Search the Community

I had to lay down my rant about my mini emotional breakdown during the pre-op diet. I have been taking my time to get ready for my pre and post op diet, since August. Buying some little things here and there to make sure I was completely stocked up. My surgery is not scheduled until 12/12/2018. I knew I would have to do the diet for 2 weeks before my surgery, so I had plenty of time to get everything together. One of the last things I purchased was my broth. I decided to wait until around Thanksgiving to purchase it, thinking it may be on sale since it is a thanksgiving hot item. A few days before Thanksgiving, I went to my local Wally world (I live within 10 miles of 2 Walmart superstores and a Walmart neighborhood Grocery Store) and picked up 2 boxes of the chicken broth and a bone beef broth. And stored it away I the pantry. Fast forward to 11/24 I was required to begin the pre-op diet until 11/28. I decided to jumpstart my pre-op diet a few days early, just to give myself a few days to work any kinks out. For the first 3 days. I took in protein shakes for all 3 meals per day. But by the 4th day, I wanted something warm for dinner, because I was fighting off a cold. Now by this day, I was definitely feeling the sugar and carb withdrawal. I was tired, cranky and had a little bit of brain fog. I decided that today I would have broth! I was super excited. I took my broths out of the cabinet, got my pot ready on the stove (yes, I was so excited I was going to heat it up on the stove to make me feel as if I was really preparing myself a grand meal). I opened the top, only to find the security seal was broken. I told myself “Okay no problem, I have 2 other boxes.” I proceeded to open the next box only to find the same thing. I looked at the last box and thought, “well this it, I will go back to the store tomorrow and get more.” I opened the 3rd box only to find the seal on it was also broken. I was furious! I collected myself and decided to take all 3 boxes back to the store, the only problem was I no longer had the receipt. Dag Nabit! By now I am thinking “Well just chalk it up and go to the store.” Now by this time, I am getting very hungry and I am ready to have my dinner. I leave my home and head to one of the other Wally Worlds that are close to my home. I go to the store and purchased 2 new boxes of broth. I get home and open the first box…safety seal is broken! I open the second box and the safety seal is broke! WHAT, HOW AND WHO WOULD DO THAT TO BROTH! BROTH! By this time, I have broken down crying. I mean balling! My poor husband hears me in the kitchen and comes in and asks what’s wrong, I just slide to the kitchen floor and through tears explain what happened and that I have nothing to take in for dinner but a shake, and I really wanted something warm on my stomach. I sat there and cried for about 5 minutes while my husband looked in the cabinet to attempt to find something that I would be able to have for dinner. (eventually, he did but after my breakdown.) I wondered if I was making the right decision to have the surgery. Never once did I even think of eating any of the other food that was in the kitchen or pantry. I was purely upset that I had now purchased 5 boxes of broth and they were all tainted. And Now I have to drink a cold shake. Then I thought, you’re not crying about wanting the other foods you’re not supposed to eat during the pre-diet, your crying about the food you can normally have but can’t because of the broken protective seal! Right then and there I knew I was committed, and I was making the right decision and could make it through this. Thanks you for letting me share

Hey there! Great Loss you are not far after me. I had my revision to bypass 9/10. Was all you weigh loss after surgery? Or was some of the 70lbs preop? If you don't mind me asking. I have lost 47 lbs but 15 was preop and 32lb has been post op.

@elmatador i knew you could do it!! party dance, party dance☺️ 86 lbs - 10 inches WTG ahhhh - onderland - welcome to the neighborhood!! Always room for one more,!!! and more, and more!! LOL keep up the good work, i know you can/will!!☺️ kathy congrats

Hi and welcome! We each do IF a different way. And any way that works for us...is good. Right? If it were me, most days, I'd try to start whittling down on the additions to the coffee until on IF days I was just doing black coffee. You may not be able to. Some days, I just do'nt want to exist without my 1oz of PP in my coffee. Doc's say to get the best bang for your autophagy buck you need to avoid any source of calories. But that's when you're hard core IFing in my honest opinion. I think 14/10 is a good place to start. Gradually work towards longer fasts if possible? 1000-1100 cals for me is beyond maintenance and into weight gain mode. So for me to lose, I have to be lower on average for the week. I can have some of those days, but then I have to average them with having more 500-600 cal days...

