orionburn

I got stir crazy at the end too. I remember the first time going shopping for foods that I could have at the pureed stage. Completely kicked my ass being out and about with my wife but man it was good to get out and do something. Hope you have a speedy recovery!

I got sleeved on the 25th of last year It's hard but it does get better. Day 4/5 were probably the worst for me. Once I got past those days it seemed to get a bit easier. It was a good time to reflect on my relationship with food and really get a good understanding of actual/real hunger vs. head hunger. Best advice is to keep yourself busy. I won't deny there were days when I went to bed an hour early because I was doing nothing but thinking about food. Kind of sad but it helped get me through it...lol. The other big thing is to keep that focus in your mind - getting your liver reduced will make your surgery go all the better and reduce risks. A few more days of misery will be worth it. Plus I had a doc that was pretty hard core so if I would have cheated and gotten caught there was a legit chance he would cancel the surgery at the last second. Good luck to you!

My planned 3 day hospital stay turned into 6. I feel your pain. My spleen decided to spring a leak on day 3 and put me into ICU for a spell. Having gone through all that I still have no regrets. Sometimes we get off to a bumpy start but things will get better. I remember all too well how miserable and difficult it was to try to keep anything down. Hope you get to feeling better soon!

The stretchy part of the stomach is what gets removed during surgery. While there are some cases out there where people have overeaten on a regular basis and stretched their sleeve out to an extent it's not possible to get it back to where you orginally were. There is also the misconception that being able to eat a large portion of slider foods means your stomach is back to its old size. I've avoided things like protein bars because they never leave me satisfied. If anything they make me hungrier too. Finding some good quick-fix options are important to have. For me a lot of times some beef jerky and almonds provide a good fix. Food prepping can be a challenge at times, but also keep in mind when we food prep we can make things last. In the old days when I made chicken salad that might last for 3 meals at best. Now I could make it last for 6-8. I'm on day 2 of a strict low carb diet and it feels good to be back on track. I've gotten discouraged as well since the scale has been stuck. Getting active on the forum again has helped motivate me. I maintain that for many of us this is no different than recovering alcoholics attending AA meetings. It's always going to be a battle. Some days/weeks/months/years will be easier than others. Main thing is to remember that you're not the only one fighting these battles and we can all use support from time to time.

How big of a "bite" are you taking? My doc's office gave us all a super tiny baby spoon to use after surgery. Our instructions were to take a bite and then wait a bit. Basically should have taken us about 20-30 minutes to eat a food during the pureed stage. It also drives me nuts that doctors are all so different. Lot of us couldn't hit the pureed stage until at least 2 weeks out.

An hour? Ouch. My doc only asked us to wait 30 minutes before/after. Not saying to ignore their instructions but that seems a bit much. In the early days I struggled with getting my protein in through food sources. One thing I did was to start the day off with my protein shake. That way I had almost half of my protein goals taken care of first thing in the morning. Plus any water/milk from that can still count towards your water intake for the day. Kind of took the edge off of eating later in the day. I never pushed myself or anything, but it's freaking hard to hit 60+ grams of protein through food alone in the first few months (for me at least!). I also kept a 32 oz container around me at all times, such as an old Powerade or Gatorade bottle. I'd fill that up with Crystal Light and then my goal would be to have that done half way through the day. Then I'd refill it and have the second one done in the evening. Some days water went down easier than others. Either way that bottle traveled with me all day long. If I went outside, it went with me. Went upstairs to fold laundry, it went with me.

It can be a combination of things. It's a major surgery so it's going to slow you down as you heal. But yes, that coupled with low intake makes it all the tougher. Some people seem that they felt up to returning to normal within a few days time, others really needed the 2-4 weeks off before they were back to normal. It wasn't until week 3 where I really felt like I was on the upswing with my energy levels.

Agreed...check with your doc. I was on a lifting restriction for the first 4-6 weeks.

Sorry, wasn't trying to be snippy. Old habits from forum arguments in the past...lol. Used to get into it with people that would just post a random link as proof. It's frustrating sifting through all the info out there. In the end we have to just figure out what works for us individually. Cheers!

