MrsSugarbabe

Congratulations!

I feel your pain and concur with what some of the others have suggested - return to your post-op plan and see if that helps you get back on track. Since you said you might not be able to find your papers from your pre-op/post-op days, I've attached mine. Every surgeon has their own recommendations, which there's nothing wrong with that. I found my surgeon's instructions reasonable and am myself trying to practice what I'm suggesting. November will be 4 years for me and I'm still not to goal. I have been maintaining, unintentionally, for about 2 years now; old habits die hard - the early days post-op were much easier for me than today. Good luck to you on moving forward. Just remember - it's more about living a healthy lifestyle than the actual number on the scale. Don't forget to celebrate the non-scale victories along the way. GASTRIC SLEEVE INFORMATION - Generic.doc

Today is the first time I've logged on in several months. Not sure what happened, probably just got too busy during the day (since I am usually online during my work day) and got away from it. November will be 4 years for me. My weight has been holding fairly steady for about 2 years now, but have yet to get to goal; still about 50 lbs. left to lose to get there. I have not given up on trying to get to goal. Having trouble getting kick started again though which is a bummer. Still exercising and am still healthy. Even made it through 2 surgeries last year without gain weight - gall bladder removal and shoulder surgery (not full rotator cuff, but close). Every day that I don't give up is a successful day.

That is great news!! Congratulations! Wishing having done it sooner seems to be a common thought post-VSG.

Same for me, plus 4,000 D3 supplement. My surgeon never said I had to take bariatric vitamins. Once I was back on solid foods, whatever I took prior to surgery in addition to these other supplements would be fine. Because my tummy gets full rather quickly, I do not take them all at once - spaced out over a few hours throughout the day.

Yes, I do like the Quest bars, some flavors better than others. Preferred flavors are Cookies & Cream, S'Mores, and chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. There are many flavors available via Amazon, and combo packs. Initially, I bought a 24 bar, 12 flavors/2 each just to try a large variety. There weren't any that I absolutely didn't like, but found I preferred the 3 aforementioned flavors the best and kept returning to them. The fruit flavors were okay, but not what my taste buds enjoyed as much. I don't mind that the bars are dense. Another BP member suggested heating in microwave just for a few seconds to soften up the bar. I did it once and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Aldi's has a Protein bar that I really like - Fit and Active Protein Meal Bars /Chocolate Peanut Butter. It's lower protein grams, but it's filling and sometimes I'll add a bit more peanut butter. My goal for protein each day is a minimum of 100 grams which I have trouble meeting eating just food so I do supplement with protein powders and the bars most days. For carbs, I aim to keep them between 60-75 per day; sometimes I eat up to 100 in a day, it just depends on the day. I use SparkPeople to track food and activity and to calculate nutrition of new recipes. I find it very user friendly. I hope this information helps!

I don't do the net carb calculation that the GNC guy was telling you about. I mainly look to see how many carbs a bar has in relation to Protein. Ex. Quest bars typically have about 20 grams of protein with 22 grams of carbs. For me, that is an acceptable ratio. The bar I'm looking at as I write this also has 13 grams of dietary Fiber. I order the Quest bars from Amazon because I've found them to be less expensive than in any store.

I'm a big fan of

Same thoughts as @JamieLogical. Wondering why your restriction didn't "kick in" at some point. How did you feel physically after eating the pizza? I had pizza last Sunday - homemade thin crust because no one does it better than my hubby; however, I can eat only one piece including the crust and maybe another bite or two of just toppings from a second piece. There's no way I could eat an entire 6" personal size pizza.

Thank you for sharing your life with us, @gowalking! You have been and are an inspiration to me and many others. This is exactly what WLS is all about - our health and improving our lives. I don't know anyone who had WLS purely for vanity reasons. Stay strong! Stay healthy!

I'm sorry to hear that you're having to deal with this new issue. I've had GERD since way before my VGS surgery and take the generic for Prevacid daily (prescription strength) so it's just been a fact of life for me. It is believed by a couple of my doctors that non-acidic GERD is what caused me to develop subglottic stenosis. After receiving that diagnosis, and the subsequent surgery to remove the stenosis, I was precribed Prevacid twice daily for a few years; now I only take it once daily unless I find myself having a period of breakthrough GERD then I'll revert back to twice daily for several days. Again, for me, it's just a fact of life that I've accepted.

I live in Charlotte and connected with Dr. Timothy Kuwada at Carolinas Weight and Wellness Center. I liked working with him, his PA, and the entire team at the Center. There are other surgeons in the group who I believe would be equally as good, however, each has their own bedside manner "style." The team was great about scheduling the various appointments in combinations to help cut down on a patient's time away from work or the number of trips to the Center, etc. They were very conscientious about helping to manage all of my appointment times, including any tests done elsewhere away from the Center.

For me, carbonated beverages of any variety causes enough discomfort to dissuade me from drinking them. Once is a blue, blue moon I MIGHT have a sip or 2 of my husband's diet Orange. We drink Water or our SF version of strawberry lemonade more than anything.

Because I experienced some serious complications 5 days out of surgery and had to return to the hospital, my recovery was slowed considerably. My hubby had to drive me to all appointments and I went with him whenever he had to run an errand for us (I wasn't cleared for driving for a few weeks following 2nd discharge), so I considered every trip to the store a physical activity; each trip was exhausting for me, but every step I took in a store (using a buggy for support) and, every PT appointment to build-up my strength counted. Give yourself time to heal completely before returning to your pre-surgery normal workout. Everybody's recovery is a little different. As another BP member suggested - check in with your Dr. for his recommendation, esp. about the hot yoga.

@Queen_Bee and her nutritionist are correct. I've been told the same thing by my nutritionist as well as over the years in all the reading I've done. You may want to check out the website/calculator below for calculating your caloric needs at any given weight. It's a good starting point, IMO. There are many sites that offer caloric calculators; choose one that works for you. http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/calories/ The best to you, @Momcat.