Merryx

I freeze my banana chunks and add them to 8 oz of Lactaid and a scoop of nectar chocolate Truffle and blend it in my mini blender and it comes out thick like a milk shake.

That sounds delicious, I'm going to try that one!!!! Plus, with it being thick I would imagine it would really fill you up.

If you like coffee and have chocolate Protein powder, you can easily make a cafe mocha with barely any calories! I make a pot of coffee and stick it in the fridge until its cold. I pour 12oz. of it in a glass, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, 2 packs Splenda and splash of milk. Then shake it up really well and then add ice. Delicious!

I just had my 6 month post surgery follow up and i have lost 147lbs !!!! OMFG!

WOW!

: )

Omfg is right!!!lol that is amazing, keep up the great work!

A lot of people take recovery as a misconception from stretching. The stomach still swells a lot' date=' so after surgery the swelling goes down, slowly, thus opening up for more food over time. Everyones recovery is different. I've never opened up a human stomach, but there have been numerous pig and deer stomachs I've cut open, and damn those things are tough. I find it'd be very, very hard to make it burst from over eating since the natural reaction is going to be just to throw it right back up. There are numerous doctors who have laughed at the question of bursting, but then again there are obviously some who take it very seriously.[/quote']

Mark I think you made a good point about the stomach healing and this being able to take in more food. I can certainly see where that makes sense...no swelling, so there is more room to take in more food. I think it is just scary when all of a sudden you can take in so much more food. I remember at the beginning, I could only take a couple spoon fulls of food and now I feel like I can eat sooo much.

Good point. I actually read that in some paperwork from my dr. I will def. Be asking him to clarify!!

I think it could burst if you ate a lot right after surgery when your stomach hasn't heeled yet. But certainly once it is heeled you aren't going to burst it. I'm shocked to hear that you can't stretch it though. I had mine done in 2010 and I know mine has stretched. I can eat a sausage mcmuffin and a hash brown now, but when I had my surgery I could only eat half a sausage mcmuffin and no hash brown. Btw, that is just an example...I don't eat that every day!lol

I'm glad that you posted this thread. I too have fallen off the wagon and need to get back to basics, but it's been a long time since I followed the basics (I was pregnant with twins so I ate a lot!) and I can't even remember what the basics are!!! How many ounces of food at a time, how often do you eat (every 3 hours?), how many calories, how many Proteins, how much Water? What kind of Proteins are you eating? Would anyone want to share a normal days meals?

My babies are a year old now, but while pregnant with twins I only gained 25lbs. I was hungry nonstop! I seriously are every 2 hours, bit I think because I was carrying twins they were eating up everything which is why I barely gained. They say with every pregnancy you will gain 15 pound just from the baby an the Fluid. So I wouldn't worry about gaining weight during pregnancy. And btw, I lost all of my weight with in 3 weeks and actually lost an extra 10...though I gained that back in no time!!!

During pregnancy I started eating foods that I used to: chips, French fries, etc. basically carbs and anything bad. I guess from the lack of sleep with two babies I used food to help me deal with the stress. And my stomach totally got used to eating way more food and it never shrunk back down. I can't eat as much as I used to,but I can eat a 6 inch sub with no problem which is t good! I'm having a hard time liking the carbs being that I'm so hungry still all the time. So my suggestion is even if you are eating a lot, don't let the bad foods creep back in. Because now that I'm hungry all the time and I can eat a lot, it's harder to make good choices. Before when my stomach was small, I could make good food decisions be side I wasn't really that hungry. That is not the case now and it is horrible! I thought having the VSG I wouldn't have to really about food again, but now I feel like I'm on the same stupid diet roller coaster again!!!!

I actually had VSG surgery nearly 3 years ago and my main reason was to pregnant. I had tried using fertility meds for quite awhile and was never able to get pregnant. I knew in my heart it was because I was nearly 300lbs.

