Pabst

Blue Bell, PA

I can only speak for myself, but hopefully this is helpful.
If you have struggled with losing weight and particularly keeping it off, this can be the tool you need to not only achieve success but to maintain it.
Complications can happen, but a lot of times they don't.
Also... You CAN mess this up. Don't think it's impossible to sabotage your post op. You can still eat ice cream and drink milk shakes and all manner of high calorie foods in post op and even though you have a smaller stomach you can still gain weight and stretch out your stomach.
It's a tool you have to learn to work with and in the beginning phases it is no doubt tough... But you will find that if you work with the tool, it's a lot harder to fail. The weight loss also isn't easier... In a lot of ways it's harder.
I like this analogy. Traditional Weight loss is preparing yourself for boot camp and when you finally walk in the door you have the option to leave whenever you want and quit.
Bariatric Sleeve surgery is going directly to boot camp and you aren't aloud to leave.
Either way, boot camp is hard and it will kick your butt... But the end goal is to get fit and make you healthier.
People like you and I will fail if we are given an option to... That's why Bariatric becomes an attractive option.
You won't regret not being hungry all the time.
You won't regret not being winded and stiff and sore all the time.
You won't regret buying clothing at normal stores.
You won't regret fitting in places better... Cars, airplanes and showers.
You might miss drinking soda or beer... But it will pass because all the new things you can now do will distract you.
Hopefully this is helpful.

I can only speak for myself, but hopefully this is helpful.
If you have struggled with losing weight and particularly keeping it off, this can be the tool you need to not only achieve success but to maintain it.
Complications can happen, but a lot of times they don't.
Also... You CAN mess this up. Don't think it's impossible to sabotage your post op. You can still eat ice cream and drink milk shakes and all manner of high calorie foods in post op and even though you have a smaller stomach you can still gain weight and stretch out your stomach.
It's a tool you have to learn to work with and in the beginning phases it is no doubt tough... But you will find that if you work with the tool, it's a lot harder to fail. The weight loss also isn't easier... In a lot of ways it's harder.
I like this analogy. Traditional Weight loss is preparing yourself for boot camp and when you finally walk in the door you have the option to leave whenever you want and quit.
Bariatric Sleeve surgery is going directly to boot camp and you aren't aloud to leave.
Either way, boot camp is hard and it will kick your butt... But the end goal is to get fit and make you healthier.
People like you and I will fail if we are given an option to... That's why Bariatric becomes an attractive option.
You won't regret not being hungry all the time.
You won't regret not being winded and stiff and sore all the time.
You won't regret buying clothing at normal stores.
You won't regret fitting in places better... Cars, airplanes and showers.
You might miss drinking soda or beer... But it will pass because all the new things you can now do will distract you.
Hopefully this is helpful.

I can only speak for myself, but hopefully this is helpful.
If you have struggled with losing weight and particularly keeping it off, this can be the tool you need to not only achieve success but to maintain it.
Complications can happen, but a lot of times they don't.
Also... You CAN mess this up. Don't think it's impossible to sabotage your post op. You can still eat ice cream and drink milk shakes and all manner of high calorie foods in post op and even though you have a smaller stomach you can still gain weight and stretch out your stomach.
It's a tool you have to learn to work with and in the beginning phases it is no doubt tough... But you will find that if you work with the tool, it's a lot harder to fail. The weight loss also isn't easier... In a lot of ways it's harder.
I like this analogy. Traditional Weight loss is preparing yourself for boot camp and when you finally walk in the door you have the option to leave whenever you want and quit.
Bariatric Sleeve surgery is going directly to boot camp and you aren't aloud to leave.
Either way, boot camp is hard and it will kick your butt... But the end goal is to get fit and make you healthier.
People like you and I will fail if we are given an option to... That's why Bariatric becomes an attractive option.
You won't regret not being hungry all the time.
You won't regret not being winded and stiff and sore all the time.
You won't regret buying clothing at normal stores.
You won't regret fitting in places better... Cars, airplanes and showers.
You might miss drinking soda or beer... But it will pass because all the new things you can now do will distract you.
Hopefully this is helpful.

