Thankfulmomof3

Just take it one day at a time! I was four weeks post-op from my sleeve yesterday and how I feel now is night and day different how I felt two weeks ago! When I was just about two weeks out from my surgery I found myself experiencing anxiety attacks, wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into!! I took my kids out to our newly opened Mellow Mushroom pizza place and I wanted to cry because I couldn't partake in the food that was my weakness!! However fast forward two weeks to where I am now, 30lbs lighter, wearing clothes I have not worn in close to TWO years, so much more full of energy, people asking me what I am doing, as I look good and it feels WONDERFUL!! Better than any alice of pizza ever could!! Plus now that I am onto soft foods, I have found some wonderful bariatric friendly recipes on a BE website via Facebook that even my kids enjoy! Things will get better and you will be feeling better! If you do not find yourself feeling better though maybe consider finding a therapist who specializes in talking with people who have had bariatric surgery! It is a life changing process and not any easy one at that, but better health and a longer life is worth it!

Just take it one day at a time! I was four weeks post-op from my sleeve yesterday and how I feel now is night and day different how I felt two weeks ago! When I was just about two weeks out from my surgery I found myself experiencing anxiety attacks, wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into!! I took my kids out to our newly opened Mellow Mushroom pizza place and I wanted to cry because I couldn't partake in the food that was my weakness!! However fast forward two weeks to where I am now, 30lbs lighter, wearing clothes I have not worn in close to TWO years, so much more full of energy, people asking me what I am doing, as I look good and it feels WONDERFUL!! Better than any alice of pizza ever could!! Plus now that I am onto soft foods, I have found some wonderful bariatric friendly recipes on a BE website via Facebook that even my kids enjoy! Things will get better and you will be feeling better! If you do not find yourself feeling better though maybe consider finding a therapist who specializes in talking with people who have had bariatric surgery! It is a life changing process and not any easy one at that, but better health and a longer life is worth it!

Just take it one day at a time! I was four weeks post-op from my sleeve yesterday and how I feel now is night and day different how I felt two weeks ago! When I was just about two weeks out from my surgery I found myself experiencing anxiety attacks, wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into!! I took my kids out to our newly opened Mellow Mushroom pizza place and I wanted to cry because I couldn't partake in the food that was my weakness!! However fast forward two weeks to where I am now, 30lbs lighter, wearing clothes I have not worn in close to TWO years, so much more full of energy, people asking me what I am doing, as I look good and it feels WONDERFUL!! Better than any alice of pizza ever could!! Plus now that I am onto soft foods, I have found some wonderful bariatric friendly recipes on a BE website via Facebook that even my kids enjoy! Things will get better and you will be feeling better! If you do not find yourself feeling better though maybe consider finding a therapist who specializes in talking with people who have had bariatric surgery! It is a life changing process and not any easy one at that, but better health and a longer life is worth it!

John thank you so much for posting this!! My kids and I are going on our FIRST cruise ever this October on the Disney Dream to the Bahamas and I was wondering how it was going to be food-wise with my sleeve (I will be almost 8 mos post-op when we go). I have gone to Disney's cruise website and it looks like they will have a lot of bariatric friendly options! Your post just gave me that much more reassurance!

Just take it one day at a time! I was four weeks post-op from my sleeve yesterday and how I feel now is night and day different how I felt two weeks ago! When I was just about two weeks out from my surgery I found myself experiencing anxiety attacks, wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into!! I took my kids out to our newly opened Mellow Mushroom pizza place and I wanted to cry because I couldn't partake in the food that was my weakness!! However fast forward two weeks to where I am now, 30lbs lighter, wearing clothes I have not worn in close to TWO years, so much more full of energy, people asking me what I am doing, as I look good and it feels WONDERFUL!! Better than any alice of pizza ever could!! Plus now that I am onto soft foods, I have found some wonderful bariatric friendly recipes on a BE website via Facebook that even my kids enjoy! Things will get better and you will be feeling better! If you do not find yourself feeling better though maybe consider finding a therapist who specializes in talking with people who have had bariatric surgery! It is a life changing process and not any easy one at that, but better health and a longer life is worth it!

I am four weeks out as of yesterday and am down 30lbs and am going to Curves and doing their circuit three days a week and the other days I am walking 3-4 miles with my dog at brisk pace. 60 more pounds to go and amazed everyday at how little I eat and am full and how much more energy I have!! Good for you for losing so much weight, keep up the great work!

