Diana_in_Philly

We are human. Three weeks of liquid is a long time. If you are going to cheat - broccoli is a good way to go. Be gentle with yourself - you are about to undergo a major life change. 17 pounds is a nice amount -- go buy yourself a new lipstick or other makeup as a reward -- even if its from Walgreens or CVS. Reward the victories. You're doing great.

Get back in the gym and get a personal trainer. Your issue is that in the past the booty was all fat. Now you want it to be all muscle and that takes time and work. Squats, leg press, ham and quad work will make all the difference in the world. Weights at least 2x a week to tighten everything up and you'll be surprised how once you work the muscles things with "lift".

My hubby and two teen daughters know. My own sister doesn't know. Anyone who has asked (I'm two months out of surgery and down 56 pounds over 6 months) I say I'm working with my doc and a nutritionist and following their advice religiously and that my diet is very high Protein, very low carb and I'm working with a personal trainer. Every last bit of that is true. Should someone ask directly if I had surgery, I will look them straight in the face and ask them if they had sex last night (which I would do when people asked when I was going to have children.) That generally makes folks realize immediately how far over the line they have gone.

During my two week pre-op diet (1,000 calorie low fat), I had to attend a wedding. I gave it up that night. I had two drinks (vodka and club), three shrimp from the shrimp cocktail platter during cocktail hour, half of my filet mignon and some of the fancy potatoes and two mini canoli from the dessert table. (This was on Friday, my surgery was on Tuesday). If I it weren't the wedding of a dear friend's son, I wouldn't have splurged (or even gone, but we had RSVP'd before I got my surgery date). But everything was fine. We are human. We are going to slip up. We just need to get right back on track.

Surgery was on a Tuesday. Home on Wednesday. In the car Friday running errands. I was clear to drive as soon as I stopped pain meds.

That's actually a good way to get ready for post-sleeve life. You will be on a high Protein, low carb diet for most of the rest of your life. I wasn't allowed breads until 6 weeks out from surgery and then only a slice of toasted whole wheat bread if it had protein on it. A few weeks ago, I had two bites of Pasta at a family event, but haven't had a bowl of pasta (I'm Italian) since May. Look into Fairlife Milks -- high protein, low carb. Very tasty - I don't like skim, but I like their skim. You'll be surprised how fast the weight will come off once you cut out the carbs. You will have some headaches the first few days -but drink lots of Water - that will help.

Had my surgery on 8/23 at Pennsylvania Hospital with Dr. Wernsing. I cannot tell you how much I love the team there -- the nutritionists, the nurse practitioner, and the doc himself. Bariatric patients are on a floor together and the nurses know how to deal with them. Saw lots of familiar faces from my pre-op class on how to handle the pre-op and post op diet. I'm two months and a few days out. I'm down 55 pounds from my high weight(April 2016), 31 from my surgery weight and my BMI has dropped 9 points. I was in the hospital one night and the care at the hospital was super.

Consignment shops, thrift shops and Kohl's. I bought a pair of black slacks at a consignment shop two weeks ago and I'm going to re-consign them because they are too big now. I'm 2 months out and have gone from an 18 or 20 in pants to a 14 heading for a 12. Skirts have become a go-to because you can hide a lot of sins in a skirt. Also, I'm now thin enough that I can wear leggings and tunic tops -- the leggings are great -- they stretch down with you.

In all that led you to the point of having surgery, did you ever have a month where you gained 19 pounds? Didn't think so. This isn't a magic bullet. This is a marathon and not a sprint. Be patient and kind to yourself. You will have stalls. You may even have gains. This is not linear -- it is not a straight line down. I'm 2 months out - down 55 pounds from my high weight and 31 pounds from my surgery weight. My BMI is down 9 points. I'm down 3 pants sizes. I don't have clothes that fit correctly now. I was not a low BMI surgery but I wasn't really high either -- Take one day at a time. Work the plan and plan the work.

You can buy insurance on your state's exchange for the year it is not offered by your employer if you quit, or you have the option of paying for your insurance through COBRA at your current job (assuming it's a company with 50 or more employees) for up to 18 months after leaving as long as you are not fired for misconduct.

You stomach will remain swollen for up to six weeks while your body heals. Good Lord - you just had major surgery. If your ankle had been operated on, would you be surprised it was still swollen after 5 days? Give yourself plenty of time to heal. If you are concerned, call your doc.

Sleeved 8/23/16. Down 28.6 since surgery and 53.2 from my high weight in April 2016. I have a Protein shake for Breakfast (but have been doing that since I started with my team in May) and otherwise am eating the same things I cook for my family. Some Proteins go down easier than others -- at lunch yesterday had two scrambled eggs with cheese and three slices of bacon. (Hadn't had breakfast and ate that around 1). Had to force myself to eat about 3 ounces of chicken at 7 last night. I try to get to the gym 3-4 times a week. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. My BMI is down 11 points from my HW and just saw my team for my 6 week and they are thrilled with my progress. Just remember - this is a marathon and not a sprint.

