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Banana. You did not deserve the unprofessional scolding. Could your hormonal issue be treated by a family practitioner? All of us have experience people that value appearance. It's fed to us daily. We are bombarded with the message we are not good enough just to sell us a products. The only validation you need comes from you. The rest of the world can bite it.

If you're going to not eat "dead animal flesh" then you have to be responsible for eating in a way that provides your body with sufficient Protein. And that means at least 60 grams of protein to start -- and probably more later on. Lots of good plant foods have protein, but to eat complete Proteins you have to become a serious student of vegetarian nutrition. You can't just eat something that "still has the sunshine living in it" (I actually have no idea what that means). As someone whose body does well with poultry, fish and a little meat, I've had zero health problems since WLS by eating those foods. In fact, as most people here will testify (counter to the OP theory that most WLS patients get sick from eating as their surgeons recommend they eat post-op) I am a heckuva lot healthier now than I was pre-op. I do strive to eat 5 fruits and veggies each day and whole grains. Most days I also drink wine and have a little dark chocolate. One thing that's definitely a switch is that since I hit maintenance (9 months ago) I now cook "from scratch" so much more than I used to. Hubby and I eat out and buy takeout so much less often than we used to. Now, when food shopping, we seldom buy frozen or pre-packaged or deli food. We buy our veggies and fruits in the "fresh" department, get meat / poultry that's grass-fed and grown without hormones from a butcher's shop (not a big box store). We now make Pasta dishes with whole-wheat pasta. We shop at farmers markets three seasons a year (but not very much in deep winter). The food we eat now tastes so great! I am definitely not a WLS patient who doesn't like the taste of food anymore. I like it better, because the food we're eating now is better. Oh -- and I drink a glass of skim milk daily and eat at least an ounce of full-fat cheese, sometimes two ounces. I don't eat a lot of nuts, although I made for dinner today some honey pecan pork cutlets. Mmmm-mmmm! I cook with a lot more fat these days than I did pre-op -- was always a fat-avoider. Now I use a lot of olive oil AND butter. When I eat breads or crackers they're always high-protein, high-Fiber ones. Most days I hit my minimum 21-25 grams of fiber recommended for women. And when I have treats, e.g., ice cream, Desserts -- I have the full-fat versions. I just don't eat nearly as much of everything that I used to eat. So that's what I'm doing.

"The dog's still find me, just different breeds." Love it. My fat has helped me to finely hone my BS meter throughout the years. Sounds like your "girdle" can do the same. At least it helped you to filter out the scum in this instance anyway (to mix metaphors). You look beautiful and happy! I truly believe a great number of guys are just clueless idiots.

@@Djmohr I am so sorry to hear everything you went through. I am glad that it has solved some of your issues though. Back pain just seems to be a mystery for some doctors. It took my doctors three years to find out it was my spine causing referred pain to my abdomen. After years of therapy it manifested itself. I did try the neurostimulater as well but with absolutely no relief. I was so heartbroken. I sincerely hate taking pain meds. I feel as though some doctors view me as a criminal. Only Bc they don't think my pain is severe enough only Bc I take hydro and fentanyl in very small doses. What they don't know is I refuse to increase my dose Bc I don't want to feel out of sorts. I will pray that your back pain will resolve once it realizes that your not carrying the extra weight. Thank you for your story and God bless. @@SHOTzY Thank you so much. That means a lot to me.

Update before bed: 51 ounces of Fluid 55g of Protein - I added a 10g Protein shake earlier I also tried a Sf Jello cup - i guess I didn't chew it well bc it hurt going down. Clearly chew, chew, chew applies to that lol. My SW at dr office was 288 (I thought it was 286). My surgery weight was 283.6 when I left my house that morning. My current weight is 274.6 so I'm down 9lbs since surgery. I'm officially not using my starting weight anymore, just for consistency. I'm going to use my surgery weight to track all losses from now. So yay!!! 9 lbs down!

@@Kindle, if I'm reading you correctly, your vacation is/was to begin with three flights? A vacation is no more than two flights to destination. More than that and we're talking flying for work, namely, an archeological dig in some unknown region of the planet. Some day I'll tell you about the time I was arrested along with two other passengers as we were trying to get our flight. It was all the fault of the idiot airline and the idiot feds.