Welcome to the site and to the other side! The first month can be pretty daunting but will be well worth it in the end. Lot of good info and people around here, so enjoy the stay!

Shut the smurf up!

Shut the smurf up!

That's why I added that for some it may have the opposite effect. My point is that the general consensus is that it acts as a suppressant. As with virtually any medical subject we can trade hyperlinks all day long where one contradicts the other. Something from the Mayo Clinic holds more water than a random blog.

Regardless of the when (think my doc said 6 months) you'll want to take very small sips. It doesn't take much to make you feel kind of blah. I was a diet pop junkie prior to surgery. Haven't touched it since. Honestly I don't miss it that much. I have enjoyed a craft beer every once in a great while. I do have to take my time with it as you can get bloated quickly, even when nursing it. Everyone seems to handle carbonation differently.

Take this time to really have a come to Jesus moment with your relationship with food. You can make as many bad choices on the other side. If you want this to be a success then you'll have to put the work in. The pre-op diet will cause you to lose weight. It varies, but I had to do 2 weeks and lost something like 18 pounds. That said your doctor is not stupid. If you go on a liquid diet and sees that you're basically the same weight as you were at your last visit then they'll know something is up. Better to be honest with them if the question comes up. My doc was hard core. If you gained at all in the last month he would cancel your surgery because it was a sign that you weren't ready. He said that he's gone into surgery, saw that a patient's liver was still large (i.e. they didn't actually do a liquid diet and shrink their liver), and stopped things right then and there. Your doc might just give you a slap on the wrist but understand the pre-op diet is meant to help make your surgery easier. You're down but not out. Pick yourself up, knock the dust off, and get back on track and STAY on track. You can do it if you really want to. Good luck to you.

I'll echo what the others said. The 6 months were well worth it to prep for things on the other side. It's a good time to reflect on how we got here and really take a close look at our relationship with food. The wait is frustrating but I'm glad to have gone through it. Starting out it seems like it's a million miles away but time will go by quicker than you think. Good luck to you!

Congrats on getting to the other side of the fence! We all react differently to surgery. It took me several weeks to not feel exahusted all the time. I remember being so bored at home after 2 weeks and tried to do anything could around the house. Running the vaccum for a few minutes was tiring, but it also felt good to actually do something. As you transistion to more foods you're mood/energy levels will go up. With liquids you typically won't ever feel restriction unless you drink too much too fast. Water passes through the stomach rather quickly when there's no food in it. Don't be surprised if you don't feel a full sensation with yogurts either. Anything that is a liquid at room temperature is pretty much a liquid in your stomach. When you get to real foods you'll start to feel it.

Head hunger sucks and it's something that most of us still struggle with. This really is a time to evaluate your relationship with food. I know this stage is hard but the sooner you come to terms with the fact that head hunger is a monster the better off you'll be long term. As hard as it follow your doc's guidelines. Don't go off plan because strangers on the internet said it's okay to do something. It can be maddening seeing all the differences between plans but trust that your doc is doing what is best for you.

I don't want to scare you, but truth is there is a significant divorce rate for those that have WLS. I'd like to say it's all sunshine and roses on the other side but there can be issues. Personally I think there are usually other underlying issues that the WLS exacerbates in a relationship. It isn’t uncommon for the other person to get jealous at your weight loss, or they may not be happy with the changes that will be coming in your diet and the foods to have in the house. We had some challenges early on. There were some events we had to miss because I wasn’t up to it yet (was still struggling with food and healing) or couldn’t do, like an annual craft beer festival we used to go to. I remember the first real “fight” we had was frustration over the time it took me to eat. Mainly it’s because the other person feels like they’re a pig because they’re eating an entire plate of food in a few minutes and you’re taking 30 minutes to get ½ cup of food down. It can also make going out difficult. When you’re trying to have a date night and you can’t have a drink, an appetizer, dinner, and dessert it may not feel the same. It doesn’t mean an end to going out. It just takes some adjustment. On the other side of the coin our relationship may have been worse off if I hadn't had the surgery. My main reason for surgery was because of so many back issues I was having (had terrible sciatica). That was causing a lot of problems because I could only walk for a few minutes at time without being in terrible pain. It also had in impact in our love life. I was miserable all the time because of the pain so I wasn't a joy to be around. I've been able to do more in the past year since surgery than I had the previous 3 years combined. From that standpoint I think WLS helped my marriage, so it can go both ways. Getting your significant other involved is important. The more you can plan together on what to expect on the other side will help.