Had 1 month check up (sleeved 12/18).
Down 28lbs
Finally out of the weight restriction period and I can eat far more normal foods.
Doc said to focus more on keeping heart rate at 120 for 20 mins as the 30-60 min normal walks are becoming less and less "Cardio" work outs and more just normal thins skinny people so without thinking.
I'm in the market for a HR monitor.
Also this opens up to do some weight training and I'm excited to start out small and work my way up. I have some 15 and 20lb dumbbells I can dig up out of the closet.

I'm really liking what I'm seeing with the Fitbit Blaze.
$199, has a heart rate monitor, uses your phones GPS (saving you money as getting a watch with its own gps adds like $50+ to the price tag). It looks nice to boot.
Comes out in March. Might wait for it... Debating.

Had 1 month check up (sleeved 12/18).
Down 28lbs
Finally out of the weight restriction period and I can eat far more normal foods.
Doc said to focus more on keeping heart rate at 120 for 20 mins as the 30-60 min normal walks are becoming less and less "Cardio" work outs and more just normal thins skinny people so without thinking.
I'm in the market for a HR monitor.
Also this opens up to do some weight training and I'm excited to start out small and work my way up. I have some 15 and 20lb dumbbells I can dig up out of the closet.

I was 425 when I attended my first seminar.
I was 375 the day of my surgery.
I'm 347 today 1 month after surgery.

Post op they recommend no alcohol for a year and a lot of doctors won't even operate on you unless you quit smoking because it can complicate and slow down the healing process.
If you are pre-op, I would strongly consider this as an opportunity to quit the use marijuana since you can't use it for a while and find something else to fill that gap for a while. You might find a much healthier option (and depending on where you live... More legal option).
Remember, the whole reason people get weight loss surgery is to aid them in making drastic lifestyle changes to better their health. In the grand scheme of things, the recreational use of marijuana and an alcoholic beverage is peanuts compared to the changes in food consumption you will be undergoing.
I know it's just advice and ultimately it's your decision to make... But there are lots of ways to relieve stress after a long hard week. Maybe go for a spa visit or something along those lines. Who couldn't go for a good face massage!

I think it's like anything...
...politics, views on social issues, finances, religion. Once you have a formed opinion or stance... You tend to only indoctrinate yourself with data that supports your claim (because we are so darned smarter than everyone in the room) and you become an apologist for whatever that stance is.
If you said "hey, I was thinking about getting LASIK surgery" to a guy who doesn't wear glasses and had a close friend who had a bad experience... From that moment... all that person would see LASIK is as a sight ending bullet to the head and not what it is 99.9% of the time... A simple (yet expensive) life changing procedure that lets you see.
I think Bariatric surgery is the same. If you ask a thin athletic person who never stifled with being overweight and is regularly surrounded with thin likeminded people about Bariatric they will probably have prairie dog ears for all the bad and negative stories and completely ignore the success stories. Talk to an overweight person who struggles with weight loss that either is too scared of getting the procedure... Doesn't want to get it because the future limitations scare them or someone who wants it and can't afford it or can't fit it into their daily schedule... Yeah, they are going to balk at it.
Talk to anyone who has had it... Even the ones that slipped up or had complications and almost almost them would say that if they could go back in time and not do it, in spite of their failures and complications they wouldn't have changed their mind.
People tend to apply bias heavily based off of emotion and less on facts or compelling data.
Just keep that in perspective.

