Pac-woman

You know, as I read more and more of the posts that are being put on here on this thread it has me evaluating several things. One of the things is "Kids Meal". My dietician said the most I will be able to eat is the portion on a kids meal. Great, I get it. So I am what 9-10 wks out and I find myself in situations that I have to eat something before I pass out or, I am with people on an outing and I have to find the right thing for myself. So, I always go to the kids meal section. Sadly, I have found that what this industry is feeding the kids is horrible. Just because it is "kids meal" doesn't mean it is healthy and safe. From what I have seen in kids meal are: fried chicken strips, mac and cheese, mash potatoes, fries, fried nuggets, burgers, etc. You get the picture. So, I think from now on when we think "kids meal" we need to focus more on "portions". Meaning, you will eat a kid's portion, not what they actually eat. Kids burn off calories in no time playing. We do not. So keep that in mind. Now, for the second part, I am no angel. Yes, i have my portion of pringles, yes I have my portion of cheetos. You know what I did the other night to go to the movies? I know I can't eat popcorn anymore (bothers me) and God knows I would eat that bucket of popcorn. I got two snack ziplock bags. One with cheetos and the other with like 5-7 m&ms. I ate just as happy at the movies and I had my portion control, I added it to my calorie count and I didn't feel like I am denying myself of anything. It was awesome. And may I add I am still losing and work out religiously 3 times a week. You just have to be VERY mindful of what you put in your mouth. Use Myfitness Pal to log all your stuff. If by any chance you feel guilty about logging something, chances are you shouldn't have eaten that. Lesson learned. I will be honest, I got to Taco bell and get ONE fresco taco. Fills me up like a champ. I have gone to Wendys and either get the small chili or half salad(which i eat half of the half). I go to pollo tropical and eat the Soup. You can make better healthy choices. I do however admit, that MdDonalds and Burger King has absolutely nothing healthy to pick from. So stay clear. Very clear. I can go on and on, but I will shut up now. I am sure someone has a smart remark to rebuttle with.

Increase your calories and move more....you willl break the stall eventually with consistancy. Your body is just worried about when its next meal is coming from so it goes into starvation mode to conserve energy.

My surgeon gave me a script for 3mths to try to avoid gallstones. He said it can happen.

Neither do i. I struggle.

I don't know if one should. You need a break. 8 hrs is the most I think

First, I have to say..there is some tough love from people on this post. Different strokes for different folks I guess. Anyway, what you are feeling is completely normal. I am 2 mths post. When I was at your stage, I went through crying spells out of frustration with food. How slow I had to chew, how many times I had to stop because I got "stuck", how many times I had to "toss it up" because of that extra bite. Watching my boyfriend scarf his food down and I can't even get one chicken wing down. It sucks, it really does. But you have to remind yourself, you are in "training". If there is one thing the stomach is meant to do, is stretch and it will. But you just had major surgery, 70-85 percent of your stomach was taken out. What do you expect? Your old normal was not normal. If it was, you would not be here on the losers bench with the rest of us. {losers in a good way} Now you just have to find your new normal. Yes you will eat the portions of a child for the rest of your life. But so what? Your going to be skinnier, healthier, and fabulous! And..you get to eat several times a day {healthy stuff}, trust me when I say, between the Water intake requirement and keeping up with Protein grams, you won't have time to feel hungry. Actually, you are going to feel like your stuffing your face constantly. What is very very important is your water intake because you have to flush the bile out of your body. Then focus on your protein grams. shakes, bars and yogurt. That is what I did at your stage, plus the occasional chicken Soup in a cup to change tastes. I have come a long way I think. Although, I still have trouble eating chicken. Something about bird after my surgery I can't deal with. I hope that goes away. Shrimp has become my friend, scrambled eggs with salsa, laughing cows, braised fish with some sort of sauce on it,, saltines, chili, bean soup, etc. What I still stress with is what the heck do i eat when eating out. But I just tried to avoid eating out. I carry a bar with me just incase there is nothing for me. For example today, after the gym I had to visit mom at the nursing home. Took her a sundae from mcdonalds. I was getting a headache from burning all the calories and not having intake. So i got the healthiest thing possible and i got a grilled snack wrap. I ate half of it, {taking out the majority of the tortilla because that has no protein} and it held me over till I got home. Then I ate a yogurt with granola and a sunkist orange. I was happy. All this to say, you will be fine. Have no regrets. Focus on you and know that this too shall pass. Your new normal is going to be full of awesomeness. Promise. I sympathize with you because I know what depression is like and sometimes tough love comes across wrong even though you say something great afterwards. People don't hear the great part because they are still upset of the comment before it. Not everyone is a bariatric superhero. We are all working towards the same goal. Let's help each other instead of giving a sarcastic bandaid remark. Thanks.