I was sleeved on 1/20/15. To date I have lost some 48 lbs in the 11 weeks since my operation. I hope this will inspire some of you that this operation is not something that will handicap you but will actually free you to a much more enjoyable side of life.
One of the things my wife and I enjoy is cruising. Pre sleeve it was all about the food and the beer. Life has changed now as my 2XL body is just now adjusting to a “lumpy” but comfortable “L” size. My eating habits have become healthier and less the big part of my day. The thing is…. I couldn’t in all fairness to my wife stop vacationing (my wife is not overweight). Veterans of 23 prior cruises over the past 16 years, I had to see if it was possible, and as soon as possible. We booked a cruise on NCL Sun out of Tampa to coincide with my transition into stage 5 (solid foods). I learned a lot this week. And I like what I learned. BTW it was the best cruise ever. No alcohol, small portions…. I had my doubts. But I stuck to the plan. It was easy and doable. Here is what I learned, how I coped, what I did, how I ate and how I did weight wise.
1. I decided on day one that everything I ate would be quality….no bread or Pasta. I ate steak, shrimp, chicken or pork for lunch or dinner, no sandwiches , no sweets… I want to emphasize that there are and to my surprise always were good options on every buffet…..especially for sleevers!
2. Breakfast everyday was eggs, cottage cheese (yes the had it) and if I had room a little yogurt. After which we sent for coffee from room service to enjoy later on the balcony.
3. My day started on deck six everyday with my wife ….which has an open air walking track (on most boats ) for 8 to 10,000 steps….about an hour of leisurely walking. By day 3 I was actually jogging small stretches of the track.
4. Dinner every night was a small bite of an appetizer or a few bites of salad and about half the portion of meat. No dessert, instead I would treat myself to a single espresso after my wife finished her dessert
5. I drank ice Water, skim milk and occasionally made myself an ice coffee in my waterbottle everyday.
6. I drank no….yes zero alcohol!!! It did not bother me a bit. My wife did drink and I got all the exercise going to the bar for her….lol
7. At night we took in as much of the activities and shows as possible.
8. Late night occasionally we would get a small bite at the late night buffet. Most nights.
9. I challenged myself to do a shore tour ( I never liked doing things because of my weight ) We did cave tubing in Belize and snorkeling in Roatan Honduras. Which is “not” like me.
10. I think the toughest thing on the cruise is the looks the waiters give you when you don’t finish your meal….I got a lot of…. “you no like? I bring you something else?” I gave a simple “I’m fine…it was delicious!” which works everytime.
11. I think my smartest idea was though to bring a nice water bottle… it was very handy.
12. I bought a new T-shirt in every port in my new size “L” That was a great feeling.
So what was the end result? I was never hungry, slept great, ate some tasty things, met a goal of at least 10k steps every day and still lost 3.2 lbs. It was the first cruise that I actually fit in the clothes that I came on the boat in. I hope this blog encourages you to get out there……but you have to follow the plan and be strong enough to stick to it. It wasn’t hard at all.
LOVING MY SLEEVED LIFE
John M

Congrats to everyone, I will be 1 month tomorrow and have lost 20lbs, I am totally happy with my progress.

That is incredible! I am a month out and down 20 lbs, and darned thrilled with it!

And I am down 49lbs! I didn't weigh in today so I may have it the 50lb mark. I'm so thrilled!
I went and saw some co-workers who I haven't seen in a couple weeks(I'm a substitute teacher) and I had 4 compliments while I was there (only 1 of the 4 knew about surgery). I did end up telling 2 of them that I had surgery and they were very positive about it. It's great motivation to hear such positive comments!
My sister saw me today and it's been a week since she has seen me. She was in complete awww and shocked of how much I'm changing from even just a week ago!
I just feel so good! I still have another 80lb to go but so far amazing!
I have been walking 1-2 miles on treadmill 4-5 days a week and doing arm lifting a couple days a week.
I have had serious plantar fasciitis for several years and I have already noticed such an improvement in that! I could cry with tears of joy!
I love my sleeve!

Wow..totally awesome..I am 4 weeks today...surgery was 3/13.. And I am down 24 pounds but 49 is great. Isn't such a great feeling? My knees don't hurt and I have so much more energy and my insomnia is even getting better..