About 10 months after surgery I was down 85lbs and figured that we should try again with our fertility Doc. and I had a week or so of fertility shots, then iui and in 10 days found out I was pregnant (and actually in a few weeks found out I was having twins!).

VSG was the best decision I ever made! It gave me the two most beautiful Children and its completely worth it. You'll be healthier for your pregnancy and have less chance of miscarriage!

I will say that since getting pregnant and having them, I have completely fallen off the wagon with my food. I used to eat really well before getting pregnant but whole pregnant my craving for carbs was crazy and being that I was carrying twins, I could eat anything...so I did. I completely regret that! I am still the same weight as I was before getting pregnant, but haven't lost any and can't seem to get back to the mostly Protein diet. I'm hungry all the time, I want carbs constantly and crave sweets.

So definitely have the surgery to get pregnant, but try to stay on the diet while pregnant because its crazy once you go back to your old habits. It was easy to kick all the junk foods after surgery because I wasn't hungry, but now I want to eat all the time so ya hard to stay away from the chips and junk! If I could I would do the surgery again just cuz I feel like I've stretched out my stomach from all the bad eating.

Funny they all see it as the easy way out.. If they only knew it really isn't.. This is the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. Even child birth wasn't this bad lol I know at some point and time we will be able to eat ANYTHING we want and we will have to control that and say no or limit ourselves to it so we wont gain the weight back. Easy way out my but!

you are exactly correct! I had my surgery nearly 3 years ago and I can eat whatever I want. it's all about choices now which is a HUGE struggle (oh how i miss my tiny stomach!lol). so tell those people that say it's the easy way out to go somewhere!

juicing is great, but the issue is that for it to taste good you have to add a bunch of fruits which are high in sugar and calories. I was juicing for a bit because I felt like it was so healthy and then I started adding up the calories from the oranges, grapefruit, pineapple and apples (i didn't use all of them all the time) and the calories ended up being higher then if I would have eaten a damn cheeseburger!lol So juice away, just keep track of the fruits you are adding.

I started drinking about 15 months post surgery and wish I never started again. The diet soda will make you CRAVE sweets something horrible and after awhile you will start to give in to the cravings! Per Dr. Oz he said that when you drink soda your body doesn't realize that you aren't taking in real sugar, so it puts out insulin in to your body to try and deal with the "sugar" but then your brain isnt fooled and realizes it isn't real sugar, so to combat the insulin that has been put in to your body, your brain tells you to eat sugar, which is where the crazy cravings come from! Just thought that it was kind of interesting!

I used Maderma too and really didnt see any results. Though I will say, that the scars are barely noticeable now after nearly 3 years.

okay, so if you do 1200-1300 to maintain, to lose, I should probably do a bit less. I'm going to definitely start to log my food again because I do think that helps a bunch. Even though I hate weighing out the food whatever will help me start losing again, I'm willing to try! What site do you like for a food tracker?

Definitely try grilling it!!! For one-it's outside, so the smell really isn't an issue and for two-the grill gives it a nice crisp on the outside. There are tons of recipes online that you can find that are super easy. There is also another recipe that isn't the best for you, but it's not as bad as frying!!!lol It's any white fish (I like Halibut) dip it in fat free italian dressing and then in a sandwhich bag put in crushed potato chips (baked or lite) and then add a bit of cheddar cheese (you can use low fat) and then bake it. I know it sounds weird, but it's amazing!!!! The salt and crunch from the chips are delicious!

Can anyone that has had the surgery one or more years ago tell me how many calories they are now eating? My surgery was nearly 3 years ago and I have gotten competely off track with my diet. I'm sad to say, I stopped counting calories about 2 years ago. To my defense, I got pregnant and had to eat, eat, eat during the pregnancy of my twins. So, counting calories was not an issue. Now, I'm ready to get back on track, but I have no idea how many calories I should be eating again. I know when I first had the surgery my doctor said that I should eat about 600 calories, but that was at the beginning, right? I honestly can't imagine going back to just eating 600 calories. I know when I first had the surgery I would get full in just a few bites, but once your stomach completely heals, it's a different story. So, any help that the vets can give, would be great!!!!

