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Bibim Bop, bariatric-style - wow, that was excellent! It's good to still have good food.

Hello everyone i'm really close to my surgery date.I want to know if anyone can explain to me how to know what 1 serving of food is i was told 2 different thing's one was if u have one serving of fruit u can look it up and do one 1/2 strawberrie and 1/2 cup kewi it 1 serving im so confused

First time in my life I've ever had to worry about expiration dates and food safety.

Shrimp Salad on Califlower Mash - REAL FOOD despite pureed diet. YUM

so excited, tomorrow is my last day on pureed foods and I move to soft foods...I am feeling more and more on top of this every day!!!! Its amazing!!!!

Christmas potluck at work tomorrow. I'm on purees, so this isn't going to be much fun. I'm making meatballs, but there will be sooo much food.

Im doing okay i quess you can say. Im still watching how the food makes me feel and how well it goes down. I really want to learn how to be a bariatric chef lol

Im doing okay i quess you can say. Im still watching how the food makes me feel and how well it goes down. I really want to learn how to be a bariatric chef lol

Struggling with this darn Phase 2 post op diet.......can't wait for more of a variety of foods to eat....

The vacation was great and lovely and I stayed very active while still getting to sample foods I hadn't yet tried since surgery.  After getting back, I decided to stay off of social media for a little while, which also included these forums.  I had a lot of work in the office to catch up on and needed to focus on that.  Of course, the past week or so I have been struggling a lot mentally and emotionally.  I've desperately wanted comfort food and have done well not giving into that temptation.  This week doesn't feel like it'll go much better, but October always seems to be the worst month for me. 

Had an anxiety dream last night involving a substantial weight gain in the past week.  Absolutely no basis in reality since I've stayed on plan.  I think it stems from Saturday when I ate some extra calories due to a 2 hour hike earlier in the day that burned 900 calories.  The extra calories brought my total intake up for 1025, as opposed to 700-800.  And my extra calories were from curry egg salad, so it was a protein packed choice.  And yet, my brain some how decided that would lead me to gain 10 pounds in one week and threw that are me while I slept.  Brains can be jerks.

Hi, Everyone.

I have just started my Maintenance Diet / "Forever Diet (What I call it.) on Saturday, September 5, 2020 and I am both excited, because I can now eat normal food and scared about messing this opportunity up that the Sleeve has given me. I don't know if there are any out there who work in Food Retail but it can be challenging at times given that we are around food most of the time. 

Hi!  I am just at the end of my 6-month supervised diet requirement and waiting for the last couple of consultation reports to get filed so my surgeon's office can submit everything for insurance approval.  And I'm terrified that I'm making the biggest mistake of my life... one that can't be undone.  Am I just crazy?

For starters, I do NOT like or trust the nutritionist this surgical group requires their patients to work with.  I don't feel like I get a straight answer to my questions, only to do exactly what she says because she's "smarter than anyone else in the whole world on bariatric nutrition and has more experience than other nutritionists because all the hospitals want to do is cut costs and hire someone right out of college who doesn't have a clue what they're talking about."  Paraphrased into my words, somewhat, but that's the attitude.  They have a Facebook group for support with other patients and you can't ask anything there about why something is not approved or they all turn into butthurt primadonnas at the idea you might stray from what she's stamped as "approved."  I can't even tell you what her eating plan is because she's made it proprietary and wrapped it in a non-disclosure agreement.  I've tried following it and all that's happened is I feel sick, bloated, and constipated.  And I actually gained weight on it.  There are so many rules and demands to drink at this moment and eat at this moment and take vitamins at other specific times in the day, that I can't figure out how I'll do my job or live the life I'm trying to capture.  I also find it exceptionally disagreeable that she requires you to buy only vitamins that she receives a commission on.  If you object to their price, which is substantial, she gives you a saccharine smirk and says "You'll be spending so much less on food that you can afford it."

Sorry for the dump.  I am so frustrated with this piece.

And I'm frustrated that he's bullying me into taking my gallbladder out at the same time.  I'm freaked out about the hair loss because I don't have a heck of a lot to begin with.  And that having VSG causes GERD which then makes you take even more pills... I hate pills.  And being cold all the time and constipated all the time and having your tastebuds change.  While there's no real guarantee that the pain and deprivation will yield results.  I've also learned to utterly despise protein shakes in this 6 months.

So again, am I being crazy?  Anyone willing to talk me off the ledge?

