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Just for the record, I'm a post op newbie (RNY 6/27) and when I saw the bacon post I was completely disgusted and went to a different page. When someone does something that stupid they are NOT going to make it. Just sayin. I wouldn't waste time on stubborn newbies who don't really want help or get defensive. I listened to the good advice from this site and will be successful bc of it. Bacon? One week out? Really??!!!

I know everyone's surgeon/nutritionist's post op/lifetime eating plans are different. I see most folks are told to eat 3 meals plus snacks in between and second most popular seems to be ~6 small meals a day. My plan is 3 meals a day no snacks and to only supplement protein with protein shakes if need be, not on the regular. I admittedly have been having snacks in between meals like a cheese stick or something strictly high protein, everything I consume has protein, no empty calories. I cannot fathom how to get the required protein in only three post-op sleeve size meals a day. The only way I can imagine is if you eat something every meal that you add protein powder to. My manual even states that at the point I am now I should be able to get in all the required protein through food alone. I say BS if you aren't allowed a snack in between. I was curious if anyone else has this type of plan and what you think, even more curious if you follow it and how you do it? I am still losing and just had my first stall the past two weeks which broke this week, even during my LB stall I was still losing circumference so I know I'm doing OK I guess I want reinforcement. My surgeon's office also said they expect their patients to eat 600-800 (which is where I'm at) calories a day and after everything I've been reading and from this forum I think that is wrong. It seems the most successful of the bunch are into the 1000 cal/100gms protein range. My surgeon and his handiwork are excellent and I'm very pleased, but the nutritionist and bariatric nurse I feel are not progressive sticking with older ideals. I didn't go through this and pay all this money to have a couple of thin years then not be able to keep it off because I can't stick to starving myself! Just a little frustrated!! =/

4th of July didn't go so well for me, had a few chips and guacamole and a couple bites of a pupusa. Since my vacation a week ago I haven't lost. I'm up 1 lb from when I left but hoping it'll come off. It's weird bc I'm trying to get back on track today with my routine but I feel hungrier than I did before and it scares me. Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App

I was allowed to try eggs in the puréed food stage so I cooked basically a sunny side egg and mashed it with a fork til it was good and floppy(like I fed my babies when they were eating mushy foods). It went well for me, but some people have a really hard time with egg especially in the beginning so if it doesn't work, table it for awhile and try again later.

@@JuliusJ Having surgery is not going to change your tastes in food. You really need to do the work on emotional eating before you have surgery. Find a good therapist and work on why you eat food for comfort and find other coping mechanisms. The things you listed that you like, chips, ice cream. They are slider foods and they are really easy to eat post-op. Easier than the dense Proteins you are supposed to eat because they don't prompt restriction from your stomach, they just slide down. If those are the things you like, then you will probably still be drawn to them post-op unless you do something about them now. Corn is not a vegetable, it is a starch. Once that is not easily digested by your body. Collard greens are great as long as you don't cook them with pork. Try learning to cook them with smoked turkey wings or necks. If you can learn to eat them raw even better. Find different recipes for vegetables. Try preparing them in different manners. A lot of people grow up on canned or frozen vegetables that are over cooked by Moms. Try eating fresh veggies, that are roasted, grilled or baked. Fresh green Beans sauteed in a pan with a little butter or olive oil and some diced or crushed garlic is delicious. You can cook broccoli the same way. I have very little to no hunger. When I am hungry it is because I have gone over 12 hours without eating and anyone would be hungry at that point. The way it works for me is my brain and my stomach do not work together. Thinking about food does not make me hungry. Before surgery if I thought about food, my stomach acid would get going and I would get hungry, then as my stomach acid was going it fed my brain more, and they worked in tandem until I was in a hunger frenzy. That doesn't happen anymore. I do have head hunger, everyone does, but it is a fleeting thought, my body doesn't react and I can move on. Find a therapist and work on yourself before you have surgery. Surgery won't fix your problems with using food for comfort you have to work that out before hand.

