linzlou2000

I'm almost 3 months out
Breakfast: coffee and premier Protein
Am snack: boiled egg or turkey pepperoni or cheese stick (sometimes a combo of 2 of the above)
Lunch: turkey lunch meat or egg/chicken/tuna salad or buffalo chicken dip made with Greek yogurt or left over meat from dinner
Afternoon snack: Protein Bar
Dinner: 3-4 oz of meat

My surgery was almost exactly one year ago (1/15/15), and I was already down 40 pounds before I had the surgery, and have gone on to lose another 40. I am within 15 pounds of my goal. I thought I'd share some of my highs and lows over the last year - some things I've done well, and things I want to and am working to improve upon for my long-term success.
2015: Had the surgery; lost 80 pounds; bought a new house and moved (first house in California); trained for and ran in my first 5K; lost my mother in November. LOTS of big changes and emotions and stress to navigate through. I managed to do very well and had slow and steady weight loss and/or maintenance up until my mother went into the hospital in mid-November...thus began a 6 week shift in my diet. Not a tremendous amount of crap, but ate things I had stayed away from completely for almost a full year - i.e. sugar. What happened? I gained about 8 pounds and I felt pretty crappy by the end of December. Bloated and lethargic. What I've been doing since the first of January is a re-boot to my eating. No sugar or white flour at all. And in just 4 days I feel like myself again. No bloat, no discomfort around my middle, and I'm slowly detoxing off the sugar - you know it feels worse before you feel better getting that out of your system! Lots and lots of Water too. I'm committed to getting to my goal and maintaining a healthier lifestyle with both diet and exercise. I went from a size 20 to a size 4 - I gave away ALL of my clothes from a size 8 up, and have a lovely new wardrobe that I've built. I have no intention of sizing out of my current wardrobe!
The freedom from everything that made me feel so uncomfortable and unhealthy last year has been achieved in so many ways. I can take the stairs any time I want and not pant and sweat. I get an hour of walking or some type of exericise every day and my body as a result has responded in kind. I can shop for clothes any where I want. I can comfortably sit in booths in restaurants, and can sit in a chair and cross my legs comfortably. I have so much more energy and confidence. Do I have the skin sag of a 51 year old woman? I do! But it's not anything I can't live with. You won't see me walking in a bikini on the beach - but I will wear a bathing suit that makes me feel good, and shorts and sun dresses in the summer, with no discomfort whatsoever. I used to get very red faced and sweat ALL the time. I just ran hot constantly because I was so overweight and out of shape. It's just not an issue anymore. If anything, I actually get chilly and need to stay warm where I used to have a fan on full time under my desk.
I don't take any of the medications I used to for high blood pressure. It's consistently normal. I am in a normal and healthy range with blood sugars and cholesterol, so there is no longer a threat of treating those conditions. I'm continuing to learn to cook smaller amounts for my husband and I. It's not easy to retrain yourself to cook a smaller amount! But I'm working on it. We purchased "snack or lunch" sized plates and ramikins and we use them to eat our meals. Smaller portions look normal on smaller plates. When we eat out, we share one meal (I should mention he had the surgery in November 2014 and has lost 150 pounds), and we eat half of the shared meal, and bring the other half home and re-heat the next day and share for dinner. It's mind boggling how little we eat today.
But I definitely got nervous over the holidays when week after week was going by as I was grieving the loss of my mom, feeling a little out of sorts and reaching for more and more of those foods that just don't make me feel good...a cookie here, a muffin there, it wasn't binge-worthy, but it wasn't helping me feel good either. Live and learn.
Just thought I'd put out there in the universe, on the anniversary of the best decision I've ever made (other than getting sober 23 years ago and marrying my husband 5 years ago), to heal my body and my life from the inside out and lose the weight and do things I never thought I'd ever do...let alone at 50 years old! Everyone tells me they can't believe my age - that the weight loss has taken years off my looks. Which is a lovely thing to hear.
So there you have it. I'm grateful. I'm still a compulsive eater in recovery EVERY DAY. I say with alcohol, I put the plug in the jug and never picked it up again...but with food, it's like taking a tiger out of a cage 3 times a day and then getting it to go back in after meals! It ain't easy! But it's worth it. I welcome any feedback on anything you are doing post-surgery, post-holidays to re-boot your body and mind back on track to keep moving forward.
Happy New Year!

