Best piece of advice you can offer for a post-op sleeve patient

[ErinL 8]

Please include how many days post op you are

[LittleLizzieLilliput 919]

I'm 11 months post op.

Best advice:

• This isn't an easy process, give yourself a lot of leeway and care, understand you will be going through ups and downs
• Get all of your liquid diet, post-op, supplies settled before the surgery
• Don't try to test your new sleeve, just sip sip sip water/protein and walk walk walk
• You will most likely it a stall or pause about 3 week in. Your body has gone through a major trauma and needs time. Don't freak out, understand you are healing and swollen
• Don't over-do the exercise/work out in the first weeks of recovery, you can hurt yourself or pull your stiches
• You may find yourself feeling depressed or a sense of regret post surgery, this is also common for many of us. Ride it out, your hormones, your emotions, your body is all out of wack. You WILL get back to a new Normal, You WILL feel like a regular person again, you WILL find your balance in this process and begin to feel like yourself again
• Focus on Walking, on getting your Water and Protein in
• Get one of those abdominal compression things for post surgery

Good luck on everything! I'm sure there is more advice

[ErinL 8]

Wow this is great, thank you for sharing!

Im getting a lot of fluids down but for some reason I can no longer tolerate the Protein drinks!!!

[OutsideMatchInside 10,166]

803 days post-op

Weigh all of your food, Condiments, liquids. All the time. Get a pocket scale.

[ErinL 8]

How many oz's of food are u eating at each meal ?

[LittleLizzieLilliput 919]

4-6 0z for me. The pocket scale thing is for reals. I can't really eat more than 6 ozs but I stick to weighing to make sure I don't over do it. Just in case.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_85_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apocket+food+scale%2Cp_85%3A2470955011&keywords=pocket+food+scale&ie=UTF8&qid=1506389096&rnid=2470954011

[ErinL 8]

Ok great thank you :)!

[julsfit 133]

Everybody is different so do what works for you. You'll have to do a lot of experimenting to make the right fit for your schedule and what you can handle. But definitely just keep sipping that Water and taking Protein a little at a time and use My Fitness Pal that's an awesome way to track what you're getting in nutrition-wise.

HW 258
SW 242 3/22/17
CW 175
GW 140
5'3''

[PrayingForWeightLoss 337]

Follow the instructions and phases that your doctor and dietitian prescribe. There is a good reason you can't eat certain foods before a certain time. Sip sip on your Water. Dehydration is a serious risk.

[laney 172]

Follow your Drs orders during all the stages of your weight loss. Keep drinking all day long little sips. Do not freak when you stall it's your body adjusting to all the changes. Everyone stalls during the weight loss it is fine. The best advice is follow your Drs orders go to your check ups take your Vitamins and you will do absolutely fine!!!

[MSinger 348]

Don't weigh yourself for the first month post-op. Too much Water retention/fluid shifting going on to get an accurate read. If you do weigh, don't take the number on the scale too seriously. Just focus on meeting your Protein and fluid goals. The scale should normalize a bit by the end of the month.

[blizair09 3,250]

I am one year post-op on Thursday.

My best advice is to do whatever it takes to change your relationship with food. Make food fuel, not a reward, not a comfort, and not a friend. Nothing about this journey is sustainable without making that change.

[IveGotThePower 395]

Find a nutritionist who specializes in bariatrics and learn from them. Our needs are different. Read and learn everything you can about eating a very healthy diet. I recommend paleo with few if any fruit, and I do include dairy. People are going to disagree with this, but exercise is great, just not for weight loss. It is almost all about diet. Your tastes will change. Mine did right after surgery, and continue to change even now as I continue to improve my diet. The honeymoon phase is a real thing. During that time weight will melt off. But get ready because one day it will stop and you need to have developed the skills necessary to either continue to loose if you want, or maintain. Learn, learn, learn.

Sent from my SM-N920V using BariatricPal mobile app

[Kat410 423]

4.5 months post-op.

1. Get yourself in a long-view mentality. Do not get fascinated with the quick drop at the beginning (or lack thereof). Do not obsess over what is happening with the scale on a daily or weekly basis - use it is a tool (and an imperfect one at that).

2. Use this time to change your habits. As much as possible, routinize your food. Move eating to a "background" activity (something that is done out of necessity, versus organizing activities/events around eating). Do as much as you can to completely eliminate unhealthy/non-nutritious food from your diet. Train yourself to love/crave/want nutrient rich food. Be prepared to find new activities to replace eating - walking, exercise, other hobbies and activities.

3. Prepare yourself for how you are going to communicate to others about your lifestyle change. You have the right to communicate however you choose - but think it through in advance and be ready. Be ready for people to have opinions (both positive and negative). Be ready for the overweight people in your life to be curious, jealous or inspired. Be prepared for some of your relationships to change because YOU will change.

4. Take on habits that foster discipline - making your bed every day, weighing/measuring your food, prepping meals, keeping a clean house - any habits that build or foster a sense of discipline where it has been lacking. There will be times when the discipline of keeping your word (if only your word to YOURSELF) will give you a lot of power when old cravings kick in.

5. Empower yourself - do not beat yourself up if you slip, if you make a mistake, if you have strong feelings, if people act like morons. You are making a choice for the quality of your life.

6. Create a point for the surgery that supports you. For me, looking better was not worth it. What was worth it was having my body by useful, make a difference for others and contribute to people for decades to come.

[maggiekay949 11]

had vsg on tuesday sept 26. Cannot get 64 ozs Water in. Is too early to expect that. I am getting 35 or 40