Let's make this the official January surgery date thread. I will be having my surgery on 1/31/2020. I was certain that I was going to have the vsg, but I'm learning more and leaning towards the rouxny (rny) gastric bypass. Whatever you decide, let's get this thread started and support one another. I'm just starting it, but anyone can feel free to jump in and keep it going ?.

1 hour ago, BadWolfGirl said:

What has boggled my mind the most through this experience is how there's literally no consistency for anything, from pre-op diets (I didn't have to do liquid) to when to eat after and what diet to follow your whole life. It's mind blowing. Any other major surgery in the world has a pretty commonality across the boards and doctors.

For me, once through all food stages, I have no intention of eating sugar/fat free or Keto or anything like that. I will eat wholesome, nutrient rich foods that nourish my body. My surgeon is totally on board with this and says it's life long and sustainable. I may not lose 90 pounds in three months but I will have lifelong habits to lose and maintain a healthy weight.

Dr. V. swears that most people lose their hair and feel like garbage because they're depriving themselves of nutrients.

If you have time watch this, it really makes sense.

Yes, it absolutely makes sense to me, and his views are almost identical to my family doctor's!

On 02/05/2020 at 17:35, sarahSingh91 said:

We have a 61 page book lol to follow. Lol this is my phase that you also attached BadWolfGirl. We can also drink with our meals until 6 weeks post op. I also attached a little chart on how much food each new little pouch should hold. Mine on week 3 is about 1oz. But it also depends on what I am eating. Some foods seems to hit my baby stomach harder than others.

I’m obsessed with details and would have loved having a book like this.

On 02/05/2020 at 20:36, BadWolfGirl said:

Do you feel warm liquids and food work better than cold on your stomach? Cold Water kills me but I can drink tea all day !

I’m thankful that I can do both warm and cold. What’s weird is that I used to hate warm drinks, I would heat my coffee in the microwave right after it was made. Now I can’t tolerate anything too hot. I was also a HUGE straw junky. The only cup my lips touched was a paper coffee cup, everything else I needed a straw-one of my ocd issued of not wanting to put my mouth on a glass or cup because some people don’t thoroughly was glass and cup rims. My solution is my toddler sippy cup. Feels just like drinking from a straw and I do take it with me everywhere and don’t care if people wonder why a 54 year old woman is drinking from a sippy cup. lol

50 minutes ago, BadWolfGirl said:

Do you feel warm liquids and food work better than cold on your stomach? Cold Water kills me but I can drink tea all day !

Warm or cold work fine for me.

7 hours ago, rene50 said:

Hi there! Glad you stopped in to introduce yourself. I hope you get to move on to purees tomorrow. I had mine on the 27th, but I don't move on to purees until day 18, so I'm still on full liquids. I'm still amazed the protocols are so different, depending on the surgeon.

Me too. I start soft foods tomorrow and we are surgery twins. No purées here! I’m tired of liquids. I meal prepped today and even put everything in 1/4 cup servings. It’s sooooo small!! My doc told me to go get baby spoons and that’s what I am starting with.

4 hours ago, BadWolfGirl said:

What does it feel like when your stomach "rejects" it? I saw someone once say "if you chew anything enough it becomes a puree" lol.

I also saw some people love that crab stick stuff in soft foods too but I love snow crab too! Here is my next phase. What are your thoughts?

Very similar to mine.

29 minutes ago, TattooedSeaStar said:

Me too. I start soft foods tomorrow and we are surgery twins. No purées here! I’m tired of liquids. I meal prepped today and even put everything in 1/4 cup servings. It’s sooooo small!! My doc told me to go get baby spoons and that’s what I am starting with.

I can't wait to hear how it goes tomorrow for you. 1/4 cup does sound sooooo tiny. I won't even start purees until Feb. 14th. This makes me nervous because I have to go back to work Feb. 17 before I even start on soft foods!

Me too. I start soft foods tomorrow and we are surgery twins. No purées here! I’m tired of liquids. I meal prepped today and even put everything in 1/4 cup servings. It’s sooooo small!! My doc told me to go get baby spoons and that’s what I am starting with.