Hey guys! I have been lurking for a bit and decided to give the IF thing a go. After reading a bit, I will give the 14 hour fast/10 hour eating period a whirl. I am still good to have my morning coffee though, right? I typically just have my coffee w/ 1 cup almond milk and 1T cream, coming in at 80 calories for my daily tumbler of heaven Other than that, just going to try to stick strictly to tracking my food, keeping carbs under control and staying around 1000 - 1100 calories a day. I am pretty good with getting my protein and water in...but going to aim to get more than 100oz of water a day (right now I'm about 60-80oz). I had VSG 7/4/17 and would still like to lose about 25lbs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Well, almost exactly 6 months post op (VSG 6/1) I weigh less than 200 pounds for the first time since...since I don’t know! College probably? Feel great, no longer stressed about getting my protein. At the gym 2 or 3 days a week, actually enjoy working out! Down 86 pounds, 10 inches in my waist (size 46 to 36), no longer snore, and have so much more confidence. My wife and kids are proud of me, for the hard work I’ve done and continue to do, and for taking care of myself. I’m off all meds, only taking vitamins (instead of 2 blood pressure meds). My work is scheduling new professional photos for me because I don’t look like the person in my old pics anymore. I always figured I’d be obese forever because I lacked willpower’s. I kinda figured this would fail too, despite my best efforts. But VSG does work - at least, it sure has for me!

So I’m happy to report my stall “broke” 2 days ago! I was sleeved on 10/10 at 327lbs. I got down to 300.8 after 4 weeks. Then still 300.8 (exactly) at 5 weeks and 6 weeks and 6 weeks+6 days. Wednesday morning I stepped on the scale (exactly 7 weeks out and 3 weeks since I lost an ounce) and I was 299! YAY - I haven’t been under 300lbs in 10+ years! Then yesterday 298 and today 297.4. How weird!! 3 weeks of not losing anything and then 3 days in a row of losing! Obviously I’m so happy and I’ll never fear the stall again! Lol

Thanks for such a long post! You are too kind to take you time to post this. Actually, I am familiar with many of these points. I am an RN and am graduating in 13 days with my Master's in Nursing and will sit for boards in less than a month to be a Family Nurse Practitioner. In my clinical rotations (Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Ob/gyn, even Peds), I give my patients talks about eliminating simple sugars out of their diet. In fact, I did my capstone project on the Medical Management of Bariatric Patients, and in addition to the inflammatory processes that simple sugars inflame, you are at high risk for dumping syndrome. I experience extreme dumping syndrome--bother early and late dumping syndrome. Early--from the simple sugars (for example, if I would ever eat like a cookie or half a cupcake) and late (from high fat, like bacon or fast food.) I have had my gall bladder removed so it exacerbates the late dumping syndrome more than someone who has their gall bladder. I'm a stage 2b breast cancer survivor and couldn't tolerate Tamoxifen for a variety of reasons. So, against my doctor's wishes, I had to d/c that med a few years ago. They wanted me to take it for 10 years. I couldn't even tolerate 18 months. I ended up on 13 other meds to ameliorate the s/e caused by the Tamoxifen. Then I had to have a salpingoopherectomy (hysterectomy but left the ovaries so I wouldn't go into premature menopause.) I am quite familiar with the troubles of Femara--my mom took for a while and was MISERABLE. I have the same experience with wine--it causes me pain too. I don't even bother anymore. It's unfortunate but it's just the way it is. I don't know about the actual percentages of for every x y z pounds you lose, your pain is reduced by x percent. I'd love to read the research on that. If you happen to ever get the citation, please post or msg me. That is a powerful statistic that I would love to use with my patients I see in clinic. It would motivate them to get moving on weight loss. Nonetheless, I am continuing to work on my weight loss, having lost 100 pounds so far. Exercising is more sporadic now, especially in the last days of my MSN wherein I'm having to submit so many papers, assignments, take finals, etc. Terrible excuse, but it's my reality nonetheless. I do what I tell my patients to do and get up and march around the house for 10 mins multiple times a day, when I'm not at clinic. And/or walk outside when it's not 29 degrees here! My husband is runner who runs at 7 mins/mile (old guy now who used to run 4min/mile) so when he walks we me especially, he keeps me on a good pace. As you probably know, weight loss and eschewing alcohol are the two major actions you can take as a breast cancer survivor to prevent a recurrence. There are numerous studies on this and I can post if you would like. (I'm in the last few days of coursework and working like a dog to submit assignments, study for finals and boards! So this moment is kinda bad, but soon!) It sounds like you have been through the ringer and I appreciate your post. I'm off all pain meds. I have muscle relaxants that I can use for spasms but I don't use them that much b/c of s/e. The one muscle relaxant that doesn't cause sleepiness is Lorzone, but it's not that effective. I have never had a prednisone shot, although it's sounding mighty enticing. My concern about that is the same as with my patients. It raise blood sugar, puts you at risk for fungal infections, etc. I'm not a big advocate of prednisone injections in general. Thanks again for your post and I will continue my quest to continue to lose weight and very SOON be able to up my exercise even more that my paltry amount. The rebound pain is real with NSAIDs (which I cannot take anyway, as all of us with GBS) and the endorphins released by exercise (and sex, btw!) are inimitable! Keep up all your great work!

