photogirl70

Hi! My name is Pam and I'm a portrait, boudoir, and fine art photographer based out of Las Vegas. I loved going to concerts and hanging out with my family. I have an amazing husband, and daughter in college, and a high school son that I homeschool. If you want to take a peek at my work, my website is www.pamfieldsphotography.com

I can totally relate! I live in Las Vegas so it's like State Fair everyday! There are so many amazing restaurants. My husband and teens are currently splitting some fancy doughnuts in the kitchen and planning a trip to the amazing crazy ice cream place called Creamberry. That place has cotton candy creations with ice cream like rolled ice cream burritos. However, I am almost 6 weeks post op and have been out to eat sushi a couple of times. I'm just watching my weight on the scale slowly get lower and lower. 30 lb so far.

This helps tremendously. I was feeling all alone in this process. For liquids I was told to be on 300-400calories, but not sure how that changed once in purees. I will try to relax a bit more regarding the process, I just don’t want to do anything wrong or to hurt my new stomach. Thank you again. I'm almost 6 weeks out and I agree with this though I'm one to weigh often. Focus on your protein and fluid goals. I stalled at the end of my 2nd week and it lasted approx 10 days. It was frustrating but after that, I've been seeing the scale go down bit by bit. I can share with you what my nutritionist has told me starting with the pureed stage which really was part of my first 2 weeks after the first 24 hours (which only allowed drinking water and chicken broth) and called the Funnel Diet. If it can fit though a funnel, it is ok. Still drink protein shakes. Aim for 40-60 g of protein from shakes. Calories were 300-500 per day. It's important to pick low carb and low fat foods. You really want feel restriction on this state or with pureed however, I was allowed to start scrambled eggs during the 2nd week. My weeks 3-4 were textured and soft foods which included anything I had already eaten and I could add 1/4 c of textured foods like ground/shredded meats, fish, etc. The guideline was that if you can mash it with a fork, you can eat it. Chew, Chew, Chew. The calories were 400-700 and still get 40-60 grams of protein through shakes and 64 oz of water. After week 2 is when I was told to start with supplements and vitamins. The next stage came at week 5 and it really was not much different than week 3-4 except My protein went to 60-90 and I was told to try to get most of my protein from food. I only drink 1 shake per day now. I'm not supposed to drink 10 min before, during ,or 20 minutes after a meal. (some people are 30) I have a list of foods to avoid and am sticking with that at least until I get closer to my goal weight and then I will eat some of the foods from time to time or on special occasions. The other tip I was given is to aim for my carb grams to not exceed protein grams at every meal and snack. Good luck and you will be moving to real food pretty quickly!

I been drinking 64 oz +/- most days starting around my 2nd week post op. My doc has us come in 2 days after surgery for IV therapy. For whatever reason after I got home from IV therapy, I was able to drink more than a "sip". As far as getting in my 64 oz, that's always been a challenge for me.

My NUT said to aim for carb grams to not exceed protein grams at every meal and snack.

That's a tough call. Sometimes insurances will go ahead and pay early if they find out you have a hernia. If you look at self pay, check out this fast track program in Las Vegas. https://blossombariatrics.com/fasttrack/

I'm needing to get my butt in gear and start working out on a regular basis. I would love to hear what program you are using especially if you are doing a DVD at home. I just can't bring myself to go to a gym right now. I hate treadmills and I don't like walking outside. Once I meet with my surgeon on Monday, I'm hoping she will clear me (I had an infection at my big incision) to start with more core work. I've been doing some Leslie Sansone but I'm getting bored even though I can't get through a whole program yet.

I had my sleeve on 7/31. I've been told that ideally I should aim for 3 meals and 2 snacks. I was told that 1 shake can be a meal replacement with a goal of 60-90 g of protein per day. I usually start my day with a premier shake and get the rest though food.

It sounds totally normal and similar to my journey. I stated textured food earlier than many on here. That's when my body had some adjustments and a bit of a stall.