I was the 27th too and I'm not slated to start soft foods till two weeks which will be Monday. I may start something over the weekend so I'm not alone or away from home if I'm miserable lol

18 minutes ago, BadWolfGirl said:

I was the 27th too and I'm not slated to start soft foods till two weeks which will be Monday. I may start something over the weekend so I'm not alone or away from home if I'm miserable lol

Well, I'll get to learn from both of you! After two weeks of purees starting on the 14th, I'll start soft foods on the 22nd. I know ya'll will do great!

27 minutes ago, rene50 said:

I can't wait to hear how it goes tomorrow for you. 1/4 cup does sound sooooo tiny. I won't even start purees until Feb. 14th. This makes me nervous because I have to go back to work Feb. 17 before I even start on soft foods!

For me pureed food included refried beans. I mixed them with a little mild enchilada sauce and some reduced fat cheese. Also ricotta and cottage cheese is considered pureed. The only thing I couldn't puree was meat. I did a can of vegetable soup in my blender for a minute and it was smooth. I added some parmesan cheese and a scoop of unflavored protein powder after heating it up. I suppose I should have added the protein powder while I was blending it. Just do a search for bariatric pureed foods and you will find a lot of recipes.

On 02/05/2020 at 18:43, Taj said:

Sarah Singh and BadWolfGirl, your tummy’s might surprise you, as mine has with rejecting all fats. A few years ago I did an intensive bariatric weightloss program through NYU and learned that my body was insulin resistant. I did the weightloss program because I had done a Whole Foods diet for six months and even though I felt fantastic and my skin was glowing, hair was shiny and beautiful and allergies completely cleared up, I DEVELOPED HIGH CHOLESTEROL and only lost 6 pounds in six months, despite also doing 1 hour of intensive cardiovascular exercise five days per week. I was overweight but at every physical my pcp said my numbers were healthier than healthy (her words). The bariatric doctor put me on a low carb diet and I lost 50 pounds in five months and my cholesterol dropped to normal. I put the weight back on in the last two years because I stopped eating low carb and menopause and I stopped working so no more daily commuting on the NYC subway which is walking blocks and climbing stairs daily. At any rate, not sure what I’ll do if my tummy doesn’t want any fat so hoping it will get better for me. Today my husband felt so bad that I haven’t been able to eat anything but snow crab that he came home from work (on the crowded subway) and drove me to Stop & Shop in rush hour traffic to buy me snow crab. And yay!! I was able to eat it!! And I didn’t overeat, even though I felt like I was starving.

I am also insulin resistant and I have PCOS. so I defiantly have to watch my carb intake. But I love chicken fish broccoli spinach salad with lemon. Etc. when I was younger I didn’t notice that all the bs carbs I was eating was not good for me and I was on the Fast track To obesity and addiction. I can drop my weight and I do by myself but I always always always crave sugar and fight my growling tummy. So after I had my baby I immediately got to work on the VSG surgery. Knowing my BMI would be high enough to qualify for surgery. I have the tools cause I have done it for years. But I wanted a little help. And I could never get below 200. So I am hoping to do this with the sleeve tool. But I totally understand what ur saying. I don’t eat keto but I watch all my intakes. And I make healthy choice. I do not eat pasta ( I am Italian and my family looks at me with disgust every family dinner) i never have drank soda or ate chips etc. because of pcos and I know it will pack on me. My hugest weight ever was 336! It was when I was a lot younger before I found out about pcos and insulin resistance. Then I controlled my weight at 240 for years. Got pregnant with baby 3 and decided this is my golden time weight was 275. And I qualified. I am so happy to have this tool to help me.

On 02/05/2020 at 19:02, Taj said:

I’m obsessed with details and would have loved having a book like this.

