Christinamo7

many sleeve patients here locally just have their PCP do the blood work annually and only travel to the clinic if there is a problem, once they get past a year if everything has been normal. however, my bariatric center is just as local for me as my PCP so I will continue to see them. I do have the PCP, bariatric team and my oncology clinic doctors coordinate their lab work so there's no double dipping going on.

considering someone a "Vet" when they are at "goal" is kind of nebulous, isn't it? who's goal? people have all different goals. I consider it time since surgery I guess. I think of it as a year past surgery. I consider my Uncle Stan a vet, it's been 2 years since his surgery and if I am going through it (unless a female issue) he has already gone through it. He gives me loads of good counsel, as do the many people I consider to be a vet here. Uncle Stan never had any idea of getting to a normal BMI with his other health concerns, yet WLS has clearly saved his life. He has lost 130 # for crying out loud! My goal does not get me to a normal BMI, but it is my goal none the less.

most people are nervous and uncertain. it is a major life change. where do you want to be in six months? here's the deal. I'm almost 5 months out. I *can* eat anything I want physically speaking - but my tastes and habits have changed. I eat way less, but I am completely satisfied with what I am eating. I am and have always been a real foodie. but not necessarily for the same foods. and I love being down in weight - every aspect of my life has been improved. but in your case? it's all up to you.

@@bamagurl do you take it with food or on an empty stomach? the opurity multi was *not* my favorite, but I ate them all anyway because they were good quality and expensive. when they were gone I went back to my regular multi. I need to take them with food. so I eat a few bites, take my Vitamin and then eat the rest of my food. the opurity I had to eat in 4 bites throughout the meal. I couldn't take it all at once. too much for me. but my labs were excellent!

here's the deal - in almost any phase you can probably eat more than you should. that is why you have to have clear guidelines from your team about how many calories *you* should eat daily. it is going to vary based on your activity and size to begin with. I was probably at 700 calories a day at that time - but that was based on my personal situation.

congrats! wonderful success right there!

oh. I enjoy all the creative names.

I normally use mapmywalk to track my workouts. not right now - but I will get back to it by September. I track my food a few times a month on there just as a check. I don't normally track my food. I tend to eat the same things, and my Snacks and such I measure on the weekend - so I can be fairly confident of my portion sizes and Protein etc. I don't have time to track my food every day all the time - never have. I do like map my walk because I have worked out the nutrition in some of my own personal recipes and it saves them so now it's an easy thing on those days when I do track.

pickles are pretty easy to make - have you done any canning?I have not! Any suggestions? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App http://www.freshpreserving.com/canning-101-getting-started.html a good place to get started learning. Thankfully pickles are canned by Water bath not pressure canning so it's cheaper and easier getting started.

well. I dunno if you will need a liquid diet before or not. I didn't. the only fasting I did was the night before surgery and the morning of surgery. the liquid diet post op was not the easiest thing for me, but honestly you are dealing with healing from surgery and it's not like you're really craving food anyway then. and my goodness. once you get healed up you feel so much better that it's all worth it. your food tastes and likes will probably change though, and that's a good thing. let us know what you decide!

pickles are pretty easy to make - have you done any canning?

That's interesting. I have not experienced hair loss to this point. I have been taking acetyl l carnatine with alpha lipoic acid for more than 10 years for brain health Never thought it might help with hair. I don't take biotin but I do eat eggs quite often. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

the life change can certainly do it for you. I have had recent stress in my life and for the first time post sleeve I have to remind myself to eat and drink. The night before I came back to work I decided I needed to pull myself up by the bootstraps and act like a normal (post WLS) person. I ate my normal (baby size) dinner. waited almost the full 30 minutes to drink, and wanted to finish the last of my Vitamin Water zero before going to bed. big mistake. sick, very sick, for the first time since surgery. I now know what the foamies are. YUK. and I know that it is painful to vomit post sleeve. so now, I go easier on myself. try to meet fluids first, Protein second and just doing the best I can. Hopefully as you get further out from these life changes your appetite will settle and things will be normal. your Vitamins should keep you in good shape if you are not having any trouble with taking them. please let us know how you're doing.

in the early days if I ate one bite too much it felt like that old after thanksgiving feeling. sometimes my nose would drip or I would hiccup or burp. now the swelling is down so eating my measured portions I rarely get to that point, I just feel satisfied not full or overfull.

my plan had several options to choose from including some regular Vitamins. after my 3 month check up my labs were good and I take a regular woman's multivitamin once a day. looking forward to seeing what my 6 month labs look like on that regular multi.