Family of 4. We got the 6qt and it was perfect! It is a lifesaver for quick yet quality meals for full-time busy families. My husband and I both work full time and I go to college full time and our children are ages 10 and 7, both boys. So I have plenty of appetites to fill and the instant pot makes me like the perfect 1960s mom with a roast hot on the table by dinner time when she got off work at 3 in the afternoon. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm about 6 weeks post op and am still stuck at a 24 pound loss (17 immediately post-op, the other 7 verrrrry slowly came off after the first couple weeks. I'm coming up on day 10 of a stall. Lose a pound, gain a pound, lose a pound, gain a pound. I'm working the program, and with rare exception, am working it to near perfection. I get 64 oz of water but want to try to start getting in more. I am averaging 400 to 600 calories per day and am meeting my minimum protein goals (60mg, trying to figure out how to increase it to 80g without adding a bunch of calories). What else can I do? I'm considering fasting for a day to see if that helps break the stall.

I haven't seen anyone else post about this so I'll put it out there. I'm 10 days post-op and don't see my surgeon again until January. Almost immediately after surgery I noticed a palm sized numb area on my outer right thigh , at the time I chalked it up to the rock hard hospital bed. However it's persisted for 10 days and this past Saturday when slept on my right side I woke up with a really sharp pain when I moved my leg that went away in about 5 seconds. I also occasionally get "pin and needles" type sensations in the same area no consistency in what triggers it. Anyone experience anything similar?

I had my year check-in this morning and my doctor was thrilled I have dropped my BMI from 40 to 28 since surgery. I'm still losing weight, very slowly, just a couple pounds a month. I'm still 20 pounds away from my goal weight -- which would be just what I need to be in the healthy BMI range. I told my doctor I've come to accept that I probably won't get there, but she said she wouldn't be surprised if I lose another 10 in the next six months, given that I'm exercising daily. So it's good to know that loss is still possible for us if we work at it. Congratulations to everyone on our sleeviversaries.

Each body has a natural rhythm. I was a faster before fasting was “a plan”. I stuck with it through life, through surgery... During the times in my life where I tried so hard to do the strict breakfast/lunch/dinner timetable as prescribed, (no eating after 7pm...oh, horror), I packed on weight. My plan is exactly what my body loves; I have liquids, including a protein shake if I feel like it, until about 1-2p. Sometimes that extends to 3p if I can’t muster any interest in food. Then from 2pm until 8-9pm, I get my protein in using solids, shakes, bars, whatever. I go to bed around 10:30pm nightly and fall asleep by 11pm. Usually get up around 8-9am and start over. I ate this way as a kid, through high school, etc. The only time this changed was during the 10 year period I was super heavy.

After my Consultation in January, I ordered these measuring shorts that sync with an app on my phone. They are called, “Like A Glove”. Think spandex workout shorts that send measurements through Bluetooth.. They use the measurements to chart inches lost in high and low waist/hips. From 2” below belly button to just at upper thigh. They also use the measurements to tell you what size jeans are most likely to fit you in which brand. (It gives me an idea where to start...) I never measured my natural waist in the beginning, I’m curious to see what my surgeon has, but it’s 25” now. According to my magic shorts, I’ve lost 10” inches off my waist for mid-rise jeans and 8” off the widest part of my hips (which makes sense considering that’s where all my extra skin is). All I really care about is that I’m getting leaner and feel wonderful in clothes! At 54 years old, I could easily fit into the cute little clothes I wore in junior high. The numbers don’t mean all that much to me.

Nice to meet you too! I see my surgeon for the first time on Monday 12/03. My new insurance that covers bariatric won't go into effect until 01/01/19 so depending on if I need nutrition visits or not, January would be the soonest I could have surgery. I think that's too quick though. Won't truly know until my plan enrollment is complete and the surgeon can run the claim (or whatever they call it LOL) to find out the minute details. I've been part of this forum for 10 years, back when it was still called LapBandTalk so being able to FINALLY do this surgery is a long time comin'! 💓

1) 133 2) this morning 133 3) maintaining 4) Running season is over. Less cardio more lifting. Building muscle back 5) Total loss at the end of the challenge (posted 2019) 6) Check in: My friends father passed last Saturday. The family is here in Idaho wrapping things up. I've been spending time with them, food choice are limited and I had two drinks last night. I feel sluggish and crappy. They fly out friday. Looking forward to getting back to my healthy zone.