@@M3l1
easy to find bariatric friendly deserts..Just google it
pumpkin Cheesecake pudding Parfaits 1 (6-ounce) container light vanilla Greek yogurt (I like Dannon Light ‘n Fit) 1 (4-serving) package sugar-free instant cheesecake pudding mix 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk 4 ounces light cream cheese 1 cup pumpkin puree 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice Can add Protein powder
What are meringues anyway? They don’t have any flour. They don’t have any fat, (except if you dip in them in something like . . . dark chocolate!) Meringues are egg whites (all protein) whipped up like crazy, with added cream of tartar, salt and sugar substitute, then mounded on a baking sheet and baked . . . forever! They take about an hour and a half in your barely hot oven (225 degrees F) and then you turn your oven off and let them sit for ANOTHER hour, cooling down. It’s a crazy way to make Cookies, but the end result is nothing short of YUMMY! Your kids will love these lighter-than-air, chewy, sweet goodies, almost like cotton candy except with a heck of a lot more protein! WINNER!
Print Dark Chocolate-Dipped Almond Meringues Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: 2 dozen
Dark chocolate glaze: Dark Chocolate-Dipped Almond Meringues 4 large egg whites 1/4 tsp cream of tartar 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup spenda or stevia 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp almond extract 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa 1/2 cup 72% cacoa dark chocolate chunks (I broke up 4-5 squares of Ghirardelli Twilight Delight) Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, securing with masking tape. To Prepare Meringues: Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar substitute, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Gently fold in vanilla and almond extracts and cocoa. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Place in preheated oven. Turn temperature to 225 degrees F and bake 1 1/2 hours or until dry. (Meringues are done when the surface is dry and meringues can be removed from paper without sticking to fingers.) Turn oven off; leave meringues in oven 1 hour or until cool and crisp. Remove from oven; carefully remove meringues from paper. Cool completely on wire rack. To prepare glaze: Place dark chocolate chunks in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50% power) 30 seconds or until melted, stirring until smooth. Dip half of each meringue in chocolate. Place on wire rack to dry. Store in an airtight container. Notes
When preparing these Cookies, be careful not to overbeat the egg whites; properly stiff peaks will have the consistency of marshmallow cream.

I average between 400-575 at 4 weeks out. I've been doing a Protein Shake for Breakfast to get a good chunk of the Protein in ( Isopure zero carb vanilla, 25 g mixed with 8 oz simply smart milk, 10 g..30 germs to start day..I drink half at 6 am and half around 830 ish. For lunch I have half a Greek yogurt or a slice of deli turkey and slice of cheese., I usually can't finish yogurt some have as my second snack...dinner has been 1/4 cup refried Beans ( can is going to last forever) or one small bread less meatball, or egg, ham,cheese mini crustless quiches, 40 calories each made in mini muffin pan...sooo yummy

I am four weeks out as of yesterday and am down 30lbs and am going to Curves and doing their circuit three days a week and the other days I am walking 3-4 miles with my dog at brisk pace. 60 more pounds to go and amazed everyday at how little I eat and am full and how much more energy I have!! Good for you for losing so much weight, keep up the great work!

I would be surprised if every person who has gone through WLS did not mourn food. First of all, it is probably because you are in the pureed stage and emotional following surgery which is making it worse.
This surgery is not for the feint of heart. It is very hard work, most of it mental. You have to stay positive and focus on all the reasons you had the surgery in the first place. Do not spend wasted time focusing on the negatives, it will only make you feel worse and that ultimately means you will struggle, like you are.
Keep your eye on the prize whether it was health reasons or simply because you wanted to lose weight. Pull your goals out that you wrote before surgery and remind yourself why you chose to have surgery.
I promise you will make it past this phase and if you stick to the right foods pretty soon you will crave healthy foods and not all the other stuff that made you heavy to begin with.
Also, having WLS does not mean that you will never eat those things again. You will simply have them once in a great while and in very small portions.
I wish you all the best, keep your head up and stay positive, it will help you succeed.

From the responses so far, it appears that those who adhere very closely to their plan have been extremely successful.

Okay, here's my recipe for getting to goal weight....
Start every morning with a Protein shake 70+ grams of Protein every day 64+ ounces of Fluid every day Non-starchy vegetables as fullness allows Eat protein first, veggies second, and if you really need it, fruit last Don't drink anything for 45 minutes before or after meals Only protein-based Snacks (nuts, cheese, yogurt, Jerky, meat leftovers) Completely avoid starches, sweets, and booze Very limited fruits, and no fruit juices Walk 30+ minutes every day Try to have a plan in place for every situation When you will be in an unknown situation, bring fluids and protein with you Jerky can be purchased almost anywhere, and a 3.5 oz bag is a meal At restaurants: Do not have bread, dessert, or booze Order a meat dish Substitute a 2nd veggie for the starch Calories and fat don't matter Carbs and sugar do Establishing repeatable routines makes it easier Guys lose weight faster; it's not fair, but it's true I followed my plan pretty closely and it got me to goal, even with lots of social occasions and restaurant dining. Now to see if (with a few modifications) it will work in maintenance, and how sustainable it is for the long haul...

