sillykitty

Oh, I forgot about protein drinks. I have to add Whey Protein Isolate to the list of things that bother my stomach. I was fine the first few weeks, but then anything with whey protein in it made me miserably nauseous. I had to look at a lot of labels, but I've now found protein shakes and bars, and protein soups that agree with me. I'm a social drinker only. So in someways that has made not drinking better, and some ways it has made it worse. It's better because I'm not tempted by drinking daily, and when I'm out not having a taste for it makes it easy for me to have water and be the DD (for once!). But it means I have to make up a lot of excuses for not drinking. I haven't shared my WLS surgery at work, so me not drinking leads to a lot of questions. So with you only drinking when you travel should be easy. You can choose to indulge moderately when you travel if you want, but it won't be a daily or weekly thing you are trying to avoid. Thanks, I wish my weight loss was faster, but it's coming off (but not this week, grr!). Yeah, I'm excited for you to get sleeved, and see how you do because of our similar stats. Glad to hear you enjoyed Scotland. I'm going to be there for 1.5 weeks, so plan to do Edinburgh, Glasgow & then get up into the NW area. I'm glad to hear the people were nice. I've heard some mixed reviews on that. I know in Ireland the people were one of the best parts of the trip. Actually the weather is what made us choose Scotland. I had a window for work to take vacation in July, and we wanted to avoid the heat, so Scotland it is! Paris, oh, that was my first trip to Europe and it was a whirlwind. We did all the touristy stuff, Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, Louvre, Notre Dame, etc. What I wished we had had more time for was just to wander around and soak it in. The city itself is a tourist attraction. I'd also suggest choosing your neighborhood in an area where there are some Parisians so you'll have local cafes, bakeries, etc. We stayed in the Latin Quarter. It was in the heart of the tourist district but had plenty of local flavor. I love Italy. This will be my second trip to Rome, and 4th trip to Italy total. I'm looking forward to going back as a more experienced tourist. I don't usually repeat destinations (too many places, too little vacation time!), but Rome is my friends number dream vacation, so I'm going back. Any tips for Scotland? Did you drive at all?

Unless you have complications, you should be perfectly fine at 8 weeks. I started traveling for work after 3 weeks, and all has gone well. As far as food goes. I personally don't find food on cruise ships to be all that great. There is a lot of it, but it's all pretty mediocre IMO. So one of the benefits of the sleeve for me (and others!) is I have no physical hunger. So that makes it easier to make good choices. So I have found it easier to skip over the bread and the carbs, and have lean proteins instead. I know I wouldn't find the cruise ship food appealing enough to tempt me wildly off plan. Another good thing, is 8 weeks out your stomach capacity will be pretty small. So if you do give into temptation (no one is perfect), your sleeve will limit the damage you can do. We have to retrain ourselves how to eat, but the sleeve is a good safety net!

I'm honestly really bad with water. It's the only thing that hurts my sleeve. Even without the pain from water, I just find drinking large quantities a chore. So to be completely honest I'm sure I won't get my water in while traveling. I don't get my water in when I'm at home, and I don't get it in when I travel domestically for work. I have never had any issues from dehydration. So even though I make an effort to drink more water, I'm rarely near 64 oz. Not advocating this, just reality for me. I'm 9 weeks out from being sleeved. My sleeve has been relatively trouble free. As I mentioned I have some stomach pain and nausea with an empty stomach and when I put water on an empty stomach. No food has upset my stomach at all. Water and vitamins are the only things, ironically! I have had beer a few times at 4 weeks out. The carbonation didn't bother my stomach. I didn't have any taste for it though. Most of it I just let get warm and flat, and then it really wasn't appealing. I haven't had any since, because the week I had beer, I had a few cocktails as well. After I got home from that trip (business) I had gained 2 lbs despite averaging only 700 calories/day, including the alcohol. So considering I didn't enjoy drinking, I've sworn it off for the time being, as I don't want to sabotage my weight loss. I will try it again in Scotland, even though I won't be at goal yet. I'm not sure if I will enjoy it again, but I'll definitely give it a shot. Yep, it will be my first time to Scotland, I'm looking forward to it! Have you been to any of your locations before? I loved Paris, but didn't spend long enough there and want to go back. I've never been to Amsterdam or Brussels before, I'm envious!

I totally get what you are saying. I love to travel and experiencing the food is a big part of my enjoyment. I'm actually going to Scotland, Rome & Egypt this year. Two are big food destinations for me, and the other is a beer destination For me, there is no way I am going to go to these places and eat protein bars & salads. I plan to enjoy and experience all the different food. Thanks to my sleeve though it will just be in much smaller quantities. I figured those indulgences will be balanced with a lot of walking and general higher activity level. If I have gained weight, when I return I know I can reset and buckled down and get it back off. I get 3 weeks of vacation a year, I'm comfortable with splurging for 3 and being on plan for the other 49.