Generally you don't want to take an iron containing vitamin and calcium at the same time. Iron can prevent you from getting the full benefit of your calcium pills. You usually want to take them 1-2 hours apart. To be honest most people probably won't have an issue as long as they are getting more than enough calcium in their daily diet, but if you’re on the low end for calcium (i.e. not getting much from food sources) then it’ something to keep in mind.

This winter hasn't been as bad, but last winter was terrible for me. I still get cold way more than I ever had before and yes, it's because most of my insulation is gone now. Almost always had a blanket on my when I was at home. Hell I remember sitting in the living room in a sweatshirt and having my hood up! lol

??? Caffeine has long been used as an appetite suppressant. In the glory days of ephedrine that taken with caffeine would kill an appetite for hour and hours. I'm sure for some it doesn't make a difference, or could have the opposite effect, but those folks are in the minority. To the original post you'll find lots of conflicting reasons/arguments about caffeine. Some docs worry about the coffee being too acidic, others say it leads to dehydration due to a diuretic, and some just think caffeine is the devil (as with alcohol and anything else that's fun...lol). There is justifiable concern that people turn to empty calorie drinks and will either slow down their weight loss or start gaining if it gets out of control. We all hear about the calorie nightmares of some Starbuck drinks. I drink coffee on a daily basis and I don't have any issues with it. I started with decaf after surgery because that was doc's orders, so I followed them. When I was cleared I started having regular coffee again but mixed with decaf. For me I had to slowly increase the caffeinated portion because it would hit me hard and give me the jitters. That's just me, though. Lot of people could drink coffee after surgery without any issues. Personally I don't care for some of these NUTS that say "never" again. I think it's unrealistic and gives people the wrong idea. As with anything in life moderation is key. I just don't like the idea of making a list of all these forbidden items that we're never ever allowed to have again. It's one thing to follow instructions immediately after surgery to make sure you heal properly, but for the long term they need to be more realistic.

I'm coming up on my one year anniversary but feeling the same as you - time to hunger back down and get focused again. I haven't gained any weight but have been stuck at the same weight for at least 2 months. My diet isn't "bad" but I've taken to grazing a bit too often. No matter what it still comes off sounding like an excuse/reason to eat but one of my bigger struggles since surgery has beeing staying regular. I've tried to work more greens into my diet because as we all know it isn't easy to get many in after focusing on your protien source at meal time. Unfortunately that's led me back to dealing with more head hunger and feeling like I need to eat something every 3-4 hours. For the first few months I had no choice. My doc would lecture me about eating more than 3 meals a day, but there was simply no way in hell I could get my daily protein in through food sources alone. Didn't have a choice but to spread things out into 4-5 "meal" in a day. That's led to a nice maintaining diet, but it's not letting me lose weight. I'm happy that I didn't gain any weight over the holiays despite my wife making a metric ton of cookies this year...lol. This week I'm focusing on cutting out as many useless carbs that I can. From easing up on my coffee creamer to any little things like those 5 croutons in my salad that can go. Haven't been doing protein shakes that much so I'm going to get at least one in a day. This week I'm going to try replacing my normal lunchtime salad with the shake, move my salad to dinner time and figure out something new/different to do for breakfast.

All aboard the nope train...

Looks like you'll be going in about the same time as I did last year. There will be a lot of ups & downs in the coming weeks but it will all be worth it. Having the folks on this site helped me out a lot as well. It was nice to have that range of people that were going through it at the same time as me, and those on the other side that could offer advice. Good luck to you!