@@KaiserKid .... So I think what you're really asking is when did we decide it was right to go ahead with SURGERY, not necessarily the sleeve? I am pre-op, hoping for a late summer surgery. For me it came very very slowly but then very very suddenly. Slowly BC I have been seriously considering it for years, but I was embarrassed to admit it to my husband; he's a triathlete, runs marathons, and thinks the answer to any weight problem is to eat salad until the weight melts away. And I am talking about a girly salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, raw mushrooms, and a little bit of light dressing. No Protein, just....grass. So I hid this desire for years, BC I feared he would think I was copping out. But in Nov I moved out of our home BC of marital issues, and I started deeply focusing on me. In the spring I read an article in the New York Times on a study where The Biggest Loser contestants from one season were followed for six years, and how the overwhelming majority gained all their weight back, how they had wrecked their metabolism, and how the one person who had maintained her loss attributed it to 2-3 hour workouts every day AND coming to terms with the fact that she felt truly hungry all day and would for the rest of her life. That sounded like hell. And then I read another NYT article on an NIH study that showed how people who have fought lifetime serious obesity and who managed to lose 100 pounds or more, had a 5% chance of not regaining their weight and returning to morbid obesity. 5% chance. It was like a lightning bolt ripped through my heart. I have beaten so many odds in my life. I am a first generation American, my grandparents were prisoners in Hitler's labor camps, my mother was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany after the liberation. The scars of the trauma of WW2 lived on in my family; my mother was abused as a child, and she married a man who had been abused. Both of my parents went on to be extremely abusive to my siblings and me. One of my siblings committed suicide as a direct result of the abuse. BUT.... I got out, I got away, I was the first person in my family to go to college (and to an Ivy League one, though my parents didn't quite understand the significance), and I paid my way through 90% myself. I married a decent kind man who did not abuse me, I broke the cycle of childhood abuse and never hit or emotionally abused my children (who are decent, law abiding, sensitive human beings who contribute to society). But this obesity thing.....I never, ever could beat it. I have tried to beat it since my mother put me on my first diet at age 8. So I finally decided that it was completely ok that I seek help for the one damn thing I could not beat, and that was endangering my health. And what about my husband thinking that I was copping out with WLS?......all of a sudden, my answer was "I don't give a damn what he thinks. I know who I am, and I know I am not copping out by asking for help with this." And that was it. I was in. I wasn't weak, and I was asking for medical help for the one condition my formidable work ethic had not been able to conquer. I am not afraid of hard work. But I am afraid of worrying about what other people think and foolishly turning away the help available to me. So it was slow, and sudden. Literally a switch flipped when I saw the odds, and that was it. Still don't know if it will be sleeve or RNY yet, though....will let the surgeon tell me at my next appt on July 14. Which also turns out to be my 25th wedding anniversary. Oh, someone up there guiding fate has a sense of humor..... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm the same way. My husband and I are in the very early stages of sleeving but I've always loved to cook. That's my way of nurturing. I think I'm going to cook normal and just get some of those little tin foil pans at the $1 store. You can freeze it or have the kids run it to the elderly neighbors. Sent from my LGLS991 using the BariatricPal App I have learned to go to the supermarket with a list and nor over do it. I did this especially 6-8post op and I wasted so much money on food. I cook in the crock pot and KI freeze the containers bc I had to come to terms that I am not the same person I used to bewhen it comes to food. I shop every three-four weeks now bc I wasted money. I don't cook often bc iprefer the crock pot and cook in bulk. I used to always cook but I really don't like food theway I used to and lost interest in cooking. I get Overwhelmed when my fridge is packed .LOL! Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