This developed at week 4 for me as well. It's mostly that I'm nauseous when I have an empty stomach, and drinking water just exacerbates it. Changing temps or adding flavorings didn't help in my case. I asked my surgeon's PA about it, and she told me it is common. I personally haven't found a way around it. It has lessened as the weeks have gone on. I also never get sick, just feel nauseous, so I just go about my life. It definitely makes getting all my water in hard, especially considering I'm not much of a water drinker to begin with.

I put frozen strawberries in the blender with my protein shakes from week one. My program had no restrictions on strawberries and they never caused a problem.

The Gladiator Strawberry or Vanilla with raspberries or blueberries is only 265 calories, 15g carbs, 8g sugar with 45g protein.

I also technically took no time off. I work from home, so except when I was in preop, op and recovery, I was working. I had no issue at all doing my "desk" job right after surgery. Physically it was similar to @wjgo experienced, soreness from moving around. If I had to go into my office I would have taken a minimum of 3 days, including surgery day, but maximum of a week. I also wouldn't want to be sitting at home if there was work to be done.

I just want to echo the advice of getting some therapy. You are actively sabotaging yourself. You have gotten this great tool, and find yourself unable to use it. You need to find out why that is. Be grateful the NHS covers therapy, many people in other countries wouldn't be able to afford to get this kind of help. Please make good use of your benefits.

Honestly, I think you have some unrealistic expectations. You're averaging 5 lbs a week, that's huge! This isn't some miracle, our bodies can only lose so much so fast. And as time goes on our weight loss will slow. It's a little worrisome that you've lost 15 lbs and 3 weeks and somehow think the surgery isn't working.

Are you getting any nausea from them? Or have you ever had nausea from vitamins? I found a prenatal that is great, doesn't upset my stomach, but needs to be taken 3 times a day.

Thanks for the heads up, certainly things to be aware of!

I was feeling exhausted and really low energy. My surgeon's office gave me a B12 shot, and I was feeling back to normal soon after that. It could have just been a coincidence, but there's no harm in it, so I'm now a believer in B12

I just asked my surgeons PA about them last week, I told her I was skeptical of them, but all the vitamins I have tried to date had made me nauseous. She said they have patients on them, and seem to be doing well, but vitamin and mineral deficiencies show up long term, not short term. She said they couldn't hurt, just not sure how much they help. She told me about a prenatal multivitamin she takes and finds easy on the stomach. I tried her recomendation and they are great, no nausea, so I didn't end up ordering the patches.

I blend mine with ice. I don't notice any ill effects like gas.

Same situation here. My work slacks are looking pretty baggy. so I just ordered the next two sizes down. I'm really hesitant to buying more than 1 pair in each size because they are expensive, and I have the expense of having them hemmed as well. I might be ok because I work from home whenever I'm not traveling. So it's not like I need to dress professionally 5 days a week. My tops are still fine, and I have a few that are too tight, so I should be fine with those for a while. The other part of my work wardrobe is more formal skirt suits and dresses. Those are expensive, and dresses aren't the same as slacks, you can't wear the same dress week after week. So for my less casual work wardrobe I plan on using a clothing rental service. I'm going to try out GwynnieBee.com. They have from plus sizes down to regular sizes, and quite a few options that suit my style. I think it is expensive, but cheaper than trying to keep a professional wardrobe while I go down in sizes.

That's exactly my point. Your plan is working for you. I can see that you are making healthy and smart choices. Just because the portions are larger and your meals are more frequent than mine, does not mean I think that you are on a slippery slope, or are in anyway endangering your long term success. I also want to point out, that I didn't say that your portions or meal frequency was excessive. Just that they were too large and frequent for ME. That was the point I was trying to make. That even though I have seen you post what and how you eat, I never jumped in and told you that you'd become a statistic and you'd have a 60 lb regain. Because i believe that even though your meal plan is different than mine, it's not inherently wrong, just as I believe having one portion of mac & cheese is not inherently wrong. I actually hope you don't stay off my posts. This board needs different perspectives. No one here knows everything or has all the answers. I don't want to live in an echo chamber. But what I took issue with was the jumping to conclusions and the tone. You went straight to this dire scenario of regain. I'm certainly open to being questioned on my choices. I'll readily admit I could have made a healthier choice last night. But I reject the idea that this is a sign I'm playing with fire. I think everyone likes to be given the benefit of the doubt, and that's what you didn't do. I hope you don't take this as any kind of attack @FluffyChix. I respect your opinions, even if I don't always agree with them

I got mine from Amazon, the Protein2O tastes really good. Not something you can say about most protein drinks! I agree it is expensive, on Amazon it's about $2/bottle. But you'll find that all protein supplements are pricey, unfortunately.

