BajanSleeve

At the end of the day I would rather loose hair than remain obese ❤️ My hair continues to come out and my hair is getting thinner. I used the special shampoos and the spray thing that you massage into your scalp. I have noticed that since I started using the spray in scalp massager is it slightly better but still noticeable hair loss. I am not sure if I can say this is all from the VSG though because I am peri menopausal soon to cross over to menopause. Hair loss is also a symptom of that

Your hair cut looks really great on you, suits you ❤️ I continue to loose a lot of hair and just have to go through it until it stops I would imagine a year into this

Hiya my friend I have not been progressing well with weight loss. Quite simply I have not been disciplined. I have hovered over gaining 5 lbs, loosing 6 lbs then gaining all within a particular bracket. As at today I have lost 48 lbs. Which is not a good report at almost going into 6 months. SO today I went to the gym which my best friend bought me a one month membership. Things are very tight financially so I was glad for this gift. I worked out hard and I am going to use this one month to kick this weight loss up another notch. Now that I can eat more, it requires more self discipline. The honeymoon is over just relying on severe stomach restriction will not get me into the next level. The lifestyle of making good choices to achieve weight loss is now a greater reality. I will not let all this money go to waste!

I had to research this because I am a type II diabetic so I have also done all the research. I was a diet coke addict for SO many years. I also had developed insulin resistance on top of diabetes. I came off of artificial sweeteners but I use Stevia now. Praying and hoping they don't come along with something negative about Stevia.

I bought 3 months supply of vitamin patches before I had surgery and 2 months in and I am starting to use them. But I have been on Google looking up Vitamin Patches and what I am reading is starting to cause me to think they are not a reliable source of vitamin intake. So now I am quite concerned that I am not getting the vitamins I THINK I am. Have any of you been using vitamin patches for a long time? when you have gone for your check ups have you been deficient ? im thinking of going to get a vitamin B12 shot since reading all of this cautionary reports On another note the vitamin industry is not regulated and some of the reports I have read are that many of the tests revel that they don't have the level of vitamins they claim to have in any event. Do you know of any vitamin brands that are certified and independently tested? Maybe some of you have already searched this in depth and can share the info. Thanks.

Well, I thank God that I have lost 50 lbs. I have gone down 3 pants sizes which makes me quite happy. I have just gotten back 4 pairs of pants from the tailor that were all taken in. I can do SO much more than what I used to be able to do at almost 300 lbs. I can mow the lawn, weed whack, I can stand up long periods, I can dance, I can bend down and tie shoes and wear enclosed shoes because my feet are not as swollen as they once were. I have far more energy and since my blood sugar is more under control I just feel a lot better in general. So here is the be honest with yourself part. I could be farther along in this process if I were stricter with calorie intake and if I were exercising. I am not writing this so that I can receive lectures - I am choosing to be transparent and honest. I know I could be doing better. I have not lost weight in 3 weeks. I have gained upwards 3 lbs and then got it off but not gone past my last weight loss mark. I have reached the stage where I think the honey moon is over and now I will need to work to keep that scale moving. I can also eat more than I could before. Thankfully I can now eat chicken and I seem to be able to tolerate an egg even though that still makes me feel sick. I find that I am not hungry during the day time but my hunger starts from around 6 pm onwards. I am hoping that the weight I have lost so far will be the catalyst to help motivate me to further changes and incorporate some kind of exercise that I enjoy into my life and be consistent with it. I do have a treadmill in my bedroom - geez - I know. I am not motivated. I by the treadmill. I have found a class on Saturday afternoons that does a community African dance class for adults and I am seriously thinking of that. My only exercise right now is when I mow my 1.5 acre lawn with a push mower. Takes me 3 days and that burns tons of calories but that is only every 3 weeks. In general I do not binge eat. In general I eat good, whole food. I get most of my protein from meat now but I do still use protein powder. I do not always drink my liquid goal. Actually, I don't get it done most days. I will have dark chocolate, ice cream and some chips. In small amounts. I am encouraged though. Encouraged that I can still make the adjustments going forward to reach to at least 100 lbs weight loss in a year. I will not quit. My main goal in this whole journey of VSG is to be able to come off of insulin because of weight loss and day to day controlling my diet. I am at 250 lbs which is still very big. I'd be happy with 60 more lbs off. I will be so happy to make that post when that day comes. I am off to my college reunion where I have not seen friends in 25 years! I am so much bigger than I was back then but grateful that they wont see me at 300 lbs! It will be the first time travelling since VSG so we shall see how the eating regime goes when I am overseas.