I'm the same way. My husband and I are in the very early stages of sleeving but I've always loved to cook. That's my way of nurturing. I think I'm going to cook normal and just get some of those little tin foil pans at the $1 store. You can freeze it or have the kids run it to the elderly neighbors. Sent from my LGLS991 using the BariatricPal App I have learned to go to the supermarket with a list and nor over do it. I did this especially 6-8post op and I wasted so much money on food. I cook in the crock pot and KI freeze the containers bc I had to come to terms that I am not the same person I used to bewhen it comes to food. I shop every three-four weeks now bc I wasted money. I don't cook often bc iprefer the crock pot and cook in bulk. I used to always cook but I really don't like food theway I used to and lost interest in cooking. I get Overwhelmed when my fridge is packed .LOL! Sent from my SM-G930P using the BariatricPal App

Hi everyone! I'm not a sleever but had RNY on 6/27 so I've been lurking your group a little bc we don't have a similar group and with you all being on the same timeline as me, it was nice to see some shared experiences. Plus, y'all are a really nice group. I did want the sleeve but had to go RNY for major GERD issues. I found it really interesting that a lot of you are having cravings bc one of the advantages of the sleeve is that when they remove the large portion of the stomach, the evil hunger hormones go away. A few of your posts are cute and funny and I'm wondering if it's actual cravings or just missing the act of eating. I literally could care less about food and, in fact I'm worried that when I go see my surgeon at my 1st post op tomorrow, he's going to put me on soft phase and I don't feel ready. Always, you're a fun group and hope you don't mind me lurking to see what everyone is going through. Congrats to us all for making a brave decision to take back our health!

I told a lifelong super thin person I work with, BC she'll need to cover my medical leave requests. With a deadpan serious face she asked, "Have you ever tried dieting?" I am 49 years old. I weigh 298 pounds. Dieting? Nope, never heard of it. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Lol you'll feel crappy on post op, but not because you're hungry lol! You'll feel crappy cause you're full after 3 sips of broth and you'll be uncomfortable.. or bc of head hunger.. like oh I want taco bell but you'll know you can't ever eat that. You'll be just fine, and definitely not hungry. Sent from my SM-G930T using the BariatricPal App

I just wanted to chime in,lol. I had surgery in January and have only had my period 3 times. It's heavy, lasts for 1-2 weeks and then it doesn't come at all. My gyn said it's very common for this to happen with weight loss.(I am also 40+ and have 3 sons..I have been of bc for about 4 years now.) My period has become such a 'surprise' for me. I never leave home with out a 'supply'. Just know, you're not alone. Many women I have met through having surgery say the same thing. Some even say they stop getting it completely!

198.6 I didn't make it to goal 3lbs short. No big deal bc I feel great and my workouts are awesome. .. thanks! Check that 197.5 after my workout.

@@OKCPirate .... Kids are 20 and 23, off at college and on their own. But funny you mentioned estate planning, BC I was thinking at bare minimum I wanted to get together a will and a living will, just in case. Almost more concerned with living will, don't want to leave my family with a hard decision if things go very badly and I am on life support. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am single and live alone. I travelled to Mexico for surgery. Went shopping the day after surgery, I was on the 6th floor of the Marriot and I purposely walked up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Drove myself home from the airport five hours 3 days postop. Returned to a driveway full of snow, which I plowed with my ATV. I fed and watered my horses, dogs and cats. I went shopping, did laundry, got a haircut, and was back to work within a week. Other than asking a friend to shovel a path to the barn I had no problems taking care of myself and house/ranch chores. Couldnt lift over 20 pounds for 3 weeks, but that was manageable.

