KristenLe

@@anonmom There are several people with the same mental health conditions that have gotten surgery. The importance is that you are stable and cleared by a psychiatrist. I would call the program you went to and speak to a nurse manager or psychiatrist (if they have one) to find out if it's worth it to move forward with that practice. If they indicate this is a rule of the practice - find somewhere else. You may need extra therapy or support post-op - as this is as much mental as it is physical - but to automatically rule you out based on a diagnosis without knowing the status of the disease is not appropriate.

@@Annlinet No - unless you have plastic surgery. You can do some things to help - stay hydrated, get in all your Protein, moisturize, strength/resistance training - but if you end up with saggy skin - there's nothing aside from surgery that will get rid of it.

You may have felt back to normal but your insides were far from it. You are an adult and can do what you want but please don't encourage others to do the same. Drinking alcohol this early out is extremely dangerous. You may feel fine but you have no idea what type of damage you could have done.

Be sure you are taking a PPI (acid reducer) and drinking plenty of fluids. Increased stomach acid can mimic hunger - and dehydration can as well. Are you able to eat anything at this stage?

The other day we did a read aloud at our fall festival tons of pics were taken and ended up on Facebook. I passed over this pic twice before realizing that it was me. I feel so much better. I am 2 lbs from Onderland!
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Your BMI is high enough to qualify for surgery. Losing weight and keeping it off is extremely difficult. I encourage you to explain the health complications that come along with morbid obesity. If you weigh 280 - you have more than 100 lbs to lose. That's not exactly "not needing surgery".

I'm freezing (and only 6 days post-op). I'm usually walking around the house in a tank top and underwear no matter what the weather is - and since getting home from the hospital - I'm all bundled up and still freezing. I'm getting ready to take a nap under a heavy comforter, a heating pad and with the space heater blowing on me. The space heater we have is very safe.

Thank you so much. I'm a bit better today. I guess everyday get a bit easier, huh? I so want to be at the place where I can eat mushies. I'm so over this liquid diet. Thanks again for your kindness.

It's not bad at all. They ask about eating habits, depression and anxiety, social history, previous diet attempts, support systems, etc. Just be honest and take advantage of any advice given.

I think it's normal. I can now sip fairly normal sips.

It was a "tiny" leak according to surgeon. Let it heal itself. Thinks I did i throwing up the day before I came in. Had upper GI and its sealed, but nausea is still rough. Better now, but a ways to go.
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@@KaiserKid You're not crazy. I have a fear of failing as well. I bet many of us do. It's a full-time job to eat and drink at first - but I am assuming it becomes more routine at some point. I never thought I'd be able to stick with the pre-op diet and I did - 100% without cheating at all. I really think that helped me be prepared for post-op. I'm only a little more than a week post-op - but things are easier than I expected (so far anyway). I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Your BMI is high enough to qualify for surgery. Losing weight and keeping it off is extremely difficult. I encourage you to explain the health complications that come along with morbid obesity. If you weigh 280 - you have more than 100 lbs to lose. That's not exactly "not needing surgery".

I don't plan on having much, honestly with how my stomach has shrunk I wont be able to eat that much anyway. I plan on eating whole wheat Pasta and just plain red sauce. I'll let you all know how I feel after, but i think weather I have carbs before or not I will always have an issue with them, that's how I got here in the first place.

Your BMI is high enough to qualify for surgery. Losing weight and keeping it off is extremely difficult. I encourage you to explain the health complications that come along with morbid obesity. If you weigh 280 - you have more than 100 lbs to lose. That's not exactly "not needing surgery".

So I am out of surgery. Drinking my 4oz every hour, doing my breathing exercises and walking my laps. Kinda in a little pain and my incisions keep bleeding but other than that I'm doing well. Thank you guys for the wishes. I really appreciate it. . . You guys are great. [emoji1] [emoji7]

Hi everyone. I'm almost a month post sleeve and have found a couple recipes for chicken I really enjoy.
1) Huli Huli Chicken (Hawaiian), the healthy way:
Mix together in a bowl make the marinade:
1/3 cup sugar free peach or apricot preserves
1/3 cup low sugar ketchup
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry
1 tsp minced garlic
1tsp minced or grated ginger
Remove the skin from 4-6 chicken bone-in thighs. Put the skinless thighs in a large ziplock bag along with most of the above marinade. Reserve a bit for basting. Put in the fridge for 1-4 hours. Heat oven to 375. Remove thighs from marinade (do not discard marinade) and place in an oven safe dish and cover with foil. Cook until just done and cooked through but not dry, approximately 20-25 min.
Remove the foil and add the marinade, cover with foil and let it sit for another 30 min. Fire up the grill. Grill the thighs to warm and give char marks. It won't take long since they are already cooked. Baste while grilling with the left over marinade.
The original recipe calls for brown sugar and pineapple juice. I use the peach or apricot sugar free preserves instead. Sprinkle with green onions if desired.

