FrankyG

I was on the phen/fen combo for a very short time in the 90s. It was discontinued due to serious medical issues developing from use - even deaths. Phentermine is an amphetamine that is occasionally prescribed for short term weight loss, but I wouldn't bother with it since it will only cause temporary weight loss (as soon as you stop taking it, you'll regain) and still is possible to cause all sorts of heath issues (it is speed - can mess up your metabolism at the minimum). If you're getting it from any source other than a licensed doctor in the U.S., you may be getting something fake and/or dangerous. Be careful!

I was told fruit juice was prohibited as it was useless calories and too high in sugar and could make you sick (dumping syndrome). I had that happen once, and I still can't touch juice. And as far as the amount of soup you're trying to eat; just keep sipping at it. If you can get down at least 4-6 ounces every hour, that's good.

I haven't reached goal, but I plan on tracking my food pretty much for the rest of my life. I'd advise you to go back to tracking and measuring so you can get back in control of your portions and fat/carb/protein and calorie counts so you can see where you're going off track. You may only need to do this for a few weeks as a reminder/reset. If the weight keeps creeping up, then you could do a 5 day pouch test to go back to the beginning. It is very easy, and I did do it once already when my carb levels started creeping up (it knocked them back down and got rid of my carb cravings). http://5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html Don't be depressed; you have options. If you let the sad overwhelm you, then you end up doing nothing. Use this weight gain as motivation to get back on track!

I am obsessed with reading nutrition labels, and I'm obsessed with finding new and exciting recipes and cooking healthy versions of things I used to make. But it's a good thing. I no longer have feelings of guilt and anxiety about my food even when I eat something "bad" because I know I budgeted for it in my daily calorie/carb allowance. I prefer to think of it as me in total control of my diet. It is definitely a positive. I plan on tracking everything I eat probably for the rest of my life because that works for me (I like the daily affirmation/accountability). So I guess you could still call it obsessed, but it's an obsession that brings me peace, contentment and lets me control my life and my health, so I am perfectly fine with the label.

This is normal. There's been tons of posts from people just a few weeks out panicking about the stall... but it is perfectly normal and will happen quite a bit more over the next year or two. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/351046-embrace-the-stall/ I've just posted this same advice in another thread recently: I know it can seem like you shouldn't have to deal with stalls since you went through surgery, but try to think of them as rest breaks for your body to catch up. You couldn't run flat out for 100 miles without a break - you'd need to stop every so often and catch your breath, have a few swigs of Water and get revved back up to hit that trail and run fast again. That's exactly what your body is doing - taking a breather in preparation to performing another sprint (drop a few pounds). Sometimes it might need a short rest, sometimes it might need longer (weeks). But if you keep giving it what it needs (water/protein/exercise) you'll start sprinting again. And get out a tape measure and take measurements NOW. Arms, chest, waist, hips and thighs. You'll see during those stalls that you might just be dropping fat (it gets burned off and replaced with muscle). Since a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same, it might not show up on the scale, but fat is MUCH bulkier than muscle, so you'll see it in the tape measure and how your clothes fit. Stalls are vital. Stalls are GOOD. It means you're hitting a new peak and getting ready for some weight loss coming up.

Your body is still healing. Weight loss is not fast and constant; you will stall and stall often. At the beginning, you're lucky if you didn't gain weight from all the fluids and drugs they put into you. The fact that you lost 10 pounds is amazing. Definitely look at the "Embrace the stall" post by Inner Surfer Girl. It will explain things. Stalls are good and very necessary. Your body needs to rest through the weight loss process. It is the same as stopping to get a good night's sleep. It can't go forever dropping weight constantly just like you couldn't stay awake for weeks at a time; you'd feel awful and get sick.

There was a new study released that shows long term usage of PPIs can lead to kidney disease and dementia later in life. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heartburn-drugs-ppi-prilosec-nexium-prevacid-risk-of-dementia/ I would ask your doctor about the new findings, and if they need to be taken longer than a few months. Most people don't need them, or could be switched to something else if they continue to have issues. I'm glad I was only on them for a short while... I have enough mental issues already without adding in dementia!

