Lanie992

Says who? The interwebz?

I just posted these to another thread, but here are some recipes I used for pureed (that are so good I'd eat em during soft too!)
Blend 1c low-fat ricotta, 1-2 T caramelized onions, and some finely chopped rosemary using a hand blender for a great whipped ricotta dip. Pressure cooked some cannelini Beans and blended with a touch of olive oil, lemon juice and zest for a white bean dip. Scrape vanilla bean seeds & add pod to low-fat milk and steep over low heat. Remove pod, combine with sugar-free cheesecake pudding and a little bit of almond extract. Tasted like an amaretto cheesecake! For soft foods most of my favorites were fish, but there were a couple of tasty meat recipes as well.
Combine 1T low-cal cream cheese with either some minced shallot/capers or some everything bagel seasoning and serve with some smoked salmon. Poached fish in a milk broth flavored with leek, shallot, saffron. MD-style crabcakes (toss meat in a metal bowl first and listen for any clinking to pick out shells) with very little filler. These were especially great since you can portion into 2-oz mini crabcakes and freeze, then pull them out to broil as needed. https://leitesculinaria.com/44197/recipes-beef-chili.html This recipe was delicious. It's a ground beef chili that has a very soft consistency designed for topping hot dogs or hamburgers. Has some kick but loaded with flavor. Of course, chicken salad and tuna salad. Chopped up a whole rotisserie chicken and made a couple different types of salads- pesto and curry chicken salad. Hope you find some inspiration from these ideas!!

So glad to see this post! I’m feeling great. Still a lot of restriction and I’m definitely under 500 cal/day. Have lost a little over 50# since surgery day, and it’s just crazy to be back in such a small body again. Still have about 40# to go to get to my stretch goal weight, and weight loss has definitely slowed at this point to about 2#/wk. But clothes shopping is so much fun again! I bought a top in a size small the other day, looked at it on the hanger, and thought “I have no business trying this on/thinking this is going to fit me.” And it did! I am definitely dealing with a bit of body dysmorphia because I still see myself in my minds eye as this bigger person, but I’m really not any more.

also - advice for anyone reading this who is early in their post-surgery journey, or still pre-op: as tempting as it may be to buy “goal” clothes in smaller sizes, try to hold off. Not for the reason you may think, but I have found that my style now that I’m smaller is wayyyy different from my style when I was bigger. I was still shopping for styles I would have picked out as a larger person but in smaller sizes, and now that I’m smaller, I don’t want to wear those styles, if that makes sense. Save your $$$!

Well all is newbies really appreciate your wisdom. I hang of every word the vets say.

I work in a GI department, and you should never wake up with the scope down your throat. How terrifying and uncomfortable that would be! An EGD is only a 5 minute procedure, maybe a little more if biopsies are taken, but it is very quick and the anesthesiologist should have kept you asleep during the entire thing. General anesthesia should not be necessary for an EGD. That is overkill. MAC (Monitored Anesthesia Care) with propofol is the best way to go. You breathe on your own and did not need an endotracheal tube, you are completely asleep and comfortable for the procedure, there is no nausea, and you wake up quickly and feeling great. I would sure talk to the anesthesiologist and let them know that you do NOT want to wake up! That is their job - to keep you safe AND comfortable!

Normal to wake up during an endoscopy with a tube down your throat? s 👀 uh, what?

You biggest obstacle my be yourself. And it's not just you, but lots of people feel the way you do. But if you want this SX you probably need to see the phyc dr. first. Without get your emotions fixed you are for an uphill battle.
First place is to start with your insurance. If they do cover, ask what the requirements are. If not, you may need to look into self pay. Every person's insurance is different. I didn't have to go to my primary dr at all. The WLS RN called my GYN and had them send over my last few years of weight history. I showed a steady climb. I also had been on WW for a while and show that in all the months going i had only lost like 2lbs... I had no co mobidity. My insurance required a 40bmi with no co's. or a 35+ with two. I was the 40+. That was for the lapband.
Sleeve i only went to the WLS.... i was considered a "revision" even though my band was removed 2.5 years before. Plus i was a cash pay. (14K)
Be positive.... and start to do things for you that makes you feel proud to be you.

Just wait it out... it will feel better.. It took me like 2 hours to feel better after overeating in the beginning. I rarely overeat now, but I did tonight and I am paying for it now.. just laying down waiting for the pain to subside.

I didn't have any help from my primary care doctor. I went straight for a consultation and the surgeon recommended the sleeve for me after reading my health issues... after that I had to see a dietitian, get a letter of approval from my psychiatrist and pass an EKG & stress test to get approved by my insurance.
My personal doctor was never involved.. I told her about it at my appointment soon before my surgery but she had no involvement in it.

Just say your home scale must be off.

I stalled for over 3 weeks and it felt like eternity. I am now losing fast - I am 3 months out and losing about 4-5 lbs a week. I am preparing for a stall sometime soon though. I don't go over 600 calories - mainly because I pick and choose what I eat by carbs, sugar, fat AND calories.
One thing that has helped me tremendously is eating the 1 net carb bread for Aldi's --- it is only 40 calories per slice. I toast two slices and put a little avocado on it (just a very thin layer) and the entire meal is about 110 calories! I buy the avocado cups at Sam's club..
Also I exercise every single day. If nothing else, I will do Leslie Sansone "walk at home" videos that you can find on youtube.

I don’t think that’s slow and increasing calories is not the answer. Increasing activity will help.