Going to be completely open here. I have done my psych eval, and go for my half-day plus surgeon appt (plus tests) on July 14. That's my 25th wedding anniversary. Husband and I have been living apart since Nov 2015; we moved to anew state 4 years ago and haven't really put roots down deeply here yet, probably BC of our marital issues plus years of caring for a terminally ill family member. So, not a big group of close friends here yet. Husband and I are somewhat friendly, and he wanted to go to my surgeon appt as my support person on July 14, wanted to be with me in hospital during operation and overnight, and wanted me to come back to our house to recuperate post surgery. At first I said sure. But now I realize, being around him too much is not good for me. He sends constant mixed signals, which get my hopes up, and basically is very much invested in being the "good guy" who saves the day. It's who he's always been. But now, it is just too hard to be around him, the constant stress I feel when around him is awful, and I really fear that if he were there as my support through all this, it would just confuse things for me and would break my heart again. So.....do you think it is reasonable for me to do this all alone? I can get rides to and from the hospital. I can stock up on Protein shakes and Jello, have all this at my rented condo, have Water bottles ready, lots of pillows. Is it reasonable I could climb up and down a flight of stairs without assistance, a day post op? Can I shower alone? If need be I could also hire a home health aide to check in once a day? Thoughts based on your experiences immediately post op and in the first 4 weeks? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I see an OB next Thursday, going to see about getting on bc to help lighten my cycles. It scares me that I won't be able to get my levels where they need to be, not only for the surgery but to feel better also. We want another child, but not for a couple of years. Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

@@CardinalsGirl I also have irregular cycles, however I solved the problem over a decade ago by using depo as my birth control. If you aren't trying to have kids right now and you aren't contraindicated for any other reason, maybe ask your doctor for a switch to depo. You get one shot every three months, which you can give to yourself, and you no longer have a time of the month. While the idea is that it's for birth control, it also works very effectively if you're having extended irregular bleeding. Unlike oral contraceptives, depo is also not contraindicated for surgery so if you are taking the pill already, the switch to depo allows you to stay on birth control when you are approved for the surgery as well, so double win. I haven't had a time of the month in probably a decade. When I was in my early 20's I wasn't using depo for bc so I'd forget to take it for a month or two and then I'd have a few days of the lady friend visiting, but now that I have a doctor that prescribes it so I can just inject myself, as long as I have the shot on schedule, I no longer have any monthly cycle. I also have periodically had anemia issues, and in addition to never having a time of the month I take B12 and an Iron supplement. My values have been fine since.

Nope..not that I don't think.. I take my depression/anxiety/bipolar/ constipation cocktail in the morning and my bc/anxiety again/vitamins in the evening with food.

Great idea, I'm going to make up my mind to do one of those....it is weird BC I look at these wonderful ideas and I don't feel I deserve the reward.. Mind games! Sent from my LG-H900 using the BariatricPal App

Moving to Portland would be a really big ordeal. For one thing, houses are much more expensive there. It's so spread out. it would be difficult for me to buy a house near my son, where houses are really expensive. If I bought a house in one of the less expensive areas, I would be about an hour's drive to my son's house. My daughter lives here and will never be able to move bc she shares custody of her son and her divorce states she can't move more than 50 miles. It's a great place to raise kids, cause you're too tired to have any night life.

Yep. Well, druidry anyway. Used to be very involved with the local community as a generic pagan, but got fed up with the nonsense. Am just now dipping my toe back in the Water with a local grove.

Has anyone out there that has gotten the procedure had heightened emotions since? Literally everything gets to me and I cry. I cry bc I'm cold...bc I'm alone at home, because I feel like I'm not fun anymore and can't do fun things with my fiancée anymore right now....I'm just an absolute mess. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

They say you don't feel the restriction with liquids bc they empty out so quickly. You can drink too much and have it come up but I think restriction happens when you advance to purée Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@OKCPirate Thank you so much <<blush>> That's a really good point about aging...that is looming in my mind... Tomorrow is 47 for me, yikes! But I told my kids now I'm going to start aging backwards. I knew 5/2 was originally to promote longevity so it's good to hear that it helps with the aging metabolism. I had a good fast day Wednesday and yesterday wasn't exactly a fast day, but I did keep to an 8 hour window and 1200 calories. Today and tomorrow will be my "feast" days bc we are going out to an oyster bar for dinner tonight for my birthday and family mini party tomorrow. Hoping this 5/2 is what I need to stay on track. For me it's really very do able so far. We shall see as things continue. I'm waiting till a week out to try the scale again!