Sharon Walls

My husband introduced me to El Pollo Loco recently. 1 grilled chicken leg with a small Water was plenty of food!

I had my surgery in Sept. Surg weight was 197 and this morning I weigh 151, so I am down 46 pounds. I used to wear a 40 inch waist pant and now I am in 32 inch pants. Very happy about that. Hitting my Protein every day and diligent about getting the Vitamins in every day. Still working out the balance of how many carbs I need to keep in to sustain weight loss - if I go too low I hit a plateau, and if I add some extra carbs in I start losing again. Exercise is hiking a couple of days a week, and dance. I used to bellydance a lot when I was young, and I am finding my new body remembers all the moves - so that is fun to do again.

I tolerate up to 2 drinks in a social setting, but I don't drink on a regular basis. Due to the empty calories, I have alcohol only on special occasions, like the company holiday party. It's nice once in awhile as a treat, but I don't want alcohol to become a crutch for me.

That sounds like the gas they use to inflate your belly for the laparoscopic procedure. Walking helps, but it will be several days to dissipate. Gas-X meltaway strips might help.

I'd be happy to take it off your hands, but I have nothing to trade.

Isopure makes a clear Protein in coconut that I like a lot. Coconut flavor plus 40 grams ! of protein in a 20 oz bottle. I find the protein a little heavy, so I mix it 50/50 with a no-calorie fruit Water.

Hi All - I'm new to this thread. Had my sleeve on 9/16/14 and am just starting to integrate solid foods back into my diet. I'm getting in 60 or more grams of Protein a day, but still having a devil of a time getting in more than 4 or 5 cups of fluids for hydration. Been hitting the WBI support group at the Reno office, but time always seems to run out before they get to a "round the table sharing your thoughts" part of the program. Had my first experience with "I ate too much" yesterday - no dumping, but I was plenty uncomfortable for an hour or so. Still learning all the new biofeedback signs for satiated versus full. We live out in the valley off of Pyramid and Whiskey Springs Rd, so getting into town to attend gym is out of the question (I work from home). I do hike a lot - 2 or 3 miles at a time - several days a week. What do you folks do for home exercise programs?

Great suggestion - that is what I did the first few days until I got better about hydrating and it worked pretty well.

Pasta-less lasagna: cooked chicken breast, ricotta cheese, and spaghetti sauce - puree in the blender to the right consistency. Good warm or cold. I used equal parts chicken and ricotta and used the sauce to get to the right texture. Added extra italian seasoning and garlic and some parm cheese, too. Tuna salad: albacore tuna, relish and lowfat mayo blended to the right texture. I used homemade zucchini relish, which is pretty zippy since it has curry powder in it. 1 can of albacore to 3/4 cup of relish was good for me, with just enough mayo to bind it. Blended it down to the texture of dip. These are my 2 favorite go-to Protein meals for weeks 3-4. Hummus is good too, especially if you need some Fiber.

Meds with Water, go shower and dress, then hydrate with a cup of herbal tea. 1/2 hour later, 6 oz of Kefir. 1/2 hr later, another cup of tea. Mid morning, 6 oz of greek yogurt or one cooked egg. More hydration if I don't get distracted with work. lunch is 4 oz pasta-less lasagna (cooked chicken, ricotta, spaghetti sauce mixed together) or 4 oz tuna salad (albacore mixed with zucchini relish and mayo). More hydration. Mid afternoon snack is a string cheese or 3 oz of hummus. More hydration. dinner is the lasagna or tuna salad, whichever one I haven't eaten yet that day. More hydration. Evening snack before bed is another 6 oz of Kefir. Protein is averaging 60 grams/day, calories around 700-800.

I was on Clear Liquids for the first day in the hospital, then advanced to full liquids by the time I was discharged. Full liquids for the 1st 3 weeks, then puree for a week, then mush and I am starting to introduce solids. My full liquid go-to items were Jello, diluted pudding with Protein powder mixed in, Protein shakes with greek yogurt blended in, diluted yogurt, cream soups. I got some of the Gerber multigrain baby Cereal as well - apple/sweet potato - that mixed with milk and some Protein Powder to the right texture was pretty good. My next stage go-to foods have been pasta-less lasagna - cooked chicken breast, ricotta, and a couple of tablespoons of spaghetti sauce zipped down into dip texture in the Ninja blender; tuna salad made with albacore, homemade zucchini relish, and lowfat olive oil mayo - also zipped down into dip texture in the Ninja; cottage cheese, eggs cooked anyway I like (mostly poached and over easy), undiluted yogurt. Hummus is good. My sister just picked the last of the season's squash from her garden, so I'll get to enjoy some of that in the coming days.