I thought 100% I would be denied. I procrastinated making an appointment for like 2 months -- (which makes me sad because I could further along if I hadn't). I just thought there is no way.. and it was actually easy to get approved. Find a surgeon with good ratings and reviews.. and if you're going to try to get it paid via insurance- make sure they take your insurance, then call and make an appointment!

update for you all almost two years out and feeling great
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Yeah, 222 is a pretty low starting weight. You can’t expect to lose as quickly as someone who started 100 pounds higher. 10 pounds in a month is pretty good, considering your starting weight. And 1200 calories is quite high for a month out. I’m 6 weeks out and averaging just over 400 calories per day (I’m supposed to increase to 800-1000 now).
By the way, if you want your info (surgery date, surgery type, starting weight, current weight) to show up when you post, you can update it by clicking on your username at the top of the screen and then “My surgery” under settings. If you want to share any of that info, it helps for people to see it as context when you post.

From everything I've read, yes it is. Gatorade Zero, Powerade Zero, anything like that should be just fine.

Tomorrow is finally surgery day. I’m having my surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. I started this whole process back in January, had to endure 6 months of nutritional visits (due to my insurance BCBS of Michigan and a BMI of 37 at the time) and then some delays in testing due to COVID.

In January when I first started the process, I weighed 256lbs. at 5’8 and now I’m down to 226lbs. (I lost 14 pounds during the 2 week pre-op liquid diet).

I’ve suffered with Hashimoto’s for years and weight loss has always been very difficult. Last year I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and fatty liver disease. At that point I knew I needed to make a change and like so many of you, diets and every diet pill you can imagine didn’t result in any weight loss that would last long term.

Pre-op testing yesterday included an ultrasound of my liver and pancreas (my gallbladder was removed years ago) a meeting with anesthesia, lots of lab work and a COVID test.

I found out today that one of my blood tests revealed that my Factor VIII is high and I will be taking Lovenox injections as a blood thinner post op for 14 days.

I’m to be at the surgery center bright and early (5:30 am). Tonight I have been instructed to drink 24 ounces of regular Gatorade (not sugar free) and another 24 ounces tomorrow morning 2 hours before I leave my house (so I’m really getting up early). Apparently this aids with recovery and reduces post op nausea and volume which I know I suffer from due to other surgeries.

I will try and post updates daily so that others that are pre-op can get a little insight on the experience.

I’ve learned so much from everyone’s posts on this site and from the forums I follow on Facebook and that has helped immensely.

Good Luck!!! You will do great. You've already come so far!! 💪💪

Blessings on your head!🤗
Please let us know how you are doing. My surgery is Sept. 2nd and I...I don't know how I feel really. Just kind of numb.😶

WOW WOW WOW!!!!! why can't the people in our lives be happy for us? I've told 2 people about my WLS my husband and my best friend. At first my husband was like you don't need it blah blah... I told him I'm doing this with or without your support so... My best friend who is as thin as a rail said I love and support you 100%. BTW...my husband came around to my way of thinking real quick.
So as everyone else has said, don't talk about it with them, they are not your friends and truthfully it's not up to you to find someone to cover your shift, that is your Director's job. Good luck!!! You've got this!!!

This site has really proved invaluable for support & I'm so happy I joined.
I'm so excited for you- Monday is almost here! My surgery is September 9th. I'm looking forward to seeing your journey!

Crazy. I am glad you can laugh now though~ And I am glad you came here for support. This is a really encouraging, supportive and non-judgmental group of people. I've found his site invaluable to me for an array of reasons.. Sometimes I just read & am just grateful to have this group.
I am so sorry. I know how it feels and how much it hurts... and makes you feel alone. I cried many times because I felt so lonely and felt the drain of their negativity.
I finally told myself I could do not go that route - it wasn't healthy and that's why I put all of it out of my mind... and concentrated solely on myself and my surgery. Maybe in a way their negativity helped me - I was NOT nervous at all because I was SO determined after dealing with that.
You ALWAYS have our support here so just know that you DO have support. You can private message me anytime - if you need someone to talk to.

Crazy. I am glad you can laugh now though~ And I am glad you came here for support. This is a really encouraging, supportive and non-judgmental group of people. I've found his site invaluable to me for an array of reasons.. Sometimes I just read & am just grateful to have this group.
I am so sorry. I know how it feels and how much it hurts... and makes you feel alone. I cried many times because I felt so lonely and felt the drain of their negativity.
I finally told myself I could do not go that route - it wasn't healthy and that's why I put all of it out of my mind... and concentrated solely on myself and my surgery. Maybe in a way their negativity helped me - I was NOT nervous at all because I was SO determined after dealing with that.
You ALWAYS have our support here so just know that you DO have support. You can private message me anytime - if you need someone to talk to.

Try doing different things and see if it works. After gaining back 40 pounds over 8 years post losing 140 pounds .... I had to go slowly ...it is what worked for me. First I planned a sugary snack each day. And made sure that it was ONE. ONE skinny cow ice cream. ( I can't eat" sugar free" products - all sugar alternatives make me violently ill ) But for me, knowing I had that one treat.... did it . Then it was going back to Protein first. And making really good vegetables, and really fresh salads. And eating with intention of fueling my body. And getting healthy. And changing old habits that crept back....
But that is me. YOU Have to figure out what will work for YOU - for me it was going back to what worked back when... and amazingly enough I had not "broken my sleeve" either. I still have restriction. Just not with chips or ice cream either ! For me - as long as I have the reminder of ONE serving of a treat, and remembering that it IS a treat keeps me from eating more than one. And you know what happened ? Watermelon got really sweet, as did berries and cherries and grapes... and sometimes my treat is fruit !!! I have seen the past 13 months SLOWLY changing my eating habits AGAIN. Life is a journey. Have lost that 40 pounds plus two more.
You CAN do this. !!!

Yes, I agree with making copies or take pictures for documentations. ALWAYS COVER YOUR BUTT! you never know what can happen and just incase to have your proof. I wish you the best!