Everything went well. Here's an update: Day 1 - got to hospital at 7:30 and got registered and changed. Was provided a hanging garment bag for my fancy clothes (hoodie and jeans lol). Then was walked over to talk to the anesthesiologist who asked some questions. After about 10 minutes I said goodbye to my husband and I went into surgery. About 5 minutes before it was about to happen I was told I would be intubated. I didn't realize I had to be so yeah... I woke up, went to recovery and was there for a couple of hours. When my room was assigned hubby was there setting up my iPhone and tablet chargers. He was upset with them for not letting me come back from recovery sooner but they didn't have rooms. It was cool to see him standing up for me while I was so out of it. I needed to use the restroom immediately so I did and they had this "hat" thing that is in the toilet to measure your output. I guess it's really important because apparently my neighbor wasn't going at all so they had to insert a catheter in the middle of the night for her. Anyways, I couldn't talk for real because when I was intubated my throat was scraped really bad so I just wanted my meds and wanted to sleep. Hubby left and the nurses took really good care of me. I had pain meds consistently. No tablets - they were all shot through my IV. The one tablet they did give me was Levsin which is for spasms in the abdomen and it dissolves under your tongue. It really helps so ask for it! Day 2 Doc came in early with his assistant Julie and he asked if I wanted to stay a day longer and I said yeah. He said good because his patients who stay two nights at least never wind up in the ER. I was on IV the entire time except for when I wanted to walk; I had them disconnect it. He ordered a throat lozenge for my throat and had them up my pain meds. He also clarified that I was having a little discomfort swallowing because he had to put two stitches in my diaphragm because he had found a hiatal hernia. He said it would be better once it wasn't swollen anymore. He left. The nurses were great. They had ordered my clear bariatric Breakfast tray and gave me shot cups for the Protein shake. The Protein drinks used were by health wise and had 15g of protein in one. They were so fruity and good - not chalky at all so my hubby ordered some for me for home. (Since they're not going to get here till Tuesday he went to a local medical weight loss clinic and got me 8 of them to tide me over). Anyway, I had to sip the protein and Water and that's all I did for the most part. I slept and walked. Hubby came back by and brought my house shoes, my Fitbit and two comfy pillows off my bed. He hung around for a while. I passed out a couple of times. Dr. Jossart came back and gave me the script for my meds (Ativan and Percocet) and told me not to worry if i was 15lbs heavier when I got home because I had been on the IV the whole time and with that I might gain water weight staying another night. He left, after a while hubby left and then it was just me. As soon as I got my second shake down I was ready to go to bed. That's 30g of protein. Maybe 20 ounces of water. Thank God for the IV. Day 3 Woke up. Feeling the best I ever have. Was actually awake when they brought my tray and the broth was still hot so I ate half of that - went down faster than water had been. Also drank half a cup of black orange pekoe tea. That went down well too! So now I know hot things go down well for me! Julie came in and discharged me. Hubby texted he was on his way. I cleaned up, did my hair and packed up all my stuff. I had requested a fan bc my room was a little hot so when I left I had it sent over to my neighbor Mary. She was really happy to get it bc she had been warm too. I sat in the wheelchair and asked for the last pain meds for the road - they shot Toradol, meds to settle my stomach and the last of my Vitamins in my IV. I mixed up an orange pineapple shake for the road and then we left. Made it home. Immediately weighed myself for a baseline. I was 1 lb less than when I left the house. So much for gaining 15 lbs lol! Hubby helped me get in bed, he brought me water and was ready with shakes and Popsicles but I was good. I did drink a 30g protein premier chocolate shake that evening though. So I had a total of 45g and about 35 or so oz of Fluid. Almost at goal. Best I could do. Went to bed and slept like an angel. Day 4 Woke up. Feeling fine. No more bad soreness. Throat is still sore though. Got on the scale. Down another 3.6lbs! I had acquired one of those fruity shakes from the hospital so I immediately had it for breakfast. lunch - 4oz chicken broth and a sf Popsicle. dinner - premier Protein Shake. Water. Right now I'm at 16oz of water for a total of 44oz of fluid. Trying to drink maybe 4 more. Overall, I feel fine. No pain at all in my incisions. Haven't tried lifting anything and won't be trying to until I'm cleared. Hernia repair is there - can feel when I drink like its funneling things through but it lasts for like 2 seconds. The Levsin helps reduce those spasms though. All is well! Tomorrow I will try harder to actually hit my protein and liquid goals.

@@Chrystee I Have BCBS FED too! I don't have any rashes though.....now how can I rash myself up?!