Well, being that I'm nearly 3 years out, I can tell you that once your belly completely heals...stay away from these!!!! You can seriously eat half of a large bag of lays chips with no problem, so if this was a favorite food don't get back started. After I had my twins (last January) and I was horribly sleep deprived, during my 3am feedings I started eating chips to stay awake. This turned back on my addiction to food and before you know it, I was eating several bags a week again and gained 12lbs! I'm now working hard to get back on track with my eating, but take it from me, don't play with fire. Once your stomach is healed you can eat everything you did before (good and bad).

Thanks again for all the poss! I just got on the scale yesterday (exactly 4 weeks after surgery) and I've lost 3 pounds!!! Thank the good lord! I took everyone's advice and started taking in more calories and watching my carbs and that seemed to help. Hopefully the weight loss will keep coming as I have now lost 28 pounds!

Does anyone know what the average weight loss is per week?!

Merry

Def. get a belly binder!!!! I used mine for about a weeks and a half, until one day I forgoit was okay for me not to wear it! It will keep your stomach tight so that the weight of your stomach isn't pulling on your incisions.

I slept on my side on the third night...but only with the binder. Tried without and it HURT! I too am a stomach sleeper and tried around the 5th night and there was NO WAY! But, a few days after that...maybe a week and a half after surgery, I was sleeping on my belly all the time!!!

Also, I was not getting up in the middle of the night to walk or do breathing exercises. My Doc told me to do that during hours I was awake, not to wake up to do them, but follow what ever he said to do. Hope you are feeling better soon!!

Merry

My Doc. gave me a schedule to follow, like a little meal plan (though I was allowed to pick my own food and didn't have to stick to his) but basically it was:

8am-cream of wheat

10am-Protein shake

12pm-scrambled egg

2pm Protein Shake

4pm-refried Beans with cheese

so, basically you are eating and taking your Protein Shake in between meals. You def. will still need the shakes though because you will barely be able to eat at first!

Well, good to hear that your trip won't be ruined by not being able to swim with your family! Strangely my incisions were healed after two weeks! Maybe I've found my super hero strength!!!lol Or mabye it was the constant use of Neosporin...either way, two weeks and my incisions were closed and getting meds for scarring!

As for your vaca...I'm sure that everything will go well, just take things easy and don't be afraid to ask for help.

Have fun!!

Merry

Thanks for all of your posts! I think I was just freaking out because after failing soooo many diets, it's strange to think that this IS going to work, you know?! It completely makes sense that after losing such a large amount of weight so quickly that you body needs a second...just is scary!!!

Thanks again!!!

Merry

Honestly, Constipation sounds great right about now!lol I have had the opposit problem since the sugrgery. I knew for the liquid faze that would be normal, but so far even on the mushy faze, running to the bathroom is still an issue! I've honestly had to start taking immodium and pepto for it. I'm hoping once I'm on solid foods it will get better though.

Merry

I know exactly what you mean about the rumblings!!!! The other day, I had this rumbling feeling...like I was starving! So, I got some cottage cheese and ate that. I only got a few spoon fulls down and could feel that I was full...but still had these rumbling feelings that I equated to being hungry, though obviously I was full from the cottage cheese. So, I decided to take an antacid that my Dr. had given me...and voila, the hunger pains were gone!!!! At that point I realized that my supposed "hunger pains" was actually acid even though it didn't feel like acid. TRy that, it really helped me!!!

Merry

How strange that he said that you couldn't swim! I went to my Dr. for a 2 weeks visit and he said that I could start swimming that day. And I have to say...I've gone to the pool at least 3 times since then and haven't had a problem.

Merry

Thanks so much for your response! I was starting to feel like I was going to be the only one that wasn't going to lose any weight. I know that, that type of thinking is just crazy, but I suppose after so many failed diets you just start to freak, you know?!