I would be a bit upset with him for that, but try to be calm about it and ask him what he meant, with specific examples of what he is seeing you eat that is bad stuff. If he is seeing you eat things that are bad for you and you're not registering that you're doing this, then that is concerning. If you have changed your eating habits (eating healthy Proteins, veggies and then complex carbs in moderation) and your boyfriend still said that, then he's very out of touch with what is happening with you. So is it because he hasn't been paying attention or is acting kind of snarky (annoying and needs to be discussed calmly with him), or because you aren't eating as healthy as you think you are (concerning)? Not trying to sound mean, because I know I did try to eat some things in the beginning months that were still crap foods, and kind of lied to myself that they didn't matter since I was still losing weight. It is easy to fall into that trap. Eating as clean as you can for as long as you can definitely helps reprogram your appetite and encourages you to build better food habits. So that when you're several years out, the occasional bad food isn't something that you want all the time anyway. You can still lose lots of weight eating crap food but after about 1 year - 18 months, your body will eventually adjust and you'll regain the weight if you haven't gotten the healthy eating habits down. Again - not saying you're not doing a great job - I can't know exactly what he is or isn't seeing with you; just offering some perspective and ideas to discuss with the boyfriend. And do tell him that sometimes things like what he said can be a bit hurtful and ask him to think before he speaks if it turns out he really doesn't have any food observations worth anything.

Just my advice... For the first month, I would not be trying to walk for extended periods of time or any other exercise other than just getting up and doing a slow circuit around your house - like 5 minutes every hour or two. Trying to do a 30 minute walk in the first month when you are barely consuming any nutrition/calories is going to make you feel crummy. Your body is still adjusting to what happened, and devoting all of its energy to healing and basic body functions; adding in exercise at this point is not necessary. And if you have a toddler, you're getting up and down quite enough, so don't push yourself. Wait until your calories getup closer in the 800/day range, and then start adding in some walking 12-30 minutes a day. Of course, if you feel super and want to exercise, go for it. But don't feel you need to be doing a bunch of exercise this early in your post-op time. It's okay to just rest, heal and move a little bit right now.

I really hope not in the same obsessed way as David Koechner's character "Scout Leader Rogers" in the movie "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse". I just saw that, and nooooo. (but super funny)

That's a great thing to be under 200. BIG hugs and so happy you're taking care of yourself so you can be there for your son.

@@FrankiesGirl I ❤ you so...... Aww. Back at ya! (can I call you baby girl? ) ETA for those playing along at home: the twit also called Babbs "baby girl" while insulting her. So it is funny because of reasons.

Yes, seriously. What? We're not allowed to have an opinion and preference? Don't make me go all crazypants up in here and start spouting off curse words... I know like 5 of them and you'll be amazed and horrified at the spectacle.* I'm a big dog and y'all are just chinchillas... or chinchbugs? or was it Chippewas? No, chihuahuas, right? I am trying to sound like that pottymouth twit that got booted (and is the reason this thread was started). Is it working? I'm not very good at this... *Kidding, don't get mad at me or anything.

That song rocks - it is in my exercise playlist. And f those people. You are better off without them and were too good for them anyway. (and yes, please post the recipe)

I'm just now hitting 100 lbs down at 14 months out. I don't care how long it took me; I'm thrilled. And bonus is that my skin is barely crinkly or saggy right now. I may just come out of this with minimal issues since it will take about a year to see if the skin tightens up any. That would make me super happy to be a slow loser!! I stall out for at least a week every month. Sometimes I don't lose anything for over a month. I still see progress because the tape measure keeps getting better results. And I'm really, really into exercising now (at least compared to old me) and my stamina is amazing me now. I did 9 miles yesterday. Not all at once, but I did it, and I can tell you, old me probably didn't walk/jog 9 miles in 2 weeks let alone 1 day. I still need to lose 30 pounds to hit my personal goal. I know I'll make it eventually. I have no doubt. It might take me 2 years, but I will get there, and I'm going to be in such amazing shape it will have been totally worth the wait.

