Hi all! Just wanted to pop in here and share some details that might help others.

I'm just a couple of months out and just got back from an international trip to India! Crazy, right? Well, I just wanted to share that traveling with the sleeve works just fine!

I had a lot of trouble sticking to the "rules," but the nice thing is that the sleeve is very forgiving. According to my dr. I'm still supposed to be crushing my pills, but it was hard to do this without my access to applesauce, so I broke up those that I could and just made sure I took them soon after eating part of a Protein Bar so that I had something in my stomach. My dr. told me that the rule for not taking full pills was not because they'd get stuck, but because they might irritate the stomach. So, I figured it would help to take them with a bit of food. I'm even on some extra pills (malaria medication, and now an anti-biotic for some kind of intestinal bug I picked up) but all are going down ok. Also, I know that a lot of people take full pills early on, so I figured it would be fine, and it was.

I also ate way more in the way of carbs than I normally do. Indian food is VERY spicy, and the bread and rice help to cool the stuff down. But I also did a lot more walking than normal, and after a 10 day trip, I was down 3 lbs, which is way more than my normal rate of weight loss.

I'm now down over 40 lbs, which is a rather slow rate, but my doc was cool about it, so I am too. I should be in onederland by Christmas now

The nicest thing was that I fit so well in the airplane seats - it wasn't uncomfortable at all. And I was able to buy some pretty Indian clothes. It was tricky, because I am still large, but it would have been so much harder to find clothes that fit when I was 40 lbs heavier.

Anyway, I'm so glad I have the sleeve. I think the trip would have been much trickier if I had the band or bypass. The sleeve is just a good sport about everything - even spicy Indian food!

hi kami

referring to your statement, "the nicest thing was that i fit so well in the airplane seats - it wasn't uncomfortable."

Good for you

I never had an "airline story" til the other month. My seat belt wasn't big enough by just a little bit though. I held the seat belt around me the best i could "pretending" it was on because the flight attendant was walking around checking if we had our belts on.

the next thing i know, she very inconspictiously (msp) handed me an extender for the seat belt. i wanted to die, I was so embarrassed. This never happened to me before, thats another way i knew things better change. sooner than later.

I was just sleeved on 12/15/11 - so my "flight" is just starting. The journey is up up and away

I go to GA in 4 months, hopefully that will be enough time to lose 30 lbs., thats a good start so i won't use a damn extender, and i'll be on the long long road to better health.

best wishes

kathy

It sounds like you totally went with the flow! Yay for the sleeve - and fabulous trip to India! (I'm a teeny bit jealous

Awesome! I'm in India right now. What was your diet like? Did you manage to get in all your proteins and stay within your calorie limit?

Puja - where are you in India? I was in Mumbai, with a short trip to Delhi and Agra. 10 day trip in total. To answer your questions, well, I took some Pure Protein Bars with me, and ate one per day. I also ate eggs for Breakfast. I'm pretty sure that some days I was below my Protein still, because there were a couple of meals at a friend's house that were vegetarian. I ate chickpeas and lentils those meals, but those aren't as protein rich as meat, I think. I tried to focus on protein as much as possible, and ate veggies like cauliflower when it was available. Like I said before, I still had rotis and rice and stuff, but just small helpings to tone down the spiciness. When it was available (it wasn't always served) I used raita to tone down the heat.

I'm also pretty sure that my calorie counts were above normal (but apparently not more than I burn, maybe 1500-1700), especially the days I ate Butter chicken (YUM!). But I didn't really have a way to log it, and it was just 10 days, so I just listened to my sleeve about when it was full, and hoped that would be enough. I actually wasn't sure if I would lose weight or just hold steady while I was there, but I ended up losing, so that was great. It was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, and I love Indian food, so I just decided I wasn't going to worry about it. The only time I really had a moment of regret was when I was eating some fabulous butter chicken, and wanted to eat more, but I just savored it as much as I could and then stopped when I got full.

likasulema - good luck on your weight loss! I'm sure you'll be able to fit without a seat extender on your next trip. Its the little NSV's like that that really make a difference.

Kami, that sounds like such an exciting trip! It's wonderful that you let go and enjoyed yourself, and still saw a loss. I suppose a good balance of food, exercise, and listening to our bodies really works.

I loved food before the surgery, and I still love it. I'm so happy that pleasure has not been taken away from me.

I'm in Bangalore, in southern India. I've been here several years, actually for med school. Originally, I'm from Orange County, California! Your diet in India sounds a lot like mine!