PdxMan

Lettuce is one of those foods which can be difficult to digest, depending on the type. I started back with iceberg at about 4 months slowly adding romain until I could handle all romain, then I began adding in spinach, then adding kale. At about 6 months I was able to handle any and all raw veggies.

I eat BBQ frequently. But it is going to be a little while before you can be back full swing. Beef and pork were not on my plate until 6 months post op. BBQ ribs were one of my favs as cooked properly, they are nice and moist, which helps with digestion. The bottom line here is to remember the boat you are in. You just had 85% of your stomach removed. The stomach is the mechanical part of digestion ... and it has been severely reduced. meat, beef especially, requires a bit more processing time to get into a mushy phase where it can pass through the pyloric valve. This is why we are directed to eat lean Proteins first as it is going to give us the "full" feeling longer. But advancing too early or eating too much can cause great discomfort as your stomach may not be ready to handle such foods. The storal to the mory is to take it easy reintroducing foods back in. Don't push yourself too much. Listen to your medical team and follow the basic guidelines: Lean Protein first, then veggies Don't drink 15 minutes before, during or after meals Take small bites, chew well and put your utensil down between bites assessing how you felt before taking the next bite. Exercise Good luck!

Hello Happy! Oh yeah, I still darken the doors here. Everyone you mentioned has been integral to my success, too. As you may remember, I am also an active member of AA and I try to use their tenants here, too. Step 12 summarized as trying to carry my message to others. That is why I try to stay around. As in that program, when I share my experience, strength and hope, I am constantly reminded of where I came from and where I can so easily go back if I do not follow the suggested guidelines. Also, when I listen the struggles of those early in the program, whether it is AA or VSG, I am reminded of my own struggles. I do believe you only get what you give. The last I remember of Blackberry, she had dumped her fiance and was on a mission to be getting some. As was pointed out, Diva went to FB after a stint on MFP. I miss Lissa, too. She and I connected as her surgery date was right around mine. I do not know where she is now, but HERE is one of her last posts. Good to see you around and look forward to hear how you have been doing.

For the mushy/puréed stage, I ate turkey chili soup with veggies and ham/lentil/veggie soup. As I progressed, I puréed them less and less. I also added tuna with ranch on a piece of sharp cheddar. Basically, take whatever food you like, add some broth and purée it.

I also did the Under Armour compression shirts as well as the leggings as I was irritated by the skin on the back of my thighs and calves jiggling as well at the tummy jiggle. Plus, it was staying pretty steady at ~35 degrees around here, so it was a nice base layer, too. I was wearing L, but bought the M and squeezed in like a sausage. I knew I was continuing to lose and it wouldn't be long before I would need the medium and didn't want to lose the benefit of the compression. I was able to find a couple at Goodwill for far less.

In 5 days I will be 2 and half years out, so ... Of course you can eat and drink at the same time, but why would I want to? So I can consume more food? When I was early post op, the thought of never drinking with a meal seemed like an impossible challenge. I loved having a glass of milk with a really spicy Mexican dinner, or back when I did drink, a glass of wine with a big steak dinner was magical. The first 6 months post op, I basically "learned" how to eat "properly". I learned how to slow down putting my utensil down in between bites. I learned to chew more thoroughly. I learned how to take smaller bites. I also learned that when I do not drink with my meal, I get the feeling of restriction sooner and I stay fuller longer. For me, that was the bottom line. I loved the feeling of being full and if I drank, that feeling would be removed. So, now, 2 and a half years out, I have developed a new habit of not drinking with meals. After all, for me, the only reason I would NEED to drink with my meal would be to abuse food as I did pre-sleeve. I did that to get morbidly obese and I was ready to move on to a new life with new habits.