So my surgery date was the 16th so I'm on day 4 post op.
No nausea thus far and my bowels have finally moved after about 5 days of them not moving so that is probably my biggest relief (that was very painful).
So far... broth and the Protein Shakes go down the easiest.
Cold Water or calorie free drinks and Jello are a little harder. pills aren't so bad either if I do them one at a time.
The chewable Multivitamin I practically have to eat in the bathroom because it puts me on the edge tossing my Cookies every time.
Things I underestimated:
Not feeling hungry or desiring foods I used to want. I haven't felt hunger or a desire to binge since like 5 days into my pre-op door which was like a week ago today. This is amazing. I really have to focus on drinking throughout the day so as not to get dehydrated.
The pain so far has been super manageable. I get knots in my stomach from time to time but I don't even notice my incisions unless I bump them or my 2 year old does a diving head butt right into my gut.
Weight loss... Not as fast as I would have expected. The weight melted off of me in the pre-op diet phase but even though they pulled 85% of my stomach out of me... I hadn't lost a pound by the day after. I decided not to weigh myself till Christmas Day as to not discourage myself... I mean... I'm consuming about 600 calories a day and burning more than that walking every 2-3 hours for 20 mins a clip. The weight is bound to start moving in the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm so backed up right now from the anesthesia and the pain medication... I am losing weight, I just can't tell because I'm not adequately purging what I'm taking in. Once that returns to normal i think I'll be fine.
All and all, I'm still really motivated and sticking to the plan 110%. Failure is not an option.
Energy level is high, I'm sleeping good and all is well.
That's my update.

The pre op liquid diets goal is to shrink your liver so the surgeon can see what he or she is doing in there. Not sticking to the liquid diet can have two potential negative effects.
1. You might be switched from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery which means more scars and longer recovery time.
2. Your surgery might get delayed which is both costly and inconvenient.
It's a rough 2 weeks, but what is about to happen to you is pretty significant... I wouldn't pick now to bend any rules or make any calls you aren't sure about. Complications are expensive and often times painful and might also mean more missed time from work or delay your full mobility.
I'd stick to the shakes and the calorie free, caffeine free drinks.
You only get one body. Do your best to start this journey on the right foot.
It doesn't get easier for a while. So the sooner you can start the hard stuff, the sooner you'll finish it.
Best of luck to you!

So my surgery date was the 16th so I'm on day 4 post op.
No nausea thus far and my bowels have finally moved after about 5 days of them not moving so that is probably my biggest relief (that was very painful).
So far... broth and the Protein Shakes go down the easiest.
Cold Water or calorie free drinks and Jello are a little harder. pills aren't so bad either if I do them one at a time.
The chewable Multivitamin I practically have to eat in the bathroom because it puts me on the edge tossing my Cookies every time.
Things I underestimated:
Not feeling hungry or desiring foods I used to want. I haven't felt hunger or a desire to binge since like 5 days into my pre-op door which was like a week ago today. This is amazing. I really have to focus on drinking throughout the day so as not to get dehydrated.
The pain so far has been super manageable. I get knots in my stomach from time to time but I don't even notice my incisions unless I bump them or my 2 year old does a diving head butt right into my gut.
Weight loss... Not as fast as I would have expected. The weight melted off of me in the pre-op diet phase but even though they pulled 85% of my stomach out of me... I hadn't lost a pound by the day after. I decided not to weigh myself till Christmas Day as to not discourage myself... I mean... I'm consuming about 600 calories a day and burning more than that walking every 2-3 hours for 20 mins a clip. The weight is bound to start moving in the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm so backed up right now from the anesthesia and the pain medication... I am losing weight, I just can't tell because I'm not adequately purging what I'm taking in. Once that returns to normal i think I'll be fine.
All and all, I'm still really motivated and sticking to the plan 110%. Failure is not an option.
Energy level is high, I'm sleeping good and all is well.
That's my update.