Had an awful early dumping today. Mean thing about this: it was the same food combo I ate yesterday without problems.

My last appointment in 2019 the dietitian basically told me if she had been the one to talk to me and give a yes or no as a candidate she would of said no to me. Why? Because I am fussy and I don't like fish. My blood work was good. I was around 170 pounds to which I was told I am losing too much and I should of tapered off by then and been in maintenance. When I left there I felt very frustrated as I was a slow loser and maybe that was the goal they had set for me, but mine was lower. Anyway, she put me on an emergency list to go back in January to talk to her again so they could check on me. It's an hour drive and $20 to park. When I left there I tried more suggestions of what else to add to my diet and found that I was eating when I wasn't hungry, I was pushing myself to eat more than I wanted and more often than not I suffered for hours after eating. I did this for about 2 weeks and then went back to how I was doing it before.

Now they've been calling since January trying to book an appointment and I keep giving excuses as to why I can't go. They called each month and now because of covid-19 they are willing to do phone appointments so I agreed. I told the dietitian about my previous experience and how it wasn't helpful. When I told her I was down to 145 on my scale she told me that once again I would be put on the emergency list as it more than a year later and I shouldn't be losing anymore weight and if I continued to do so I would likely be a failure and gain it all back. Hopefully the next one is over the phone also and I will just tell them what they want to hear. I will tell them I gained 10 pounds and I eat fish every other day and all the other stuff they say I need to eat.

And like the last time for a couple weeks I tried to incorporate more food and more calories, and once again I suffer, I am so full I feel sick. I need to spend sometimes hours after laying down. Sometimes I pace in the bathroom because I am so close to throwing up. I haven't had to take gravol much over the course of my journey but after those two appointments they were becoming vital in my survival. Plus I was gaining weight, quickly. So here I am again, back to the way I was doing that feels right for me.

I just don't understand why they are pushing for me to eat when I am not hungry... that's what got me to the weight I was once was, that's a bad habit. If I feel hungry I eat. I eat 3 meals a day and 2 to 3 snacks. I hit my protein goals. I drink more than enough water. I take my vitamins and supplements. My weight goes up and and down within 5 pounds. I don't understand their concern to keep me as an emergency patient that needs to be so closely monitored. I am not underweight, I am not malnourished, in fact I am still overweight. 

Am wondering if anyone else has had this issue with the dietitians afterward? It's very frustrating and I am close to saying good bye to them because they make me doubt myself and I think I am doing well. I want to go as low as I can go, not unhealthy low, but low enough that when I hit the stage where I ultimately gain some back, the lower I am the lower I will after that happens. If I end up at 140-150 I would be content with that. I will not be content with with 180.

I wonder what life would be like if everyone dumped. I just ate a few too many (oreo double stuff) cookies and feel like absolute shite. Can you imagine what the food industry would be like if everyone experienced this? Something tells me that we would all be much healthier.

6 Weeks Post Op!

My world is drastically different! I now walk 3 to 4 miles a day and I’m constantly getting up to move my body! .

I close my Apple Watch rings daily and about 4 to 6 days a week I double or triple them!

I have been released to have all foods. When I reintroduce some I need to start at 1 ounce to see how “Tiny Tummy” likes it!

I am not reintroducing sugars, coffee or junk! I did not pay close to $13,000 to fail! .

I went to get follow up bloodwork done this week and my numbers are all in the perfect range! .

This is my new world and I am happy it!

This is sooo good! I’m in my puree phase and found this to be so refreshing.

Whew what an up and down 24 hours it's been...

Yesterday I was pretty confident that I was finally through my first stall (after 3 full weeks!) and I was feeling good about getting 5km of walking in using my Nordic walking poles. 

I also have mastered some of my pills... ursodiol and calcium citrate have become my nemesis, because they are both large-ish pills and they get stuck on the way down and trigger vomiting... three times a day each! Turns out I can split my ursodiol in half, and take two smaller pills to get it down, and I can crush my calcium citrate and take it with a bit of apple sauce. Victory!

But then I did something pretty stupid and tried to eat half a smokie at dinner. I thought it would work because I have had kielbasa successfully, and I was using mustard as a bit of meat lube, as Fluffy calls it. Yeah... not smart. I spent more than three hours dealing with slimies, foamies, and general vomiting. Ugh! It was awful. The only highlight of the evening was that my Roughriders won their game. 

