Berry78

THIS, exactly. A food scale is your new forever best friend.

I aim for 70g protein and 60g net carbs. 1200-1300 calories. I'm 4.5 months postop.

DS patients have trouble absorbing protein and fats, but no trouble absorbing carbs. So they eat more protein and fats and get a "normal" amount of carbs (which may need to be limited during the weight loss phase and even after). What many people don't realize is that surgery helps, but long term success is up to the patient. We have to watch what we eat forever if we hope not to regain. The DS requires people "watch what they eat" even more than the sleeve. Not eating less, but making sure they get enough of the right things so as to not become deficient. A couple handfuls of vitamins every day, etc.

Congrats! Sounds like you are doing super! Make sure that gatorade is G2, not regular (unless your program specified otherwise).

Since you are only 6 weeks postop, it may simply be too early for "dense" foods. You still have swelling going on. If you stick with soups and the like for a couple more weeks, you may notice a difference.

Uhh.. right after surgery I took my time, but now I just measure out my portion and it's gone in like 5 minutes.

The closer you are to goal, the happier you will be with your finished product. But if your quality of life is suffering, then getting the panni now, with a possible revision later might work. The surgery is safer and easier when the patient has lost as much weight as possible. My MIL had a 30lb flap taken off.. she hadn't lost weight prior to the surgery. The scar looks good now, but her recovery was difficult. She didn't lose weight postop either, so I don't know what it would look like if she did. Her swelling was significant for 6 months or a year I think. (The fluid collected in her pubic-hair region.. looked like a half-cantaloupe under the skin). Don't know if being near goal would be helpful for that.. likely!

I went with Dr. Illan. Had a good experience.

It always is a good idea to get as much info as possible. Don't think I would use that surgeon though! Another option is a RNY bypass. Can be done after a sleeve and will likely help with your GERD.

I have to wait a couple hours if I eat something dense. So next time I'm ready to eat, I drink a glass of water, then wait about 5 minutes, then eat. The water leaves quick enough that it doesn't seem to affect my meal.

Hey, his surgery couldn't be on a better day. One of my daughters was born on August 14th! Hmm.. (best get to b-day planning...) During this week, be sure to get pictures. A professional photo shoot would be great, if you could swing it. (Make sure you are in there too). Extra bed pillows would be good for him to have, and get a few Fleet enemas to have on hand. Milk of magnesia and Miralax are good too. You can get a small variety of protein shakes for him to try, just don't stock up. A variety of non-caloric beverages is good to have on hand, and make some broth (freeze some in 8oz portions). If you fill your time with preparations, it'll go faster.

I second a work-up. Your sleeve should be checked, your gallbladder, vitamin levels, etc. Let us know if they find anything!

You are doing great! 145lbs gets you to a "normal" bmi. I bet you'll be able to get there if you want. That's what I'm doing. 180 is my initial goal, and if I make it there, I have 155 as my normal-BMI stretch goal. Congrats!

Ok, I admit I rarely eat salad. Protein fills me up so fast that I eat my veggies in a separate meal, and even then it's 4oz lightly cooked spinach. Before I cook it, 4oz of spinach is a HUGE plateful, but as soon as it wilts, it's just a normal looking portion. I am still having issues with the visual sizes of food. A big salad looks so intimidating that I don't want to touch it. So I actually split those 3 meals up into more smaller meals, same food though. It is simpler to write it as 3 meals for those that can eat more at once.

My daily meal looks like this: Breakfast: 1 egg and 4oz black beans Lunch: 4oz chicken with salad or veggies Snack: 1oz nuts and 3oz fruit Dinner: 4oz meat or fish and nonstarchy veggies I supplement with low sodium v8 or coconut water (for electrolytes). This is how to meet protein goals and low carbohydrate goals with real food and without dairy.

This is why we have "goals". You eat as many times a day as necessary to meet those goals. If you are eating 3oz, 3x's a day of dense protein (7g/oz.), then you are getting approx. 63g protein for the day. For example: 2 eggs weighs 3oz, but only have 14g protein, so it's not a "dense" meal. At 5 weeks out, none of your protein is likely "dense" except maybe tuna. This is why early on we drink liquid protein to meet our goals. You should also expect to need to eat 4-6 times a day long term (if you hope to avoid protein shakes).

I was gonna say it coyld be related to constipation.. plenty of intestines around that area too.

3 week stall is very, very real. Can happen at 2 weeks, or 4, but most people see the scale stop moving for a week or two around that time. AND, it's the first of many!

An enema should get things moving in short order.

My new "armor". Vests give me a confidence boost. Another person may wear hats or the like...

The bone broth is said to have about 8g per 8oz. I'd just use that number.

The wonderful thing about "too small" of breasts, is they will be very easy to fake under clothes. Women with mastectomies get prosthetics all the time. View this as just another hurdle.. a problem to solve. As for the self esteem issue when naked, I really think it's coming from the build-up of hope that the surgery would make things more attractive, and now you don't feel that goal was met. When I rearrange my house, things ALWAYS get messier and uglier during the process. I think you're still "in the process", so knowing that this current messiness is (or can be) temporary might help. A revision boob job might be needed down the road. Nothing to worry about right now, just keep it as a possibility in your mind. As for help, I'll mention again.. mastectomies are seriously harsh on women's self-esteems. Perhaps you can find some helpful advice in books or websites designed for that population.

Well, how I see it, is a size 10 today was a size 12 in 2000. I WAS a size 10 in 2000 (size 8 in today's sizes) and that was a good, average, healthy size medium on my 5'7 frame. So, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend keeping up to size 8. Donate or sell the 10's, 12's and 14's. That's assuming the clothes are of the modern sizing. If the size 8 start getting tight, it's time to start paying attention. After all, 3 sizes equals about 30lbs, and that is plenty of flex-range with which to be working, no?

Expect the recovery time to be surprisingly long. I was very functional 2 days out of surgery, but it took 3-4 months to really get my strength back. (I had a virgin sleeve, so my recovery right out of surgery was quicker than someone with a revision... so you might not feel quite as "functional" for a week or so). You'll also be surprised, in a good way, that after the 8 week diet that "full" feels more natural and comfortable than with the band.

Well, the reality is that many people DO regain some after a few years. I'd hate to see you pay for additional storage of things you *hopefully* will never need, but I can understand wanting to hold onto some of it. Size 2 is tiny and if I got there, I wouldn't hold my breath to stay there either Could you just put them in boxes in the back of a closet or something? What if you donated just the biggest sizes, would that decrease the collection enough?