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I had the same problem for months. Tried Miralax (had a hard time making myself drink it since I could only get about 4 oz of fluid down at a time), tried stool softeners and even resorted to actual laxatives when had no relief from metamucil. Then I found Fiber gummies. I love them. Two every night and I am like clockwork. They have like 30 calories. Well worth it for me.

I think most of us have felt that way. I was afraid it would not work for me, that I would not lose weight. I was afraid of the procedure. I was afraid of telling people and lots of other things. I got over them all. This is the best thing I have ever done for myself. Like you, I have lost weight prior to surgery, but I always put it back on. I am now forced, if not to eat the right things to at least eat the right amounts. It has been amazing how motivating the weight lose is to make the right choices. Yes, I do eat bad things sometimes. Yes, sometimes I am in the car and have to eat fast food, but it is much easier to get the chicken sandwich, take off half the bun, if not the whole bun and skip the fries. It is much easier for me to now be in control of my choices. I was scared of the procedure, until I realized that the chances of me having an issue from the surgery were WAY smaller than the chances of me having an issue from the weight if I did not have the surgery. I have a 2 1/2 year old that I want to see grow up, I did it for him. You'll do great. You will work through your concerns and make the right choice for you. There is a lot of support and information on this site. We have all been where you are now.

Target has prenatal gummies that I take. My doc and nut said they were fine and my bloodwork has been fine, so why make myself sick. I eat two a day, plus sublingual B12 and calcium. Has worked well for me. I could not stomach any of the chewable ones. I tried many types and spent lots of money before I switched to these.

Hi trying this again. I just moved to Salado 2 months ago. You in the military?

whoo hoo you can see your hoo hoo. Good for you. It is exciting when that happens. Keep up the good work.

Well, it took longer than I thought, surgery was in January, but I have reached Wonderland. I have been teetering between 200.2 and 200.8 for two weeks. Last week AF came to visit, so no loss (big surprise there huh). Today I step on the scale and 196.0 . WHOO HOO!!!! I was sad the last few days because I did not reach my goal for the 4th of July challenge, but I was over it when I got on the scale this morning. I have gone from a tight size 24 to a starting to get loose 16. It has not happened as quickly as it did for some of you, but I have never lost this much weight, in this amount of time and knowing that I am going to keep it off (which as we all know is the most important part). I have not weighed less than 200 pounds in twenty years and have not even ever made it close to that honestly. I am just so tickled. I still can not really settle on a goal weight, since I have not weighed this little since being an adult. I am 5'8" and started with 150 as a goal weight, then re-thought and decided that may be too thin, so I adjusted goal to 170. I am still not really sure that is right. I feel like I still have way more than 30 more pounds I need to lose, so that may be adjusted down again later. How did you all decide what was a good goal weight?

I buy Large or Xtra Large eggs. How big bites are you taking? One suggestion someone on here had I read before my surgery that I found really helpful was to use childrens size cutlery. I used baby spoons and toddler forks, along with smaller plates. It makes you take smaller bites, which has really helped. If I eat too quickly, I would get really uncomfortable, plus I eat less using the smaller utensils.

I am now 5 1/2 months out and have lost 73 pounds. My starting BMI was 43. There are a lot of factors. How much you needs to lose, as they said above, but also your sex, your age, exercise and how stictly you follow your diet. I have lost slower than some and quicker than others. I am 43 though. The ladies on here in their twenties seem to lose quicker than I have, but I am thrilled anyway. Good luck. Keep us up to date on your progress.

The difference is just physician preference. Most people need in the 50-70 gm range, so they are both correct. It is hard to get it in when you are still not on regular diet yet. My doctor told me it was the goal, but knew that most people could not accomplish daily. Greek yogurt was a God send in my mushie stage. It has from 12-14 gms depending on the brand. Egg salad was great. I did little cups of the Ricotta bake (which was my all time favorite - a little ricotta with garlic and salt, a spoon of spagetti sauce and a little mozzerella then nuke for a min has like 20 grams or so depending on how much you can tolerate).

