PdxMan

I hit 4 or 5 of my favorite restaurants one last time starting about two weeks before my two week pre-op diet. It was good for me to do.

I would just pick up a few and not stock up. What works for one person will not work for the other. I can assure you. It wasn't a vomit type reaction for me. Some things can taste terrible and not induce vomiting. At least for me. The Protein shakes I loved pre-surgery tasted awful post, so you are just going to have to see what works for you when you get on the other side. Don't worry. You will be mobile and able to go to the store and carry on life as normal. You can do this.

I was instructed to only take it once a week, under the tongue. I believe that is where most people start and then it is adjusted if needed as your tests dictate. Confirm how often you were supposed to start at.

I took a box knife to my belts and used a screwdriver and hammer to put in new holes. I've had to do this twice and need to do it again. There's an NSV for ya!

What do your meals consist of? Do you drink liquids with your meal? Are you eating Proteins first? What are your Snacks and when do you eat them? Give us some detail.

I see you are in the Gym Rats group, so for me, getting back to the gym has always motivated me in focusing on what I need to do.

I see there is a Goodwill over in Bryan, not too far from Franklin. It would be worth the trip. Like other posters, I have raided Goodwill as well. Spent $40 and got a couple pairs of jeans, dress slacks and some shirts. Each day they have 50% off a colored tag, so look for those for extra savings. Until I get to my "final" weight, I don't want the expense of replacing my wardrobe, but at the same time, I can't wear my size 40s and XXL shirts and sweaters, either. It makes me feel great when I go out in size 34 jeans and a M or L shirt and I know my wife likes it to. (which also benefits me, greatly) For $40, I have some clothes that look nice, fit well and make me feel great about what this is all about.

Search the forum on Ketosis. You can manage it.

I'm going to jump back on my soapbox here for a second since I am on a rant. Actually, I think there is a rant section on the forum. I'll go post there. You all have a great day and congratulations to all who have embraced their sleeve and are honestly trying to make it work.

Wow! Size small. Nice. Congratulations. I know what you mean about hor dourves. When I go to costco, I don't call it shopping ... it's dinner! Crazy. Yes, I used to stress so much about my weight. I wasn't happy. So, I decided to take what I would call drastic steps ... have 85% of my stomach removed. I did this so I could take control back and not stress out so much about what I was eating. Now, I have a few rules that I have to follow: Get Protein, take Vitamins, drink Water, get carbs & exercise. This is what I do as best I can. I eat until I feel restriction and stop. I drink until I feel restriction and stop. I exercise until I am tired and stop. If that isn't good enough, then too bad, it is the best I can do. But I am going to keep trying. Before it was easy to give up and fail. Now, it is easy to succeed. But only when I try. I can guarantee that if you don't even try, you probably won't succeed. I am trying and I am a much happier person. I don't know what that says about me as a person. I know there are a lot of people who are perfectly happy being overweight and I applaud them. I truely do. Perhaps it is vanity, maybe not having control or a concern for my health ... but I had to get real about this and I am not going to pussyfoot around being politically correct trying not to offend someone. Congratulations on your loss. Just keep doing the best you can do. If you can, do a little extra every once in a while. Push yourself. See where it takes you. If you don't succeed, learn from it and move on, but don't stress about it. That is not why we did this. LET'S ENJOY OUR NEW LIFE!!!

I asked my Dr specifically about stretching my sleeve and he laughed and said no. It would be near impossible to stretch it and it was utterly ridiculous to think it could ever be stretched out to the size it was before. In its previous state, pre-surgery, yes, the stomach could distend because there was stretchy material there. 85% of the stomach has now been removed. %15 remaining, most of which is not the stretchy material. So, he said, yes, after the swelling goes down, the stomach will size to the size it is going to be. To stretch it like I was asking would take a long strenuous effort which he just didn't believe was realistically possible to maintain. He told me not to worry about it, so I am not going to. I don't think anyone else should either, but it is on the forefront of everyone's mind. Makes me crazy. Makes me think of golf. You worry so much about putting the ball into the Water that you end up driving the ball right into the middle of the pond instead of walking up to the ball and hitting it like you know you are supposed to ... like you have been trained to do. I know I had difficulty not hitting the ball into the middle of the pond pre-surgery with my food choices, but now with this new tool, I can just relax and take the shot! I don't always put it on the green, and it has gone into the water, but far less than it did pre-surgery. I think it helps me enjoy life with my new sleeve instead of having my head spinning all around.

