GradyCat

Yes, it gets better every day. Glad you're feeling well. Good luck on your journey.

It's a normal time to stall with the adjustments to real foods. You're doing everything right, you're just going to have to let it run its course and keep eating 600-800 calories and getting your protein and water in and wait.

I do the premade GNC Lean Shakes and haven't had any problems with them.

Just give it more time. Your energy will pick up and your acid reflux will go away. Mine did around 6-7 weeks.

I'm so sorry that this surgery complication happened to you and wish you the best in your recovery.

Yes, you should be swallowing your prescription meds whole and not crushing them.

My visit was shorter than that because I had already filled out all of the extensive paperwork, chosen which surgery I wanted, and the nurse coordinator had reviewed my file. The surgeon just checked my overall health, answered any questions, and told me what pre-surgery tests and clearances I would need.

I was totally honest, but then again I had to be because my psych eval/approval was done by my own psychiatrist that I see for Depression and Anxiety.

I had the sleeve, so maybe it's different, but I didn't have any trouble sleeping or laying on my side. Good luck!

It's the infamous Week 3/Week 4 stall that everyone gets. Your body is adjusting from surgery to liquids to soft mushy foods. Everybody gets it. No worries, the scale will start moving again in no time.

I'm only 3 months out, so I'm still following doctor's recommendations of filling a plate with 1/2 protein, 1/4 veggies, and 1/4 grains/carbs. You have to eat your protein first, so if you're full after or before eating all the protein, you stop. If not, you move on to veggies and stop when full. I never make it to veggies or grains because I'm full with the protein.

I was eating solid food at 5 weeks post-op but I still can't eat many things (steak, soft tortillas, etc.) and haven't returned to what I'd call "regular" food because "regular" food is what made me fat in the first place. I'm eating salmon, cheese, and 90% protein and very little of anything else. I get full really quickly and can only eat something like 2 oz at a time, which is the beauty of the sleeve surgery being a tool for weight loss. Hang in there and don't eat that dog. 🙂

We talk a lot about what should be our average weight loss and how fast we should lose post-op. I saw these two graphics today and thought they were very helpful to allow us to visualize a realistic idea of how fast and what percent of weight we should lose at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months.

That sounds good. I've never used any of the powdered protein as I drink ready-made GNC Lean Shakes, but I can see where you could mix ingredients and concoct treats.

Yes, it's so exciting when the scale starts moving again! I hear ya! Congrats on getting out of a stall. My scale is finally moving too and I'm doing the happy dance!

That's great, congrats! I have my 3.5 month check-up on April 2nd and I'm hoping to be in Onederland by then, but then again I only weigh without clothes and shoes and the doctor will weigh me with clothes and shoes. But anyway, I hope to be 35 pounds down from my Dec. sleeve.

Thanks for sharing and CONGRATS and your success. I hope to be a success story in the future. I'm just 3 months post-op and have a long way to go.

It's going to take a while to overcome feeding our emotions with food but you're doing good so far, hang in there! I just started taking Biotin gummies to help keep my hair.

When I first attended the free seminar and heard the options, I thought bypass was my choice because it wasn't as "permanent" as the sleeve cutting out part of your stomach. But when I talked with my primary doctor and my therapist, they both said the bypass was too severe/radical and to go with the sleeve. I mulled that over and decided they knew best, so I did the sleeve 3 months ago. I at first wanted the bypass also because it promises more weight loss.

I'm 3 months out and have lost 50 pounds. You can't look at # of pounds, though, in comparison, because a person starting out at 450 pounds is going to lose more weight in pounds than a person starting out at 250 pounds. You have to look at percentages. I've lost about 32% of my excess weight in 3 months. My insurance didn't require six months of medical weight management first or requirement to lose weight before surgery, but most of them do. Does your surgeon's office have a free seminar for you to attend to address most of these issues?

After insurance approves you, you schedule the surgery. Then there are the last-minute tests of chest x-ray and blood typing, blood clotting factors, etc. Then you have surgery. I don't know if there are payment plans or not.

I do the premade protein shakes, GNC Lean Shake.

That's the thing about dieting, sometimes your body goes into starvation mode and shuts down. Hopefully it's just water weight or a temporary one day thing. Good luck with your surgery!

Good luck with your journey. I'm 3 months post-op and can say it's the best thing I've ever done so far.

My surgeon's office didn't list out carbs specifically, just protein goals (60-70 g/day) and liquid goals (64 oz /day). They said to imagine a plate and half of it should be protein, 1/4 veggies, and 1/4 grains/carbs. Eat protein before eating anything else and stop when full.