@@Emmasue53 Good for you for sticking with your water/protein/activity levels! I know it can seem like you shouldn't have to deal with stalls since you went through surgery, but try to think of them as rest breaks for your body to catch up. You couldn't run flat out for 100 miles without a break - you'd need to stop every so often and catch your breath, have a few swigs of water and get revved back up to hit that trail and run fast again. That's exactly what your body is doing - taking a breather in preparation to performing another sprint (drop a few pounds). Sometimes it might need a short rest, sometimes it might need longer (weeks). But if you keep giving it what it needs (water/protein/exercise) you'll start sprinting again. And get out a tape measure and take measurements NOW. Arms, chest, waist, hips and thighs. You'll see during those stalls that you might just be dropping fat (it gets burned off and replaced with muscle). Since a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same, it might not show up on the scale, but fat is MUCH bulkier than muscle, so you'll see it in the tape measure and how your clothes fit. Stalls are vital. Stalls are GOOD. It means you're hitting a new peak and getting ready for some weight loss coming up.

As long as you work someplace with 50+ employees (in the U.S.), then you can get unpaid leave covered by FMLA. You would need to make sure and discuss ASAP with your HR department. But if you have a job with no lifting or excessive amounts of walking, then you should be okay to go back within 2 weeks. You'll be tired, and you should discuss with your supervisor about how you may need to sit down a bit more often than usual for another week or two. I was just a regular sleeve (no revision) and had a desk job, and went back after 2 weeks. Those 2 weeks off, I slept most of the time, and worked on getting in my fluids and walked the house every hour I was actually awake to prevent blood clots... but yeah, mostly slept. I was tired at work, but I didn't have to interact with people and mostly could sit there and work.

You can drink again, but definitely need to scale back and make it only a special occasion thing really. Be aware that most alcohol has high carbs and/or sugar, so moderation is key. And with a tiny stomach, alcohol may hit you much harder, so one drink may knock you on your butt. I love this aspect, as I love saving money on drinks. Oh! And proceed with caution in general with drinking. It has been known for people that have food addictions to move to other addictions (like alcohol or drugs or sex or shopping) after having weight loss surgery - so monitor your drinking very carefully and make sure to get help if it starts becoming an issue.

I took PPI drugs until about 6 months out and then stopped. Probably could have stopped sooner probably. Doing fine now.

Pedialyte is just sugar and salt Water. I make a homemade version when the family gets sick (there are tons of recipes out there). I would not drink it for after sleeve surgery because like 2goldengirl said, there's a whole lot of sugar in it (sugar can cause you to feel nausea and even trigger a dumping episode in the early days post-op... horrible and to be avoided). There are much better choices. Try regular water, sugar free drink mixes, some teas like chamomile with no calorie sweetener, or Protein drinks.

I'm almost 14 months out now, and I still track every single bite of food, probably will the rest of my life because I like the accountability. I hit my Protein target every day. I might have some days I go over on fat or carbs, but they are rare. I now exercise 6 days a week, walk/jog 5+ miles a day (today I did 9 miles total) and do yoga and bodyweight routines 3x a week as well. In the summer, I'll swim 5+ days a week and go biking. I actually enjoy exercise now, and I get antsy and sad when I can't go out and hit the trail. So weird! I never thought I'd be at the point I'm at now, but I worked hard to get this far. It sounds like you expected your sleeve to all the work for you. That's not how it works. You get a limited amount of time where you don't feel horribly hungry all the time, and the restriction helps you adjust to eating small portions. But the main thing you should be doing after surgery is relearning how and what to eat - healthy stuff - but protein first is the mantra. With the weight loss, you should start feeling more energetic and able to exercise and also feel good enough to get a decent exercise routine established before the honeymoon period of about 12-18 months ends. After that point, the weight loss will stop as your body will have adjusted its metabolism to your smaller portions and activity level, and if you didn't get healthy eating habits and exercise figured out, you will possibly regain weight. And while exercise is great for overall health, it has a small effect on weight loss. The way you lose weight is controlling how much and what you eat. It is the most important thing to figure out and really pay attention to, because while exercise will help build muscle, stamina, increase your bone strength and make you feel better... it is almost impossible to exercise enough to counteract a consistently poor diet. You definitely need to go back to the beginning. Protein first, then veggies, and then if there is any room complex carbs. Find an app to track food and exercise. Log every single bite, and get a food scale and measure the food until you get the hang of it, so you're not guessing. Find out from your NUT what your calorie goal should be at this point. Set up goals to drink 64 ounces of Water, get at least 80 grams of protein (unless your NUT tells you more) and keep your carbs under 100 grams/daily. Try to start a basic exercise of some kind 2X a week that you actually can enjoy and slowly work up to doing more. Once you know what and how much you are eating and see where you might be eating wrong things, you can come back here and get help on food, recipes and other specifics. It will be hard since you will be starting over, but if you can get all of this going and get yourself back on track (and tracking) then you will be well on your way to losing weight and getting, but more importantly staying healthy for the rest of your life. Good luck!