I love Kashi Go Lean Crisp. It has 9 gm protein and when I add my milk (My store has a brand of Lactose free milk that has 12 gm per cup) so I end up with 21 grams for cereal. I also found when my store was out of that milk that Smart Balance Omega 3 milk has I think 10 grams of protein.

Exactly. I believe the last risk study I read the risk of death from this surgery was in the 0.5% range. The risk of death from an obesity related complication is way higher.

Mina, I think it is great that you are offering this as an option to appropriate patients. I am a nurse and had the same issue you do when I would discuss my surgery with patients, " you arn't that big......" I am 5'8" and when I had surgery I was 268. How is that not that big? I think that obesity has gotten so widespread in our society (no pun intended. haha) that unless you are "superobese" people just don't see it in themselves or in others. Good luck on your journey. I am so glad I had my sleeve. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself. Prior to my surgery people kept asking about the risks of surgery, etc. I could not get them to understand that the risks of the surgery were way smaller than the risks of staying obese.

Office notes.

Zofran works so much better than Phenergan. It is sublinguial, meaning you don't have to swallow a pill, it dissolves on your tongue, so it works so much quicker. It was first for patients who were nauseous from chemo, so that tells you how good it works. It was a live saver for me after my sleeve. The only problem I had was nausea. Not really much pain, just nausea.

Thank you all. I appreciate all the support and information that I have gotten on VST. I don't know that I would have had the nerve to have my surgery if not for the inspiration and support here.

Hi guys. I am so excited that I can join this group. I had my surgery January 17, 2011. I was when I started the pre-op diet, today I am 196. That is a 72 pound loss in a little under six months. I have 26 pounds to get to goal. I may adjust that goal down. I am 5'8" and looked good at 170. The BMI charts still call that overweight, but I won't know until I get this. I am already at the lowest weight I have been since the age of about 22. So, just not sure about this picking a goal weight thing. Thanks for letting me join your group and for the support. Congratulations to you all for working so hard and getting so close to your goals.

That is how you get a net carb, which is the actual carbohydrates that your body is going to react to. The total carbs, are the total carbs. If a food is high in fiber, that helps from the carbs from affecting your blood sugar in the same way as carbs with low fiber in the food. This affects weight loss. If you are struggling with weight loss, I would count total carbs, but if things are going along pretty well, I would count net carbs. You need the fiber and all foods with any fiber in them are going to have carbs. Fiber is super important. That is just my two cents though.

I have found two wonderful options. For those of you who live in central Texas, where there are HEB grocery stores, they have a mile called Mootopia. It is their lactose free milk, but it has 12 grams of protein a cup and the fat free is fabulous. I don't need the lactose free, but am digging 50% more protein. If you don't have HEB Smart Balance Omega 3 milk, is fat free and tastes like 2%, it has 10 grams of protein a cup (versus 8 in regular milk). Every extra bit of protein helps and it does not taste like fat free.

I know when you are going through this process, it seems like everything takes forever. Afterwards though, you will look back on it and it will seem like it all just flew by. It is all so exciting though, especially the closer to it you get.

Good for you. You are doing great.

Thanks for the info. I will be going in a couple of months. I am so glad it was not anything bad.

Well, I did not have a good May. I was traveling for 2 weeks and then at a Christian retreat ranch for another 10 days. I tried to make the best choices possible, but still hard under those circumstances. Not too horrible though. I hope to still make my 4th of July goal.

The pre-op diet is hard. They are all different depending on doctor preference. Mine was a little easier than some. I was allowed a shake for Breakfast and lunch along with a piece of fruit at lunch, a shake for a snack and a low carb dinner. Just keep in mind it will all be worth it. It is a temporary thing. Is there any "free food" you are allowed on your pre-op (like sugar free Jello, etc) IF so, eat them. If not, I am sorry. Most doctors just want to get the sugar and carbs out of your system because this causes your liver to shrink, which gives them more room to manuver in your abdomen, so it is in your own best interest to follow as closely as possible.

good for you. It sounds like you are doing a phenominal job. Keep up the good work.

i have been super happy with my decision for the sleeve. I occasionally get hungry, but not like before surgery. I am usually full after three or four bites of something and have lost sixty plus pounds. Whoo hoo