To reiterate many posts, you cannot stretch out your sleeve. You can call BS on that one. I start each morning with Water and Protein shake. After waking and after workouts are the two best times for your body to absorb protein. You body will use it best then. Grab a cup of coffee, a protein shake and a hard boiled egg and head out for the day. Eat the egg half an hour after you finish your beverages. The thing you have to remember is the reason for not drinking is it can be too easy to overeat. You won't feel the restriction as the pyloric valve will open and empty everything into the intestines. The sleeve is a tool. Use it wisely and you can eat and drink at the same time. Just don't do it so you can eat the whole burrito. When I was preparing for the 5K I ran, I drank while eating Pasta the night before because I knew I couldn't get the amount of carbs into my body before the race. I was able to eat a lot (relatively) It worked for me for a purpose. I think too many people can get their heads spun around too many rumours of what they should be doing. It can be confusing, for sure, but what I fall back on is, "If I eat like a normal person, I'll be fine." It is when I eat for the wrong reasons or I am not 100% honest with myself or motivations that I get into trouble.

So, first off, you cannot stretch your new tummy. But, until the stomach heals, you can stress the staple line. That said, you also have to remember your stomach is still swollen from the surgery and it will be for several more weeks. So, what will work for one, won't work for another. These are just guidlines. You must find your point of restriction and not go past that. Yes, it is a challenge at first, so you just have to take it slow. I ate pureed lentil and ham soup. I would have a teaspoon about every minute and could eat about 1/4 - 1/3 of a cup. After about two weeks, I was up to 1/2 a cup and it was easier to detect the restriction. If you start to hickup, stop. You are full. Slimes ... stop. You are full.

Yes, I wear the Under Armour compression shirts when I work out/run. It is the only thing that can hold things in place. Toning and building muscle will help a bit with the extra skin, but there is no way it is going to tighten it all. I will be looking at plastic surgery after a year or so once my weight loss and my body has stabilized.

I was in the same boat. I couldn't eat solids and had a very real fear of them, too. It only took one or two bites and I felt terrible. So, I kept with my Protein shakes and ate what I could. I'm at 5 months and I would say I am still not on full solids, yet. I can't imagine eating a hamburger patty. Oye! My main go-to meal is diced up (really diced) chicken or tuna and throw it in salads with blue cheese. I don't do low cal/carb dressings, either. I have chili with sharp cheddar cheese about every lunch. Breakfast is a Protein shake. Morning snack is a V-8. Afternoon snack is prunes. If I don't think I am getting my protein in, I grab a shake. I pretty much eat throughout the day, but I also exercise a lot, too. I don't eat any breads. They make my stomach hurt. I have a wee bit of noodles occassionally, just to get them introduced to my tummy. Small bowl of ice cream a couple times a week. I don't worry too much about it. My weight loss have been better than I expected. I'm doing what I can and keep pushing myself. This has worked for me, perhaps it can work for you. Just do the best you can and it will come together.

Hmmm ... yeah, you don't want to irritate someone who will then put your paperwork on the bottom of the stack ... I think you should give them at least a week ...

Mountain biking should be out of the question for awhile. At least six weeks. If you should crash ... In the gym, on a stationary bike ... I was biking a few days after surgery. But you have to be healed to be out and about. Talk to your surgeon.

Yeah, that stuff is glue. And not the Elmer's kind. I just left it and eventually it sluffs off with the dead skin. If you don't mind some irritated skin, grab some sandpaper or use your nail. It is designed to stick and does a good job. Medical quality stuff, it is.

