Business Trips

[Gastricsleeve4me 186]

Hi there! I'm scheduled to be sleeved by Dr. Aceves in about two weeks. Question for those who have gone before I travel frequently for work, mostly internationally on one to two-week trips. I'm quite worried about sticking to my diet during these times, and making sure that I'm not sabotaging my progress with work/business trips. I have some control over my schedule and could put a stop to travel for a period of time - but I also want to be realistic that this is a challenge I'll need to face at SOME point. So, two questions...thoughts on how long I should wait until I'm back to traveling? And thoughts on how to manage once I do travel? I'm pretty sure I'll fail if I take ALL the trips that are on the books for my team this summer (see below), but wondering which ones might be doable. Any advice for those in similar situations? Here's some details on the trips I need to consider (quickly so I can tell my boss):

• 5.5 weeks after surgery: Mexico for four days (I've pretty much taken this one off the table)
  
• 7.5 weeks after surgery: Italy for four days
  
• 10 weeks after surgery: Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa over 15 days
  
• 14 weeks after surgery: Brazil for four days
  
• 16 weeks after surgery: Australia, India, and Denmark over 15 days
  

On a broader note, this is part of how I stay fat in the first place (and pack on 10 lbs a year). I treat these trips like I'm on vacation with little/no food and alcohol monitoring. Which would be fine if they were once or twice a year. I don't envision changing jobs in the near-term, but if success with the sleeve means avoiding all these trips for a year until I'm down in my weight and then figuring out how to manage the travel, I'll do it. Advice?!

[chitowngirl 884]

Well even traveling, you can make good decisions. That's not to say that you can't treat yourself to a little treat while on those trips. If traveling for your job is necessary, your just gonna have to make it work. You can pack Protein Bars or drinks. Take ready made or microwave food, such as oatmeal. Also remember that your sleeve is really gonna limit how much you can eat. I personally eat 3 meals a day and have 2 Snacks. I need those snacks for hunger reasons and Protein reasons. So just try to find what works for you. I think you will be fine.

[Gastricsleeve4me 186]

I have the same doctor as you, and am going later this month.

As long as you stick to the instructions that Nina sends you in Email you should be fine - She & the Doctor have done an incredible job with the pre-op education. I really have zero questions on what is expected of me. If you don't have the Emails, ask Nina for them - if all else fails, I can send them to you.

Generally speaking though, each stage of the diet Dr. Aceves recommends comes at 10 days each - Clear Liquids day 1-10, full liquids 10-20, puree 20-30, etc. If you're healing up well enough and don't have any difficulty moving from the different stages, you'll be fine getting foods from each stage as you progress. Given that you've scratched off the 5.5 weeks out one and 7.5 weeks out is the first one, that puts you at roughly 49 days which should be the final stage of eating (back on full foods) you should be ok as long as you stick to the no/low carb, high Protein & lots of liquid. It's hard to really realize how much less hungry you'll be then compared to now, so as long as you're feeling OK, you should be ok to go on the first trip, though check with Nina & Dr. Aceves if you're unsure.

Crazycatlady was just in there, and she left feeling about 80% of herself according to what she's told me. As long as you take it easy when it counts...

Thanks, that's helpful! Yeah, Nina has been great. I've been reading everything she's been giving me like it's the new bible I've been starting pages on my blog for things I've learned from my nutritionist and got hooked up with a therapist in the area that specializes in bariatric patients in the hopes that they can both help me stay on track. Just super paranoid about not taking FULL advantage of those first six months or so when I can't use food as the cure-all...and wanting to maximize my potential for forming new good habits. Traveling for work just seems to muck with my routines and schedules, so it's making me nervous. But, you're right, it's really going to just be about sticking to the plan whether I'm sitting home in NJ or out with clients in Korea. Will be interesting given that I'm not telling my co-workers. They're bound to notice the bird-eating, lol. But I suppose that's the least of my challenges, LOL! Thanks!!

