NettyD

I have my last pre op with surgeon 8/23/23 and pray I get scheduled for September 2023 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

After almost 10yrs fighting with different insurances, I was approved for surgery June 2022, took a mandatory 10wk educational course that started that August, and FIIIIINALLY got scheduled mid August of THIS year. I will be having surgery a week from today, September 15th

I will try to keep this short. I am coming up on two weeks post op for VSG. At the two week mark I move to puréed foods per my surgeon. I have done well with fluids and the progressions so far, and I am losing well, but now I am scared to start the next part of the process and further because I am scared I will gain back what I have lost and not continue to lose weight. I have NEVER EVER been scared to eat before. I just really don’t want to mess this up.

@Big Marty you spoke a word!

Congrats on your surgery day! I had an option for a 10/2 surgery day but I got the soonest date available which is 9/26. I start my pre op diet on 9/11 too. I’m sure you’ll get some folks to respond to this thread. Good luck on your surgery and journey 🙏🏾🙌🏽

Thank you. Everything went well. Surgery was at 7:30 and I was in my hospital room by 1:30. Sipping Water as I can and dipped my spoon in the various Protein drinks from room service. Gas pain was not too bad, thankfully, but I’ve been walking the hall as I can. I dozed off most of the day on and off.

Gastric Sleeve on Tuesday, September 12th! Let's Go! 💪

I count everything. I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2022 and was put on a sodium restriction. Just two months before my projected VSG surgery date my A1C was 9.6% and I was put on diabetic meds(Metformin and Semaglutide), given a blood sugar meter with instructions to check my blood sugar twice daily, and told to cut out all sugars in my diet. Around the same time as my Type-2 Diabetes diagnosis my Bariatric Surgeon had me go on a Keto/Atkins very low carb diet prior to the liver shrinking diet due to my extremely high 71.5 BMI.
That was my first time on a 'low carb' diet since I tried South Beach in 2004, and I really liked it for how it made me feel and how much easier it has become to find low-carb substitutions for common foods. So I decided to stick with it post-surgery. I am two weeks out from my surgery and I am at the point where I can eat 800-1000 calories a day, where 50% is from Protein, 40% fat, 10% Net Carb, and sodium between 1,500mg and 2,000mg. I track my Daily food Intake in an Excel Spreadsheet, listing Calories, Total Fat, Protein, Net Carbs, Fiber, and Sodium of each. I also track my fluids, noting if the beverage has any sodium. I avoid sugars like the Plague, except when it comes to fruits. I will on occasion eat fresh strawberries, raspberries, or some honeydew melon.
I don't feel the Keto diet is suitable for Post-op due to the high reliance on Fats. I like a more even distribution favoring protein over fat, but still keeping enough healthy fats in my system so entering Ketosis is a possibility. My carbs are always under 25g a day, most of the time between 15g and 20g. I was only in Ketosis once for a brief few days, and it was right after surgery. I check my ketone level regularly with those over the counter 'pee' strips.
I like my method of tracking my nutrition manually instead of using an App or Website, although there is a lot more work looking up nutritional labels for everything I eat, or general nutritional information for those items without labels. The plus side of it is I am amassing a database of my frequently eaten food items so logging is becoming easier.
I agree with the general consensus that 'Diet' is an ill-fitting word for what we are doing. I like the term 'Lifestyle Change' much better. A diet, to me, is finite in its duration. It has a beginning and an end. A Lifestyle Change goes on indefinitely.

Ok so I just tried this and it was surprisingly yummy.
Crust
1 cup mozzerella
1/4 parmesian
1 egg
Seasoning of your choice (I used Italian seasoning and garlic powder)
Topping
Low carb marinara (I used Rao's)
Sprinkle of mozzerella
Turkey pepperoni
Mix all the crust ingredients together. Put parchment paper on a pan. Spray with cooking spray. Shape mixture into the size of a personal pan pizza (6" or so) on topof the parchment paper. Spread marinara on top of crust mixture. Sprinkle mozzerella. Add turkey pepperoni (I use 6 pieces- you can use more or less). Cook 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool when it comes out of the oven. I side into 4 pieces, ate 2 and my daughter ate the other 2.
Add toppings. Experiment. This really scratched the pizza itch and was surprisingly healthy.

@gadgetgirl68 we are surgery buddies 9/26 is my VSG surgery day😎

Hi everyone. I know there's another theead like this under the Gastric Sleeve part of the forum, but I thought I'd start a thread here to be more inclusive to people who are having a variety of surgeries.
I'm scheduled to have my VSG on October 2nd. I'm looking forward to a new start. I'm 5'5" and 235 pounds. I have lost 25 pounds so far. My pre-op diet starts on September 11th. It's Protein Drinks plus up to 7 ounces of Protein only foods. Not looking forward to that. Back in 2010 I had a lap band. I lost 122 pounds and kept about 65 pounds off. I had to have it removed last year because it slipped, but I had already decided to have a revision to the sleeve.
Anyone else scheduled for October surgeries?

I slowed down significantly in the 7th month after surgery. It turns out that I was very Iron anemic. My journey has been to find the sweet spot of eating/exercising just enough but not too much. When I keep my iron levels up I still loose about 1-1/2 lbs per month 2 years out. I’m almost done loosing I think because it doesn’t take much effort to stay where I’m at currently, but I’d have to WORK to get and stay at a lower weight. It’s all about your sweet spot. Keep working your plan, there’s more losses coming, just slower, in fits and starts.