I'm back on track and really feel the only thing I had that was questionable was alcohol and a couple of fries. Everything else was on my plan.
I brought a ton of Protein mix, bars and stuff with me but only used the bars, with out nuts, seeds or lumps and they are on my plan.
No regrets about what I did and not making a habit out of any of it, was just scared to go, but glad i did and thought I'd share that it was a survivable experience.
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I told them I went to Mexico for surgery.
"What kind of surgery?"
It's called vertical sleeve gastrectomy where they remove 80% of your stomach. I did it to help me lose weight.
Easy answer....no big lie.

I was sleeved 10-19 and I'm also in contact with my MD office as I don't feel restriction. You're not alone. I have to measure and stop, even though I could eat more. I don't eat more than 4 oz at a sitting. I could eat more, but I don't. I'm disappointed that I don't get full. I was prepared to feel stuffed after 2 bites as many people do. However, I'm learning that's not going to be my journey.

Yay! I was sleeved in October and am officially on the losers bench. He has a private group/Facebook page that is AMAZING. Are you on there??? Keep me posted on your journey.

2 weeks post-op today--1 more week of liquids before I can try soft food!!

Hang in there...I keep telling myself this is temporary. It's only two weeks! I've enjoyed food for 33 years--a small break isn't going to kill me. Hopefully, I'll believe myself soon. LOL

Finally off ALL of my pain meds!!!! I am still taking the neds for spasms though. Prilosec feels like a horse lol
I started back at work this week. Today I finally got in all 60 grams of protein!!! I feel like all I do is eat/drink. Surgeon was right when he said it is like a full time job at first.
2 week post op is Friday. Hopefully they will take me off liquids then and allow me to add in purees.
I feel freaking fantastic! I keep getting compliments on how I am just "glowing" since my surgery.
I still can't believe I am on the other side. It still seems a bit surreal.
I hope ya'll are having blessed weeks!!

I made a poppyseed chicken casserole and it was delicious. I pureed the chicken and substituted the sour cream for Greek yogurt. I thought I'd miss the sour cream but honestly the plain greek yogurt tasted the same (plus it has a ton of protein). I found my recipe on Pinterest.

@@Barb5000 --I was sleeve Monday 10/19
I'm okay. When I woke up in recovery I was in a lot of pain, but the nurses got right on it. I had some time to come out of it then went for my swallow test. No problems there and started on Water. Once I had water and walked they sent me on my way. My surgery was outpatient. My biggest complaint the day of the procedure was my throat! Holy moly it hurt, but it was better by the next day. I haven't had problems with water or Protein. Yesterday I got 70oz in and 75g of protein. Everyday is easier! The biggest concern I have is the big incision next to my belly button. It is extremely painful. Like brought me to tears yesterday. Other than that it's be okay.

I am 3 weeks out on Tuesday. I feel GREAT! Trust me, it gets better. It's still early for you and the first week is the hardest with coming off of surgery drugs, getting your routine down, incision pains, sleeping pains. It really does get better. Take a deep breath, put one foot in front of the other and take it one day at a time. Don't look at forever. Just look at today. Get up tomorrow, just look at tomorrow. If you try to tackle it all at once, it'll be too overwhelming.

yes!! i have a bad taste in my mouth, especially when i wake up, and my teeth feel a little... fuzzy. AND my husband says my breathe is horrible!! Apparently the breathe is from the ketosis from the very low carbs, maybe the rest is too?