Challenge Starting weight: 210 Current weight lost: 167 pounds Losing or maintaining weight: still losing- 35 pounds to go. Fitness/exercise goal: 4xs a week at gym, 5 miles of walking each day. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019) 11 pounds, onederland by Jan 1 Check in: Tell us how you are doing - I was doing really well, I was down to 208 but after Thanksgiving over indulgence and major stress (my cat of 15 years passed, and two people at work accused me of alcoholism because I look tired and puke in the bathroom---but you can all guess why---I am borderline anemic, low on zinc and vitamin A---but still the accusation had to go through legal and I had to disclose the fact I had a sleeve) hoping to toughen up, stop the stress eating and have a big weight loss for December.

While I am not in my 20's I would comment that I am 10 months post vsg and I have lost 75 pounds and I believe the surgery was the single best thing I have done for myself. I believe it is absolutely worth it. Having said that I would give one word of caution- the surgery is merely one tool and not a magic pill that will fix everything. There are behaviors I had to address- stress eating/using food to manage my emotions- I started to crochet/ journal and do whatever I needed to do to address the underlying reason for my overeating. I am actually a physician and I have patients who have gained back the weight so it is a real issue but I also have patients who have been successful. The main difference appears to be whether you are willing to do anything to improve your health. I get up at 5am to work out and I usually work out after work also. I use lose it app and document everything I eat regularly and I will do whatever else I have to do to continue to succeed. I was desperate, everything I did failed and I will do whatever I need to do to succeed. I wish you the best and I believe if you are desperate enough to pay out of pocket for your surgery you are desperate enough to make sure you are successful after your surgery. As for your significant other- I have found that all of my relationships have changed because I have changed - I am willing to speak up for myself and set boundaries more than before and I know myself better so I know what I do and do not want in my life. If he loves you he will come along with you on this journey as in this life we are all evolving- we stop moving when we die and it seems like you want to live! Good luck and happy holidays!

I went to my 2 week post op today.. a few days early .. I am actually 12 days post op and i am down just about 30 pounds in total and 10 since surgery. My stitches were removed and i was cleared for Puree.. and i may be able to take my ballroom dancing classes in 2 more weeks. He said it depends on if i can hold down the puree or not.. Here is to new challenges Happy Thanksgiving All! Apparently I never posted this! LOL.. Today is 3 weeks post op! I am down just about 20 pounds since surgery, and 38.4 total since Pre Op Diet! I have one more week of Puree and then i move into soft!

The vinegar is amazing!! Eggs are also hit or mess, at first it’s all I was eating but now it bothers me.havent tried steak, worried it might get “stuck” but maybe I’ll give it a try. Just hate the thought of chewing meat to a mush :( I did have shrimp once from a restaurant that was amazing and basically melted, haven’t tried to cook it myself though but I have to try because I’m sure I’m not even taking in 10 grams of protein daily. Thanks for the tips!!

Close! You do your starting weight. Looking at your profile, it says surgery weight was 279 correct? Excess would be 148. 16/148x100=10.8% My surgeons estimated weight losss for a sleeve at 6 weeks is 10-12%. Then 20% by 3 months out.

I am planning to do a tummy tuck with breast lift in mid-2019 and then in 2020 arms with potential implants added depending on how I like my boobs with just the lift.

Day 6 of my 10 day pre-op diet. 4 more full days of liquid before I go NPO at midnight the night before surgery! Liquid has been a real challenge for me in the evenings. Coming home from work and smelling the dinner my wife has prepared is really hard. (I have 4 kids, there really isn't an option not to have smells in the house) Not much longer! This will be totally worth it.

