the sweet shakes?
The pre-op is twofold: it helps shrink your liver but it also starts to reorganize how your brain thinks about food and hunger before surgery. To me, this is one of the most vital components. If your head isn't in the right place, post-op will be more difficult.

There are those folks in this forum who can expess the need for counselling with your doctors and nutritionist much more eloquenty and clinically than I can, so I will move on to what my original thought was when I first read your post.
Perhaps you need to think of the next phases not as a pre-op liquid diet and a high Protein diet bereft of your former culinary favorites, but as war! You are literally in a fight for your life (and your quality of life) until you reach your expiration date. Those of us who are in our sixties can attest to the fact that excess weight which is inconvenient and embarrassing in our thirties turns into arthritis, joint replacements, high blood pressure, strokes, immobility, heart attack, etc etc and the list goes on.
You are at a point where you can make so much more of difference now, and have a much longer, healthier, happier life. You will be more able to travel, enjoy family and social activities and become more present and involved in the world around you. At some point, the excess weight that is inconvenient can turn you into a shut-in as I am now, due to a stroke brought on by high blood pressure brought on by excess weight brought on by lack of control over my stomach's desire to hijack my brain.
If I can encourage you to do anything, it would be to find a private moment alone with your thoughts and without distraction. You are grown and no doubt smart and capable in many ways. Take on the devil on your shoulder and you be the one in control of your health and your future by being in control of you dietary choices, against all odds.
How would you encourage someone else who is two weeks behind you in this journey? This is one time in your life where you MUST NOT get tired of being strong. You deserve to be healthy and happy and active, but good health will not come knocking on your door. You are going to have to chase it down and put your name on it.
Please don't think of the pre-op liquid phase as a burden to bear. It is a right of passage and will be over in a few days. After you have your surgery, you will learn by doing and become quite adept at making smart choices and weighing and measuring and tracking. You can look forward to becoming a champion at this, well able to encourage others with confidence.
I cannot believe that come Christmas, I will pass my first year since my sleeve surgery. There were rough spots to be sure, and times when I thought I am not losing fast enough, but the scale keeps going downward, and I will take that as a good thing. Keep your chin up and trust in yourself to do a great job at this. You can always come here for encouragement when you are having a dark day.

So my goal weight 11 months ago was 180lbs so ive been workng extremely hard at the gym to reah it because my body was yo yoing around 182 -185.. so july 31st had my body evaluation done at the gym and these were the results
chest- 45.3, unflexed bicep 12.3, flexed bicep.13.9, waist 38.2, abdomen 42,bodyfat 22%, weight 190.5, thigh 21.5, calve 14.9
so i was pretty happy with the numbers but could do better so i got to work and SEPT.13 redid my eval and this came back
chest 43.8, unflexed bicep 12.2, flexed 14, waist 36.7, abdomen 39.5, bodyfat 19% woohoo, weight 178.5, thigh 22.2, calve 14.5
so yea im crazy excited about this and gonna keep going looking to gain more muscle mass and work on the flacid skin which is not that bad it doesnt look all that horrible like other ppl say theirs look but will try n tighten up and look more bodyfat lookin to be at 15% soon and drop to 175 and gain muscle mass to remain at 180 which is a good healthy look for me! i hope you guys are having the sam feelings about your success and keep working hard!

I drink a glass of wine everynight. I'm 13 mths out and 11 lbs from goal. I find that if I drink more than 1 glass, I make bad snacking decisions. If I drink 1, I add the 110 calories to my list and thats that. Occasionally I feel like more than 1. Thats when I eat too much.
I find that frozen pizza and chocolate seems like a great idea at 9pm after 2 sips of a 2nd glass of wine. I keep it to 1 glass now!

Yeah, but then u get the munchies! Been there, done that...

Stalls? Massive weight gain? Huh. Glad my doctor didn't install those extra features into my sleeve. The couple of times I've imbibed heavily, I've "gained" 3-4 pounds over a weekend only to lose them by Tuesday. Just go back to plan and drink Water. I don't recommend heavy drinking regularly, but an occasional shindig won't hurt you.

Just to keep it in perspective, alcohol dehydrates you. After drinking your body retains Water. There is no way you drank 17,500 calories to gain 5 pounds in one or two days. The change on the scale is very temporary as long as you eat on plan and drink your Water.< /p>

That's one reason I'm sorry that I shared my surgery with many people. They are all looking at me to lose incredible amounts of weight in a very short time. Every time my mother sees me she gets this child-like look on her face like I've just went potty on the toilet for the first time, exclaims and claps her hands together and calls me skinny.... "Mom, I haven't lost any more weight than the last time I've seen you... cut it out."
I was sleeved on June 24th and have lost 24 pounds. You are TWO months behind me and are already on track to beat that! I too feel like I should have lost more by now, but the issue that I read on this forum more than others is that we are all different - we all lose differently. Sticking with the plan that was given to us from our surgeon/doctor/nutritionist is what I'm shooting for and am determined not to let everyone else make me think I'm off track. Or "should be" here by now. Or my neighbor's best friend sisters cousin lost 100 lbs in 3 months...
It may come off quickly - it may come off slowly. But the surgery wasn't the only tool we should be getting out of this - it was only part of it. The rest of it are the changes that we are permanently making towards eating better, eating differently, exercising more, etc etc..
Good luck to you!!