alwaysvegas

Congratulations on getting your paperwork submitted, but sorry so much stress along the way! Insurance approval varies with insurance and time of the year, but usually with a few days to two weeks. Because it's nearing the end of the year, many people are doing last-minute doctor stuff, so the insurance company may be a bit backed up Nov-Dec. Best of luck on your journey!

No foods disagree with me so far, although the Bariatric Advantage Multivitamin made me nauseous, so I switched brands. I find that ground turkey seems to fill me up faster than ground chicken and I can easily overeat with the ground turkey if I don't watch my speed. I had a few ounces of meat from fried chicken yesterday and I was expecting my sleeve to object, but it did not. And the chicken was delicious.

I eat 3-5 meals of approximately 4 oz. My nutritionist said 3 meals plus two snacks, but because I exercise, she said five meals would be okay. I also drink one protein drink throughout the day.

I don't think any of us got fat by eating well. Head hunger and eating issues are not solved by the sleeve. There's still work to do! Many people try to push their boundaries after surgery...can I eat this?...can I eat that? We got fat due to an unhealthy relationship with food in one way or another. Many people can eat everything they ate before surgery. THIS is why doctors state over and over and over...the sleeve is a tool. Many people can get a bag of Oreos down even post-surgery. May take them hours, but they can do it with an unhealthy relationship with food. Eating pizza that soon is probably not great for your new tummy, but many people who've reached their goal weight enjoy a slice of pizza....not the whole pizza...and not a slice every day. Healthy relationship with food...that's still the work we have to do.

Oh I see! I'm glad to hear that. That's so awesome that you're so forward-thinking. You're going to do so well!

I've had two stalls with no change in eating habits/exercise. But I'm down over 110 lbs and all my co-morbidities are cured. My weight loss trajectory is still in the downward direction. Don't sweat it! You'll get there!

Best of luck to you on your journey! I wish I'd had this opportunity in my 20s! I'm delighted I have it at all, but oh I feel my little sleeve would've kept me on the right path for so much of my 20's and 30's.

I slimed again yesterday. Darn ground turkey. I'm getting much better, but I still chomp a meal down a bit too fast at times. No harm done. I looooooooooooooove my sleeve!

I took two weeks off from work (desk job). I had my surgery on a Monday and was clothes shopping by Friday, but took it very easy on lifting. I did alot of walking per surgeon's orders. You need to listen to your body. This is a major surgery and everyone's recovery will be different. You may feel great within a week or you may still have discomfort. You may feel very tired or you may have tons of energy. I wanted to get back to a regular life right away also, but I also didn't want to jeopardize all the work getting the surgery done. The worst part was all the hoop-jumping with insurance to get to the surgery. Everything else was easy peasy.

I'm a bit surprised that your surgeon's office didn't provide you a phased diet before and after surgery. Surgeons and nutritionists all seem to agree it's essential for long-term success. In any case, we're here to help! My nutritionist is all about high Protein, low sugar, lower fat. She does not recommend baby food because it does not provide adequate protein and is often high in sugar. Plus, it's disgusting for an adult in texture. The food does not have to be gelatinous like baby food or pudding to be safe. It simply needs to have a soft consistency and not have large hard chunks. Think of meat the consistency of canned tuna. For example, wet cooking chicken (steamed, boiled, braised) and then putting into the food processor with some of the liquid to a canned tuna consistency...voila! Puree. You can add a sauce, cheese, etc. The point is to have a soft and "already-chewed" texture to it so you're easy on your new tummy. Cottage cheese, egg whites, cheese sticks, are all common non-meat choices. Quick Google brought up a common phased approach: http://www.floydbariatrics.org/floyd-bariatrics-sleeve-gastrectomy-diet.html

As has been stated, tolerance vary as does healing rates, hunger pangs, pain tolerance, weight loss, and so on. I was easily able to drink 100oz of liquids 5 days after surgery, including Protein shakes. I also felt like I was able to get too much down too fast. I was a bit worried about that. But then when I went to mushies and started eating egg whites and cottage cheese...wow, then I felt where my itty bitty tummy would fill up very fast. However, those foods still moved through fairly quickly. I found that ground turkey filled me up faster than ground chicken...I could easily overdo it on the ground turkey. I weigh out all my food. 4oz is my limit. Now that I'm transitioning to solids...double-wow...yeah, the itty bitty tummy fills up fast, I have to chew alot, and eat slow. It's a learning curve, but not a painful one. I did not feel physical hunger much at all the first couple weeks, though I did have rather low energy. Now that I'm a little over 3 months out, I do feel a bit of gnawing all over my body when I go more than four hours without eating. But I try to space out my food so I'm eating something every 3-4 hours, plus I add some Protein Drink to my decaf iced coffee throughout the day to keep a steady low flow of protein. However, today I went about six hours without eating and I was feeling a bit low on energy and I ravaged down my 4oz a bit too fast...live and learn.

I've noticed that my desire for spicy food has diminished. I seem to tolerate spices (Tabasco, sriracha, cayenne, etc.) just fine, but now I seem to gravitate more towards flavorful herbs rather than spicy. I keep joking that one of my favorite foods now is cottage cheese with pepper and herbes de provence. But I seriously think the textures and flavors are wonderful. Pre-surgery, cottage cheese looked like clots of rotten milk to me. I loved eggs before surgery and love them now, but I really like them a bit lighter on all flavors. I still use hot sauce, salsa, chili powder, but now just a light dusting. I felt that the pre-op diet really reset my system and my taste buds so they don't need to be assaulted with tons of flavors. I still don't know if that's the case, but I do still love food, but in a slightly different way.