Hi there! I'm in Philly and was sleeved on 8/23. Once you have met your team, find out if they have support group meetings. Your support group at your hospital can be a tremendous help. Pre-Op I found the support group meetings to be tremendous. Hoping to get to one next week to talk through some issues I'm dealing with post -op. Best of luck!

I am the primary cook for my family. I didn't cook much the first 2 weeks -- hubby grilled for himself and the two teen daughters. Once I was cleared for purees, I went back in the kitchen. To be honest, in those first 2 weeks after surgery, I didn't want to be in the kitchen, I was tired and not feeling great. Now, I'm 7 weeks out. I'm cleared to eat a normal diet. I eat what they eat, but smaller portions. I roasted a chicken yesterday with roasted potatoes. I ate about 3 ounces of chicken thigh (without skin) and about 1/4 cup of roasted potatoes. Tonight we'll have chicken Soup from the left over roasted chicken. Tomorrow, probably steaks with asparagus. It's really no big deal once you get past your liquid diet. I just put everything I made for them into the blender for me when I was on purees. Maybe meatloaf on Wednesday -- have to see if I have meatloaf mix in the freezer. Need to start planning my menus again so I'm not running like a maniac after work trying to figure out what to cook.

55 at surgery on August 24, 2016 HW 271.5 SW 246.9 CW 220.8

Manayunk. Sleeved 8/24 at Pennsylvania Hospital. I'm about 6 weeks out.

I have Harvard Pilgrim. I was sleeved on 8/24. My PCP asked me for a list of attempts at weight loss and she included that in the letter she wrote, which my program required. That was all I had to do. BTW - HPHC is great. I was approved in less than a week once my surgeon submitted everything. I started the process on May 11 and was in the hospital on 8/24 only because the surgeon and I had vacation conflicts in the two prior weeks.

I'm only a month out, but with the blessing of my team, I can have 16 oz of coffee at day. (I drink it black). For every 8 oz. of coffee, I must drink an additional 8 oz of water. I was happy to live with that because death before decaf.

I'm 55. I've had an underactive thyroid most of my life and had half my thyroid removed about 10 years ago. I had surgery 4 weeks ago (VSG). HW 271.5 Current Weight 225.5. My doc, when he first met me, said statistics say I should lose 70-85% of my excess weight. Therefore, if my weight was 271 and my ideal weight was 130, my excess weight would be 141 pounds. 70-85% of that is 98-120 pounds off. So, that would take me to somewhere between 170 and 150. My personal goal is 135. I'm working out 3-4 days a week and loving the post sleeve life. It's not easy, but emptying my closet is tremendously gratifying. I had been off Synthroid for a number of years, but we are going to check my levels later this month because I'm feeling cold, sluggish and losing hair. All of those could very well just be the surgery and not my thyroid. My advice is to find another, more supportive surgeon. At my last visit, my team was so encouraging - in part that is what has kept me going. Best of luck.

I don't care how close a friend they are -- you say - forcefully --" I'm sorry, I don't want to talk about it. It's not a major procedure, but I will need some time to recover. How are your hemorrhoids?" My sister and mother don't know that I had surgery because I couldn't be sure they would be supportive. I have told a few friends, whom I trust. My husband and teen daughters know. Own your privacy.

I brought extension cord, charger, iPhone, iPad, slippers (I hate those damn socks they give you), bathrobe (so I wasn't showing the world my a$$), clean undies, toothbrush and toothpaste. (I have very curly hair, so I didn't need hair care items.) Wore home what I wore in, since I was first procedure of the day so I only had the clothes on for 1/2 hour. The extension cord was the most useful item because a standard iPhone cord is not long enough to reach the bedside table from most outlets in a hospital room.

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We had a 2.5 hour class with about 10 people. The NUT talked about both the pre-op and post op diets and gave us materials for our notebooks and we discussed ideas for the different phases. That was about 2/3 of the class. Then a nurse educator who works on the floor where we would all be after surgery about what to expect day of and day after surgery, how to handle issues with medications we are taking, what post-op meds would be like, etc. We were encouraged to bring a support person because it was alot of info to assimilate. Ours was done about 2 weeks prior to surgery.

I drink my coffee black. I started the day after I got home with a small (10 oz.) cup. My usual morning cup is 16 oz and not usually just one. My team gave me their blessing because I was meeting both my Protein and Fluid goals. They suggested an additional cup of Water for every cup of coffee, which isn't hard for me to do at three weeks out. Back to my regular consumption. However, some folks' new tummies do not like coffee. You also may want to try something milder and low acid the first few days so as to not upset your stomach.

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