Hermans Hermits *swoon* I love them.

there are times when I add an extra snack on in the evenings if I need to get more Protein in - but I wouldn't say I'm over-eating. it usually means I've been to busy during the day to eat enough, or haven't been able to finish my measured Proteins earlier in the day. but I'd rather eat one more time than fall short on my protein goals. additionally, there are times I stay up a half an hour late to get more fluids in if I haven't gotten where I want to be with liquids. beyond that I think the lack of sleep would be worse - so staying up an extra half hour for nutrition is about as far as I will go with it.

one of the reasons I chose the sleeve over other options was the ability to eat other things on occasion. (I do like PB and J on occasion - but haven't had anything like that at this time) it is surprising to me how many people think because they have these wee little incisions on the outside that they are fully healed inside. it takes time people - and I do not want to irritate that healing seam in my stomach and I do not want to waste calories on things like that while I am still trying to loose weight. but I have worked with and for doctors for a very long time, and perhaps seeing people with other kinds of complications makes me more aware of what a recovery period means? I just hate to see people set themselves up to not succeed like they ought to because they don't seem to understand.

I have to say, if my man told me he was going to leave if __________ I'd tell him not to let the door hit him on the way out. Hopefully he will come to terms with whatever it is he is afraid of. you have to decide what you really want. I have young adult kids I live with. they have all kinds of food I shouldn't eat - I've just learned to want health more than that junk. You can do it too, if it is really what you want.

@@Alex Brecher the first week when I was home, and when I go back to visit Mama in a couple of weeks I will just eat whatever is presented to me, trying to make my best choices from that. Mom doesn't need to worry about a special diet for me right now. Thankfully at almost 5 months, going to Protein first is pretty automatic, plus I feel better that way. Comfort food hasn't been a problem so far. Trying to drink enough and get enough protein has been, although hard as it has been to go back to work it helps me fall into small meal/snacks habits and that I am doing better on those days. I am a stress cleaner - but I am also finding I get very fatigued. Grieving takes a tremendous toll and drains you. sleeping a good long time, but apparently not sleeping particularly well. I just have to give myself permission to back off the workouts a little bit for now and so I have given myself leave to not track my exercise until September, although I am still trying to walk some each day. having a hard time getting back to my yoga, even though I *know* it will help me. I am sad, and I just want to curl up when I am home. It's just something you have to go through I suppose. This site has been so helpful to me in terms of having peers who have also been through really rough Patches in their first year after surgery - they have helped me so much. I hope that by sharing here, someone else, at some point might also feel less alone when something happens to knock them down on their journey. @@krazy kat *hugs* backatcha.

for me, I had prepared freezer meals for the first two weeks. when I was on liquids and just starting foods I did not want to cook for my family - so they got to eat and I didn't go crazy cooking at that time. I could focus on my own nutritional needs. but once I was on soft foods and then regular foods it is not a problem. I cook everything they like and pick the good choices for me from the meal. which usually means I am having the Protein and some veg, while they are also having a starch along with. it works out fine. when I make them spag with meat sauce I have the meat sauce with cheese for example.

you and me both. I am so thankful that I had this surgery.

YIKES! I am glad though, that you were able to get this taken care of. come back and let us know what they say about your WLS.

*swoon*

so - I feel like my whole digestive system was not a perfectly healthy working stomach. I had diabetes. and I believe Obesity to be a life altering and threatening disease in and of it's self. So I guess that's how I dealt with that aspect. and once I was a ways out from surgery (almost 5 months) I could, if I chose, eat anything I wanted to now only in small portions. So, there's really nothing to regret from this perspective. I am pleased with my weight loss. I have kids and grandkids too - and I had the surgery to be around for them. in my opinion if you are doing this to look good, you may be happy, or you may be saggy. if you are doing it to be an active, involved parent and be there for other loved ones, then I think you'll be very pleased. the odds of something happening to you are greater by not loosing weight than from having surgery. for me personally, the only regret I would have had was not doing everything possible to fight for my health. I hope you find the answers you are looking for to have peace of mind.