Then don't try gatorade. There are about 15 different gatorade type drinks at my local grocery store. Go buy 1 bottle of 4 of them and see if any work. You may find these easier to go down.

I had extreme fatigue as well. Was getting at least 9 hours of sleep and dragging a$$ by 3:00. Finally, I called the NUT. She said I needed to get my carbs up. Good ones. She suggested I add cooked green Beans, carrots, peas. Doing this made all the difference in the world. About 3 days later I could tell a difference. It got better after that and now I am all good. I think a lot of people concentrate on avoiding carbs, but that is not necessarily the ticket. Yes, my weight loss did slow, but it was worth it. You have to find the balance. Give it a try and see how your body reacts.

Well, you came to the right place. Read, search and surf around. The first 10 days or so, your stomach is so swollen, it will be difficult to get the "required" liquids and Protein down. Just do the best you can, sipping Water, gatoraid or whatever and protein throughout the day. It was probably a good month before I was able to hit those goals. Some days, I still have issues hitting the water. Try changing the temperature of the water. Also try different drinks like gatoraid, Vitamin water or whatever. I can drink those better than I can drink water. I don't know why that is, but ... Good luck and welcome.

Lifting weights is going to be your best route to add muscle, which will help take the place vacated by the loss of fat. This is because you have a measurable metric to gage by. Resistance bands are great, but the amount of resistance can change by adjusting a few factors. How much stretch are you starting with? How far are you stretching them. It is easy to cheat with bands. Weights won't lie to you. The extra skin will be there, though, so we can only offset it by a small amount. I will probably start looking at plastic surgery once I have my sleeve paid off, which will be sometime late next year. As far as the nutrition goes, everyone is going to have an opinion on this. Here is mine. Eating carbs before a workout is not going to help you at all during that workout. Those carbs need to be processed by your body and stored. Your body will use what has already been processed and stored. Yes, those need to be replaced, so your best bet is to maintain a carb intake level that is right for you. As long as you maintain your workout routine, you maintain that carb intake. Slack off on working out, cut back the carbs, increase workouts or intensity, increase carbs to maintain your energy stores. Protein should be taken within 30 minutes of completing your lifting routine so the muscles can be repaired and built. I try to finish my shake within 15 minutes, before I shower. What I have suggested to many is to pay for a session with a personal trainer. Let's look at what we have done here and the amount of $$ we have paid. Let's look at how much $$ we are saving on food each month. If we're making an effort for fitness, don't we want to do it efficiently? I think $50 would be worth it. If you belong to a club, talk to whoever the head trainer is and tell them your story and what your goals are. They should be able to set you up with the trainer and program that is right for you.

Ohhhh ... Sleeve 4 Me, you're brutal! I used to cut my hair very close, a #1 setting, the closest you can get without shaving it. I ended haircuts when I started losing weight as I think buzzcuts on large guys looks better than thinner guys. I think I am just going to shave it all off again and let it grow in together, but I have to wait until after Christmas as my mother HATES buzzcuts ...

No, I directly asked my surgeon if it was possible to stretch the sleeve. He said it will stretch a tiny bit, but nothing THAT noticable. He said I would really have to work VERY hard to stretch it and there is no way to stretch anywhere near the size it was. Only 15% of our stomach is left and it is not the stretchy part that distends when overeating. I read an analogy to a wallet. You can stuff it full of money and cards and it will stretch a bit, but not all that much in the grand scheme of things.

So, I have posted a few times how I have avoided hair loss. Well, now at 5 months post-op, it would seem I am not immune. Let me tell you, I am pretty diligent about my Protein, too, usually exceeding 80 grams as I have been working out and running almost daily. I found this to be interesting: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hair-loss/DS00278/DSECTION=causes I think it is probably a roll of the die whether or not you will be affected (albiet a 50 sided die and only one side says, "No hair loss"). I thought I would be good to go as I have (had) a very thick head of hair, but now when I put gel in my hair, I see that about 25 hairs are stuck to my hand. This happened recently and rapidly. I think you can see in my profile picture that I am not a thick haired dude anymore. I'm not worried about it. It will grow back.