Cool!! Can't wait for mine ????

@@Elode Sure thing. It has been shipped. Hopefully I get it sometime this coming week. Should be interesting.

@@Elode Yeah I ordered mine last night. I ordered it a size bigger thinking about not hurting myself. It has 3 stages of hooks so you can use it for a while as you shrink. I was told it helps with lose skin and helps shape your torso into an hourglass figure. There must be some truth to it I figured, asian people bind their feet to make it smaller so why not this? I will be very careful to avoid getting a hernia. If it feels too tight I will wait until I lose a little more. On my next follow up next month, I will bring it up to the surgeon. This is the one I was able to find in plus size and not too expensive. Because they are ridiculous in prices. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LLIVQSK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hello, I would like to know if anyone on here has tried a "waist trainer" after sleeve surgery. If so, has it been successful? Someone suggested I get one to gradually get the hourglass figure and this person swears by it. I ordered one from Amazon tonight to give it a try, but would love to hear from people who have tried it. Thanks.

I am 2 months post and I haven't experienced dumping. But I don't have a lot of sugar cravings either, only when Aunt Flo comes around. Even so, nutella and m & m went down fine. I guess it is different for everyone. The issue I do have is, waiting to long to eat, then I am so hungry that I practically scarf my first few bites and then it happens. I gets "stuck". The pressure one feels sucks bad , and so then I toss it up to feel better. Suggestion, don't stray from your diet. If you must have something, have it in very small quantity. But just remember, it is empty unnutritional food. It will give your body no energy. Energy and fat burning is all we need. I do say this.... don't trust a fart.

OMG, I am so worried about this. I am 2 months post tomorrow and when I wash my hair, and i run my fingers through the wet hair, I see a bunch of it on the palm of my hands. Is this how it starts?

Water helps with the headaches. It flushes out the bile accumulating in the body. Concentrate on hydration and try crystal light. Lemonade, fruit punch, and ice tea with lemon.

Excellent post.

Pugboston

I remember wanting to take deep breaths and I couldn't. So yes. Remember, you had major surgery. They took out a good portion of your stomach through a hole. Allow your body some healing time. But if it persists and it doesn't get better as the days go by, call your doctor for a faster follow up to discuss.

True. Well, I am in Florida.

Holy cow, you are one tough lady. Glad you didn't develop a hernia through the area where they take out the stomach. This is why physicians usually want you to rest, to make sure one doesn't get a hernia. I wasn't cleared to do weights at the gym till 7wks later.

Nevermind. I simply repeated what I have read from others on here. I don't condone it, but I have read from others on these forums that is what they have done. So the statements were already there. However, you are right. Once the poster calms down, I am sure she will think it through a little better and works it out. Appealing is always the way to go whether it is done by the provider or the patient. Do as you will.

Well I must be greedy. The pain subsided on the 7th day with discomfort. The dietician said 2 wks is good. I was thinking more like 3 wks. Well i took 4 weeks. Two to recover from the surgery, pain, avoid a hernia. The other two I used to practice on my eating since it is hard to figure what you like and what you can eat and drink Water constantly and work on my walking/exercise. Went back ont he 5th week, willing, full of energy, and my big lunch bag full of eats. It worked out great for me.

