KnicksFan

@@Peekboo It's been quite a journey indeed and I am in a very happy place. I don't regret my decision to undergo this surgery at all. The biggest tip I have is that we have to accept this as a lifestyle change - develop healthy habits that transcend in healthier choices for life. I don't believe in eating foods labeled as low fat so I stuck to natural food items while privileging Proteins and veggies and limiting my carb intake. My fitness pal was instrumental in my success. I logged everything so it helped me understand what I was consuming. The other important tip is exercise. No matter what you do, you have to perform some level of exercise. In my case I do Zumba and did a lot of aquafit classes in the summer. I also did some light weights which helped a lot with my skin. I am blessed to not have any sagging skin despite the 100+ loss. By adopting a lifestyle change, I've been able to automatically condition my body to healthier living. I just recently went on a month long vacation where I was not able to log daily however came back 10lbs lighter. That was a huge accomplishment and testament to the months of educating myself on healthier living.
The other thing I would like to mention is to not worry about the stalls. I have had countless during this journey and kept my eyes focused on the prize!
I hope this helps! I can see that you are doing great! Feel free to contact me for any other questions :-)

Things I didn't expect:
Having very little pain.
Being able to drink more Water than what I was told I would be able to (2 oz every 15 min was a piece of cake).
Not chewing good (chew at least 30 times) or it makes you sick.
I didn't crush my pills after the 4th day. The antibiotics were extremely disgusting if chewed. Even after brushing my teeth I could still taste them so I just took them whole.
Drink your 64 oz of Water and get you minimum 60 oz of Protein. Water is crucial.
Best of luck.

I am one month out and the only thing I wasn't expecting was just so hard it was going to be to drink and eat enough.
It's become a full time job!
Every day does seem to get a little better though.
Surgery was a breeze for me.
I was sleeved on Monday 8/17.
Sent home on Wednesday the 19th.
I was nauseated for 2 days but the Zofran really helped.
I had no pain, really.
Never took a pain med.
Went back to work the next Monday (so only took 1 week off).
I am down 28 pounds.
Been the same number for 4 days now. I have been expecting the 3-4 week stall.
I feel really good though!
I am on the pureed stage but really haven't pureed anything.
Just mashed a bit, and chewed thoroughly.
Tonight I had chicken and refried Beans.
About 1/2 cup total and was full!
This morning I had 1 scrambled egg and 1 Oz of smoked salmon.
Delish.

This site prepared me for the worst, so I was surprised that I did NOT have the shoulder gas pain, and did NOT have any hair loss. I was on a morphine drip at the hospital and on hydrocodone for two days at home. I thought I would need pain relief longer than that, but it was not necessary. So long as I did not bend or stretch too much, only the largest incision made me aware that there had been surgery.
That first bowel movement was like pushing a watermelon through a straw. After that I started taking either prune juice, Milk of Magnesia, stool softeners or a couple of magnesium tablets every day.
The other thing that surprised me was that I lost the first fifty pounds quickly, but the rest has come off in milligrams. Maintenance can be lost very easily. If I don't weigh my food and measure myself and stay under 50 carbs, I can easily regain 5 pounds in a week. This is definitely not the easy way out . It is an absolute war that will never end.

I have the Charge HR, as well. I upgraded from the Flex, because I was tired of wearing the Flex + a watch! I love that it shows the time, my steps, I can see who is calling by looking at my wrist (LOL), shows stairs climbed, my heart rate, and more. It even automatically monitors my sleep.
What's cool about apps like this, is there are so many entities out there that WANT you to get healthy. I auto-sync with LoseIt! of course, but I also have it sync'd with Walgreens. It works with their rewards program - the more steps I take, the more rewards points I get back, which yes, turns into cash! So love it!

I am a vet tech, so also on my feet, squatting, bending, lifting a lot. I went back after 7 days. It was our slow time, so my days were only 8-10 hours long. I had a lifting restriction of 20 pounds for 3 weeks, so I had to lay off the heavy stuff in the beginning. I was back to carrying the usual 40-60 pounds after that.

I am 62 and own a retail shoe store. I was sleeved in Mexico on Mon June 8th, drove home (6 hours) on Fri June 12th and was back in the store Saturday June 13th. I also have been through Ovarian cancer and had major abdominal surgery with that. In comparison, this was a breeze, but I am one tough bird. Being at work makes the day go by faster and I am focused on something other than myself.

Hey buddy. Heres something that might help. The gastric sleeve will greatly minimize how much solid food you can eat however, i found that by increasing the amount of Liquid Protein that I consume I have been able to lose the weight and pack on some decent muscle mass. So what I am saying is increase your Protein intake by 1- 1.5 gm per pound of IDEAL body weight but use liquid protein sources in addition to solid foods since the liquids wil go straight through your stomach pouch much quicker. Its worked incredibly well for me