DisneyMom2El

It may cause gas and discomfort while still healing from surgery -especially if you are still suffering from the gas given to you during surgery. I was cleared for straws at two weeks and carbonation at 6, both as tolerated, which I had no issues.

Finding out how muscular my thighs are and actually touching that muscle, not flab, when I rest my hands on my leg. And looking at pictures for the first time, thinking it's my 15 year old, size 0 niece (no, I'm definitely not a size 0), and having to do a double take because it's me! Those are a couple big ones that pop into my mind, my wow moment when it really hits me how drastically I've changed.

I really struggle with this if I put too much thought into it. Ideally, I should say 155 so that I'll be within the normal range for bmi, but I'm currently 165 and a size 8. I was able to get down to 150 one other time in my life, and at that time I was a size 8 at 155, size 6 at 150 and was beginning to look to boney, I looked and felt better as a size 8. So this time around I'm slightly heavier in the size 8s and suspect I'll be a size 6 once I get into the 150s.

I guess I'll see when I get there. I want to be in the 'normal' bmi range but I do not want to look too thin or boney.

Just curious for others (if you know), what size is the top of your bmi range? When I was heavier, I assumed it would be a 10 - that was always my ideal and "average weight" in my mind.

My doctor didn't have a lot of rules regarding diet, just restrictions for healing after surgery (such as straws, cleared to use at 2 weeks, no diet restrictions after 6 weeks). In fact, I remember telling him how I couldn't imagine going the rest of my life without certain foods, and what comforted me most was him saying I can eat whatever I want, I'll just eat less.

I drink pop - full calorie- on occasion.

I don't chew my food a certain number of times (again, this was only suggested to me while still recovering from surgery and to make sure I didn't hurt myself).

I drink liquids up until I eat, but I do wait after or I'll feel miserable.

I eat sweets if I want them. One benefit of surgery is that I can limit how much I eat and many no longer appeal to me.

I eat carbs. My nutritionist actually said I should be eating more carbs than Protein by 6 months.

I'm 9 months out and went from a size 20/22 to an 8, my goal size, though I am going to keep going until at least a 6 and re-evaluate then.

I really don't understand how greatly doctors' plans vary after wls. At 6 weeks I was cleared for all foods. I did have sushi, but I will warn you that rice expands. That is something you'll only be able to eat a tiny bit of for a while. And on my "purée" stage, all but the rice would have totally been acceptable. I could eat fish, canned chicken, even spinach during the purée stage, I was just warned to chew thoroughly.

At 3 months they said 900, 6 months 1200 and I need to aim to always hit 1200 so I don't destroy my metabolism.

11.95 miles ran this week

Are you seeing Dr. Foote?


"Drop It Now"

I saw Dr. Foote

As others have said...you may be surprised to find you're not a slow loser after all.

I have been a slow loser after an initial rapid loss. I lost 34 pounds in 3 weeks, that includes 10 pounds during my one week pre-op diet, and then nothing for a month.

My suggestion is to track your weightloss and remember that good things come with time. Don't focus on the now, keep your eyes on the finish line. Slow and steady wind the race, and any other cliche you can think of

Looking back at my progress, early on there were times when I was loosing 10 pounds a month, but then I would go through significant stalls. Now that I'm 8 months out and have a lot of data to analyze, I can see that I have been averaging 5 pounds per month since week 2. This has been regardless of caloric intake or how much I exercised. In the beginning I was getting 2-3000 steps per day, now I'm training for a 10K, running for an hour at a time, and easily get over 10000 steps a day. Still 5 pounds a month. It has for sure been frustrating, but I don't have any loose skin, nor did I ever have that exhausted, sickly looking face that some people experience after wls. It may have nothing to do with losing slowly, but in my mind I tell myself it does. I'm now 15 pounds away from goal.

Count me in! I've been slacking on exercise for the past couple of weeks now that sports teams have taken over the football field where I've been running. I have a backup, a workout room at work, but the change in routine has not gone as smoothly as I thought it would.

If you were to watch what is happening in your stomach and you have no food in it, you would see that when you drink something it goes right through -it does not stay in the stomach. So if you drink something with a little bit of food in it, it pushes the food through your stomach quickly and into your intestines, allowing you to eat more and sooner than you should. If you already have a lot of food in your stomach and you drink soon after eating, it fills up the space making it uncomfortable long before it starts pushing food through. A couple of sips here and there will be fine.

It's extremely minor compared to a c-section. I've had both as well as my gallbladder taken out, and the sleeve was the easiest to recover from. I never needed pain meds once I left the hospital, very minor gas pain. When I had my c-section, I stayed on top of the pain by taking norco for two weeks. I was out shopping the day I came home from the hospital with the sleeve. As long as you do what you are told to do, get your fluids in and start walking as soon as you get up from recovery, you will find there really is bi comparison.

I smelled different for a couple weeks. It wasn't sweat, but musky. I also have a friend not on these boards who was sleeved one month before I was. I remember commenting to her about my change in scent and she said she was too. It did go away shortly after.