First of all, there is no such thing as a "window of opportunity." There is no clock or deadline on weight loss surgery. The surgery is permanent. The surgery itself doesn't cause weight loss -- the surgery is a tool that helps you to eat less so you can lose weight. For most people, yes, the effect of the restriction wears off over time, so the first year or so is often called the "honeymoon period" because that's when it's easiest to lose weight due to low appetite and high restriction. But that doesn't mean that you can't lose any more weight after X months post-surgery. You have to build and maintain good habits during that honeymoon period so you can sustain the weight loss. It is a lifelong journey and if you get back into eating too much, you could regain the weight.
Second, yes, weight loss normally slows down as you approach your maintenance weight. It's easy to lose 10 pounds when you have 100 pounds to lose, but much more difficult to lose the last 10 pounds (when you only have 10 extra pounds). This is partly because having excess weight results in burning more calories -- if you're carrying an extra 100 pounds, it just takes more energy (and thus burns more calories) to do anything. If you maintain a constant calorie intake -- say, 1800 calories per day -- you will lose weight quickly at 300 pounds but more slowly at 250 pounds, and eventually you'll get to an equilibrium (say, 200 pounds) where you are burning the same number of calories as you're eating, so your weight will stabilize. If you want to lose more weight after you reach that equilibrium, you'll either have to lower your calorie intake or increase your calorie burn by exercising more.
Finally, my personal opinion is that people should not get hung up on a specific number on the scale. The non-scale measures of success are so much more important. If you are satisfied with your health and appearance at 222 pounds, there is no reason to worry that you are 2 pounds over the range that your surgeon estimated (which is almost certainly based on statistical outcomes, not a personalized assessment of you, specifically).

Pre and Post...I eat the same omelette just 1/2. Three eggs, two slices cooked uncured bacon, fresh organic spinach and baby bella mushrooms, a sprinkle of shredded cheese cooked in about 1 teaspoon butter.

 

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Me?
Thanks!

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

Girl!!! I am thankful you found all of these issue that could have become much worse, but man do you deserve a break!
one of my co workers who weighs about 92 pounds(no exaggeration) always had a pouch belly, and didn't know why, turns out she had 2 fibroids about grapefruit size. She had a hysterectomy and they left one ovary so she wouldn't need hormones. She has been so happy since having it taken care of. So you will get there!

Today was the 3 month anniversary of my bypass/hiatal hernia repair. I've done ok on the calorie restricted diet--still can't eat certain meats (I've stayed away from steak which I love, haven't eaten lamb and even a moist pork chop is a little tough for me- instead, I'm eating. lot of fish). My portions are small-- -protein say three tablespoons, veggies, two tablespoons, mashed or sweet potato- 1/2 a small sized one.
Today I weighed myself- I went from over 271 to 221 which is kind of crazy! (I am around 6 feet, used to be taller but I'm a geezer so I'm shrinking).
Hooked up at a new gym that I can walk to from my house, so I will go more frequently and won't need to spend money on ride shares (I prefer not driving in town). I was shocked at how weak I was--It is going to take some time to strengthen and I'm being very cautious about torquing my gut given the surgery (even though the surgeon cleared me for weight lifting).
I'm doing my supplements.
I guess this is a good news/bad news thing- not that I live by the scale but I was amazed at how much I've lost so quickly.
And a little disappointed in how weak I am. My wife said, "dude, you went through major surgery, take your time." She's probably right.
There is no question that the surgery + pretty strict adherence to the post-op diet does work. Now I just have to rebuild my strength over time.

Mine was the last diet I did. Went to a place called SOTA (state of the art). Like a bunch of other diets, it worked great at first, dropped 40#, then started to slide off. 9 months later I was 15 pounds heavier than I had started. I told my wife I was scared to diet again as I typically rebounded higher than I started. That was the inflection point where I lost all confidence in my ability to do it alone.

I'm new to the forums. I'm hoping to have my gastric bypass the week of September 18th. I see my surgeon in 2 days so fingers crossed. I'm going through all the emotions right now. I have a severe hiatal hernia and was only expecting to get that fixed, but after talking with my gastroenterologist and surgeon they both said the Gastric Bypass was the way to go.
I hope I'm ready for all this

Surgery was yesterday and the gas pain has been terrible. I saw someone mention that walking around is the best and I agree. Movement has definitely helped. Make sure that you ask for pain relief when you need it and try to drink when you can

You've got this, and don't worry; you'll get plenty of sleep over the next couple of days!

You've got this, and don't worry; you'll get plenty of sleep over the next couple of days!

you got this! I think during recovery the initial hospital stay and then the first 4 days post-op are the hardest! if you're in any pain any time don't hesitate to ask for meds! Also having to be in the beds at my hospital hurt mega bad so they were able to give me lidocaine Patches and ALSO the medicine made me big time nauseous every time i took it so just take it slow ♥ you're going to do great

Had my sleeve done 9/5 around 7am. Slept most of the day and had issues with dehydration and low blood pressure, but overall I’m doing great! Sore of course, and getting out of bed is a job but it’s so worth it.


My best advice is, walk the gas off. It hurts worse than the surgical pain. Also, when you are able to drink, sip.

i work in the medical field and it seems more often than not many conditions are discovered while undergoing testing, surgery etc that is totally unrelated to what you originally went in for! So happy for you that those nasty things were found before they caused you a problem!!!