So I'm on the 3rd day of my 5DPT and it's getting easier. I remember how much I struggled when I started my preop diet. I wanted to eat even though I wasn't hungry. I really struggled the first 4 or 5 days. Then it started getting easier. Well today is my 3rd day of this 5DPT and it's getting easier. The good part is that I know I'm not actually hungry. When I struggle it's bc I WANT something to eat, not need something. I understand the purpose of this 5DPT a little more. It REALLY opened my eyes up to the things I was eating that I had no business eating, how my portions had slowly gotten bigger and bigger when in reality, j still only need that 6-8oz portion or whatever. This has been very enlightening and I have NO doubt why my weight loss stopped. I was eating all the wrong things, even though i was telling myself, 'well I only ate a little of it, it couldn't hurt', etc. When you add up all those 'little' things over a week or month's time...well, they really add up. Deciding to do this 5DPT has been really good for me. I struggled the first 2 liquid only days, but it was good for me. Reminded me of the willpower I have and the excitement that I had when for this process when I first started this journey. Anyway, looking forward to making better choices in the coming days. I'm going to the beach on June 10th and need to set a mini goal to meet by then.

Having been a nurse for 23 yrs, I totally get Dr. Now. He tells it like it is...because these people need to hear it! They will lie to you to your face, just like Dottie did last night. "I don't know how I didn't lose. I haven't cheated...I didn't over eat, I ate everything I was supposed to!" ... as we watched her eat those chips with supper and wash it down with a coke. He's not a dummy. He hasn't done this many surgeries to listen to lies. He knows what a person's body goes through during these procedures and it's his way of making or breaking them. You either man up and do what you were told to do for the program or get out. Yes, it's blunt, but trust me....you see through the BS and after awhile, tell it like it is. So...folks lie to the people who are there to help them and to themselves. Explain to me again, why food is not considered an addiction the way alcohol and drugs are. (she says, dripping sarcasm)

Having been a nurse for 23 yrs, I totally get Dr. Now. He tells it like it is...because these people need to hear it! They will lie to you to your face, just like Dottie did last night. "I don't know how I didn't lose. I haven't cheated...I didn't over eat, I ate everything I was supposed to!" ... as we watched her eat those chips with supper and wash it down with a coke. He's not a dummy. He hasn't done this many surgeries to listen to lies. He knows what a person's body goes through during these procedures and it's his way of making or breaking them. You either man up and do what you were told to do for the program or get out. Yes, it's blunt, but trust me....you see through the BS and after awhile, tell it like it is.

It is supposed to tell you how much your stomach can hold. You can get a container of cottage cheese (usually they're clearly marked with how many ounce it contains) mark the level of the full container, and then start eating at a good pace until you are full and stop. Then you take a measuring cup filled with Water, and start pouring the water into the cottage cheese to measure how many ounces you were able to eat. I did a form of the test, but I preferred to do it in a less messy/wasteful way: I measured out 1 full cup (8 ounces) of cottage cheese into a measuring cup, and ate from there. Once full, I tamped down what was left lightly to see how much I'd eaten. My results were my stomach could hold 6 ounces. I discussed this test with my doctor, however, and he said it's complete BS. He said that cottage cheese is too liquid to really fill up a pouch without immediately flowing out, so while you could conceivably eat fast enough to feel full, at least some of it had likely already left the pouch since you started eating and would give you a false sense of how much the pouch could actually hold. He said he would be surprised if I could hold much more than 3-4 ounces of solid food. Liquid foods like cottage cheese or yogurt are not a good measure. The only true test is to use dense Protein - meat. He suggested cooked chicken breasts (not canned chicken either - too moist). Anything with a high moisture content will slide through the sleeve faster than you think. Weigh a few cooked chicken breasts, then eat until full. Measure what is left. That would be a much more accurate measure.

Thanks! I am a week out as of yesterday. I had no pain after surgery, just tummy tenderness, and no pain since I got home! This surgery has been such an easy one for me. Had my one week check up today and lost 9 lbs since my surgery. I started myself in the puree phase early because I always felt hungry on the liquids. I have tolerated them well, no nausea or vomiting. Never did have the dreaded gas pain in the shoulder so many complain of, but my surgeon takes the air he puts in out before closing the incisions. I also had a hiatal hernia he repaired that I wasn't aware I had! I'm really happy with my surgery! Just having trouble getting in the required 64 oz of water each day. And I am craving meat in the worst way! LOL Hope yours goes just as well. Did you hear from BC/BS?

