bewell

I too LOVE Sushi and I almost didn't have the surgery when someone said I'd never eat it again. (BTW-not true.) At 5 months I tried sushi (very little rice) but I was very slow to start solid foods post-op. Two weeks seems early to me but suggest you check with your Doc. In my view, and how I looked at it; testing my new pouch with anything that wasn't on the suggested food plan was playing with fire. I had read about too many who tired some food too soon and ended up in the hospital with a leak or worse. Just not worth it to me. I used that healing time to develop some good eating habits and so far it's paid off. But I totally get your love for Sushi. FYI-most of my cravings are gone at 6 months post-op and luckily even Sushi doesn't call to me much anymore. Good food-like high quality meat, veggies and fruit just look amazing to me. Trying to savor every bite. (Never thought that would happen!)

@@leag78 Good for you to be willing to risk and get out there and post whatever is going on with you. Written words can be interpreted so many ways but I feel most posts have caring intensions. (and us newbies seem to think we know it all, ha ha!) =NOTN Best to you and keep posted. We all need to share what's going on.

I stay away from Pasta and any white flour based products just because of the empty calories. I surveyed the successful long time sleevers and they pretty much stick to Protein and vegetables with some fruit. At 6 months I do eat some rice crackers for a crunch with a meal but I have to watch it cuz they taste pretty good. One hard boiled egg or cooked egg keeps me full for up to 4 hours. I had a lot of vomiting early on and even at 5 months and it was because I just couldn't get it through my thick scull that 1/4 cup of food was all I needed and all my tiny tummy would hold. Once I got that, I stopped vomiting. My Doc said vomiting was from eating too or too much and he was RIGHT ON! Having said that my 'Tiny Tummy" is a diva. Some days I can eat more than others. Best wishes to you. Stick to what the Doc says and you'll do fine. Try not to mess around with foods that are too tempting especially at this early stage. Start your lifetime good eating habits now.

There but for the grace of life and a lot of hard work go I........ It's so easy to judge and be righteous and push some else to the bottom of the heap. The harder way is to try to understand and relate. Maybe we can choose to remember that we all reached a point where we would do ANYTHING not to feel the pain of being obese. And my guess is that for all of us we tried many times and many ways to lose weight before we were successful. Even with success, every day I know that I can fall off the wagon and once more be humbled, pick my self up and try again. For me food obsession and addiction is always waiting for me. My mind can always try to fool me into taking that bite of something that starts the downward spiral. This blog is a way for us to remember that we were once there too. Let's be honest.....we could be there again!

I was told As long as it's sugar free Gatorade it is OK. I got dehydrated early on and ended up in ER so now I focus on drinking fluids. At 6 months I love a cool drink of Water but I did pre-op too!

I also have hip pain that wasn't there before. I think it's because I'm moving a lot more AND my body is totally out of balance now that my big belly is smaller. I still walk like I've got 65 pounds on me. I started getting rolfed 6 weeks ago and it has helped realign my body to a more normal gate. I also am having physical therapy to strengthen muscles that were under used at 275 lbs. I'm hoping this will take care of it.

Oh and today one beautiful ripe blueberry or perfectly cooked vegetable can almost be orgasmic. (can I say that here?)

I had a terrible time with the loss of my favorite pastime eating, and yes I even missed the following wallowing in self-hate. After the sleeve I even planned and binged on my first broccoli and in retrospect that is hilarious. I vomited up the green mess with vengence just like Rosemary's baby devil!! Missing the joy of some foods and over eating does go away and for me it took about 2 months. I also had to have therapy. I was terrified of being a smaller size and not able to defend myself. Lots of crazy emotions that 1st 2 months post-op. (turned out to be sexual abuse at a young age and somehow I concluded if I was fat no one would hurt me. I expect it worked when I was 8 yrs which I continued for a lifetime.) My therapist suggested a "funeral" of sorts to let go of the loss of eating. I wrote about it, had a one person "ceremony" about how being obese had been my protection but I didn't need it any longer. I didn't need to be afraid of being a smaller size and looked to future of a healthy, active life. It really helped me. Today I don't miss the eating of food (except occasionally and that is totally HEAD-crap.) Feeling good and being able to move around and enjoy life is so much better than the self-imposed hell I was in pre-sleeve.

From what I understand we can't drink anything with fizzle. And it's not worth messing around with your recent surgery. The worst thing that could happen is you drink the fizzle and stress your new tummy that is healing. A leak would put you back in the hospital with possibly horrible complications. You've come too far to mess around with the doctors instructions. Especially during the initial 0-4 months of healing. In time that craving for fizzle will go away and all the effort not to drink fizzle will be worth every ounce. Listen to the Doc, they know what they are doing.

I had revision done all in one surgery-best for me. No complications. The incision where they took the port out hurt the most Like the others--I am so glad to have that thing out of me. I had stomach pain daily with the band. BUT eating with the sleeve was very different than the band for me. With the sleeve I struggled with knowing when to stop eating. With the band I knew immediately if I had eaten too fast or too much. The sleeve was much more subtle for me and I ended up vomiting sometimes immediately after eating too fast or too much. Or even 15 minutes later. I had to learn to stop a long time BEFORE I felt any fullness. If I do that I'm fine. The weird thing was that too much food is not very much food so that was hard for me. Best wishes to you all!