I love C25k! I don't rest a day in between, rather I go about five nights a week. What I did in the earlier weeks was run the program in one direction, then turn around to head home and repeat the same week/day.

I agree with pp - it doesn't necessarily change my shape, just tones and gives me more definition. I will say that I've noticed in the past when I was jogging almost daily I had a smaller waist and felt better about my weight (including a smaller clothing size) than what I did this year at the exact same weight after wls.

I enjoy life so much more! I have energy and am now not afraid to take risks. For the first time ever, I'm looking forward to this summer, spending days at the beach, just being outside and active with my family and truly enjoying life for the first time.

I think you are correct, drinking all my fluids has been my biggest problem. Prior to surgery I drank at least 80oz with no problem. Now I'm lucky to get in 36oz. Not using a straw is making it difficult for me.. any suggestions?!?

I would ask your doctor about straws. My doctor cleared me to use straws after two weeks. The concern was swallowing air, creating more gas in the abdomen which was just pumped full of gas and causes discomfort right after surgery. I've not once had an issue and I'm five months out. I agree, I get my liquids in much easier with a straw.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel! As much as we prepare, I think sometimes we really don't let it sink in how much this surgery is going to affect us those first few weeks. What you are going through right now is mostly due to the surgery itself and healing, not your diet. After a major surgery, your body needs time to heal. I know we all know that, but I don't think we let it sink in. Being on a liquid diet for those first few weeks really sucks! But it is very temporary. As cliché as it sounds, you just have to hang in there for a few weeks to give your stomach time to heal. I remember by two weeks I pretty much felt fantastic. Now I am 4 1/2 months out and mostly forget I even had a surgery. Nothing feels abnormal about the way I eat. You learn your limits quickly, and you don't miss being able to eat a ton. I eat whatever I want, but my portions are considerably smaller. And it does not feel like I am limiting myself because I get full quickly. This is normal to me now and I like it. I actually look at a regular portion size for other adults and I am just flabbergasted that they can eat that much. So give yourself time and don't be too hard on yourself.

I don't have any advice other than to hang in there. I'm in a similar situation, only losing about 1-2 pounds a week, sometimes less and I was sleeved 1/4. My weightloss has been fluctuating with good weeks and weeks where I don't lose anything, but overall the trend continues to show progress and the scale never creeps up (even if it is up a pound or two from one day to the next). I try to look at it as slower is better. Also, make sure you are getting enough carbs in. My doc said at this point I should be taking in more carbs than Protein - the nutritionist set my macros to 40/30/30. That was a hard adjustment for me after having low carb/high protein drilled into my head. But we're only 4 1/2 months out with so far to go. We will get there! Think where you will be in another four months.

I'm 3 1/2 months out and don't feel like I'm barely eating, but I know I am. This just feels like the new normal. Now I automatically know how much food to put on my plate and what I will eat. When I look at other peoples plates, I can't imagine trying to eat that much! And then of course different foods are different. For me, some days salads are hard and I can only eat a few bites. My normal is half a sandwich.

A lot of people claim it can stretch your stomach, but I've seen no evidence of this documented in a medical journal. My doctor said it's because of discomfort it can cause from gas, as well as pressure of the staple lines from gas early on. Some people tolerate it, some don't. As far as stretching your stomach - my doctor said that is a myth. He said they cut out the portion of your stomach that is designed to stretch, and while anything filled to capacity will have some give, liquids are not in your stomach long enough to have that effect. Sofa (calorie free) was even one of the things allowed on my post op diet, as long as I let it sit to lose some of the carbonation first.

Why would gum be a problem? Does everything you eat have to be sugar free?

We were told no gum because it starts the digestion process -the act of chewing, saliva- which then will make you think you are hungry and/or could cause unnecessary heartburn due to the acids churning in your smaller stomach.

My goal is ultimately to lose between a newborn calf and a 2 month old horse

I'm between a mid-sized microwave and an average human leg! Lol!


I LOVE this! How awesome!

obvioiusly diets have not worked for me . In the past , the only thing that did work was Very low Cal HCG which was about 600 cal a day until even that didn't work . A week on the pre op diet and I've lost nothing ! I'm not worried about following the rules because I have lots of willpower but what if I get sleeved and still do t lose ? Is that possible ?

I hear ya! As someone else said, doing the 600 cal diet multiple times for sure ruined your metabolic rate, hence why it quit working for you. I've had similar issues and also worry that I'm going to be the one person who this doesn't work for. I hit my first stall after only two weeks post surgery and it lasted for FIVE WEEKS! That being said, it does work. The stall ended, and suddenly over night I lost four pounds. I can't remember the science behind it, but my surgeon said the first several months are a reset for your metabolic rate. And the reason previous diets failed has to do with primitive drive, not will power. You can have incredible will power, but your body is biologically driven to get back to its highest weight. It's s battle you are bound to lose. The whole biological make-up of your body will work against you.