up4challenge

@littlelizzielilliput: I take biotin, collagen, vitamins tablets (3 tablets after lunch and 3 after dinner) and days that I don't feel like eating lunch or skip lunch which is like once in a month, I make sure I take Nexpro 40 (gas tablet) half hour before my dinner.

@proudgrammy : Thank you for the encouraging response. I will try and add more water starting today to my regular schedule. Any suggestions as to what foods to include in my daily diet? I still have bad days with severe constipation and I will try my best to drink more water.

@Nessy76@jenn1 : My routine on a daily basis is as follows: 1) I start my day with a cup of milk tea (about 275ml tea with 1 spoon of sugar) at 9 a.m. and I take close to 3 hours to finish that. I do not and cannot eat anything until the tea is finished as I am full. 2) About 12.30 p.m. I eat lunch which includes about 1/4 chicken breast + 1 egg. 3) Around 3.30 p.m. I consume a glass of coffee / water depending on how I feel to take in my meds (about 275 ml water/coffee+1 spoon sugar). 4) Around 5.30 p.m. I mix protein shake (I take GNC Chocolate flavor) which I take about an hour or some days 1.5 hours to finish). 5) About 7.30 p.m. when I feel hungry I much on 5-10 nuts (peanut/fox nut/almond/walnut) or orange/apple/grapes. 6) Around 8.30 p.m. I try to take half a glass of water which turns out to be nothing more than 2-3 sips of water. 7) At 9.30 p.m. I eat my dinner, which includes lentils/beans and 1/4 or 1/2 chicken breast or 2 pieces of salmon slices (air fried) along with one fruit like banana/orange/4-5 slices of papaya or 4-5 slices of watermelon or some days 3-5 spoons of rice with yoghurt or 1/2 slice of bread with butter (I do not like butter or anything sweet or chocolatey) or some days 1/2 cup pasta about 10 small pieces of macaroni (no cheese/butter with onions, pepper, tomatoes). 8) About 11.00 p.m I take one more glass water and take in the meds. I go to sleep by 12.30 or 1.30 a.m., as I have to work until then. I do a lot of cooking/cleaning in the house in between work (as I am a freelancer and log in from home) and I routinely work out on the elliptical every day twenty minutes in the morning and evening. If I do not have many tasks then I take a walk in the night after dinner for about forty minutes (which is about 1-2 times a week). Once every 2 weeks, I eat about 50 - 100 gms of popcorn and once a week I eat corn on the cob (boiled with a little salt, no butter). At times (during the last 11 months) I had 1/4 snickers bar and 1/4 slice pizza after 6 months post-op. I cut potatoes in the shape of french fries (about 5-6 pieces of them) and air fry them and consume them 1-2 times a week. Please note I am an extreme case of PCOS. Before my surgery, I had my periods for 9 continuous months and then 3 months of nothing, which made me take the decision of doing this surgery. Even now my periods are not great. I have them one month of 10 days, nothing for 2 months, then about 2 days flow, then nothing again for a month, then an outburst every 15 days. My gynaecologist says things will get better and I am still waiting and hoping.

I am 11 months post-op and I feel hungry every half hour. I don't want to eat and gain weight, but not eating anything only makes it worse. I get angry, feel tired and uninterested in doing anything. I'm scared what if my sleeve expands most of the time and end up staring at the ceiling most of the time, as I took a loan on my credit card to pay for the surgery. I take my meds on time. I take a protein shake every day, but this hunger generally starts during the second half of the day and gets worst from 6 p.m. onwards. I cannot take water still. I can take 2-3 sips at a time, then 2-3 more sips after half hour, but food (veggies, fruits, bread) is okay to consume. My starting weight was 251 pounds, on the day of surgery I was 240 pounds and in 11 months now I am 180 pounds and my goal weight is 155 pounds. I don't eat junk food....no burger, no fries (I do eat potato once a week fried in an air fryer or popcorn made again in air fryer), no soda, 1-2 tablespoons of sugar on a daily basis (in my glass of tea and coffee, which I take in the morning and evening), nothing more. The quantity of food intake has increased compared to what I used to eat two months ago, to what I eat this month. And to make things worst I noticed today that I've gained 2.2 pounds (1 kg) since last week. I tell myself not to worry but I am freaking out. Please advise what should I do. Any suggestion is appreciated.

@MGCA: Glad to hear you are feeling better. Sending best wishes and positive vibes your way!

