sleevedinseptember

Congratulations, you look and sound amazing. I am especially in awe of all your muscle. I'm excited to start rebuilding my workout routine and to eventually start lifting. You're a wonderful inspiration.

Sorry to hear you're facing such opposition to having the surgery. When I told my family and friends, they were all very skeptical and unenthusiastic about it as well. But I eventually won them over so to speak by showing them that I had really done my research on my surgeon, the procedure I was having and what I would have to do afterwards in terms of taking care of myself. I listened to any dissenting opinions but I told them that I am the one who has lived in my body with my weight problems all my life and I am comfortable and confident in my decision. I told them I understood if they were worried for me or scared but that I had every reason to believe I would be okay. Make sure you find a good surgeon - some one you can talk to before you go for your surgery, who will answer any questions you have and who will tell you what to do after the surgery. Make sure you are okay with your decision to do this and then other people's opinions wont bother you as much. Dont give up - no one else can live your life or knows what it is like! Good luck.

Just wanted to add my experience here. I had my surgery in Mexico with Dr. Ramos Kelly and it was a great experience. I was nervous about going outside the country but my insurance does not cover bariatric surgery at all. I have managed to find a dr and bariatric center here at home that is doing my follow up care - so while it might be difficult, it can actually happen. The team that I am seeing is affiliated with a teaching hospital/medical school. I had to provide them my op-report from Dr. Kelly and then I was accepted. So far I have had no issues whatsoever and my meetings with the nurse practitioner have been great. I will also say that I have seen a number of people who had their surgery here in the States and still had horrible experiences. Regardless of where you have your surgery, it's important to feel comfortable and confident in your surgeon and the team caring for you. I was provided blood thinners in Mexico and I made sure I walked as much as possible in the two weeks after surgery. I was also in good health before surgery and so I think that helped a lot. Good luck with your decision - I would just say that it is possible to find surgeons, nurses etc and facilities in Mexico that are just as good as here in the US.

I had my surgery in Mexico and at first I was going to go alone as i felt confident that I would be fine. My friends and family were very unhappy with that idea and two of my close friends volunteered to come with me. Only one came with me in the end and I was really grateful for it. I didn't need her so much for physical support but the emotional side of things. Going to Mexico was absolutely the right thing for me but it is a serious undertaking. From the flight, to checking into the hospital, to the surgery itself it was really wonderful to have someone with me who I knew was there for me and only me. I could talk to her about all my anxieties and she updated all my loved ones once I was out of surgery. if you can have someone come with you I highly recommend it. If it is not possible you will be fine for sure - physically and probably even emotionally. I just appreciated having my friend with me - and she was the right type of person to bring as well. Don't take anyone who will make the whole experience about them or who will be overly anxious.

I asked my nurse practitioner about this very same issue as it can frequently take me an hour or so to finish a meal. She said that right now at 1 month out I should not worry about the 30 minute rule and just focus on getting my Protein in no matter how long it take me. She also said that the 30 minute rule becomes more important at 6 months or more out when I will have an increased capacity as taking a long time to eat can lead to grazing and overeating. So for now I just take my time so food doesn't get stuck and so I can get enough protein in. I also measure and track what I am consuming so I know how much I've had.

Joining so many others in wishing you all the very best. Thank you very much for sharing - there are so many aspects to this experience that go beyond the actual physical weight and it takes great strength to wrestle with all of them. My prayers and best wishes for good, compassionate and helpful treatment.

I'm early in my sleeved experience but attend a support group where a few members are struggling with regain. One gentleman had regained close to 40 pounds, another 50 pounds (out of 175 pounds lost) and a lady who is about 7 years out had regained close to 60 pounds (out of 200 pounds lost). The reasons why included big life blows as @@VSGAnn2014 noted but also moving away from the nutrition and activity guidelines. They shared that there is a point in this experience where one might feel or decide that they just want to eat whatever they want, Protein needs be damned. They also stopped tracking and exercise stopped being a priority. In the case of the guy who gained 40ish pounds, he adopted a vegan diet and has since lost 67 pounds. He also has started tracking, planning and cooking again. The others did not share how/if they are doing anything differently. what i found interesting was the amount of shame and self-disgust that people expressed. I was really struck and pained by it because to me, they are not failures. they have not failed their weight loss efforts or surgeries. they still have the tool and can develop/resume the habits needed for success.

@@OutsideMatchInside I have felt pretty much the same way as you regarding my own fatness. I have had a pretty great life overall and certainly in the last 5-6 years I never let being fat stop me from fully living. I went on vacations, I wore bathing suits in public, I exercised at the gym and even went to yoga classes. I went after promotions at work. I felt that I was interested in those things and wanted to try them. I felt worthy of them. I think I will continue to have that zest for life even if I am much smaller. The one thing I am realizing that I might have done that falls into "overcompensation" is that I have always been the friend that listens and puts everyone else's stories/experiences and needs above my own. I have always put myself in the background, insisting that I didn't have much going on in my life even though that was not the case. I do think that in the future I might insist on taking up a bit more room, so to speak in people's lives even though I will literally be smaller.

