kbsleeved

Eating slowly has been a challenge for me too, particularly time between bites. Hoping today went better!

I'm curious about everyone's thought process when picking their goal weight (if you have one, that is!) Is it a weight you've been before that you know feels good to you? Did you pick based on your doctor's recommendation or the BMI scale? Did you decide not to have one? I've been gaining weight steadily since puberty and have never had a time in my adult life where I felt like I was a weight that felt good on me, so I'm a little lost in the woods as to what my goal weight is or should be... honestly I picked a number at random and if I get there I'm planning on being open to revision once I see how I look/feel. Which brings up another question - if you had a goal weight, did it ever change, before or after you reached it? Why?

Good note! I looked in my youtube history and here's a screencap of their recipe:

I haven't tried it but I saw a bariatric surgeon on youtube recommend adding the chewable vitamins to a protein smoothie to mask the taste.

I'll be a month PO on Sunday and have only just stopped having incision pain in the last day or so -- I didn't take tylenol this morning for the first time in weeks! Had a lot more luck with my water once I switched to a straw cup (my doctor's office confirmed yesterday that they think the literature recommended against straws is outdated) and meeting my protein goals when I started making my own protein shake in the morning with unflavored powder, fairlife milk, and PB2 -- it doesn't really taste like anything, but after all the super sweet protein shakes I had the first few weeks that's exactly what I want.

That's really good to know! I was thinking more "it's important for me to finish this so I meet my protein goals so I should wait to I can eat everything" but I will stick to the recommended portions/no more than 30 minutes from now on.

That's absolutely my motivation as well - trying to meet my protein goals! I have my first post-op meeting with my nutritionist tomorrow (kind of wish it had been earlier...) but I will do better about sticking to the recommended portions. This morning I had 1/4 c of oatmeal as outlined in my meal plan and didn't get the tightness at all.

I had my sleeve done on 11/11 and I am in the last few days of the pureed/soft food stage right now. I feel like after I moved from liquids to purees (and all of the gas from the procedure was out of my system) I either haven't really felt my restriction or I'm still just terrible at recognizing it. Everything I've read seems to say ~2oz is a normal portion size for this stage, but I can usually eat 3oz (esp. of refried beans) and I haven't really had the nausea/runny nose/sneezing fullness cues from my literature. I do get a feeling of tightness in my sternum sometimes, but it will usually go away if I pause and wait a few minutes before continuing to eat. I'm worried I'm overeating and potentially (beginning to) stretch my stomach - should I be stopping as soon as I feel the chest tightness and consider the meal over? Is the kind of restriction I've read about more common once I've moved on to soft foods? How did you learn what your fullness cues were and does anyone have good resources for recognizing your restriction/not overeating? I just had dinner and it was 1/3 a cup egg whites with 1 tbs of ricotta + Frank's sauce and I managed to finish the whole thing, and it was only the last couple of bites that I felt anything in my chest which is now lingering. Did I overeat? What should I change for next time? Edited to add I have lost ~10lbs post-op.

I have the most success with water through a straw bottle (though I'm careful about not swallowing as I suck) and with open-mouthed cups and mugs for protein shakes. I feel like it helps me pace myself better than trying to drink from the little bottles, and the little cups were too cumbersome for me.

This is my first post! I was sleeved 11/11 and just started the puree stage (my program calls it "smooth textures") on Sunday - yesterday was the first day I managed to hit both my protein and fluid goals, which was really exciting. I managed to eat 4oz of refried beans and hot sauce in the morning, but in the evening could only finish half of the ricotta and egg white scramble I made, so the rest was made up via protein shakes. I'm so happy to be able to add some savory foods back to my diet - I don't have the biggest sweet tooth and I was getting so sick of the taste of protein shakes last week. Right now fluids are still giving me the most trouble, but I've been having better luck using the Owala water bottle with the built-in straw and it hasn't been giving me trouble with extra air. I don't know if it's because I don't swallow as I'm drinking, I still hold all the fluid in my mouth for a second because I'm afraid of taking too big of a drink no matter how I'm drinking it, but I'm glad I can still use my favorite water bottle so far.