2) Easy, healthy chicken salad
Take a cup of cooked chicken, remove all skin and bones, and put it into a food processor.
Pulverize well. Add 1/3 cup of plain, non fat greek yogurt, mix well.
Add bacon crumbles to the top before eating if desired.
Sorry no pic, but it's yummy! And I find it goes down better than a lot of other chicken.

Why are you even trying to stay under 1000 calories? Did your surgeon or nutritionist instruct you to do so? My nutritionist just wanted me to get 100 grams of Protein per day in and not worry about calories at all.
I did start worrying about calories once I was at goal and trying not to LOSE any more weight during my marathon training. I started tracking calories to make sure I was eating back all that I was burning. Turns out, I need a good 2400 calories a day to maintain at goal because of how much exercise I do.
During my weight loss phase, once I was all healed up and eating solid foods without issue, I would guess I was eating about 1400 calories a day? And I managed to lose all the weight and keep it off. Not sure why you would need to stay under 1000 unless you are completely sedentary. Too large a daily calorie deficit can have a permanent impact on your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight and keep it off in the future.

A stall in the 1st month is common.
If you are consuming sugar - that isn't going to help break a stall.
Try upping your Water - 40-50oz is pretty low and can lead to you retaining Fluid.< /p>
1200 calories seems high for only a month out - can you list a typical day's intake?

1. Don't rely on "full signals". Stick to measurements suggested on your plan. On purees, my guideline was 2oz.
2. Focus on Protein - while cauliflower is better than potatoes carb-wise, you still aren't really getting any protein and pureed cauliflower probably won't have you feeling as sated as a protein based puree will. I know the idea of pureed meat can be off-putting. For me, the idea of pureed chicken salad or tuna salad was a little easier than the thought of just pureeing meat and stock. So my go to's were chicken or a pouch of tuna or a pouch of salmon pureed with a little nonfat plain greek yogurt - the flavored tuna and salmon pouches were great for this!

It adds up, doesn't it?
I would say there were days I was eating 3,000+ calories when I would eat junk like that. Sometimes it was fast food for Breakfast, lunch and dinner! UGH. Can you imagine that now?? I sure can't.

Oh my!!
I have gone online and researched the calories that are in foods that I USED to eat quite often. I must have been in quite a state of denial. I can't believe the calories in these foods! Plus the carbs and sugar. I know that as post WLS we don't focus on calories as much as +protein
and -carbs/sugar, however I can see from this quick research that what I was consuming regularly pushed me WAY over what I needed in calories and carbs.
I now track just about everything I eat. Someday I will relax and not track so much but it is helping me a lot right now. Here is a list of stuff I used to eat pre-surgery and when I was in complete denial.
Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake: 470 calories, 68 carbs (yikes).
Starbucks chicken Artichoke on Ancient Grain Flatbreat (sounds healthy, right?) 510 calories, 37 carbs.
McDonald's Big Mac: 563 calories, 44 carbs. (Hello, I'm Kel. I'm a recovering Big Mac Addict.)
Jack-in-the-Box Portobello Mushroom Buttery Jack: 810 calories, 51 carbs. (!!!)
Jack-in-the-Box Breakfast Platter: 640calories, 47 carbs.
Jimmy Johns Club tuna Sandwich: 1000 calories, 73 carbs.
Snyders' of Hanover Honey Mustard Pretzel Pieces, 3 oz bag: 420 calories, 60 carbs.
Einstein's Everything Bagel with Regular Cream Cheese: 430 calories, 60 carbs.
Loaded Baked Potato w/sour cream, cheese and bacon bits: 535 calories, 62 carbs.
And to think on any given day pre-surgery life I might have had 2 or 3 of these items. Sleeve life is truly a learning journey!

Last nite I asked DH to take the ac unit out of the kitchen window cuz it was chilly in the house.
After a bit of grumbling he enlisted our darling son to assist him.
There was a small amount of manly noises, 'it slipping!' and growling from both of them while they accomplished the task. Therein lies the problem. My version of accomplishing the task vs. their version.
Now this ac unit is a snowbird and lives in the back shed for the winter. I wrongfully assumed that accomplishing the task would mean that it would find its way home with their assistance.
Silly me.[/img] [/img]
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It's resting preflight in my kitchen sink.
REALLY?!?!

@@KaiserKid You're not crazy. I have a fear of failing as well. I bet many of us do. It's a full-time job to eat and drink at first - but I am assuming it becomes more routine at some point. I never thought I'd be able to stick with the pre-op diet and I did - 100% without cheating at all. I really think that helped me be prepared for post-op. I'm only a little more than a week post-op - but things are easier than I expected (so far anyway). I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Thank you @@KristenLe
I gained 2 pounds. So I'm at a total of 20 pound loss since I started. What you said is exactly what the dietitian said. I'm not doing so well with my Protein. So I have to get at least 2 shakes in a day. And I suck at taking my Vitamins.
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