If u want to know any details etc let me know and I’ll try to find it in the book and attach the info

On 02/05/2020 at 18:43, Taj said:

Sarah Singh and BadWolfGirl, your tummy’s might surprise you, as mine has with rejecting all fats. A few years ago I did an intensive bariatric weightloss program through NYU and learned that my body was insulin resistant. I did the weightloss program because I had done a Whole Foods diet for six months and even though I felt fantastic and my skin was glowing, hair was shiny and beautiful and allergies completely cleared up, I DEVELOPED HIGH CHOLESTEROL and only lost 6 pounds in six months, despite also doing 1 hour of intensive cardiovascular exercise five days per week. I was overweight but at every physical my pcp said my numbers were healthier than healthy (her words). The bariatric doctor put me on a low carb diet and I lost 50 pounds in five months and my cholesterol dropped to normal. I put the weight back on in the last two years because I stopped eating low carb and menopause and I stopped working so no more daily commuting on the NYC subway which is walking blocks and climbing stairs daily. At any rate, not sure what I’ll do if my tummy doesn’t want any fat so hoping it will get better for me. Today my husband felt so bad that I haven’t been able to eat anything but snow crab that he came home from work (on the crowded subway) and drove me to Stop & Shop in rush hour traffic to buy me snow crab. And yay!! I was able to eat it!! And I didn’t overeat, even though I felt like I was starving.

And I totally Understand about the lack of work. I’m taking time off for baby I work as an RN in the emergency room. So my daily activity has decreased ALOT to put it nicely lol

8 hours ago, Uomograsso said:

For me pureed food included refried Beans. I mixed them with a little mild enchilada sauce and some reduced fat cheese. Also ricotta and cottage cheese is considered pureed. The only thing I couldn't puree was meat. I did a can of vegetable Soup in my blender for a minute and it was smooth. I added some parmesan cheese and a scoop of unflavored Protein Powder after heating it up. I suppose I should have added the Protein powder while I was blending it. Just do a search for bariatric pureed foods and you will find a lot of recipes.

Thanks! Mine is the same. I went back and looked and even scramble egg is on the pureed list, so actually, I'll be eating real food next Friday.

On 02/05/2020 at 23:07, sarahSingh91 said:

I am also insulin resistant and I have PCOS. so I defiantly have to watch my carb intake. But I love chicken fish broccoli spinach salad with lemon. Etc. when I was younger I didn’t notice that all the bs carbs I was eating was not good for me and I was on the Fast track To obesity and addiction. I can drop my weight and I do by myself but I always always always crave sugar and fight my growling tummy. So after I had my baby I immediately got to work on the VSG surgery. Knowing my BMI would be high enough to qualify for surgery. I have the tools cause I have done it for years. But I wanted a little help. And I could never get below 200. So I am hoping to do this with the sleeve tool. But I totally understand what ur saying. I don’t eat Keto but I watch all my intakes. And I make healthy choice. I do not eat Pasta ( I am Italian and my family looks at me with disgust every family dinner) i never have drank soda or ate chips etc. because of pcos and I know it will pack on me. My hugest weight ever was 336! It was when I was a lot younger before I found out about pcos and insulin resistance. Then I controlled my weight at 240 for years. Got pregnant with baby 3 and decided this is my golden time weight was 275. And I qualified. I am so happy to have this tool to help me.

Isn’t it crazy how our body is addicted to the very thing that’s bad for us? The only way I was able to resist carbs was because my doctor put me on naltrexone 50mg daily and for the first time in my life I was able to not only not even want carbs, I no longer wanted wine or any alcohol. I really thought I had the carb addiction beat but as soon as I stopped taking naltrexone the insane cravings returned. Add menopause to those cravings and I put back on 50 pounds in less than 6 months. The worst thing about insulin resistance is that my body couldn’t even process good carbs in fruit and eating fruit triggers my cravings for all carbs. People don’t understand that not all weight gain comes from bad eating. I gain weight even if I eat too much fruit. So glad to have someone here who understands that for some people, even good sugar is bad for us. I absolutely loved the way I felt physically on the Whole Foods diet, my body was so clean that I could actually smell the odor from meat eating people. I could smell everything!! It was as if all of my senses were heightened!! Maybe my new sleeve has changed my physiology, seeing that I can’t tolerate fat I might be able to process fruit now. I’ll definitely try again when I’m on regular foods.