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I am pending revision but I had sleeve 3.5 years ago. For some reason I was one who didn’t have issue with the restriction right away. I was restricted enough to know I had surgery once I got to the normal food stage but through all the earlier stages I had to make myself do what everyone else was doing because my body wasn’t telling me to. My point is I am probably not the one to advise about your sipping BUT, I think I can help with the vitamin. First of all you probably need to take it with “food” if you aren’t already. Especially if it contains a lot of iron. I had to take my multi with iron after a full protein shake. I tried taking it before I finished the shake a few of times when I got in a hurry to get out the door and it always came right back up. Maybe try half the liquid dose, twice a day, separated by a few hours. That may be a little easier on your stomach until you can “eat” a little more at once. Another possible option would be a chewable multi if you team approves it. I’m not really sure why it would cause less heartburn for you but that’s what I took and it did not give me heartburn? Also, Are you taking a PPI? I think mostly everyone is given one early out to take for a while. If not, I would ask about that at your post op appt for sure.

My thing is that this time I will FEEL like I can get anything down and never feel full because they are not touching my already sleeved and HEALED stomach and my hunger has already returned. BUT I need to follow the same protocol to protect my healing intestines. I think I will feel just as hungry as I do now and be able to stomach eating like normal but i must be good and follow the staged return to eating protocol anyways. i am sure it’s not going to be easy but of course I don’t want to hurt myself. It should be okay if I can have three shakes because I am doing two a day now on the LSD and it’s enough to sustain me so I am thinking maybe he will say I can do three shakes to keep me full plus eat those little tiny meals to go through the stages. I know it’s a little more calorie wise but I just don’t see me making it on two tablespoons of food when I still have my hunger and my stomach is not full. I really need to talk to him more about this before I leave the hospital because the normal by the book diet just isn’t going to work for me. But it definitely Sounds like maybe to play it safe I should just wait until i am closer to the next stage to have any yogurt.

Yea. I think now that we are In a time that we can get most things delivered in two days, if not same day or overnight, a lot of that we can wait to see if we actually do need it. Maybe add to cart and save for later is a way to feel less anxious without spending all the money.

Before I had my hysterectomy, I noticed my PCOS sort of regulated a bit. Didn't do a whole lot for my hormonal imbalance, skin tags, insulin resistance, and it really made losing weight slower and more difficult, but it straightened out my periods a lot. I would go 2 or 3 months without one, then bleed like niagra falls for 2 weeks straight, then get a light one the next month, then start over. After I dropped my first 70ish pounds, I noticed they were coming in more regularly, and after my first 100ish pounds lost, they were proper length, proper frequency. And it stayed that way until about 4 months before my hysterectomy. Then they started getting wonky again. Skipped 2 months, needed progesterone to get it started the next month which caused HEEAAVY bleeding, then nothing the next month, then hysterectomy and I didn't care lol

It's great that your body is starting to regulate! But also... periods, boo! I started using the Mirena IUD after my youngest was born, so going on 13 years of no periods (although not everyone has that luck with it). However, the last couple months, I have had noticeable spotting that lasted several days, and also the tenderness in my breasts that I always had with my period. So definitely there's something changing for me, too, with weight loss, even though it's being masked a bit more because of the birth control. I was starting to wonder, since I'm 50 now, if maybe I was done (hard to know if you've hit menopause with Mirena) but this seems to have answered that question, anyway.

Don’t think the small amounts you eat in the beginning is how much you’ll eat forever. After surgery your stomach muscle is very tight so it can’t tolerate much. But as it heals, and you start to introduce more foods, it slowly starts to soften (not stretch) & is able to tolerate more. I was told, though I began with 1/4 - 1/3 cup from the puree stage, by about 6 months I’d be up to about a cup. Which was pretty accurate for me. I’m 5 years out & from about 2 years, I was pretty much eating a recommended portion size. Check the nutrition panel of processed pre prepared foods and google recommended portions of other foods or ingredients to give you an idea. Generally about 3-4ozs of protein & a cup of vegetables, 2 eggs, a small apple, etc. Some days I can’t/not interested in eating that much, other days it’s the perfect portion. The liver shrink diet is not to actually shrink the liver but the fat around the liver. This is to allow your surgeon to have better vision of & access to your tummy during the surgery. This diet does differ surgeon to surgeon, patient to patient. Generally it’s two weeks of a shake three times a day. However, some are four shakes, others two shakes & one lean protein & steamed vegetables meal. Others are only for a week or a couple of days. Mine was keto for two weeks (I started a couple of days earlier). Some people lose seemingly a lot of weight, others only a few pounds. It’s one of those things linked to how much weight you carry. It can be tough as you may experience withdrawal like symptoms (from stopping/reducing sugar, carbs, caffeine) for about 5 days. Apparently my surgeon’s patients who did the two week all shakes called the first week hell week. While tough, remember it is only for two weeks and the big picture benefits & wins makes it so worth it. All the best with your surgery.

Thank you so much. You are so sweet. It's a long journey, but it is a journey that will give me back my life.

My "aha moment" was when I was diagnosed with Lymphedema, which is an accumulation of lymph fluids in the body. Mine was not only in my legs, but also my trunk area. The lymph fluid would not drain and it created a "lymphatic load" in the apron portion of my stomach and it had started to hang down between my legs/knees, which was making it difficult to walk. I decided there was no way I could live like that. The rest is history.

I had a very bad ankle injury in 2022 which reduced my mobility and I wasn't able to workout much or move because of the pain. I felt my weight creeping up because I was buying XL clothes and everything was still very tight (I had already put on 30 lbs the past few years so I was already heavier than I ever was) but I never weighed myself (my biggest mistake) so I had no idea how much heavier I was? I started entertaining the idea of WLS because nothing else worked (dieting, working out, even liraglutide) - mind you this was not even on my mind before - and saw the surgeon on Feb 2023 to see if he would even do it, and he said he would and that he recommended VSG for my case. Had a chat and decided I will put it on hold because I wasn't mentally ready. Fast forward to summer 2023 and we were travelling, we were in a water park and my 8 year old and I decided to go for a ride and I was panting going up the stairs to the big slide. While we queued the staff asked us to step on the weighing scale to see if we're under the weight threshold and I really didn't want to be weighed, my heart was pounding and my palms were sweating and once my daughter and I stepped on the scale the staff goes: "you're almost beyond the threshold but I'll let you go" and it was as if a slap was delivered across my face. I did the math in my head and realized that I have reached a weight I never ever saw even while pregnant (funnily I barely gained any weight in both my pregnancies and snapped right back). I came back from my holiday and booked my surgery for December. Best decision of my life.

I have several things that come to mind on what was the last straw, but for me it was when my family visited and I was the only fat person there. My entire family is thin. Combine that with my thin husband..I felt like those old movies where you see the huge fat loud mouth wife (lol no I'm not that bad - looks around to see if husband is watching me type) with the small husband.. Everywhere we went I hated I was bigger than my husband (he eats tons and anything he wants - but due to his job he walks 12 miles - 6 days a week) so he remains thin. Add to the above; people would look at me then my grocery cart when shopping...then judge..and even say things even though 99.9% of the cookies, kids cereal, ice cream etc were for my husband. They never saw my cottage cheese, salads etc., just zeroed in on the garbage. I had one person tell me "no wonder you're fat" looking into my cart. Needless to say my smart ass came out..i said I can lose weight..you'll always be a rude ass**** who obviously has a "small penis" complex feeling the need to insult others to feel better about his small Insecurity package. One of the larger straws that pushed me to have surgery. I never told my husband out of total embarrassment.. Until recently.