[Gastricsleeve4me 186]

Well even traveling, you can make good decisions. That's not to say that you can't treat yourself to a little treat while on those trips. If traveling for your job is necessary, your just gonna have to make it work. You can pack Protein bars or drinks. Take ready made or microwave food, such as oatmeal. Also remember that your sleeve is really gonna limit how much you can eat. I personally eat 3 meals a day and have 2 Snacks. I need those Snacks for hunger reasons and Protein reasons. So just try to find what works for you. I think you will be fine.

Thanks - the packing part is a good point. It's got me thinking about making sure I pack a variety of things to help keep me on track - in sizes and quantities that are good for travel. Thanks for the thoughts.

[Queen of Crop 1,103]

I'm your gal on this one!!! I had my surgery done in Germany (I live in Hawaii) while on a year long trip! After the surgery I took the train back to Amsterdam for 3 weeks, then started traveling FULL TIME for the next 4 months! And my loss was steady and good. It wasn't always easy because I couldn't find a lot of things in Europe that we have here and sometimes my energy level would wain. But I would recommend packing some Protein liquid shots and mixing that with Water or juice and some Protein powder and Protein Bars so you be sure and get your Protein in. There is always yogurt in Europe so that worked for me for Breakfast (and the upside is you won't be interested in the pastries after your surgery). Italy was a tough one, so I always found a place that had minestrone soup; I think I was the only tourist there that had no Pasta, pizza or wine! But the gelato is divine. The toughest part will that you will be eating very little and cannot take the leftovers with you usually; and so many of the restaurants are locally owned and they seem so hurt when you don't eat! I would suggest a little flexible cooler and put things that you know you can eat in it for the plane. For me, I always had to have some saltine crackers or pretzel thins to help keep my stomach settled. I never worried about calories while traveling; it was all about protein and what my tummy could tolerate. Just eat slowly and forget about the alcohol for now; it probably won't taste good anyway.

I am chronically A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A SLEEVER on my Sunday blog, which is sort of a travel / weight loss blog; you might want to take a look at the link below and look at months Nov -Feb and you will see I was in many different countries and I made it work! I am now 10 lbs from goal.....

Good luck; and you'll do just fine!

[Eri 6]

I had Dr. Aceves for my surgery 8 days ago, and I don't even feel like I had surgery! I had a hard time with the anesthesia (which I'm prone to, since I get motion sickness and Migraines at times), but by the next day I was feeling so much better. Once they took the drain out, I was feeling great. For a few days I felt like I had done a good ab workout, but now I don't even feel that! I'm going to have to be careful not to overdo things because I feel TOO good! It was my first surgery and I was soooooo worried. We even bought first class tickets for the flights home, and didn't even need them, though the extra room and service (bringing me hot Water for my broth mix right away) was very nice. My husband was shocked at how fast I recovered after feeling nausea in the recovery room.

I'm jealous of all your travel! I love travel/living abroad and wish I got paid for it again. If your recovery is anything like mine, you should be fine for all your trips. I feel like I could take a business trip now, let alone in a month from now. Like I said, my concern is doing too much because I feel too good.

As for the diet, previous posters outlined it. I'm still on clears for a couple more days but I'm getting my Protein in with Syntrax nectar shakes extra watered down. So far I'm tolerating everything very well, but of course I haven't tried any solid or mushy food yet. I think it'll be basically up to you at that point to make good choices - you should be physically fine eating many foods by then. By that far out, you shouldn't be too hindered by the sleeve itself (other than amounts you can eat, of course). It'll be the mental aspect that will have to be dealt with for the rest of our lives. That's not going to go away whether you travel or not. In fact, one of the reasons I got the sleeve was because I want to be more comfortable traveling.

Great choice of surgeon, by the way! Everyone was so professional, caring and just dang good at their jobs! My small incisions are tiny mosquito bites and my "big" one is the width of my thumbnail and healing very nicely. Sometimes I wonder if I was really even sleeved, I feel so good! Even though I saw the contrast drink going through and have the films to look at, I still feel that way. But I am following the post-op diet very carefully because I don't want to cause myself problems.