Sosewsue61

Try not to worry about the weight loss right now. Stay off the scale. You need to concentrate on relaxing and getting well. Your body is fighting illness AND healing from major surgery. You no doubt have lots of inflammation and are retaining fluid too. Even people not ill usually stall around 3 weeks post-op. Binge watch some netflix, do crossword puzzles, anything to keep your mind occupied. I hope you get the medical issues resolved and then can continue your journey. Good luck.

Are any/all of you on acid reflux medication? A lot of veterans swear that this hunger is actually acid reflux and you need meds/ different meds/ increase in meds. Restriction happens with dense protein, if it is always eaten first and no more than 4oz at a time, then vegetables, then whatever else is allowed. Soup, yogurt, tuna are all soft or semi-liquid and will not feel restricted. I feel restriction with chicken thigh meat and grilled salmon - that is the only thing I have consumed so far that is fairly dense. I feel no restriction with refried beans or soups or tuna - unless I were to eat an actual tuna steak maybe.

So sorry for your child's hurt. Please seek therapy for the family. This is going to sound a little odd, but when you relive it over and over in your mind and try to take blame you are just causing that pain to yourself. The original pain has already happened and you cannot change the incident; while it takes healing and dealing with that when you revisit it you yourself are continuing it. I know it is new information and takes time to absorb. Don't give it power by hurting yourself with food, then you become a victim and it wins again. if you can't do therapy for whatever reason, go to the library and look up books by Byron Katie, one I found useful was 'Loving What Is'. There are others and other authors that help with trauma. At your desk, bring snack bags of 20 almonds, a couple string cheese, and maybe a greek yogurt. I know you say you don't move around much at work, but I worked a desk job and I know you are allowed breaks - so especially at the break after lunch I insist you take it and you walk for 10 minutes, and don't eat lunch at your desk. You are actually more productive if you take those breaks. You are already a success with your weight loss. Honor that now by continuing. Good luck.

You didn't really give any specifics of what foods or behaviors were at issue. Eating fast foods? Soda? Sweets? Grazing all day? Nighttime eating? Not eating vegetables? Pasta, rice, bread? Not drinking water? You asked if we struggled and if we changed habits. Yes to both. But change one habit permanently and build from that - I stopped all soda and drank ice tea - no sugar, but used tiny amount of sweetener. Then cut out all fast food, etc. After surgery the healing time and restriction force a change of habits, but it will not fix your head and will be much harder unless you work on changing ahead of time. It's good that you are in therapy. I wish you the best on this journey.

Foxy lady!!! Great job!

@ProfessorSlim - try some greek yogurt, it has lots of protein - stir just a little no sugar jam in it. Maybe you are still swollen and need a little more time. Drink warm tea right before trying anything, don't worry about the rule of stopping drinking 30 min before food at this point - that is for when you are on solid food - all we do all day at this point is to get all the liquids and all the protein in any way we can. Hang in there.

How about freezing the leftovers instead of throwing them out? And don't forget to make turkey chili or turkey vegetable soup afterwards, or turkey enchiladas w locarb wraps and substituting greek yogurt for the sour cream.

Our intestines and stomachs are really quite loud after the sleeve surgery. I know mine was never this loud before. The rumbling, growling or gurgling noise is movement of the contents of the gastro-intestinal tract as the contents are propelled through the small intestine by a series of muscle contractions. Hunger would be more of an empty feeling or a gnawing type of feeling. It still could be acid reflux. If you drink a few ounces of a shake how long before you feel hungry?

I'm at 199....a little disgusted with how slow it is going. Battling constipation at times. No food aversions so far, canned chicken breast, one scr egg, cottage cheese, ricotta bake, refried beans all seem fine. I can drink relatively normal liquids. No heartburn except one brand of marinara for the ricotta bake. I run up and down the stairs in my tri-level all day long - at 62 I am in charge of two grade school granddaughters, plus we square dance. Can dance with no issues and right now I am in full house cleaning mode for the holidays - 90% of my house is hardwood floors and a ton of woodwork to polish. So that is my exercise.

Good for you! See and people wonder why we have to constantly be our own advocates not blindly accepting whatever any supposed professional says to us. Doctors only know what med school and the research journals feed them. And it constantly changes because frankly it's all theory.

Isopure ready-made blue raspberry and punch mixed w crystal light lemonade....shakes are too sweet these days.

Tastes do change - but work on it now. Have you given up all fast food? It is so loaded with stuff that you get used to craving those flavors. Have you stopped drinking soda? Soda made me want high sodium food like pizza. Try roasting veggies in the oven. Slice up parsnips like fries, put on oiled parchment, sprinkle with sea salt and garlic and roast at 400 - there are other veggies you can do this with - look on the internet. Make a soup with chicken, white beans and kale - add italian seasoning. You just have to keep trying different things. Get a zoodler and make veg noodles. Learn to stir-fry. You can sneak chopped up veggies in meatballs too.

So sorry Kate. Hope you get answers and resolution.

Are you tracking your food in an app? - There several free ones for your phone/computer - Baritastic, Lose It, myfitnesspal, etc. Are you getting the minimum grams of protein and your water? Post a typical day of what you consume. Up the protein to at least 80 and water to 100. If you are meeting those goals, try changing up the type of foods you are eating. If you eat a lot of chicken, change to fish, add a different vegetable - try roasting some julienne parsnips in the oven with garlic and olive oil, add some good fats - like avocado to some tuna or chicken. Bake the fish on parchment with a little olive oil on it - coat with dijon mustard or a tablespoon of full fat mayo and some spices, don't overcook it. If you are at 600 calories or above - add 100 calories more for a few days, and then drop down 50 for a few days, switch it up. Post your intake here. For the person with emotional eating - do you have a support group or person? Come on here to vent before you eat? What are you feeling just before you take that bite - tired, anger, anxiety, bored, worry? Food just tempoarily numbs those feelings - get a notebook and write it out first - cry, get it out, punch a pillow, take a walk. Food won't fix the issues, take an action. Let us know.

