swizzly

Oh, poor baby -- poor mom!! How old is she? Where is she staying? Do they have any idea when she'll be able to come home? Do you know anyone there to give her a hand if she needs it? I do have some friends there, if you find yourself needing someone there to help with something. Hang in there, it will all be okay!! Yes, my restriction gets tighter when I am stressed, and I just don't want to eat at all anyhow. HUGS to you. <3

I have a larger sleeve I think -- though I don't know the actual size. I've been able to eat more than most right from the start. It hasn't hindered my weight-loss, and I specifically didn't want to get down to very low-cal eating; rather, to be at 1200+ asap after surgery. I also never lost my appetite, which has helped in terms of keeping calories up. I lost fairly steadily and not so fast, but I lost nearly everything, still hovering a few pounds above my 'goal' -- which was arbitrary and completely random. So yeah, I definitely think it can be done with a bigger sleeve. FWIW.

If you can't stomach Protein shakes, then try something else! There are other ways to get protein in -- cottage cheese, yogurt, tuna, etc. I never used a Protein shake at all. And try different liquids till you find one that goes down well, cold, hot, lukewarm, flavored or not, etc. Whatever it takes! The first few weeks are often very difficult, but then it gets sooo easy. Hang in there!! Also -- you're right to focus on liquids rather than protein, the former is more important. And it makes not one whit of difference whether you get protein in as to whether your hair falls out. It's nothing to do with protein, some people just lose hair from the surgery, anaethesia and rapid weight loss...others don't. There's no predicting it or controlling it. So buckle up and ride the sleeve wave -- it's fun!!

Good fats are super good for you -- I use cream in my coffee, eat a lot of nuts, olives, olive oil, butter, cream, etc. But I have to tell you, eating fat doesn't really stop me losing weight. The only thing that stops weight loss for me is processed wheat-based foods and/or lots of sugar or other carbs. I can eat like 2000 cals per day and not gain if I'm not eating carbs (even when I'm still eating chocolate and drinking wine as part of that). So...? I would say just eat whatever makes your body feel good and not worry too much about the weight unless it goes outside the normal range. It will eventually stop and/or bounce back a little bit IMO.

I'm going to try the perimenopause one cos it's on kindle (so I don't have to have it shipped from the US), and also cos my gyn said I'm not menopausal yet, but clearly I'm on the verge as it were. I don't know if I can get bio-identical progesterone here...I would like to try it!!!

I hope you like them! (I don't like stevia either, didn't realise that was also in the all-natural [i still think of them as the "new" ones LOL] line, so that also maybe explains why I didn't like them.) Amongst the originals, I do like all the flavors, though.

I've already stated I like the Quest bars -- they're the only ones I use. They use whey protein I believe, and a prebiotic fiber that I researched at some point, but no longer recall all the details. I only like the "original" line, which uses sucralose as a sweetener; they also have a newer line that uses erythritol I think?, which is a sugar alcohol and these generally don't agree with my system (though the one they use is meant to be the least irritating) and I find them unpleasantly sweet in a sickening way. I don't know the calories per protein grams, though I think they have about 20g of protein per bar and roughly 200 calories per bar (I'm not that fussed cos I don't count calories or protein grams, just try to eat a generally healthy and balanced diet).

I love Quest bars and have eaten them nearly every day for over a year, never stopped me losing weight at all. They are definitely not candy bars and are full of good protein and prebiotic Fiber, and have like 4 net carbs per bar. They're yummy and filling and I couldn't have done without them sometimes!! I anyhow disagree with the statement about all protein bars being like candy and thus not being part of one's diet -- that certainly doesn't apply equally to all protein bars, of course. That's like saying Protein shakes shouldn't be part of one's diet. Some should, some shouldn't -- but they are definitely not all bad. Find one you like, make sure the nutritional content is good, and then supplement meals with them as needed -- they are great to have on hand and on the go, for sure.

Coops -- yes, it drives me mad on a daily basis. I HATE doing without my sleep. I feel...*grim* all the time, with bouts of downright temporary depression on top of it. It is awful. I have been taking a single tablet of Excedrin PM (I got it in the US) the past two nights and that has helped. But I know I can't rely on it longer term. Maybe I will just use it here and there to try and get like six hours of sleep in a row at least once or twice a week. As for the diet/exercise part... Well, I have been hungry the entire time, my appetite never went away. It's not head hunger (I don't know what that is, apart from the desire to eat a naughty snack when I'm stressed and tired, and then it's clear I'm not actually hungry, just snacky and agitated), it's just regular old hunger. That said, I have been following this blog: marksdailyapple.com on the advice of a good friend who is also a doctor, and I've subsequently eliminated wheat from my diet (it's been about a month now) and upped the amount of fat I eat. I have not cut out sugar or wine, maybe they're next on the list, but not yet. Baby steps!! But just with cutting out wheat, I've felt much better than I did before. And by adding in a lot more fat, I feel more satiated by food and my hair and skin have gotten a bit better as well. I've lost 2kg since I started this, so...let's see where it goes. (Oh, I also read a book called Wheat Belly [like a beer belly, but caused by wheat...very interesting as well], which makes a lot of pretty wild claims about wheat, but also makes a bit of sense too.) My stomach has gotten flatter from all this without me doing any particular abdominal work. I admit that I've been eating a whole lot of chocolate lately -- way more than I ever did pre-op, so that's quite odd. It's my single biggest vice these days, apart from too many glasses of wine a few times a month. And yet, I still suddenly dropped 2kg after not losing (and also gaining a bit here and there) for months. Also: I've been having bowel problems (since before surgery, but have gotten worse since then), and I happened across this book called Fiber Menace (SOOOO counterintuitive that I had a hard time even believing it at all...!!) and have also been drastically reducing the amount of fiber in my diet (particularly indigestible fibers). IT HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH. I honestly can't believe the difference. So between those two things, it is offsetting the perimenopausal/sleep-issue things a bit. Thank god!! I should add that both the wheat elimination and the fiber reduction took some time to take effect, and both had a difficult phase where things got worse before they got better. But I'm becoming a believer on both of these. (Also, my grandmother is celiac, so a gluten sensitivity might be a factor as well, though I've not been tested for that.) Oh -- and the paleo/primal thing (like the MDA blog above) also gives some really good insights about exercise and how much we actually need, and what kinds. It has changed how I obsess about the gym...! Good stuff, at least good food for thought and new things to try.