I had the same questions as you because my weight went below a BMI of 35 in 2013 (because I had just gotten the lapband taken out). I'm finishing up my 3 month pre-op process this week, and hope to have everything submitted to BCBS Fed next week. I'll let you know how it goes. I am hopeful, because as RNYDawn mentioned, as long as I have a high BMI recorded in 2014, 2015, and 2016 I should be good......hopefully . Even though the recorded weights aren't 2 full years (24 months) apart because 2016 just started.

It's not BS at all. The whole idea of WLS is to create restriction so you eat less and feel full longer. Eating and drinking at the same time is one of the easiest ways to bypass that restriction. I know for a fact, that pre-sleeve, I used drinking as a way to shovel in more food. I would go through 4 glasses of Water at a large meal, so I could wash that food through my stomach more quickly and fit more food in. That fact REALLY hit me the first time I experienced "fullness" post-op and my very first instinct was to reach for the water so I could keep eating. You do have to be responsible for what you put in your mouth, that includes foods and liquids at the same time. And while it all does come down to calories in versus calories out in terms of weight loss, if you want to take full advantage of this TOOL we have all been given, don't cheat yourself out of that restriction.

I have to say I think that the drink and eat thing at the same time is BS. Look, I'm no medical professional but it really is about what you put in your mouth and how much. I didn't get hung up on the drinking and eating thing I got hung up on what and how much is going in and my exercise output. Just my thoughts. (Break) Follow the advise of your doctor....Yada ...Yada...

Same here with the urinating all day. It's a hassle because they have to disconnect my IV each time. But I'm glad for it though bc the lady next to me hasn't been able to go since she got here today whereas I was begging to go as soon as I got in from recovery yesterday!

I've been staying up to the minute with my pain meds. If I get off track, I do feel pain. My small incisions don't bother me, the bigger one is starting to cause some discomfort. Yes my throat hurts as well. I have been able to eat jello, drink water and broth today. I walked the halls at least 5 times. The worst part for me is this drip they have me on. It makes me have to urinate ALL day. Super annoying, they just decreased it for me. I hope they send me home with some good meds bc I hate pain. Right now I'm on a liquid med called hycet.

I'm 4 days post op and I have the largest most painful incision to the right of my belly button. This is where they fed multiple instruments through. Im wearing a binding waist sincher that I got at the hospital and that seems to help.

I'm just going to throw this out there and then I'm done with this thread.... To the OP, I'm sorry you're having to deal with sleeve issues. I can imagine how frustrating it would be trying to do this as if you still have a regular sized stomach, as I've tried a hundred times before my surgery. If it were me, I would move heaven and earth in pursuit of a revision. It sounds to me like it was surgeon error, not yours. I wish you well, and keep us posted! To others in this thread, just because someone may call you out in your BS or disagree with you, doesn't mean they are a "troll" a "bully" " 9th grade girls" "hags" and so on. I find it funny the ones who complain how mean and nasty some people can be are the same ones who resort to name calling. I thought we were all adults here, but obviously not. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the "ignore" option is a glorious thing. Don't like my posts? Instead of throwing a hissy fit every time I post about how mean and unsupportive I am, just put me on ignore so you don't have to see my posts anymore. I've done it, too! No tantrums, no name calling, no flouncing, just "ignore". See how easy that is? Have a great day everyone!

I do and I use this calculator. http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/ I had my resting metabolic rate tested recently so that is accurate and I changed mine from the default, but the default was close, within 100 calories. I had a DEXA scan so I also know my exact fat percentage. If you don't know you can let it guess for you. I use the lowest fat goal allowed. I don't always meet it. My goal is to meet my Protein goal and to not go over my carb goal. My carb goal is net carbs. I easily stay under the carb goal even not using net carbs. Before someone comes in talking about net carbs are BS, net carbs are the standard in Europe, the US is behind on everything because of lobbyists, but that is a different topic. Some days I go over 750 calories, I try to stay under 850.