I think it's like anything...
...politics, views on social issues, finances, religion. Once you have a formed opinion or stance... You tend to only indoctrinate yourself with data that supports your claim (because we are so darned smarter than everyone in the room) and you become an apologist for whatever that stance is.
If you said "hey, I was thinking about getting LASIK surgery" to a guy who doesn't wear glasses and had a close friend who had a bad experience... From that moment... all that person would see LASIK is as a sight ending bullet to the head and not what it is 99.9% of the time... A simple (yet expensive) life changing procedure that lets you see.
I think Bariatric surgery is the same. If you ask a thin athletic person who never stifled with being overweight and is regularly surrounded with thin likeminded people about Bariatric they will probably have prairie dog ears for all the bad and negative stories and completely ignore the success stories. Talk to an overweight person who struggles with weight loss that either is too scared of getting the procedure... Doesn't want to get it because the future limitations scare them or someone who wants it and can't afford it or can't fit it into their daily schedule... Yeah, they are going to balk at it.
Talk to anyone who has had it... Even the ones that slipped up or had complications and almost almost them would say that if they could go back in time and not do it, in spite of their failures and complications they wouldn't have changed their mind.
People tend to apply bias heavily based off of emotion and less on facts or compelling data.
Just keep that in perspective.

Yeah, I binged too. Now that in officially post-op I don't know what hungry is anymore. After nearly 3 weeks of nothing but liquids.. I don't look at food the same way.
Things even taste better now, but I'm not compelled to binge... Not even a little.
Worst binge for me?
Large stuffed meat lovers pizza a slice of carrot cake and some cordon blu bites with half a gallon of diet tea...
Or
2 boxes of cheeseburger helper with 3 lbs of ground beef & a half dozen cronuts.
Now my binge is like a cup of broth and a Protein shake with a few sips of Water.

So my surgery date was the 16th so I'm on day 4 post op.
No nausea thus far and my bowels have finally moved after about 5 days of them not moving so that is probably my biggest relief (that was very painful).
So far... broth and the Proteinshakes go down the easiest.
Cold Water or calorie free drinks and Jello are a little harder. pills aren't so bad either if I do them one at a time.
The chewable MultivitaminI practically have to eat in the bathroom because it puts me on the edge tossing my Cookiesevery time.
Things I underestimated:
Not feeling hungry or desiring foods I used to want. I haven't felt hunger or a desire to binge since like 5 days into my pre-op door which was like a week ago today. This is amazing. I really have to focus on drinking throughout the day so as not to get dehydrated.
The pain so far has been super manageable. I get knots in my stomach from time to time but I don't even notice my incisions unless I bump them or my 2 year old does a diving head butt right into my gut.
Weight loss... Not as fast as I would have expected. The weight melted off of me in the pre-op diet phase but even though they pulled 85% of my stomach out of me... I hadn't lost a pound by the day after. I decided not to weigh myself till Christmas Day as to not discourage myself... I mean... I'm consuming about 600 calories a day and burning more than that walking every 2-3 hours for 20 mins a clip. The weight is bound to start moving in the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm so backed up right now from the anesthesia and the pain medication... I am losing weight, I just can't tell because I'm not adequately purging what I'm taking in. Once that returns to normal i think I'll be fine.
All and all, I'm still really motivated and sticking to the plan 110%. Failure is not an option.
Energy level is high, I'm sleeping good and all is well.
That's my update.

The pre op liquid diets goal is to shrink your liver so the surgeon can see what he or she is doing in there. Not sticking to the liquid diet can have two potential negative effects.
1. You might be switched from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery which means more scars and longer recovery time.
2. Your surgery might get delayed which is both costly and inconvenient.
It's a rough 2 weeks, but what is about to happen to you is pretty significant... I wouldn't pick now to bend any rules or make any calls you aren't sure about. Complications are expensive and often times painful and might also mean more missed time from work or delay your full mobility.
I'd stick to the shakes and the calorie free, caffeine free drinks.
You only get one body. Do your best to start this journey on the right foot.
It doesn't get easier for a while. So the sooner you can start the hard stuff, the sooner you'll finish it.
Best of luck to you!