Me too! That one spot is a bugger, and I can't wait for that isolated pain to disappear, it will make it so much easier to move around!

I'm okay. Down six pounds ☺️ however, my main incision next to my belly button is giving me a fit. It hurts bad!!!
I want to feel human again and am going to get out of the house with the family today.

So for all you October 19th sleevers---how are you all doing? I feel like now that we have hit day 5 post op, things are looking good! For me, I'm moving around better, sleeping great, still a little sore, but getting used to my new eating pattern. I've had zero vomiting...no pain meds....and getting up to 40 G Protein per day. And 15 pounds lost since Monday! Things are looking up!

That is awesome to hear. I had to LOL though, I have no clue how much I am down, I just realized I don't even own a scale. LOL Guess I will find out at my 2 week post-op appointment HAHA.

I'm doing ok. Can't wait til the week is up so I can go outside. Though I'm nervous it may be cold by then. I'm down 5lbs. Still fighting to get fluids in. My program is all liquid first 10 days. 1 oz every 15mins. I don't think I've ever been so excited to anticipate cream Soup next week lol. I just added a Protein Drink starting yesterday. Going ok.
Glad everyone is doing well!

I am tired, all foods seem gross except the mini tacos that my DH is eating and I can't eat. lol My 5 year old daughter just climbed across my tummy and I am glad she didn't overly hurt me. I am back home and slept better last night than I have all week.

i'm amazed of you mamas going through this - everything exhausts me too (just a walk around the block or a couple hours of work at the computer!). I cannot imagine being up and about caring for little ones. you're rock stars! but totally agree you have to listen to your body, it telling you it needs you to slow down so it can stockpile the energy where it needs!

As others have said, your feelings are very common in the beginning. I'm almost 2 years out and had regrets for a few months, mostly due to some complications.
However, after a few months I started feeling great and loved all of the changes that accompanied the rapid weight I wanted so badly.
I've been at goal for a year, and I don't think I've ever been happier.
Be patient, follow your Dr's instructions and I'm sure you will have zero regrets in the near future.

@@linzlou2000 I'm three weeks out now and feeling much better. Physically, I feel great and have had no pain at all. I have a little bit of nausea here and there if I drink too fast or eat something my new sleeve doesn't like. My doctor's plan includes three whole weeks of pureed food so that has been my biggest challenge. I get pretty bored at work sometimes and find myself thinking about all the foods I can't eat right now. I then get insatiable hunger (which I'm pretty sure is just head hunger). Texture and sight has always been a big thing for me so I have a hard time eating pureed meat. In my mind, hamburger is supposed to look like hamburger. It's not supposed to look like mushed up applesauce. I know that sounds silly but that has been one of my biggest challenges during this stage. Only two more weeks then I can move on to soft foods. Hurray!

Had my surgery on the 19th. Ended up getting a hernia repaired along with the sleeve. Spent two nights in the hospital and was released yesterday the 21st. The goal is to be "eating" 700 calories, drinking 64oz of Water and 60g Protein. It is a struggle!! I'm doing the best that I can that's for sure. Having some gas pains and issues releasing gas are more hectic than I anticipated it would be. sleeping is difficult for me because I'm a stomach sleeper. Keeping my binder on my stomach seems to help for the most part. Feeling hunger pains almost painful when I drink water after eating.

Agreed!! Can't believe you can have turkey already!! I'm on Clear Liquids and Proteins for two weeks then yogurt, applesauce, etc. Definitely a ways away from "real food"!

I am 3 days post-op and still taking all of my pain medicine around the clock. If I wasn't taking the pain meds there's no way I would have been able to get my kids off to school this morning or gotten them dinner and ready for soccer practice tonight. I know it's so hard, but try to not compare yourself with others. Everyone has different things going on. I use a pillow when standing up too because it hurts. Oddly though, my incision where they took my stomach out doesn't hurt, it's the one above and to the right of it that is the most sore.
Just take things one day at a time You are doing great!!!!