Thank you ladies! I don't mind a kick in the pants every now and then. I posted this last night and would you believe I woke up today 1 lbs smaller? lol crazy. Yes @GreenTealael I HEAR YOU gotta drink that fluid. It is impacting me, I can feel it. @FluffyChix it takes me 3 days because I have to take many breaks, its not a flat terrain. Got lots of hills.

Hello ladies. I actually was on my period the day of my surgery but I had started to get sporadic periods prior to it - maybe every 2 or 3 months I would get my period. I am almost 49. I have not had a period since surgery which was 3 months 5 days ago whooooohooooo! Listen, I am not complaining. I am looking forward to menopause actually. But I just wondered if anyone in my age range experienced your period stopping after you had VSG. And if it stopped did it stop only for a certain period of time and then come back? Or did it go away and never come back ? The latter is what I am hoping for lol

Thanks ladies. I'm also hoping it never comes back!

Aaron I am just here to encourage you. Consistency is always the challenge. Having to push through pain to exercise is no joke. Can your primary care giver help with that? What I like about what you have said is that you are not in a defeats mindset. You see where the challenge has been and acknowledge it. I can hear your will and desire to get back on track. I am positive there are those like you who have faced weight gain after WLS but have reversed it and you are not giving up. Often we have to be our own best coach and not rely on others who do not understand or appreciate the battle with obesity - sadly even a spouse. Kudos to you for pushing through and remaining positive in spite of having so many balls to keep in the air with kids, studying, marriage, botched skin removal surgery and weight management. Nuff respect to you. seriously.

What made you choose the Sleeve over the Lap Band? LAP BAND IS AN OLD VERSION OF WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. YOU WILL GET BETTER AND LONGER RESULTS WITH VSG 2. Have you had Hair loss with the Sleeve? IT HAS BEEN 3 MONTHS SO FAR AND I HAVE NOT LOST HAIR BUT I AM VERY CONSISTENT WITH TAKING BIOTIN AND SUPPLEMENTS. I ALSO USE A NATURAL BIOTON SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER 3. What can you absolutely NOT eat now with the Sleeve? 3 MONTHS IN FOR ME AND MOST MEATS ARE STILL DIFFICULT TO TOLERATE EXCEPT FOR SOFT MEATBALLS, SHRIMP AND SOFT FISH. NO BIGGIE TO ME BECAUSE I AM LOOSING SO MUCH WEIGHT 4. At what point did you know you made the right decision with the Sleeve surgery? WELL, I HAVE LOST 50 LBS IN JUST 3 MONTHS. BY THE END OF THE YEAR I HOPE TO BE ALMOST 100 LBS SMALLER. THAT IS A HUGE THUMBS UP FOR THE VSG 5. What as been the best tool you've used in keeping your weight loss progressing? STAY AWAY FROM SUGAR AND CARBS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN AND YOU HAVE TO THROW IN SOME EXERSIZE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR INITIAL SET OF WEIGHT COMES OFF

2 years??!! wow...…….I would really be sad if I could not eat a good piece of roast lamb again. So I should not think its strange then. Sigh.

my go to food at the moment is cooked shrimp. I don't seem to do well with most meats except soft meatballs and occasionally soft fish. So shrimp it is with cocktail sauce. I will be 3 months post op in 10 days. I try to stay away from carbs, no rice or pasta but I will eat a little bit of mashed sweet potato with onion powder in it. I still like my blended soups with blended meat in it. Still can't hack chicken or pork. I always have small packs of peanuts at home. They are my most popular thing to eat when I am on the road. I only have one pack a day. 180 cals per pack