I have to say I pretty vehemently disagree with you on this. I do not have a goal of eating perfectly. I do not need to eat perfectly in order to be successful. Being perfect is unrealistic for me, and I think unrealistic for the vast majority of people. I am succeeding in my goal of making much healthier choices. I have been craving mac & cheese for weeks. I have been tempted by it on a dozen different restaurant menus (I eat out very frequently for work). I resisted those because I knew that restaurant versions would be particularly unhealthy. The version I made last night only had 3 ingredients, and 2 of those, fat free evaporated milk & protein pasta, were better choices then I would have made in the past. The three ingredients also let me know exactly what the calories and macros would be. I also knew that I had the calories to spare. Before the mac & cheese I had only consumed 290 calories that day, so I had 414 yesterday w the mac & cheese. And in the 7 days prior, including work travel and an Easter buffet, I averaged 236 calories/day. Once I was full last night, I then threw out the rest of what I had made, so I couldn't go back to it today. @FluffyChix I read the meal plans and pics and recipes of what you are eating, and I think, "oh that would be a bad idea for me" For ME, the portion sizes are too large, and the timing of meals is too frequent. But I didn't get on your threads and tell you "you will become a statistic and will be back here in 2-3 years saying, "Help me Obiwankenobe. Help me! I've regained 60lbs and I am eating large portions and am hungry every 2 hours"". Because I know that just because something wouldn't work for me, doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you. There is no one size fits all answer to losing and maintaining weight. Everyone has to find what works for them, and what they can maintain long term.

Ok, I'm quoting myself, sad! But tonight was the perfect example of my stomach capacity helping to keep my cravings in check. I've been wanting to make this 3 ingredient mac and cheese I had heard raves about. Tonight I gave in and made it. I was semi good, I measure the ingredients out and then weighed it after it was done, so I would know what each serving would be nutritionally and calorie wise. I was only able to eat half of what I served myself, and my total damage was limited to 124 calories! Did I mention how much I love my sleeve??

I actually say something first to avoid the questions, spoken or not. For work I'm almost always eating at a restaurant my associate or client has chosen, so I don't want them to think I don't like the food. I've been saying that my stomach has been bothering me, so I haven't been eating much. That will also explain why when I see them in a few months or a year, I've lost weight.

I became intolerant of whey protein isolate. Anything containing whey made me extremely nausea, protein shakes, powder, bars etc. I tried different protein drinks, and found that the premade Muscle Milk Pro shakes don't bother me, and the chocolate tastes decent. The Muscle Milk and some other premade shakes, like Lean Shakes, EAS Advent Edge Carb Control & SlimFast, and I'm sure others use milk protein isolate as their main source of protein, and that seems to agree with me. I also bought some Medifast soups, bars & powders. Medifast mostly uses soy isolate. The Medifast items aren't as protein dense as the stuff using whey, but the ones I bought taste pretty good, so I'm happy with them. They are super expensive though. Once I'm through those I'm going to try some of the Bariatric Pal soups, and pastas, as they are mostly whey free, and less expensive. I also tried some vegan shakes, powders and bars. I found them to be absolutely vile. If you're going to try those, don't buy a case from Amazon like I did!

I know! Since I'm not hungry, it doesn't bother me. The only bad part is it is super obvious I'm not eating to all my dining companions

Oh, that's too bad you are both having abdominal tenderness. I have no issues there since 2 weeks out. So I'm doing fantastic. My weight loss is a little slower than I'd like, but I'm sure most people feel this way. But I feel really good. I had a period of low energy and weakness, but I believe B12 shots have taken care of that. My stomach is great, able to tolerate everything I throw at it. I'm loving having such a small stomach capacity. It keeps me from self sabotaging too much even when I give into cravings. I'm also loving that having no physical hunger, only head hunger makes those cravings easier to control. NSV - I finally figured out protein shakes and vitamins/mineral that are working for me. I became intolerant of whey protein about a month ago. That eliminated most shakes, powders & bars. I'd also not taken my multivitamins & calcium regularly because they cause extreme nausea. Now I've found premade protein shakes that agrees with me, and tastes decent. I've found multivitamins and calcium supplements that don't upset my stomach. I'm now able to get in all my required vitamins and minerals, plus the additional pills like my ppi, stool softener and probiotic & meet or at least get close to my protein requirements!

I'm almost 8 week post op. I have to say my daily diet and stomach capacity is vastly different then some! I'm able to handle 1 solid oz of food, that's it. I'm also never hungry at all. I have cravings, but no hunger. I'm averaging 300-400 calories a day and 40-60 g of protein. On days I'm home I typically have 1 Muscle Milk Pro premade shake & a high protein soup. If I have been out and have leftovers, then I'll usually have one meal of leftovers (1 oz) & the shake. One Chipotle soft taco was 4 meals! When i'm traveling my protein really suffers. I don't check luggage, so no premade shakes. I haven't yet found a powder without whey (I'm intolerant) that I can stomach. So I usually just try to make good choices when eating out. For example grilled shrimp appetizer, french union soup, eating the broth and cheese, turkey burger, mostly eating the meat, egg white ham & cheese omelette, etc.. I'm nearly always eating with associates or clients, so trying to excuse the tiny amount I can eat is awkward. The good news is absolutely nothing bothers my stomach (besides whey protein) I talked to my surgeon's PA about this last week, and she said it all seems normal. My neighbor had the surgery w my same surgeon and is now 3.5 months post and has the same 1 oz capacity. So it may be a function of our bougie size. I'm actually really grateful for the lack of hunger and small stomach capacity, it's making this process much easier than I had anticipated.