I am not having hot flashes per se, but my sleep disturbances have gotten ridiculous. I am waking up for hours in the night time and I'm EXHAUSTED and overly emotional. Need to get some hormonal support...! My Gyn says I'm not actually in menopause...okay, fine, but I'm certainly knocking on the door. UGH NEED HELP!

It's a very good point -- and I used to think I was repeating myself too much, so I stopped putting my own disclaimers into my posts. But I think one's background and trigger foods, if any, are widely variable and do come into salience when considering 'planned' eating vs free-range eating, as it were. My personal disclaimer is that I never had any insulin issues whatsoever nor was I any kind of carb addict or binge eater. I don't have trigger foods that will make me suddenly eat a whole bag of X food, never did. So for me, I'm eating quite similarly to my pre-op eating patterns, just less quantity -- and therefore a larger focus on getting in good, nutritious calories and not eating too much junk. AND I don't live in the US, so I don't have a lot of crappy processed foods or fast foods available to me anyhow, so the quality of food I'm eating is usually fairly good even when it's 'bad'. For this I am very grateful!

My program doesn't use Protein shakes, and no pre-op diet -- just a promise to keep food reasonable before surgery, no pigging out, no fasting. Post-op, no liquids or puree phases, we move to real food very quickly. So I have been getting my protein from yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, meats, etc., all along. ETA: Can you eat Protein Bars instead? I do love Quest bars, which I special order from the states!

My plan has always included eating all sorts of foods, including sweets and carbs. So I've eaten loads of things that people would consider 'bad' probably. But I like to have the variety and the choice, so I eat what I want. I've recently cut out wheat, but apart from that, I eat most anything in relatively small amounts. It helps me for maintenance I think as well.

I've never used protein shakes, pre- or post-op. I've not had any protein problems without them, though.

Is ounces like a cup, or ounces like the weight? I don't know how much that is LOL. But I can eat a whole small bowl of chili, no probs. Could eat quite a lot compared to others all along, guess I have a bigger sleeve or so? No biggie, still lost weight just fine! I also love chili.

My Nut would LOVE to get me to eat more bread/grains in general, but I don't eat wheat anymore, and also try to limit my indigestible fiber. For me this is the best approach to my troublesome digestive system. That said, before I quit eating grains/wheat, I could eat bread okaaaayyy, but not great -- better when very toasted. Crackers and pasta, no problems.

I keep it super vague and change the subject asap. I hate talking about personal things at work. Good luck!

I actually quite disagree with the notion that one should ONLY listen to one's own personal doctor/surgeon. Yes, one should listen to one's doctor/surgeon AND do plenty of first-hand reading of the research and actual data (not the RnY rules that are just ham-fistedly applied to sleeves by lazy/paranoid bariatric practices) AND apply liberal amounts of common sense as well. Doctors are certainly not infallible, so I think it's always a good idea to incorporate multiple data points and sources into one's own post-op practices.

I can get Tabasco (all different sorts) in CH, Germany and France. And I can get Frank's (my fave!) from the American Market here, and I believe they have a similar market in Netherlands -- it's at least worth a google before you pay the hideous shipping/VAT/customs on it. :-)

Oh that just sucks. I'm so sorry!! I hope you get to a doctor and get some help, could be a relatively minor fix maybe. Take good care!!

Yes, sleevers can take NSAIDs of all kinds (including aspirin), which is one of the reasons I got the sleeve. Hope you feel better! (I love aspirin-C too.)

I have to say - just your group description already touched a nerve or two. The one about restaurants being upset when you don't finish your food is a thing that regularly stresses me out!

Hiya, thanks for the invite, I joined! We have a member here (haven't seen her in ages though) called Ahoy, who was in Austria.

Had zero problems throughout this entire process, am about 20 months post op. loving it, would do it again in a heartbeat. And I completely agree w iggy that this should NOT be done as outpatient surgery; it is major abdominal surgery and thus has risks associated with it. Best of luck!!

Hi, there is a Christian Sleevers forum, might want to post prayer threads in there.