@ MGCA: I completely understand your situation. The reason being I am very similar to you. I too am a private person and have not discussed about my surgery with anyone except my husband, mom and sister (my dad till date does not know why I was in the hospital 7 months ago). I was sleeved in December 2016 and making the decision of doing the surgery was tougher for me as I had to pay for it myself and had no support from my husband (who is till date not happy about it). I was 251 pounds when I met the bariatric surgeon for the first time and lost about 11 pounds during my pre-op (this is the good news). I did not go to any support group meetings held at my doctor’s office (pre and post-surgery) as I was not comfortable to face the people there, but bariatricpal website and its senior members were of great help. I found the best people who supported, coached me through my journey before and after the journey. Over a period of 7 months I have only lost 47 pounds, which according to my doctor is shockingly disappointing. I’ve been constantly reminded from the ones who know about the surgery that not much has been achieved for which I spent my savings and borrowed a loan on. I did the surgery mainly because I am a worst case of PCOS (I’ve had it for about 15 years now) and two years ago it got out of control and instead of just having periods for 1 or 2 months continuously, I ended up having it for 9 consecutive months (I was tired all the time and weak, but fat). I had tried homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Acupuncture, but nothing worked, the flow continued on. I changed more than 13 gynaecologists to get this sorted, finally met someone who asked me to try the VSG option to bring down my weight, which I ignored for a year and tried several combination of drugs to regularize my periods and nothing helped. Finally, I went against my husband’s wishes and with the support and encouragement of my gynaecologist took a leap of faith and went ahead with the surgery. The first 2 months after the surgery my periods were regular but they’ve gone back to what they were before the surgery (every 10 days once I get my periods i.e., I have my periods about 3 times a month), which means I find it real hard to exercise, as I have bad abdominal pain. I lost about 5 pounds during my first month after the surgery and 5 more pounds the next month and went on a stall the 3rd and 4th month. It was not a pretty feeling. I was extremely stressed, disappointed in myself, hated every day of my life because I was not losing weight and was losing lots of hair on my head. I was not eating much, I was throwing up most of whatever I eat (be it fruits, protein shake or any solid food). Things seemed to get a little better from the 5th month onwards. I changed the way I eat my food. For example: If I have 3 slices of apple in my plate, I would eat them slowly, not within 5 mins but over a period of 2 hours and I noticed that I stopped throwing up. The slower I started consuming food, the better I felt. I still have issues in drinking more than a glass of water, which means bad constipation every day. I never like any brand of protein shake. 5th and 6th month I lost 12 pounds each and 7th month I lost about 6 pounds. Every day is challenging and stressful and when I cook real yummy food I get tempted a lot to eat it and at times I have eaten it but ended up throwing up the same in a matter of minutes. Oh by the way during my 5th month I had bad stomach cramps and pus oozing out of my belly button (found out that the stitches in the belly button were not dissolved and they were weeping, hence the pus) and when I took a scan I found gall stones and underwent a gallbladder removal surgery. Healing from this was a lot easier compared to VSG. Social dinners – I avoid them completely. When I go out many of them think I have some chronic disease (a few even asked me if I have cancer or something), but I don’t let their reactions bother me any time. I know I will feel and look better a few months from now. Please 1) Have Patience 2) Give your body time to heal 3) Everyone’s body reacts differently to the surgery 4) Stop taking in stress (the stress of not losing weight in my case caused me to go through two months of stalling) 5) Exercise - simple brisk walk, light aerobics at home, etc. 6) Don’t give up hope 7) Eat slowly 8) Take 5-6 small meals instead of 2-3 big meals 9) Remember why you did the surgery in the first place 10) Most important of all STAY POSITIVE!!! I hope you feel better soon. Feel free to message me if I can be of any assistance / support to you.

Thank you all for the replies. I tried making popcorn with water today and loved it . Didn't know there was an option to make popcorn pop without oil.

I was sleeved on December 17, 2016 and had bad pain in my belly button area about 2 months ago. The pain continued for 3 days and on the 4th day a little pus started oozing out. I checked with the surgeon who performed the VSG and he asked me to get an abdominal scan. When I got the scan done, I was informed that there is a small secretion (later found out that the stitch in the belly button had not dissolved and was weeping, thus the pus) under my belly button and I was informed about gallstones as well. I finally underwent a gall bladder removal surgery June 22, 2017 and it is now over 40 days since my 2nd surgery in 7 months. Since a week I am having slight pain in my belly button area. I don't have any pus or anything oozing at this point, but I am scared to even talk to my doctor. Not sure what the pain will indicate this time. I am losing my mind and stressing about this thing since a week. I am unable to do abdominal crunches or twist and turn around in the bed. Is it normal to have pain the belly button area after a month of the gall bladder surgery?

Congrats! You are a true inspiration for me!

I always loved popcorn (before the surgery) and love it a little more now after the surgery . I was sleeved a little over 7 months ago. I have read many posts about popcorn being a slider food and totally agree. I cannot consume more than half a chicken wing, but can easily consume about 100-200 grams of popcorn. I was wondering if there is an alternate food that is healthy, fibrous and crunchy that can easily be substituted for popcorn? If yes, please share details.

@OutsideMatchInside and Berry78 Thank you for sharing the details and suggestions. On bra hunt this weekend!

I was sleeved 6 month ago and have lost close to 55 pounds (I am not loosing too much weight like many others and I don't regret it). Since 2 weeks, I've notice that my boobs have been sagging a lot compared to what they were before. I used to wear 42DD before the surgery and now 40DD is good. I picked up about 7 different types of underwire bras, but none of them seem to feel right. My doc suggested that I try compression sports bra and that should do the trick. But, when I tried sports bras, I do feel like my boob is hanging someone in the cup, I don't feel comfortable. I am not sure if I am putting across my point correctly. Even after 6 months of operation, if I wear underwire bras for more than 2 hours I get pain near the bra band where the small incision was made during the surgery. And wearing non-wired bras only makes my boobs sag more. Can anyone who has gone though a similar experience offer some advise on what type of bra may help me?

@sleevebabe: I went through something similar the day before the surgery (on my way to the hospital) and on the surgery day itself. When the nurse came in and told me to have bath by 4 a.m. and be ready for the surgery at 6 a.m. and I did tell my mom twice that I’d like to run away and she could pay the 1 day hospital fee and come home later . Don’t worry too much and stress yourself. I was finally sleeved at 6.30 am on December 17, 2017. It is a little over 6 months now and I end up laughing everytime thinking about how I wanted to run away just on the day of surgery. Trust me the surgery is worth every penny invested and I could not be happier. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery.

@Gabbby: Congratulations on the weight loss.

@nursejenny07: Congratulations. Thanks for sharing your experience and pics. Love that you took the time to share your experience. You are a true inspiration for me . I too think of getting a plastic surgery done, but the thought of it freaks me . Anyway, I ran this by the surgeon who performed my VSG and he has asked me not to even think about it for the next 1.5 years (I had my surgery in Dec 2016).