I did not use Turnquest, but HERE is a link to go to the search functionality for the forum. 49 threads are here with their name in it, so perhaps reading these or reaching out to the folks who went to him will be what you are looking for. Good luck with your journey! http://www.bariatricpal.com/index.php?app=core&module=search&do=search&fromMainBar=1

So ... ye old puree stage. Basically, anything you can whip into a baby poop consistency is open game. My go-to meals were Soups. Turkey chili with veggies and smoked ham with lentils and veggies were my favorites. As I progressed, I pureed them less and less. I also ate tuna whipped up with ranch dressing. I would put this on a small square of sharp cheddar cheese. eggs caused me problems after one bite, so, I have one occasionally now, but, not too much. You will have to experiment. So, grab the foods you like, add some broth and puree them. I have a hand immersion blender as well as a magic bullet. Worked for me.

Like you, I had an exclusion in my insurance. I had two children under 10. My doctor was wanting to put me on meds for cholesterol, blood pressure and type II diabetes. I told him to give me 6 months to straighten this out. 6 months later, my tests were the same. I told him that I was going to have WLS and he agreed to wait and see. One month post op, all my levels were excellent. That was 2 and a half years ago and I am happy to report my levels are all still excellent. I feel great and think I look pretty great, too. I battled my brain for a long time, too, before I finally had to admit that I needed help. My demons were stronger than I and went ahead and had VSG surgery with Dr Umbach in Las Vegas (Baby!) for $10,400. It was outpatient, which I prefer. Good luck with your decision. Keep reading and searching your soul. The answer will come.

Simply put, yes, I think most successful sleevers follow that type of lifestyle without realizing it. I know I did. I didn't really know I was until someone else pointed it out to me after seeing my plate with just meat and kale. But I'm a person who, having been haunted by the word diet in the past, have decided I am not going to do anymore "diets". That is why I got the sleeve. But, if you have looked at the recommended meal plans, you can see it is weighted heavy on the protein and good carb side of things. If you want to follow this and say you are on a diet, you can do that. I just know it is all I can do just to eat my meat and veggies before I allow myself a cookie or something which may be considered "non-paleo".

Are you selecting your "slider" foods during this time? I know when I am mindlessly grabbing for something during an emotional crisis, it is pretty much always something which is going to go down pretty easy. You are not going to see me grabbing for my Turkey Jerky or a piece of chicken breast. Nope. Crackers with Peanut Butter or some Cheetos. I can eat a ton of them. But, usually, I look down at my orange fingers and say, "WTF am I doing?" and then I grab some jerky and breathe.

Hello Mistyn and welcome to BariatricPal. I would say the best advice I could give a newbie is to read, read, read. This forum is a great resource for information relating to any WLS. There are many sub-forums here, too. I find that using a mobile device is good if I know where I want to go, but if I am just browsing around, I find the web browser experience better. It is just easier to search using keywords and review the results. As I just mentioned, there is a search function here, so pretty much any topic or thought you may have has been posted and you can immediately get a wealth of responses. Of course, if you are not able to find what you are looking for, post a question. Again, welcome to the board and congratulations on your new journey!

Moved over to the General discussion as the Vet's forum is meant to be reserved for members over a year out. To answer your question, though, I bought a bunch of compression shirts, shorts and pants. When I exercise, they help to keep everything from moving. Under Armour was the brand I choose, but there are many other options out there. I was also able to pick up a few from Goodwill, so you may want to check them out. I have heard of folks using Spanx, too. Do a site search for compression garments. I'm sure you will find a ton of results as it is an oft discussed topic.

Woo Hoo! NIce job. Congrats

I just couldn't stomach Water early on. It had to be Gatorade and room temperature at that. It does pass, though. I have me a big glass of water in front of me right now.

When I asked my surgeon about the 'full' feeling, he assured me I would figure it out. He just told me to put my utensil down after each bite and evaluate how I felt. If I was remotely feeling any form of restriction, stop eating. I can always eat more 30 minutes later. Don't push it. Ensure you are chewing more than you ever have done before and take smaller bites. As far as the back, I never experienced that, but you are still very early. You are still doing a lot of healing. I'm not going to lie to you, the first 6 weeks are tough and full of discovery. Just keep following your prescribed guidelines and call your Dr if anything seems totally out of line. Just remember you just had 85% of your stomach removed. As it relates to eating, nothing is going to be the same as it was before, nor do we want it to be ... right? After all, that is what got us in trouble in the first place. Pay attention to what your body is telling you and take it easy.