@@laurenella82 You are probably are in starvation mode. It sounds more aweful than what it is. What happens is, the body is seeing that you are not putting enough calories that it is naturally burning during the day. So your body is going like "oh oh, I need to preserve, I don't know when my next meal is coming from". So it stops losing weight in order to conserve. This is what my surgeon explained when I flipped a lid like you. What he said is, what is most important is to stay hydrated while you are recovering. (This will keep you away from an I.V. at the hospital) As the days go by and you increase your calories, your body will start waking up and say..."okay, I will be getting food" so it starts burning the fat for energy while you are putting in Protein for muscle. If you don't put in protein for muscle, your body will disregard the fat and use muscle for energy instead. *You don't want that*. So just keep on keeping on, and keep drinking your liquids and work on increasing your calories and trying new things every day, eventually the scale will move. I went through a one week stall during my third week and I was like, HOW IN THE WORLD can I not lose weight if I barely make it to 400 calories a day???!! Well the answer is above, and it worked.

I take the B12 nasal spray once a week. The insurance pays for most of it. Then: Gummy Vitamins Iron B1complex Calcium with D3 Vitamin c 1000mg Biotin 7500mg That's the regimen the dietician gave me at the hospital.

Lol, I have seen those. I will try them. My cravings last about 2days. I am not going to say no to everything because that's unrealistic. Having a couple of treats should be normal as long as I keep it in moderation.

I downloaded it, pretty neat. It has different sounds. I think I will go for the "sparkle" noise. The oink sound makes me feel like a pig eating. LOL

Trust me, I know their bread is awesome. But after I had my crouton scare, I won't go near bread. Saltines is okay, goes down easy. But any kind of bread, heck no. Not now. I thought one crouton wasn't going to kill me when I was preparing my boyfriend's salad. That sucker stayed stuck as if I had Sponge Bob square pants stuck sideways in my throat. That "itch" did not go down. Took forever for the pressure to go away. So yeah, I gladly give away that nice warm piece of bread they give with the Soup. (Be warned, it will be in the bag, lol) But after surgery my go to foods have been: Protein shake in the morning to get the most protein intake possible Protein Bars Greek Yogurt ( and I am picky) I get Yoplait Greek yogurt, they got different flavors. Cup of Cream of chicken Soup from Lipton for quickies Low Sugar Tapioca Bean Soup (Pasta Fagioli- you can tell them to skip the pasta) Chicken Soup from Pollo Tropical Chili from Wendys Publix Supermarket has Deli Ham Salad and Chicken salad with herbal dressing ( I put on 3 saltines and I am full) Lipton Black iced tea with lemon (to go packets). Water gets boring so this diet tea has worked out Crystal lights iced tea, fruit punch, lemonade Cracker pretzels go down pretty good, the plain ones have no yeast in the ingredients (https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQNiBJMyefG2XJ2x1uCaqCupCew4oovgZGERc1711ha1FWdDD1n1MKqISH_mR2Xu5j0ttF_Hew&usqp=CAY) Cashews and Avocado (for good fats, your skin will get dry, you need some fat) Meatballs (cut them in small pieces) Baked Tilapia (chew well) and have some kind of sauce on it Ravioli (Chef boyrdee) Believe it or not, it was a desperate attempt to eat something different and it was soft enough. About 4 raviolis will fill you. Five may be pushing it. Things that has NOT gone well Chicken wings Chicken strips Nuggets Grilled hamburger (to dry) Pork (is hit and miss, must be very moist and cut small) eggs (taste like metal to me now) Eggs and cheese together Turkey Sausage Ham (hit and miss) Boston Market chicken and soup taste weird to me now Wendy's baked potato? Forget it. 2 small fork fulls and your like ...ugh. Deviled Ham (too spicy, burns my stomach) This is where I am at so far at 6 weeks. In my recent follow up this week, I whined and complained about my stuck issue and how it appears I can't have any solids. They told me it takes time for the opening of the stomach to stretch, and they made it clear it will stretch so take it easy and use this time to focus on dropping the pounds, drinking the water (that is hard for me) and keeping up with protein by other means. In 6 mths, eating solids should be comfortable. So they say.