Lots of things I eat that I am not supposed to Generally I am 'good' but on occasion I will have something naughty like a slice of cake which I will eat throughout the day so by the end of the day I have eaten the slice. That has happened once so far. But I will eat a bag of chips often. At the end of the day it still falls within the calorie amount BUT its not nutritional. Dark chocolate is my best friend. I will be post op 3 months in 10 days and I have lost 48 lbs. I know I could be doing much better if I exercised more. I have a lot of guilt about that actually

I would say 3 weeks is the better time frame to recover from VSG. Even after 3 weeks I still felt weak but much better. Maybe you could reconsider asking for an extra week. No harm in asking the question

Hi there. For aprox 2 weeks after surgery you will feel weak in general after going under general aesthesia and weight loss surgery. So factor that in. I could not really do much at all during that period and had zero energy. you have to give your body time to recoup from the stress it was under during the surgery and it does not necessarily mean its the food. I always remind folks 2-3 weeks post surgery that its important to put electrolytes in your liquids. The tired and weak feeling is often related to low blood pressure and dehydration. The electrolytes help with both. Try using them and you should feel a difference. Make sure you do your lung exercises. Did you receive the thingie that has the 3 balls in the chambers and you have to suck through the tube to make the balls rise? Do that for 2 weeks.

I was able to drink a lot as well. I think its pretty common. Just try to avoid drinking and eating at the same time once you have moved to pureed foods

you should be having bowel movements 5 weeks out, even if they are soft and little. I am sure you are eating pureed foods which means you should be eliminating them. Make sure you are drinking lots of fluids and getting some fiber which you can do via making home made smoothies. I put spinach in my smoothies with a small portion of fruit

I am using the patches. We will see if they have been working in about a month and a half when I have blood tests

I will be 2 months one week post op next week. I am still having difficulty eating meat unless its blended into soup. Chicken seems to be the hardest for me and always makes me feel nauseous. the only meat I seem to be able to handle is a soft meat ball made of ground beef. I tried tuna and its ok but I don't really love it. Shrimp is OK too if you count seafood as 'meat' At what stage in your gastric sleeve post op were you able to eat meat generally? Sometimes I wonder if I am 'normal' in this regard

I mix a 64 oz bottle with my drink at the beginning of the day and put 3 scoops of protein powder in it which is 60 grams. I use the unflavoured protein powder. I also add a pack of powdered vitamins into the mix and then shake it all up very well. Sometimes the protein powder can develop into little tiny 'bits' but I don't really mind that. I make sure I drink the whole thing by the end of the day and then I add more unflavoured protein powder into my tea, or soup and even in yogurt. Unflavoured protein powder is ma best friend! They sell unflavoured protein powder on this website. The one I have found in Barbados is the Designer Whey unflavored

amen to all of what you said! The diabetes and hypertension would have killed me young too. I am really striving to come off insulin altogether with significant weight loss. I feel like I a have been born again with just 42 lbs and cannot wait to see what life feels like with even more WL. I am inspired by how much weight you lost too

I am just 2 months in and I am very pleased with VSG! I have lost 42 lbs and I feel like an entirely new person with increased energy and I can finally DO things that I could not do before because of so much weight. I think its essential that you get into your mind that VSG is not just about getting 'skinny'. It is about getting HEALTHY because obesity and its related illnesses will send us to an earlier death. So weight loss is what gets us to a great new life because we are much healthier Also, VSG is not a magic solution. You can still gain weight by drinking all of your calories and not really exercising. Its a commitment and you really have to be all in if you are going to spend that kind of money and go through the surgery etc.

I was allowed to eat blended oatmeal in the pureed stage (stage 2). I put an immersion blender into it and pulsed a couple times. The thing about oatmeal though is that its very high in carbohydrates. Even though I used natural oatmeal and the low sugar prepacked kind I stopped eating it because of the high carb load

Where is the WOW!!!! button!!!??? That is an amazing set of weight to have lost AND kept off. Don't loose any more - you are very slim and no doubt healthy