Hey, so, I'm just feeling really nice about my weight loss chart and thought I'd share it (with the y-axis, which shows actual numbers, cut off). That "expected" line was created by figuring out my excess weight (surgery weight minus ideal weight), multiplying that by .6 (on average, sleevers lose about 60% of their excess weight), and plopping that number down a year from my surgery date. That may end up being a bit off -- some people take 18 months to get there -- but it gives me a starting point. For sure, if the blue line ever crosses the red line, I'll move the 60%EWL number to 18 months and still have a motivating chart; but for right now, I could put it at one year out and didn't have to make that many spreadsheet rows. 😉 Anyway, I take my weight every Wednesday when I wake up, and that's how the blue line is plotted. Caveats: 60% is an average, and I'm not sure what the actual distribution of weight lost really looks like for gastric sleeve patients. So for my own case, yeah, I could end up doing better or worse, and I know that. Some of that is under my control -- I can follow the program and do the work to get the best possible results for my body -- but some of it will come down to age, genetics, etc. I'm at not quite 15% of my excess weight lost this week (week 8). (I was past 10% at week 6, so I guess JessaK's team would say I'm on track. My team seemed happy enough.)

Ok, so sorry you are going through this and have to live with it. The worst thing in my opinion is always being on a level of pain where you can't sleep, move, etc. But here's where I probably won't be popular, and I can only give you my story. And everyone is SO different and lives a different pain history. In short, I have osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease, cervical stenosis and sacral stenosis, bone spurs on my spine, hips, joints. etc, etc, chronic bursitis in both hips, a 50% ACL tear, and neuralgia 360 around my chest extending 8 inches + neuralgia in my hands/feet from hand/foot syndrome during chemo. And in addition I'm a stage 3c BC survivor on Femara (a drug that causes even more bone and joint pain). I've been on opiod pills, neurontin, tramadol, flexeril, nsaids, tylenol, pain patches, pain gels, cortisone shots to the joints. Oh and now I have a Parkinsonian trimmer in my head and hands from the radiation/chemo--so it causes constant muscle tension cuz I trie to keep my head/hands/shoulders from shaking deep inside my body. I used to not be able to sleep longer than 1-2 hours at a time before waking from pain and unintentional movement. I still sleep in a recliner. And every day I woke, I'd wake in at least a 6-7 pain level. I would not medicate until it was an 8+ to 10 cuz I hated the side effects of the drugs. And now that I had surgery, most of that or a lot of that is off the table. Here is what finally helped me. 1. Adjusting my diet to be as clean as possible. (Every time I eat beef or pork, I wake the next morning 20 years older... Every time I have carby carbs like grains--pain so bad I feel 80 years old. Every time I drink any kind of alcohol other than a little red wine--pain like cray. Cheese and dairy is the same way unless it's very very small amounts of reduced fat or fat free dairy.) 2. Started doing severe calorie restriction, then IF and that reduced the pain ENORMOUSLY! Like...magically. 3. Lose weight. I think my doc gave me some number like: for every 15% of body weight you lose, you reduce your pain level by 20-30%? 4. Get PT and then do the frickin core strengthening exercises religiously. (I'm slacking on this! But I can tell when I do them and when I don't. The difference in pain level is a magnitude of 10 with v. without.) 5. Walk daily. Daily. Even when I don't feel like it. Even when it hurts. By the time I'm done, it always hurts less. The best thing I've done is lose the weight. I can do things now without pain meds that I never thought I could or would be able to do. My goal is to get to 125-130lbs to take off as much extra stress as possible and improve my pain level as much as I can. I think the pain meds caused a continual cycle of spring-back pain (forget the name of it). So it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because I medicated, I would have more pain at the end of the cycle and need to take more meds. And because I medicated, I'd built up a tolerance and needed more and more meds to help. Now if I absolutely must have one, it takes maybe 1/4 of the amount it used to take. I now wake only in a 2-3 and end of day is usually only a 4 which is entirely manageable for me. Some meds that play well together and amplify their effects: 1. Gabapentin + Tramadol together 2. Tramadol + Tylenol together (this one is especially good) 3. Norco 10/325 + Flexoril (last resort med) Lastly, this is the killer part. (Sorry in advance...and you can only do what you can do--and only you know how clean your diet is and if you are eating low cals.) If you are 5'5" and 178lbs and female, you still have some fluffy slush to get rid of that absolutely would help reduce the pain level. I wouldn't say that if I didn't feel the difference in myself. It was night and day relief. I'm no longer on any pain drugs. And the only scripts I take are my Femara, thyroid, and omeprazole. I walk daily. I try to do strength training 2-3 days per week as much as I'm able. And I can actually "fast walk"/jog which I never thought possible. It's now been 1+ year since one of my cortisone shots and about 6+months since the other and I'm holding up really well. I hope my story helps you. I'm sorry for going on about myself. But I just think, if it was possible for me, how many others would/could benefit from it. The freedom from drugs is really just a great gift of this surgery and lifestyle.