Ketosis. Do a search for it here on the forum and the GoogleVerse. Quite common. I'm sure you have also noticed that whatever you are eating doesn't taste quite right ... perhaps a metallic tint to it? Ketosis. I told my wife my mouth tasted like a cat's butt. Don't ask me how I know that. Once your carbs get up, you will be fine.

Hate to look like a smart Alec, but Google should have your answers: http://bit.ly/19vna7b

Like others, I had the patch and never experienced any nausea. I believe most people don't, especially if they have a patch to help prevent any issues with it.

Congrats!

Why? Is the Bible the sole text of religion on this planet or is the sole text of religion for you? I got 13 correct.

I think I pretty much abandoned what my previous definition of what a meal is. I just had 85% of my stomach removed ... how could a meal possibly be the same pre-op as post-op. And if I tried to define it the same way, well, isn't that what got me in trouble in the first place? I had to change everything including what my definition of a meal. So, instead of feeling the need to eat a 'meal', I realized what I really needed was to meet the nutritional needs of my body. Whatever way I can. If this means I eat a piece of turkey Jerky every 10 minutes for 2 hours, then that is OK. If I nibble on edamame for 2 hours, that is OK, too. I tracked everything in MyFitnessPal and then looked at my daily totals ensuring I was hitting my nutritional goals. The bottom line, for me early out, was to be as compliant as possible to the guidelines my team set for me. I do not need to finish any 'meal' in 30 minutes. I just need to meet my body's nutritional requirements. Now, what does 'nutritional requirements' mean? That is highly individual as everyone's activity level and basic needs are going to be different. My surgeon told me my body would tell me what it needed, if I paid attention. I agree with that advice. It is difficult to filter out the noise the demons of my food addiction, but down deep, I believe each of us knows when we are not doing things the right way. "Really, my body NEEDS those Cheetos!!" Yeah ... right. So, to answer your question ... what is a meal. For me, it is when I meet my body's nutritional needs for what I have done and what I intend to do. There are no time constraints on meeting this need.

Did you have a hiatal hernia repair? I did and what you describe sounds like what I was feeling for about the first 10 days post. As suggested, call your Dr.

Well, you just had 85% of your stomach removed. Where before you had a vast expanse of space for air and whatnots to move around in, you now have a tiny little space smaller than a banana. As it moves, (digestion) it is going to create air pockets and when those open, grumble, grumble, grumble ... I am over 2 years out and my stomach still makes noise. It is one of the side benefits of having the sleeve. Something to talk to me when nobody else is around. I am being glib, but this is quite a widespread thing. Your stomach is not the same size anymore. Imagine if you will, a large balloon with 3 oz of stuff in it. Move it around, compress it ... do all the things you might think your stomach does. Now, get a balloon 15% of it's size. Do the same thing. It's going to be different and the little pocket of air are going to be released more frequently. Grumble.

You are not in the minority here. I'm guessing 90% of the folks who enjoyed pizza pre-op will enjoy it at some point post op. There was a ruckus on this thread because having a piece less than 3 weeks post is COMPLETELY different than having a piece 1 year post. Not following the guidelines early out can cause serious complications and we have a lot of passionate members here. Nothing wrong with that, and the OP, from what I have read, can see that. I believe the bottom line is if you ever have to question yourself as to whether you did something questionable, then there is a VERY good chance it wasn't a good choice. If you find yourself asking, "Hmmm ... maybe I should post on the forum and find out if it is OK ..." Then I am here to tell you that it probably isn't. Deep down you know the right thing to do, but our demons sometimes yell so loud in our ears, it is difficult to think straight.