Share the recipe? Sounds amazing ! http://www.obesityhelp.com/articles/unique-greek-turkey-burgers-recipe-29g-protein

I'm not sure I'll stop, but I'm going to switch to a cheaper multi vitamin and calcium and probably drop the extra biotin and probiotic. I'm glad you are doing great though!

I'm only 5 weeks out. My plan has me eating 500-800. By 2 months, I can go up to 1000-1200.

Mine lasted 10 days. Then, I lost a 4 more lbs and had another stall that lasted 6 days. I've just stayed on my plan. It will happen so hang in there.

Pan seared shrimp has been a quick easy lunch. I usually have little spinach bake with it. I made this awesome greek turkey burger. We've had salmon a few times and ground chicken sausage cooked with cabbage and onion.

This is so true! I'm a little more than 1 month out and I can tell you that I am so satisfied with such small portions. I have always enjoyed eating and I still do but there is a strange contentment with the amount I'm eating. I do have to confess that while I don't "crave" pasta, Chinese buffets, all you can eat sushi, or the prime rib/crab leg buffet , there are some moments where I think about those things. I know that one day, I'll be able to eat a small bit of pasta and fried rice, but I'll tap out on the buffets of any kind. I'm avoiding pasta and rice until I get much much closer to my goal weight. Even then, it will all be done according to my calorie allotment.

I don’t know what that hasn’t crossed my mind. I’m going to give that a try right now! I’m pretty desperate at this point. I feel great except for the pain on my side where the largest incision is. That's where mine hurt and I felt like I had a huge knot behind it and I wondered if my liver was inflamed or something because I was hurting really back just under my right lower rib cage, but looking back, I think it was my colon and me being impacted plus the infection.

I can relate. I had a lot of pain in the beginning. Some of it was related to constipation and some was related to an incision getting a superficial infection. I'm still not sure what all was going on, but I know the pain you are talking about. It slowly got better. I did have a 5 day round of antibiotics that I started on my 14th day after surgery. If I had to go back, I would have seen my doctor sooner and started antibiotics a little earlier. Have you tried a heating pad? I was told I could use a heating pad for 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off.

I specifically asked my surgeon during a follow up about keto since my sister is doing it and we share some recipes. She said "no keto" due to the high fat. I still share some recipes and many of them are easy to modify the fat content.

I was lucky to be able to start purred and soft after about 1 week. That first egg was great! As far as the meat, it went down fine. I cut pretty small bites and it was so juicy. I've had shrimp, chicken, groundTurkey, and salmon too. So far, I've not had any issues with introducing new foods. I just can't eat much of it at one time. My guidelines say no more than 1/2-3/4 cup of food per meal.

Hang in there! It gets better. I don't know your nutritional plan but my was pretty open. I was sleeved on 7/31. Tonight I ate 2.5 oz of rib eye steak and some broccoli. Okay, I also had a couple of bites of baked potato.

I had GERD before my sleeve and I was worried when I read how many people get worse. However, I haven't. In fact, I've gotten better. I think it may have to do with me really focusing on not over eating as well as eating more slowly and chewing more than before the sleeve. My sleeve is still really new but I'm allowed to eat anything I want as long as I stay in my calorie guidelines and get my protein goals. With that being said, I think if I had know about the possibility of it getting worse before hand, I would have talked more with my doc about RNY and if that would have been an option for me, I would have gone that route.

I finally started using 3 pill boxes. I put 2 of my calcium in my PM box since I take my multi and lunch.

I was sleeved on 7/31 and I am 48. I had barely a 1 day period on 8/30 which was a few days late but usually I go for more than 1 day! We'll see what happens next month.

My system was all over the place so I would say yes. Especially considering you are only taking in liquids right now. I had the opposite problem for a bit but it all has worked out.

Oh, it's good you asked! Some people don't know. I didn't before I started this process.