Sorry to keep writing but I wanted to be sure you knew my 1/4 to 1/3 cup of food was not until 2 months out or more. And 1/3 cup depends on if it's just meat or cottage cheese. If it's beef I might only eat 15 SMALL bites. I also just started beef at 5 months out. Also when others started eating solids and regular food I couldn't. I didn't start eating a few soft vegetables until 12 weeks. Salads maybe at 4 months. Everyone is different, so when you read someone is eating meat or whatever, you may or may not be ready for that food Vomiting is the LAST thing you want to do, so I suggest to be on the safe side, take it slow and listen to your body. Be gentle with yourself, it is a huge change in life and takes time to learn and adjust. Again, you'll do great and congratulations on a new life!

One more thing.....it turned out for me I need to eat 4-5 small meals a day. That worked best for my body and how I can get enough calories in. I just couldn't eat enough 3 times a day to get the nutrition I needed. I worked with my doc and my NUT and that's how it worked for me. And today, just ONE hard boiled egg is perfect. That keeps me feeling full for 4 hours. It's amazing. If someone told me ONE hard boiled egg would be enough food for me, I'd have said they were crazy! But it is. So 3 eggs a day isn't enough food so that's why I need to eat more small meals. Small meaning 1/4 to 1/3 cup of food. Sometimes it's just one small yogurt. Or a few nuts and little fruit. Or 3 oz of meat. If I eat out, I eat an appetizer. It's hard to get used to eating a small amount of food. Especially when my head wants that OLD very FULL feeling.

My experience is, I don't feel full until it's too late! I had a lot of problems with vomiting and it was because I didn't STOP before I was full. The doc said STOP before you feel full and I just kept eating looking for that familiar full feeling. I had to let that go and now I just know how much I can eat before I am satiated. (The satiated kind of full feeling comes 30-40 minutes AFTER I stop eating.) Having said all that, I have learned to recognize a very subtle feeling while I'm eating that I've had enough. BUT it isn't like the pre-surgery eating till I had a stuffed feeling. It is much more subtle. A sense of feeling kind of full even when my crazy head is saying eat more. I think it's what normal eaters feel knowing it's enough and in 30 minutes the body will tell them, yep that was enough food. It took me a long time to get rid of the OLD head habits associated with eating. The first 3 weeks I just about jumped out of my skin. I was so used to thinking about eating, eating, and then hating myself for overeating I didn't know what to do with my self and my feelings. The emotional part of the weight loss was very hard for me. I did start seeing an experienced therapist early on and it really helped get me through the first 3 months. So my suggestion to you.......don't make my mistake and when they say you can only eat a few tablespoons, well that's it. The amount I could eat post-op and still if VERY SMALL! Just follow your docs instructions and let your body get used to it. Recognize you may have a lot of HEAD-games going on from the drastic change in eating. Best to you!

To me, 6 months PLUS is where the rubber hits the road. Will I lose the last 50 pounds?!!?!! Can I keep my sleeve weight loss program going and NOT start get sloppy with food and attitude. Because I feel really good at 63lbs lighter my crazy mind keeps saying...maybe this weight is good enough. IT's NOT. I didn't do all of this to give up at the half way goal!!! Or get sloppy and gain some back! Crazy monkey mind gets me in trouble if I'm not paying attention. Besides being in a staff for 2 weeks all is well. Best too all of you and keep up the good work.

@@dena1258 I'm 64 had surgery Jan 13 this year. I feel amazing and just wish I had it sooner. However I don't think I was as ready as I am now. I take this very seriously as my last chance at good health. Haven't had sugar in 7 months (except things like condiments). I don't even want it. My big cheat days are a little bread. I have so much energy I just go like the energizer bunny. The surgery is no picnic but well worth it. No regrets. Just follow the docs orders to a tee. Don't mess around with food thinking you can just eat a little and you'll do fine. There may be a day when I'm at goal I will let myself eat a little something but I'm so happy with just a piece of fruit no2 I hope I can stay that way. Best wishes.

My revision was Jan 2015. Band placed in 2006 never worked for me, just caused me pain pain. Had a slip right away and had it replaced. Lost 50 pounds but in pain all the time. I am so happy to have that "thing" out of me. Even with no fill, it felt like I had a knot in my stomach all the time. The sleeve is just plain easier. *FOR ME....My doc said longer term there are much fewer complications with the sleeve because of no foreign object that can slip, fail, whatever. Best to you!

On my way to under 200lbs. I can see it from here. Yippie! I can do this. Best to everyone!

A vomiting update: I was having problems with frequent vomiting. Much better now. 2 things.......I stop much sooner. (picture 1/2 boiled egg in the AM keeps me satisfied for hours. I Eat more often. And I think more healing has occurred. All is well.

My new mantra. Recently a recovering alcoholic said to me: "I may always be an alcoholic but I will NOT die a drunk." It really moved me and inspired me. Now I say to myself many times a day: "I may always have a lifelong decease of obesity BUT I WILL NOT die obese!" For my age (64) and new weight charts according to age, I have about 60 pounds to go until I am at at normal weight. God willing......giving me time to be a successful WLS patient---- I WILL NOT DIE OBESE! One day at a time! I am so grateful I have this opportunity to be at healthy weight enjoying each moment I have left on this beautiful planet. Best wishes to all of you!