allwet

yea got the saggy skin at this point and increasing as my gut has finally started to catch up with the rest of my body shrinking. I like DR.V'S take on saggy skin " you have to get there to earn the saggy skin" so i carry it with pride cause it means i "got there"

2 lbs per week so far after first month. expecting it to slow anytime now but my weigh in log shows 8-10 pounds every month since september. i also only weigh once per week (sat mornings).

I have taken left over combo pizza and peeled everything off the bread and dropped it into a skillet and added 2 scrambled eggs for a very nice breakfast scramble that always ends up being lunch also cause it turns out to dam big every time . Nice weekend treat for breakfast but only if you can resist not eating the bread

walk, walk, walk then go on a walk sorry that not much help but the movement helps move the gas. it can take from a few days to a week or more to get it all out and then every time you eat or drink you swallow air and it starts over again. I promise it gets better just hang in there.

Bread - by all that is holy the smell of baking bread freaks me out now. I miss sourdough bread so much

Ryan your the walking talking proof that it is not just about calories in calories out. nothing in and still the pounds resist. Don't Panic (I stole that one from Douglas Adams ) Fat loss and the associated weight loss is very hormone driven and right now yours are a wreck from the surgery. Everyone adjust post surgery at a different rate. and it may not be fair but womens hormones take a bigger hit than mens and longer to adjust (my opinion). learn from the post here but your journey will be very personal and specific to you. the weight will start to come off as your body heals from the insane crazy **** you just let some crazy man do to you . Work on your health mental and physical and trust that the sleeve will do its job. stick to the plan given by your surgeon and keep the faith it will work.

Ivy, take the first 2 fingers of your left hand and the first 2 fingers of your right hand and touch them together. that is the width and length of your sleeve. it fills up very fast when you start on solids. eat very slow and listen to your body it will tell you to stop loud and clear. if you eat fast you will feel sick and hurt when the full signal gets thru. Slow is your friend. so a bite then chat with family or talk to yourself (but dont answer thats just weird ) then another bite and so on. you will get the hang of it real quick.

as elf mentioned above coverage may carry forward but is usually limited to after care that is ongoing. You really need to confirm that new insurance covers wls or get surgeon to bump you up a week then after care will covered (dependent on your state law) good luck

Hardest part of post sleeve cooking? Not cooking to much food. It is real difficult to realize just how little you will eat in those early months. If you cook for family maybe not an issue but for 1 or just 2 like me i had to really work to not waste food that i just couldn't eat. The first time you realize that the chicken breast you just cooked could be 3 meals at least you will understand better. I use more boneless skinless thighs now cause they are smaller and moister so no sauce needed. eggs are very easy to cook and great for a quick no fuss meal and come early in your food plan. if you can handle it Salsa in all it varieties can be your friend. great taste and sugar free dont let food worries get to you. it is amazing how food moves from the center of your life to almost an afterthought post surgery. love the above post fluffy added

bm question are normal here, we have all been there not been able to do that the liquid diet and recovery from surgery slow down #2 in a big way. If you are not hurting dont worry just yet. i was day 4 or 5 and was worried also. you get used to going all the time and it feels odd to just stop. mention to your doctor if it goes a few more days or hurts.

So doable and grats on the great job you have done preop.

Ivy, get out of your head. You are going to get into a terrible mental feedback loop and scare the hell out of yourself for no reason. 1 sleeve is not bypass. 2 you will be able to eat foods you want. hopefully you will not want to but that will be your choice. 3 malabsorption like seen in bypass is great reduced to none existent in sleeve. millions of people without wls pop a multivitamin everyday just for **** and giggles. 4 please keep in mind the risk to your life that being overweight brings and think of the things you will be able to do when you weigh less. great post here about all the things you look forward to doing when you dont worry about your weight. look for it and spend some time reading thru it and see if you connect with some of these ideas

Nikki i want to thank you for sharing what i hope will be great lesson for all those pre wls. The sleeve will work and do its job. The only thing that will stop you from reaching your goal is YOU. It is so much a mental game after surgery. We are our own worse enemy. Please use these early months to learn how to deal with these situations because if this had been month 6 nothing would have happened except your post would have been "Stalled and dont know why" Your Sleeve will help control you for a little bit but the window can be small. Use this time well. the coping skills you develop now will determine the level of success you achieve. good luck and hold on to that feeling you had just before you threw up. That memory might be the very thing to get you past the next hurdle.

hey Nika, the requirement is for 6 consecutive appointments with a nutritionist and mine was very clear if you miss 1 appointment you start the 6 over again. Never was a mention of a minimum weight loss in that period. i cant answer to the chance you might drop below min bmi for surgery cause i was so far above it. I think i remember that comorbidities lowered the min bmi for approval. good luck

what MattyMatt said dont minimize this amazing accomplishment. all of us here know that there was no "easy way" with wls you did a hell of a job.