Here's a youtubeer who started her journey at over 400lbs. She's a few years out now but she I found her videos to be really great: https://www.youtube.com/user/LessofSarah

I was wondering the very same thing. I asked my nurse practitioner and she said at one month out I could reintroduce 1 cup of coffee a day if I want. Like you I used to be a very caffeinated person and I love coffee in general - i love the smell, I love what it represents in my day. However, I don't think I will go back to drinking it for a long time if ever because I had a horrible time when I quit. I had headaches for 3 days and felt slow and out of it for two weeks. Now, I have noticed that I sleep much better, I wake up with energy and I also don't feel that mid afternoon slump. I also realized that I loved the accompaniments to my coffee - milk and sugar, just as much as the coffee itself. I'm not willing to have it black so it's going to be a while before I have it. I had just bought a lovely little Nespresso machine too. Sadness.

I read a paper from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery that detailed all the supplements we need to take and the section on thiamine deficiency scared me the most. To the OP, thiamine is one of the B Vitamins that you would usually get from food but this early out, you are not consuming enough and a wide enough variety of foods to meet all the Vitamin needs we have. Thiamine deficiency can develop in a very short amount of time - two weeks or less depending on how much your body has stored. A deficiency can led to irreversible neurological damage. Furthermore, in the developed world, doctors are not used to seeing conditions resulting from this deficiency and so very often, they misdiagnose it prolonging the amount of time for damage to occur. Please, please make a serious and concentrated effort now and for the next year to get all your Protein, liquids and vitamins in. Losing weight is great but it is not the only important thing right now. Nourishing you body so that it can heal AND also lose weight is very important.

Congratulations, you look amazing!

Hi everyone - I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for books related to nutrition, metabolism, the gastric sleeve afterlife and such. I have read a few books that were very helpful, some that were so so and others that were a snooze. Here's what I've read: 1) The Emotional First Aid Kit - A Practical Guide to Life After Bariatric Surgery (very good for pre and post-op. Gave me a good reality check before I had surgery) 2) Ultimate Gastric Sleeve Success by Dr. Duc Vuong (also very good, written by a bariatric surgeon. Explains the surgery, what you need to do in the immediate aftermath and beyond. Lots of quizzes so avoid if you don't like those. Good for pre-op) 3)Weight Loss Surgery The Real Skinny by Dr. Nick Nicholson (easy read, very encouraging. Good for pre-op) 4) The Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients (a bit boring, basic information that you can get elsewhere) 5) A Pound of Cure by Dr. Matthew Weiner (super book about food and how your body metabolizes it, how obesity happens and helpful guidelines for eating. Good for pre and post op and in general). I was trying to get through Robert Lustig's "Fat Chance" but I think I'll have to circle back at a later date. If anyone has any rec's I'd really appreciate them. Thanks.

I ask myself if this is my only opportunity to eat that food - now or ever. Usually it is not. I also ask myself to remember how I felt the last time I ate it and I remember feeling unsatisfied, physically sick and quite unhappy. Then I decide that it's not worth it. I used to love Hawaiian pizzas but one of the last times I had one many months ago - despite my better judgement, I felt incredibly sick the next day. I don't think I will never eat pizza again but it will have to be really high quality or homemade in order to be worth it. And I will have decided to have it rather than given into an impulse.

Good luck with your race - that's really cool!

I came home from surgery (also in Mexico) 7 pounds heavier than my pre-op weight but a week later I was down almost 13 pounds. I was a little shocked and worried but have been healing nicely. Just 3 weeks today. Best wishes with your continued recovery.

I have read Dr. Weiner's book - it was very informative and I plan on following his recommendations for eating as much as possible. I actually had a Skype consult with Dr. Weiner about possibly doing my surgery even though I ended up going to Mexico for it. Even with the great deal Dr. Weiner was offering, I couldnt afford surgery in the US. I find the book helpful in describing how obesity develops, why it's difficult to lose weight and how certain foods impact metabolism over the long term. The core principle is that we should try to move towards a plant based diet, eating 1 pound or more of vegetables a day including Beans, leafy greens etc. He provides guidelines for how many servings of other food stuffs to have such as raw nuts, fish, etc. It's worth a read. I also just wanted to add that his videos were very helpful for me when I was doing my research on having this surgery. He really explains food, obesity and metabolism in a way that I finally understand what has happened in my body. He is the first healthcare professional I have ever spoken with who showed me true compassion and understanding around my issues with weight and food. Anyway...I am a definite fan and am probably biased but I do think the book is helpful.

I take the O Purity Calcium supplement and I really like it. You do have to take 4 of them a day however, to get the daily amount. The pills are chewable and taste quite good so it's not hard to do. I do 2 in the morning and then 2 in the evening. The only thing to watch out for is if you take a multi with Iron - you can't take the calcium and multi at the same time because they compete for absorption. I take my multi at mid-day to avoid this problem.