This morning, I was up and out for my walk by 6am, got in my 5km (although I'm feeling it a bit... sore legs), and managed my morning Rxs without issue. Even had a great poop! (who knew I could get so excited about that?) and I was down 1.2lb from yesterday! Woohoo! 

My plan for the day is to take it easy food-wise. Had some greek yoghurt with protein powder for breakfast and am planning on some egg salad for lunch. Giving my poor pouch a break from all the heaving yesterday. Here's hoping to have my first vomit free day in over 3 weeks. 

Well, long time no see. 

It's been a rough couple of weeks. I should have been expecting the other shoe to drop after having it so easy for the first three weeks post op. I was getting my water and protein easily, had no pain, nausea, or vomiting.

But as soon as the soft foods really started in earnest I started having problems. Pain, foamies, slimeys, vomiting galore. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it. Something that I ate easily yesterday causes pain and vomiting after the first bite today. Sometimes it's my pills, other times they go down easy. I just don't get it. 

I'm trying to stay positive. I know this is a season in my life, and things will eventually even out. I'm just so tired of being afraid to eat, not knowing what kind of response my body will have. I'm mostly hitting my protein target, thanks in large part to protein shakes (which I hate, but look at as medicine). I missed my water targets by a lot over the weekend, due mostly to feeling awful, which I know is a terrible cycle... throw up, don't feel like drinking anything, get dehydrated, get constipated, feel like crap, repeat. 

The three-week stall is also still here. I thought I had busted through it, but I've been bouncing between 216-219 for the last two and a half weeks, which is a contributing factor to my mood and frustration level. And add in wee-lings who are going crazy with end of the school year insanity, friends with busy schedules who I haven't been able to see in weeks, and I'm an unhappy girl. 

Things will turn around. I know they will. Just not feeling it at this moment. 

Day one of my pre op diet started well, but is beginning to get tougher. I've discovered that I really don't enjoy the strawberry glucerna shakes (blech!!!). And I think my house is going to be super clean by the end of this month because every time I think about eating, I clean something. And I'm going to have to go through all the pages I follow on Facebook and temporarily block or remove all the food related pages. 

Mental note: keep a close eye on my blood glucose. Dr. R suggested that can stop the gliclazide if I start having regular lows, and if today is any indication that will be happening sooner rather than later. 

A week and a day since surgery. Last night was the first night I got actually sleep, clocking in 7 hours. Oddly enough it's left me tired all day, but I didn't nap.
2 days ago my gas pains subsided (woohoo!)
I have aches and pains and of course sharp little pains around all the incisions (6 + 1 where the drain was), and I can't take the tylenol with codeine because it makes me feel like I have vertigo.
I have started the countdown mentally to my soft food stage starting on Monday. Looking forward to that, can't wait to see if eggs and cheese will still be my friends.

Surgery went well, I was up and walking the next day, drinking my protein, and wasn't nauseous not even once.  So I got to go home the next day

This is day 3 post-op. I am doing well, although I slept most of yesterday away, I believe I needed to catch up on sleep, since sleep in the hospital is in 2 hour intervals, someones always waking you up for something lol

Today I've been up all day, walking around, playing on the computer. I've had some pain but not anything that cant be controlled. The drinking thing has been hard. Making sure i get my protein in. So mainly right now I'm on 2x protein shakes a day, i split them up so that I'm only handling 4oz at a time. Drinking water and power-aid zero all day. And today I measured out 2oz sf jello and 2oz beef broth for lunch. I think i'm going to do ok with my new stomach. I worry about stretching it, but from what I've read 4 oz. on the liquid diet is not the same as solid food. I usually take my time and get full from 4oz of liquid.

So far so good, I am so happy with my decision to do this.

Greet Puree and soft food recipes

Meal Plan for Phase 2B.docx

Well, the holidays have been rough!  So many parties, so much good smelling food, and I couldn't eat any of it.  I was bad over the holiday,  at 12 days post op I ate the inside of a deviled egg (not the boiled white part), and on Christmas, I ate the inside of another deviled egg and a tablespoon of mashed unsweetened sweet potatoes which I could not finish.  Even though my diet plan doesn't have me starting pureed foods until Friday. I ate slowly an added saliva when I would put the food in my mouth to thin it out more.  I KNOW IT WAS WRONG BUT IT TASTED SO GOOD!  and I was very satisfied and didn't feel sick or overly full.  I haven't had anything even semi-solid in almost 5 weeks.