catwoman7

A lot of programs want you to start on chewable. We were allowed to switch to tablet form after six months. No. I've never heard of this. No regrets. I would do it again every year if I had to. Best decision I've ever made.

nope - no chronic stomach pain. I would say that's not very common...I don't recall reading posts about it here (and people tend to post when they're experiencing problems), but it could be there have been a handful that I just missed or have forgotten about.

I think I was tested again right before surgery, too (I am a former smoker, but I quit 25 years ago, so of course it wasn't an issue for me...)

No - do not go back to a liquid diet. Stick to your plan. You are in the infamous "three-week stall" that probably over 90% of us experience. Stick to your plan and stay off your scale if you have to. It WILL break. Always does. You will have other stalls along your journey - just stick to your guns. Don't get back into "diet mentality" by trying to starve it away. Just stick to your plan. P.S. Stalls typically last 1-3 weeks. You are just fine.

You're losing faster than I did. unless you're the size of someone on "My 600 lb Life", average range for first month's lost seems to be about 15-25 lbs. Of course, you will always find people who lose more or less than that, but they're the exception. You are doing just fine.

if you've been stalled for four months, then you've likely thrown yourself into maintenance. If you want to continue losing weight, you'll have to decrease your calories or increase your exercise - or both.

I don't remember what i lost the first two weeks, but the first MONTH I lost 16 lbs. That's pretty normal. It seems most of us lose somewhere in the 15-25 lb range the first month. Of course, you'll always find some who lose more or less than that, but that seems to be about the norm. At 10 lbs down during the first two weeks, you'll likely end up in that range at the end of four weeks, too - so, your loss is absolutely normal.

it varies. Mine came back at five months out. Some people (unfortunately, a minority..) lose it forever - and some never lose it at all. For the rest of us, it comes back sometime within the first year.

occasional plateaus are just a normal part of weight loss. I just rode them out - stuck to my plan, stayed off the scale for a few days. They always broke.

you'll be sleeping most of the time, so you won't need much. Plus you'll probably only be there one night (I was there two nights, but I still slept most of the time I was there). A phone and phone charger. Some people like having lip balm and Biotene spray for dry mouth (common after surgery). Make sure you have baggy, easy to put on clothes for the ride home (I wore the same thing that I wore to the hospital). I brought toiletries (shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste), but they gave me a bag of those at the hospital, so I really didn't need those (although I don't know if all hospitals provide you with those)

it's been six years since I went through all this, so I'm a little foggy. I'm pretty sure the sleeve patients had to have an upper GI. I don't think the bypass patients did (I was bypass). Or at any rate, I don't remember having one.

I just take home what I don't eat (or if I'm eating at home, I put uneaten food in the fridge) and eat the leftovers the next day. So it's not wasted.

yes - it could be a plateau. Mine lasted longer the further out I got. There were several times when I said "well, I guess this is it...", and then my weight loss would start up again.

if you're happy at your current weight, then stay there. If you're not and want to be lower, then you'll have to either decrease your calories or increase your activity level, or both. Whether or not a lower weight is worth what it takes to keep it at a lower level is totally up to you. Some people would rather be a little looser with calories and/or not have to live at the gym to maintain a lower weight, so to them, being 10 or 15 or 20 lbs overweight is worth the trade off. Others are willing to make the sacrifice to be at a lower weight. if you do want to continue losing weight, know that the closer you are to a normal weight, the harder it is to lose. I remember years ago at Weight Watchers meetings listening to normal weight or slightly overweight women whine and complain about how hard it was to lose 10 lbs. I just rolled my eyes - yea right, I'd think - try losing 100+ lbs. But now I totally get it...

weight loss is rarely linear. It'll go up and down - or like many of us, you'll lose it in a "stair step" pattern (lose a few lbs, stall for a week or two, lose a few more lbs, rinse and repeat). As long as the overall trend is down, you're good. Fluctuations are very normal - but if those are messing with your head, then just weigh yourself once a week so you're seeing trends rather than day-to-day fluctuations.

you're fine. And you're right - you're starting out at a lower BMI than a lot of us, so you're likely to lose more slowly. There are so many things that affect your rate of weight loss - age, gender, starting BMI, genetics, metabolic rate, your activity level, how closely you stick to your program, whether or not you lost a lot of weight prior to surgery, etc. The only two of those that you have much control over are your activity level and how closely you follow your program. If you're doing well with those two, then that's all you can do. I was a slow loser as well, and I ended up losing over 200 lbs. So don't worry about it. You're doing fine.

if you have reflux, most surgeons will recommend bypass. Sleeve often (not always, but often) can make that worse. Bypass often (not always, but often) improves if not outright cures it. I had reflux before surgery as well - it was a no-brainer for me. Bypass. I've been really happy with my decision and would choose it again.

you probably won't need a nurse. My husband took the week off to be home with me, but he ended up going back to work after about three days. His help just wasn't needed. It was nice having him around the first couple of days to get things for me, but to be honest, I probably would have been fine on my own.

Leaks, when they occur, are more likely to occur very shortly after surgery - so you're probably beyond that. Plus they're really not very common - esp this far out. Meats like beef (and chicken/turkey breast) can be hard for many of us at first because they're dry. Softer types and cuts should work, though - fish, chicken thighs (esp with some kind of sauce) - or maybe well-cooked beef (like in a long-cooking stew) will probably go down better. If not, just back up and stay on soft foods for another week or two and then try again. Some people's stomachs are ready to progress faster than other people's stomachs.

I've gotten iced lattes at coffee places before - I have them make them with sugar free syrup.

that early out I'd be still sticking to nutritionally dense things. The Quest chips that the above poster mentioned would probably fill the chip craving. I used to eat a lot of Greek yogurt when I had a sweet craving - sometimes regular, sometimes Carbmaster or Light & Fit - not sure if you like yogurt or not, though. Or sugar free pudding or sugar free Jello - I used to sometimes mix some protein powder in with my sugar free pudding to bump up the protein. And I often put a dollop of light Cool Whip on my Jello. I didn't eat popcorn until I was over a year out since it wasn't on my plan, but you'll be surprised at how much of that a person can put away, even after surgery. That's not very nutritious, either - well, other than it has fiber.

a lot of people have trouble with poultry (too dry) and eggs. I don't think I was eating cauliflower then. I did eat some feta the first month, but not packed in oil. Not sure if in your case it's the fat in the oil or not... you may just have to back off some of this stuff and eat soft foods for awhile longer. Your stomach may not be ready. Although some people have trouble with eggs and poultry for the first few months, so it could be awhile before you can tolerate those.

I had several stalls along the way - and they seemed to last longer as I got further out. If things don't start up in the next couple of weeks, though, it could be you've thrown yourself into maintenance - so if that's the case, you'll need to cut back on calories a bit or increase your activity level. But I'd give it a couple more weeks since stalls can last awhile at that far out.

just watch the weights - we weren't cleared to do weights until eight weeks out. I was cleared to do most other things at four weeks out, though (well, of course walking I could do right away...)

yes - it's pretty common. Eating was a chore for the first five months or so. Unfortunately it didn't last since it was pretty easy to lose weight when I had no interest in food!