Ruthi

Congrats Kelly, glad to see another southern california sleeve sister on here. I am in Santa Clarita

We totally understand and we are here for you no matter where you have your VSG done. We are just happy you can have it done.

that may take some explaining Daisy

Nah just keep feeding the dog under the table. You NEED to keep socializing.

Cajun, Wonderfully put, I couldnt have said it better.

Me too, I have bullets but stick to my chocolate shakes, the bullets just take up room in my frig

Beans should be ok, they are soft and then you chew them well before swallowing, you should be fine. The chili sounds good!

Daisy, I know how you feel, I remember those nachos too and like you I wanted to eat alot more, I know we all did. I like having people around me that understand too. And ty for the kind words Pchefbeka

Great to hear you are feeling better, keep us posted on your progress.

yeah or anyone having to take them off

Leslie Sansone just doesnt do it for you anymore huh?

Wayyy funny, I still have undies in many sizes along with Jeans of many sizes, shirts of many sizes etc. All due to many yrs of losing weight and gaining it back, I could be the next thrift store.

Yes thats the honeymoon stage alright LOL

Very true, and this is sooooo different for people like us, the very concept of life after the sleeve is something you have to live to grasp

I got some inexpensive walk at home dvd's at walmart (Leslie Sansone) and they are only 20 min but you work up a sweat.

Ash, you arent alone. I may be stalling again too. I think I only lose something every 2 weeks now

I had an open partial gastrectomy to have my lap band removed in March. I had staples from my breast bone to my navel. The pain I had then was not anything close to what I had with the VSG (which was so minimal it was non existant) I think you are in for a pleasant surprise.

Solid food is very different than mushies. If you dont tolerate some of the milder solids then you can go back to mushies and not cause yourself any undo discomfort or possible damage if you start vomiting or something gets a bit stuck. Everyone heals at their own rate and some just take longer, so it is just more prudent to start slowly until you are sure you can tolerate graduating to something more solid.

Wow Tiff, thats good to know

Thank you for your story and your inspirational recovery thoughts. What wonderful things to come to mind when you are going through so much.,Each day will get better for you.

Shhhh I dont think they know they are dogs. I liked having them with me they are too cuddly.

I am with you on that

I think an important thing to be said is how life changing a VSG can be. I read on here and on OH about people wanting to eat more than their stomachs will allow and how long it takes to get to eat alittle more. The surgery I have chosen is meant to reduce the amount I am able to eat. I have to be accepting and even grateful for that. I have come to accept that I will never ever be able to eat 3 to 4 cups of anything at one time ever again. Should I want to? Yes its a grieving thing, a missing of that almighty drug of choice in the amounts that we have grown acustome to. You know the amount that made us huge and made everyone else comment behind our backs. But I dont think the food addicted mind will let some of us grasp what that change is really going to be like. It is permanent, that means forever! Sure we can eat around our sleeve like we could around the band. Grazing all day on high calorie mushies is wonderful weight gaining sabotager. Still there are those of us who cant fathom not being able to eat a plate full of a large meal like other non sleeve freinds and family can. We are limited to our 3 to 4 oz, sometimes a bit more if you have a bigger pouch and that is only after several long months out. If this is something that is difficult for a person's mind to grasp, they perhaps should rethink the sleeve surgery. I dont mean to be preachy but it isnt something that was talked about much before I had my sleeve and when it was, I wasnt able to make the connection at that time anymore than some pre surgery patients can now, so I feel it is worth mentioning again. I have an addiction to foods. One taste of some foods is too many and a thousand is never enough. I still grieve the loss of the ability to have all that my brain wants to eat but grieving will pass. I feel better about it every day. I would just like to reinforce the concept and purpose of the sleeve. It is to greatly control our intake. Forever. Ok, that is off my chest and alot of fat is off my ass as a result of this life change. There are soooo many positive life changing gifts we can accept from this surgery. I want to dwell on those for now.

I think that all depends on what you consider eating normally. You will be able to eat a bit more, perhaps 50% more than you do now, at about 1 yr out but you may never be able to eat what you were able to eat before or what others eat now. You may have to grieve your loss of the ability to take more than a few bites of that favorite food. I know I have had to. I am a foodie, that was my drug of choice. I loved food and the more I like a food, the more I wanted to taste it...over and over and over....well you get my drift here. I was aware of why and how I became overweight and volume was the biggest part of it, hence I felt the sleeve was the best answer for me. It keeps my volume eating to a nill and I am happy that it does. Sometimes a little too well but thats an acceptance issue.

Keep in mind that your stomach may be a bit smaller in the morning than it is after being up for awhile. Fluid in the body naturally shifts to the upper areas of the body when lying down. Some people even have puffy eyelids and just below the eyes (bags) when they first get out of bed. So of course the fluid shift will lessen the diameter of the stomach, not by much but with our greatly dcreased stomach size, still enough to feel tighter when we eat and things will tend to take much longer to pass through. The sensation decreases as we progress through the day and gravity causes the fluid to recede to the lower body again.