Oh cool! Basically, you can have 960 calories a day. That is main thing to track. You should primarily be drinking 5-6 shakes a day, and have one "snack" of broth (says to prevent muscle cramps, so just make sure you have a cup a day), and if you still have room in your calorie allotment, you can have some Jello or sugar free popsicles as additional Snacks. So just check the calories on everything and track them each day so you know if you have "room" in your diet for like a popsicle at 8pm. Oh, and you can have unlimited Water, sugar free drink mixes. So drink a whole lot of those in between meals or if you run through your calorie allotment for the day - it will help you to feel fuller if you are constantly drinking.

Sort of the same thing as the first post: canned or fresh chicken if I have it (but usually canned) light mayo (usually olive oil version) curry powder (love this in chicken salad!!) red seedless grapes (cut into quarters) green onions (2-3 depending on size) 1/2 stalk celery Tastes best when refrigerated for a minimum of 2 hours to allow the flavors to meld. Eat with raw red pepper strips - super good with it and has a lovely crunch so I don't miss crackers at all now.

Are you tracking every bite, every sip of food and drink? Are you getting in at least 64 ounces of water daily? Meeting your protein goals? Calorie levels? Eating lean meats, veggies, complex carbs in moderation? Avoiding simple carbs and fat/sodium laden foods? How much exercise are you getting now?

The pre-op diet is VERY IMPORTANT to stick closely to. Like BobbyD said, it's not so much about losing weight as it is to shrink your liver. Your liver lies almost covering your stomach area, and when they go in to cut the stomach, they have to use the laproscopic tools to lift and hold the liver out of the way. If your liver is really heavy/fatty, it can bend and flex and even break - that is horrifying and could lead to serious medical complications. The least of which might just be they get in there and insert all the tools and see your liver is too large/fatty to move without serious injury, and they close you back up and your sleeve is cancelled. So you'll get to go through the recovery of surgery (from the stitches and pain from trapped gas they use to inflate your abdomen to allow room to move around) and none of the benefits! Use that fear of having your surgery cancelled or liver damage. Every time you feel weak and want to stuff yourself or eat something really bad... tell yourself that it is too dangerous and you you want to be healthy and have the best possible outcome. Lots of pep talks, lots of visualizing the junk and large amounts of food as nasty and stuff you don't want to eat. Do whatever you can to make it seem like a bad idea. If you can't make it the 2-3 weeks on the pre-op diet while sticking to it at least 95% (most everyone does have one slip while on it) then you need to seriously think hard about this. You have to commit to doing this because your health depends on it. Anyone can make it on a diet for 2-3 weeks. You just have to tell yourself it's only a short time, it is for your health and you are worth the effort and discomfort and push through it. And stop thinking you'll never eat all the foods again. The advantage of the sleeve is you can eat virtually anything after about 8 months to a year. But you must use that time to relearn how to eat and what to eat because that is the secret of this surgery's success. And while you eventually can eat whatever junk food you used to eat... you may not want to any more. Good luck and I hope you can get your head straight and do your absolute best - it is worth the effort and you'll be so glad you made it through!!