My surgeon's office gave us sample packs of the Bariatric Edge products. Didn't like their calcium chewables at all. My nutritionist says the calcium gummies I am getting from costco are okay to use.

I couldn't do plain Water until just a couple of days ago (4 weeks out). My husband was sleeved 3+ years ago and still can't do plain water (but he can add some Mio drops to it and tolerate it just fine). I have another friend who was sleeved 3 years ago who can only drink Dasani as a plain water choice - must be the added minerals? For the first 3 weeks, every time I sipped plain water it felt like I just ate a bunch of aquarium gravel (no, I haven't really eaten gravel, but I imagine that's what it would feel like). But I take my morning meds with pain water and the last couple of day it hasn't hurt.

I thought gremlin was apropos. Don't feed them after midnight!

Yes - we raise, show, dabble in obedience, hunt, and course our salukis. Our kennel is Obi-Wan Salukis. The pic is from 30 years ago, when my body was a brick house and I bellydanced a lot.

At 21 days I still had that pain. At 32 days it was pretty much all gone. Hang in there - another 2 weeks and you should be through the worst of it.

I went to dogs shows last Thurs/Fri and was a little worried that I was not ready yet for that level of activity at 32 days post op. I did great! Drove 4 hours to get to the show site Wed afternoon with no issues. I showed 3 dogs in 7 classes on Thursday and 2 dogs in 2 classes on Friday. Had plenty of 'legal' food for me to eat in my ice chest, although keeping hydrated was a bit of a challenge. Show hospitality had fritatta for breakfast, and I was able to eat a small portion with no issues. Legs were sore the next day, but my incision sites stayed nice and pink and I had no pain thru my midsection. I went out to dinner with friends - had a poached egg at IHOP the first night and a cup of tomato/basil soup at Applebee's the second night. Ordered hot water as my beverage and used my own tea bags to make my dinner beverage to sip during the dinner conversation. And I was able to wear show clothes that I haven't fit into for 2 years! Go me!

I also had a lower start BMI. Was sleeved on 9/16 and have lost 20 lbs so far. Getting in a couple of miles of walking every day. Weight loss pattern on the scale seems to be holding at one weight for 4 days or so, then it goes down another pound; I am good with that. Am in the soft foods phase, and my energy has been better now that I am weaning off the Protein powder and getting in more real foods (tuna, chicken breast, eggs, yogurt). The incision pain is finally starting to subside. Struggling to get in more than 40 oz of fluids a day, but I'll get to 60-64 eventually.

I also had a 3 day pre-op liquid diet, with the last day primarily clear fluids. When my husband had his VSG 3 years ago, he had to do muscle milk light 5 times a day plus Water for 3 weeks before his surgery. Every surgeon uses a protocol that works for them, and what they think you need.

Lauren, I am about a week ahead of you. Still plenty tired at the end of the day and going to bed early, but my stamina gets a little better every day. I have about 4 good days in a row, then a setback day where I am knackered and rest more, then back to more good days. I have moved to soft foods now, and getting in more "real" foods is helping, since I don't normally live on Protein shakes, Jello, pudding, broth and cream Soups. I noticed a big improvement when I got to eat eggs and tuna/chicken salad the consistency of dip. And keeping hydrated directly effects my stamina as well.

I like the Isopure coconut Protein Water. The other Isopure water flavors don;t sit well on my palate.

At 3 weeks and 3 days out, the pain has gone from the deep ache to occasional pulling and feeling like I have done 500 crunches across my midsection. Taking liquid Tylenol for pain management a couple of times a day. I have 2 friends who had VSG 3 years ago; both said by 4 weeks out they were feeling pretty normal and their pain was gone by then. Moving into smooth foods this week - made some tuna salad from a can of albacore mixed with homemade zucchini relish and low fat mayo worked into a smooth dip consistency in the Ninja. Very satisfying and the tastiest thing I've eaten in a month!

Another option would be to make chicken salad or tuna salad at the consistency you can eat it, pack it into 3 ounce portions, and bring that, some yogurt, applesauce, hummus, cottage cheese, and drinks in a small cooler with blue ice packs. I am headed to a dog show next week where I am facing the same dilemma - at an outdoors event all day for 2 days plus 2 travel days. I plan on eating out of my ice chest for the most part. So long as I have a choice of 4 or 5 things to eat with a couple of drink choices, I should be fine for food and be able to enjoy the event.

The pain/ache is normal, according to the Dr. It's part of the internal sutures dissolving, so it should resolve over time. How much time depends on each person's body chemistry. I'm taking regular liquid tylenol for the pain, which seems to help. Twisting/bending/sitting are still pain sources with walking and lying flat sources of pain relief.

I also use the unflavored Isopure Protein. Can sneak it into just about anything, and I am tolerating it well.