Hello My name is Claire, and I live in London, England. I was sleeved on 22 January this year, so I'm just over a week out. I have no idea how much I've lost so far, but i'm not too worried about that at the moment, i'm just trying to get through the recovery period in one piece! it was a LOT less painful than I expect, and I was keen to get out of bed even before i'd left ITU - mind you, that was because I really needed a pee! although in the uk we use a mix of metric and imperial measurements, the hospital weighed me in kg, so i'm not too sure how much I weighed in pounds - let alone stones and lbs (which most people prefer). I think I was about 270lb either the day of surgery, or two days afterwards, when I was discharged. I haven't weighed myself yet - i'll either do that tomorrow or Wednesday. I had expected a bypass, and I don't know at this present time why they didn't do it, but I did give them permission to do that if it was necessary - rather than coming out of surgery with nothing! I didn't do very well on the LRD and think I messed up, because in 3 weeks I think I lost about 3lb. so far I've actually found the LRD the hardest part of the process! having platlets checked tomorrow, and I have a dressing that needs changing (the main one the pull the stomach out of was oozing a bit, apparently... it's just a bit puss-y now, but nothing major). I don't tolerate milk too well, so I am really fed up with that already but I will just have to deal with it. everything is starting to taste incredibly sweet, and i'm struggling wih that, too! I get most of my 'meals' in, and i'm improving i'm being a little bit renegade with my medications, but that's just me - I don't recommend it to anyone, but I would rather not have meds at all than have them in my drinks, and i'd rather get those fluids in than leave half of it because it tastes bitter. i'm on children's ibuprofen 3-4 times a day (that's fine, it tastes nice, albeit very sweet), chalky Calcium & vit d3 twice a day (quite nice, and a bit of a treat!), and lansoprazole once a day (don't mind it), and I've just finished my dalteparin injections. apart from that.... nothing. don't need more painkillers, I think the Iron tablet will taste disgusting, and i'm leaving my usual meds for the mushy stage next week (metformin, gliclazide, sertraline, losartan, amlodipine, statin, thyroxine). i'm keeping an eye on my blood sugar and blood pressure.... not as well as I probably should, mind. i'll ask them at the clinic tomorrow. apart from that, I've come down with a rotten cold, but at least it's forcing me to pace myself! so, that's me! (scuse typos, the laptop seems to be even more sluggish than I am right now!)

Im curious about this 5DPT that I found on the Internet and I'm going to try it starting tomorrow morning! In a couple days I will hit my one year bandiversary. Ive lost 79lbs since surgery, but I lost 80% of that in the first 5 months after surgery. So the last 7 months it's been very slow. I kind of got comfortable with the weight I'd lost, even knowing I had double that amount to lose. I'm def in the green zone because I can't eat much at each meal. I think my problem is not making the right food choices. Eating junk food and eating when I'm not even hungry are my main problems. I've gained and lost the same 10lbs several times over the last 3-4 months. It's just not acceptable. I'm still heavy enough that I should be losing weight faithfully every week. Idk what's wrong with me, but I think I just need to do a reset on my body and start over. I'm embarrassed to even see my surgeon bc I feel like a failure the last 6 months. Once I get some more weight off then I'll schedule an appointment. I do not need another fill, I wouldn't be able to eat anything bc my band is pretty tight. So it's not how much I'm eating at each meal, it's my poor food choices and what I'm eating in between meals. Lord help me! I had such high expectations for this band. I just need to find a way to get excited about it again. Anyone else going thru this or have suggestions for me? I've read thru a lot of the topics on here, but many of the ones I found were years old. Id like to connect with some people who are going thru the same as me.

I found this 5DPT on the Internet and wanted to try it. In a couple days I will hit my one year bandiversary. Ive lost 79lbs since surgery, but I lost 75% of that in the first 4 months after surgery. So the last 8 months I've lost very slow. I kind of got comfortable with the weight I'd lost, even knowing I had double that amount to lose. So I'm def in the green zone because I can't eat much at each meal. I think my problem is that I'm not making the right food choices. Eating junk food and eating when I know I'm not even hungry are my main problems. I've gained and lost the same 10lbs several times over the last 4 months. It's just not acceptable. I'm still heavy enough that I should be losing weight faithfully every week. Idk what's wrong with me, but I think I just need to do a reset on my body and start over. I'm embarrassed to even see my surgeon bc I feel like a failure the last 6 months. Once I get some more weight off then I'll schedule an appointment. I do not need another fill, my band is almost at capacity. So it's not how much I'm eating at each meal, it's my poor food choices and what I'm eating in between meals. Lord help me! I had such high expectations for this band. I just need to find a way to get excited about it again. Anyone else going thru this?

Liquid Tylenol will give you dumping syndrome bc the second ingredient is sugar...so avoid it.