Just be careful not to let it drift higher on you bit by bit. The little slips are what will add up to stall you out now that you are past the "honeymoon" phase. Stay on goal and it will continue down even if it feels to slow sometimes. Some people hit the goal in a year others use full 2 years but at then end they are both at goal and both are healthier. good luck and follow along in the forums lots of great info and support here.

Southern, Please put in a call to your surgeon's office. it is always better to talk to them about any new increased or failing to improve pain. It will in most cases turn out to be nothing but the risk is not worth it. No matter the replies please just call and talk it thru with someone in the surgeons office and let them decide if it is routine or not. These first weeks are the most risky.

keep up the great work - I'll even forgive you for being a Seahawks fan

no does not seem high - high is relative to your activity level i do stuff around the house - counter top push up and leg lifts before i get out of bed and my trip to gym 5 days a week but i dont get out much other than that trip to gym - i care for disabled wife and my time away is very structured- if you have a more active daily schedule i dont see a problem with that calorie level. are you still dropping weight?

I guess in a way this is a victory but my wallet does not see it that way I was real carefull not to spend on new clothes that i would drop past real fast. I did go thru 3 belts in the last 7 months. What i didnt think about was the shoes. I got new shoes for all the walking and the gym and realized today that they are just to dam big now. My bloody feet shrank. Hardly seems like there is much room for fat in the feet but there was enough to for it to be an issue. hopefully only the one time - can't be that fat footed

i am wondering what exactly you are eating that is so high calorie and how often you eat it. if your food is primarily protein followed by complex carbs from veggies what else are you adding that seems to you to be pushing your calories so high. What do you consider high - you were pretty vague in your post. at 7 months i am around 1000 calories per day with some days barely breaking 800. could i go higher sure i could add a mickey d's shake 3 time a day and blow out the numbers easy but i hope i know better by this point in the process

DJ, as you said in your post the sleeve worked as it should. The post sleeve is mostly a mental game. Your post diet after this procedure will be what ever you decide it will be. Again its all a mental game after the surgery. Only you determine if you win or lose that part of the game. i wish you the best of luck going forward.

Just like there is a difference between War and Peace and Cosmo there is a difference between tracking your food and counting calories. Tracking your food provides Info. You cant make good decisions without information. 1 hydrate (i should learn to cut and paste this ****) 2. protein 3. no added sugar 4. no simple carbs 5. complex carbs from veggies 6. No snacking - if you need snacks for your mental health you need help with your mental health period. Do not use food to self medicate- that is what got all of us here in the first place Track your food - lots of free apps that do this weigh your servings - package labels allow 20% variability No less than 12 hrs between last calorie in for the day and first calorie in the next day. You will be asleep the vast majority of this time it should not be difficult. You asked so do with it what you want.

Need or Want - If this journey should have taught us anything its the difference between Need and Want. Those at the highest starting weight may indeed Need some surgery after massive weight loss. The rest of us my feel we Want to have plastic surgery maybe to finish what we see as a transformation. Tell the world nothing or tell them anything but always tell yourself the truth.

1. hydrate 2. protein 3. no added sugar 4. no simple carbs 5. complex carbs from veggies 6. No snacking 12 hours at least from last meal to first of the day - most of that is asleep should be easy. take a cooking class or get new cookbook and try out new ways to make old favorites. I also fight the carb monster and i know the effect of that carb rush - hunger 1-2 hours later like you havent eaten in days. Will anyone be perfect - No- but the closer to this you can push the small and shorter you stalls will be. In my opinion - stalls are the result of low hydration low protein high carb diet with snaks added in. this results in constant elevated insulin level and the body will not burn fat in the presence of elevated insulin. Take it or leave it but if you are stalled what do you have to lose except the weight.