The pre op liquid diets goal is to shrink your liver so the surgeon can see what he or she is doing in there. Not sticking to the liquid diet can have two potential negative effects.
1. You might be switched from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery which means more scars and longer recovery time.
2. Your surgery might get delayed which is both costly and inconvenient.
It's a rough 2 weeks, but what is about to happen to you is pretty significant... I wouldn't pick now to bend any rules or make any calls you aren't sure about. Complications are expensive and often times painful and might also mean more missed time from work or delay your full mobility.
I'd stick to the shakes and the calorie free, caffeine free drinks.
You only get one body. Do your best to start this journey on the right foot.
It doesn't get easier for a while. So the sooner you can start the hard stuff, the sooner you'll finish it.
Best of luck to you!

The pre op liquid diets goal is to shrink your liver so the surgeon can see what he or she is doing in there. Not sticking to the liquid diet can have two potential negative effects.
1. You might be switched from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery which means more scars and longer recovery time.
2. Your surgery might get delayed which is both costly and inconvenient.
It's a rough 2 weeks, but what is about to happen to you is pretty significant... I wouldn't pick now to bend any rules or make any calls you aren't sure about. Complications are expensive and often times painful and might also mean more missed time from work or delay your full mobility.
I'd stick to the shakes and the calorie free, caffeine free drinks.
You only get one body. Do your best to start this journey on the right foot.
It doesn't get easier for a while. So the sooner you can start the hard stuff, the sooner you'll finish it.
Best of luck to you!

I made it through Christmas dinner only eating about an ice cream scoop of mashed, 2 small bites of turkey, some rice pudding and a sliver of pumpkin pie (only ate the filling).
Oh... And of course a Protein Shake and lots of Water.< /p>
Not bad.

So my surgery date was the 16th so I'm on day 4 post op.
No nausea thus far and my bowels have finally moved after about 5 days of them not moving so that is probably my biggest relief (that was very painful).
So far... broth and the Protein Shakes go down the easiest.
Cold Water or calorie free drinks and Jello are a little harder. pills aren't so bad either if I do them one at a time.
The chewable Multivitamin I practically have to eat in the bathroom because it puts me on the edge tossing my Cookies every time.
Things I underestimated:
Not feeling hungry or desiring foods I used to want. I haven't felt hunger or a desire to binge since like 5 days into my pre-op door which was like a week ago today. This is amazing. I really have to focus on drinking throughout the day so as not to get dehydrated.
The pain so far has been super manageable. I get knots in my stomach from time to time but I don't even notice my incisions unless I bump them or my 2 year old does a diving head butt right into my gut.
Weight loss... Not as fast as I would have expected. The weight melted off of me in the pre-op diet phase but even though they pulled 85% of my stomach out of me... I hadn't lost a pound by the day after. I decided not to weigh myself till Christmas Day as to not discourage myself... I mean... I'm consuming about 600 calories a day and burning more than that walking every 2-3 hours for 20 mins a clip. The weight is bound to start moving in the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm so backed up right now from the anesthesia and the pain medication... I am losing weight, I just can't tell because I'm not adequately purging what I'm taking in. Once that returns to normal i think I'll be fine.
All and all, I'm still really motivated and sticking to the plan 110%. Failure is not an option.
Energy level is high, I'm sleeping good and all is well.
That's my update.

iPad/internet capable phone or device
Change of clothes
Chapstick
Chargers
Someone to support you or keep you company

iPad/internet capable phone or device
Change of clothes
Chapstick
Chargers
Someone to support you or keep you company

iPad/internet capable phone or device
Change of clothes
Chapstick
Chargers
Someone to support you or keep you company

Yeah, I binged too. Now that in officially post-op I don't know what hungry is anymore. After nearly 3 weeks of nothing but liquids.. I don't look at food the same way.
Things even taste better now, but I'm not compelled to binge... Not even a little.
Worst binge for me?
Large stuffed meat lovers pizza a slice of carrot cake and some cordon blu bites with half a gallon of diet tea...
Or
2 boxes of cheeseburger helper with 3 lbs of ground beef & a half dozen cronuts.
Now my binge is like a cup of broth and a Protein shake with a few sips of Water.