I believe it's complicated because there are so many factors genetically, physically, physiologically, and mentally. (We can talk ourselves into and out of things in a nano second.) As far as rules - don't we all live by rules with everything? Pay your bills on time, go to school by 8:05, get to work by 7:45, no alcohol at work, drive responsibly? If you could apply that logic to eating instead of how it makes you 'feel' there would be less confusion. But then - chemically - food supplies neurotransmitters that signal pleasure to our brains the same as drugs. Some of us are more sensitive to this than others. Okay now add society's ills and mental health issues. Put some viruses and bad gut bacteria and fast food in there and you have the perfect storm. But back to rules for just a minute. Two of my four children, now adults, are type I diabetics - they have no choice but to follow the rules, if they want to live. Eat on time, eat correctly as possible, test, monitor, exercise, get checkups and hope for the best research. One wears a monitor that constantly tells her phone what her blood sugar levels are as she can go low very quickly, have a convulsion, and die. I have given so many glucagon shots to this child to save her from a coma and death. (Her monitor alerts several family members as well.) And yet she is so grateful to be a mother and to have this technology now, and the laser technology to save her eyesight when diabetic retinopathy builds unneeded blood vessels and she works hard at it every day. So tell me again how hard it is to follow a few healthy rules? Forget how other people made fun of you as a fat child, or the father that threatened to whip you for not finishing your food, or the anorexic mother that made you ashamed, the b!tchy cheerleader that taunted you, or the girl that wouldn't date you because you were fat, forget the golden arches - LIVE. Live like you have no choice. This isn't meant to make anyone feel guilty for their choices or situations, but to make you see that the gift of this chance should be celebrated and utilized to its full extent. Honor yourself and what you mean to your family by working hard at this. Figure out what you have to do to achieve this. Don't give food any more due than it deserves.

Who is going out? Entire family/mixed ages? All girlfriends? Indoor putt putt golf, if ladies - a spa day, ice skating, rent hotel rooms and go see a play in a big city - just have appetizers and wine. Photo shoot. There is no reason to avoid eating out - as long as the birthday girl gets to pick the place - japanese or a fresh food place.

Aww sorry you are facing recovery and crap at work. Do you have binders on? And someone said micropore strips are good for your incisions - holds them together. What are your post-op instructions? Can you call the surgeon's office?

I just say, I am following a supervised plan from my doctor - those are acquaintances that really are not close friends. I have known them a long time but I wouldn't discuss a hysterectomy with them either. I consider a lot of medical things private.

Good luck! You will both be fine!

Yes normal not to lose for a time after some great losses. What about canned chicken breast, greek yogurt, canned tuna, blended cottage cheese? And you need 64oz of liquid a day, or you will get dehydrated which will make you dizzy and weak.

I didn't need to sound harsh. I am not losing either, not consuming much either. I think it all takes time for the body to recover from surgery and during that healing process the body is holding onto everything it can for some of us. Some didn't lose much during preop and lost a lot the first two weeks, then nothing for two weeks. And others lose all of those weeks and at three months gain 2 pounds for the month. The veterans just keep saying - follow the plan and it will work, learn how your body reacts to macro and micro nutrients. I need vegetables for fiber...we all know why that is!! Good luck and let us know how you are doing.

Woohoo! Hey we all love a good journey story. Post some before and progress pics!!!

So sorry for your friend. I hope she heals and gains her health back. Lapbands can erode, twist, cause scar tissue and so many complications, she may have had someof those problems. You will never have those pre-existing issues for your surgery. You can ask the surgeon for his complication rate, what type, has he had to do any repairs and under what circumstances, etc. The complication rate is very low, lower than gallbladder surgery. Take a deep breath. Make a calm and informed decision. I wish you well.

To the OP, you ask for advice, are given sound advice and refute what is said from an experienced 'sleever'. I understand you want to follow your surgeon's plan, then don't question your situation when you are following the plan. I agree that 100gr of carbs, even good carbs are going to slow down the weight loss. The majority of veteran sleevers while losing aimed for 20-50 a day. But not 50 in the beginning. If you eat 3oz of protein, you will maybe get an ounce of green beans in which is 4 carbs and that is about it - you will feel restriction. Cottage cheese has a few carbs - 4oz has 8gr and 12gr of protein. Your body will use the food you ate for fuel first, always and if you have been even slightly insulin resistant it won't burn the fat stores unless there is no food fuel for hours. Protein heats up the metabolism and makes the body work harder to burn fuel, carbs are easy quick fuel takes very little effort. I am sure your surgeon is a good surgeon, but everyone is different in how their body reacts to food fuel. I cannot eat much fruit and lose weight, when Weight Watchers started allowing up to 5 fruits a day without counting points - SLAM - I lost maybe a half pound a week and gained on some weeks. Non starchy vegetables do not have the same effect - but WW swore it wasn't the fruit. As soon as I went back to an older plan and backed off on fruit - maybe one a day or none, then I could have better losses. So the advice is to experiment and track what and how much, use a scale and a free app like Baritastic, myfitnesspal, or Lose It. Play around with the numbers, one size does not fit all. And good luck, we want everyone to win at this.

@Christop Where are you OP? We are all concerned, we hope you are seeking help and getting better.