Had my sleeve surgery on Monday: 03/09 & definitely I was super nervous and anxious about this whole decision and procedure.
Pre Op: I was lucky... I was only out in a liquid diet for 3 days before my surgery.
Day 1: I have the worse collapsing/ rolling veins! I was told that the doctor prefers to draw blood the morning of the surgery to insure that the patient is not pregnant. Drawing blood and trying to put an IV was the worse! I'm bruised up all over my arms.
After surgery I couldn't keep my eyes open or complete a sentence. I was able to walk for a moment, use the restroom, and the nurse informed me that I only pressed the morphine pump 2 times. I wanted to sleep all day and no lights on in my room. I had the worse nausea Zofran through my IV didn't help, and I figured out that the morphine was making me nauseas.
The only thing that helped with the nausea was a shot of Phenergan.
I wasn't informed about the no liquids for 24hrs after the surgery (until the morning of), the Heparin shots every 12 hrs, drawing blood every 12 hrs, and the worse cotton mouth!
Day 2: Still in pain, nauseas as ever, getting a lot of walking done to try to move the gas out, and barely able to get my 15ml of fluids in. Just wanted to sleep, and some reason refusing assistance for he nurses. ????
Day 3: Not as much pain as I thought I would be in; nurses realized I wasn't going to use my morphine after looking at the counts of me pressing the button... The removed it for me. Tiny bit of nausea, but got my hourly walks in, and excited about going home to my kids & husband!
Day 4: Very little pain, no pain meds in stock at 6 pharmacies around my house (told the wait would be 2 days), and I decided to walk around Ikea for a couple of hours to insure no blood clots. I've realized I hate the vanilla Protein shake mix! Very gassy though... Trying to get all the medications in without heartburn/ gas issues (the chewable Vitamins are super sweet & definitely not to my liking).
Day 5: Today seems to be going well. I did an hour of walking and I switched to Orange Cream Protein Shake for my Breakfast Protein intake, and I think I'm going to try to mix the unflavored Protein Powder with my chicken broth for later today. I need to figure a better way to get my 64 oz of Water in per day without pain.
This may seems weird, but I'm really scared of returning back to my old habits and gaining my weight back. It may not help to watch 600lbs Life... There's a young man who got the sleeve but has gained all his weight back after 1 year!

I too had surgery on the 9 of March and felt the same way! Thank you for posting this! I was able to have some cream Soup yesterday as well as cottage cheese and yogurt and did very well. It's definitely scary when you start eating again because you don't want to over do it. My gas pains are finally gone and I'm feeling much better today.

Here are a couple of my before and afters. I am still working on losing and the "after" pics were taken in November so I have lost weight since then. In the "after" pics here though I was down 75 lbs I believe. Now I am down 97 lbs. I still have 30 more to go.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your pictures!! You all look AMAZING and make me that much more excited for my surgery coming up on March 9!! Just from looking at all of your pictures and reading the many different stories on this site, I know that with keeping with what my NUT has been teaching me for the past six months and with proper exercise I can look/feel this healthy too for the rest of my life!

I had my sleeve completed yesterday!!! It was a pretty icky four or five hours after surgery for me in terms of how I was feeling. However I slowly started feeling better last night and so far today ( I know it is only 7:30am) I am doing pretty good! Not much nausea or pain (although they are giving me nausea meds through my IV every eight hours). I do have a pain pump, but I have really only had to use it when I get up to ambulate, as I am pretty tender. I have not had hardly any gas pain, just a lot of burping. The ice chips have tasted good, but I have to be sure to suck on them slowly or Ms. sleeve lets me know she is not happy. I got my foley catch out this morning and I am done with my oxygen too! I have been trying to walk every hour as that seems to help with my burping. Today is the first day that I will be trying some Clear Liquids. That is what I am most nervous about, making sure I am able to meet my requirements without making myself nauseated or sick. I am supposed to go home tomorrow, and yes I am nervous about that too because I do not want to get dehydrated! I wish all the rest of you the best of luck with your upcoming surgeries . I will eventually post some before and after pictures and will keep you all updated on my progress.

Thank you for sharing, its so encouraging!

Warning: Day 5 Post Op. Just because you feel better doesn't mean you can clean the house and sweep. Do not sweep!! I paid with soreness all night and couldn't turn over in bed unassisted. Finally, at noon today soreness and tightness went away, and my husband swept the kitchen!

Your psychiatrist is obviously a moron. There's a HUGE difference in eating only a few ounces before surgery than being ok with that amount of food after . DUH! @@MoMo12onTheGo

Why on earth would one put bread or any such empty calories into your body when getting as much Protein as we all need and a few veggies is so much better, and helps weight loss so much more? I totally get the cravings thing, and I have one tiny square of dark chocolate each night, but it is smaller than the size of a crouton – and if I have anything like bread, rice, potatoes, or the like – my weight-loss slows considerably. I guess part of my thinking is to ask why one would want to be able to eat what we used to eat when we didn't like the effect it had on our weight? Think of the trouble you're having with bread as a great benefit maybe! In any case, be careful with it and good luck to you in finding what works and is safe and healthy for you to eat.