Best of luck during your pre-op! I found that the pre-op diet totally reset my system and now I really crave very simple foods. I can eat any amount of spiciness without problem, but I tend to gravitate toward simpler foods. Just remember that if your head starts telling you that you're starving, you're not starving. All of us had enough weight on us pre-op to not starve for quite some time. It was also awesome to lose 25lbs during my 2-week pre-op and 2-week post-op. Just remember that the pre-op is just a blip on the radar of your life and will be over soon enough and then you'll be on the other side.

I love having Protein drinks blended with ice, so I wanted a higher-power blender, so I go the Oster 4096-009 Designer Series Beehive Blender from Amazon. I use a Black and Decker food processor for making mushies as it's easier to get the food out of a food processor than a blender. It does a wonderful job getting chicken to the canned-tuna type consistency, which is perfect. I don't see the model I use available anymore, but I use the 6-cup variety as I like to chop up large quantities at a time. I also use a Cuisinart immersion blender for making power pudding and for blending soups right in the pot. I don't find it useful for making smoothies however.

I am a fast eater, but am working on it. I am just now moving from mushies to solids this week and mushies were a great learning experience. I found that weighing my food helps tremendously a a fast eater so that I don't overeat. My max meal is about 4oz total. I find that dryer Proteins like ground turkey require much more chewing than proteins in broth or mixed with a sauce. When I do overeat it's because I wasn't paying attention to my chewing while eating out with friends. I've ended up with the slimes twice while eating out. But I love the negative reinforcement!

I take a couple tablespoons of raw psyllium husk fiber a day. I just gulp the fiber with a liquid. The taste/texture is not for everyone (think unsweetened/unflavored Metamucil), but raw psyllium husk is MUCH cheaper and goes down easily.

I've had two stalls since surgery. Thirst at 3 weeks (as most other people experience) and that stall lasted a month. My second stall was a few weeks back and lasted about two weeks. As long as my weight trajectory is DOWN, then I don't mind a few stalls! Don't be discouraged, hang in there, and your body will do what you want!

Most post-surgery diets I've seen posted are geared toward high-Protein, lower-carb, and lower-fat lifestyle. I did Atkins for quite a few years and low-carb recipes lend themselves well to a post-sleeve diet, assuming that you moderate the fattier meats and oils used. My favorite site for recipes is at LowCarbFriends.

This is such a wonderful topic! Everyone at work knows I've had the surgery and most coworkers seem to "know someone" who has had the surgery. Some coworkers do have many opinions based on what they think they remember their friend did for their pre- and post-surgery diets. They also based their opinions on different types of surgeries they've heard about, none of which matters when I have a primary care physician, a surgeon, and a nutritionist telling me what's best for me after sleeve surgery. I do get alot of "Can you eat that?" type questions. I almost always say, "I can eat just about anything that fits in my mouth, I'm just selective about what I eat now." I did have a few friends and coworkers see my lunch and comment, "Wow, that's more than I thought you could eat." How they see 4oz of Protein as "more than they thought" seems crazy to me. I think they've heard how some people can only eat a couple ounces just after surgery and construed that to mean "forever." I find that sort of statement rather rude also. Overall, people have been very supportive and I don't think the comments come from a bad place. The somewhat negative comments seem to be based more on what they thought they new about the surgery and pre- and post-op diets.

You should be fine, but make sure you're paying attention to your Fluid intake as it can be difficult to get in the minimum amount (my doctor said 64oz was my minimum) with the new teensy tummy. And, as everyone has said, try to keep moving around and get some walking in if you can. You might find that your energy is still a bit low with the surgery recovery plus decreased caloric intake, so rest if you need to. Best of luck!

I did quit smoking (after 20 years) about 3 months before surgery. I'm now 8 months without cigarettes and can't believe I wasted so much of my life smoking. My surgeon absolutely would not perform the surgery if I was still smoking (even e-cigarettes). It totally made sense too. If I was seriously having this surgery to improve my health, I couldn't possibly justify continuing to smoke. So I switched completely to the electronic cigarette and dropped the nicotine down to zero over a one-month period and that was it. No more nicotine. I felt SO much better going into surgery knowing that I had put my body in such a healthier position for surgery. Recovery was a snap! I thank my surgeon at every follow-up. I do take a hit of the electronic ciggie (with zero nicotine) when I get really stressed, but no other urges for the analog ciggies. Best of luck in quitting! You won't regret it!

I was expecting a denial also due to weight history, but I was ultimately approved on the first go! If you've gone over your insurance company's requirements and you have met all those requirements, then your surgeon's office will have put together a very comprehensive package for the insurance company. Insurance companies vary of course, but most everyone on these forums has said that if you meet all the insurance requirements and the surgeon's office provides all the required documentation, approval comes through within two weeks. Best of luck to you!

I'm not sure if by "not dieting" your doctor means not decreasing calories heavily, but you could certainly start eating toward a healthier lifestyle...higher Protein + lower fat + lower carbs. Congratulations on your sleeve date!

When I was struggling the first few days, I looked at the fat hangin' off my body and said, "Nah, I ain't gonna starve any time soon!" And that seriously helped when my head-hunger was telling me that I was starving. Nah, not even close to starving. After the third day my body stopped demanding solid food and just said, "Yeah dude, whatever. I'll live with the Protein shakes then." And then we were fine. And don't forget that these few weeks are just a tiny blip on the radar of your life.

Recovery will vary, but everything will go down fine in time. As @@BigGirlPanties said, focus on Water and Protein first. It will take you quite a bit of sips and little bites to get the minimum in and that's ok. It seems like a pain at first, but everything will start to go down easier. For me, I was able to get down 100oz of liquids within four days after surgery while others take more than a month. Remember, they didn't seal up your throat, so it'll all still go down. You'll just filling up your tummy faster. The transitions from liquids to mushies and then from mushies to solids will help you learn your personal tolerance and quantity limits.