PdxMan

I just posted THIS, so I am just going to link to it.

2 months out, you should be fine. But, of course, since it concerns you, you should contact your PCP.

Great videos. Take note on the first video at around the 2:12 mark. That thing at the top is the liver. Shrinking this is the main purpose of the pre-op diet. If you are on your pre-op diet, take note of this. What size liver do you want your surgeon to be working with? How much do you want to cheat on your pre-op diet?

Oye ... the daily weigher ... first off ... ditch the scale. As you have seen from your post, you are a little obsessive about it. Question for you. Are you wanting to lose weight or lose fat? What does your scale measure, weight, or fat? It is commonly accepted that 1 pound = 3,500 calories. Eat 3,500 calories more than you burn, you gain a pound, burn 3,500 calories more than you eat , you lose a pound. How many calories are you consuming now? Are you in a deficit or overage? You just underwent surgery where you had an IV and 85% of your stomach ripped out of you. How much Fluid are you going to retain, how swollen is your stomach and how long is it going to take for all this to return to "normal"? Bottom line ... you have no idea. It's not going to happen overnight. Your expectations are far misaligned from reality. What you have to know is that this is not a sprint. We all wanted to wake up a week after surgery and be skinny, but that is not going to happen. If you were to chart your weight daily over the next year, it is NOT going to be a straight line sloping from start to finish. It is going to be a roller coaster going down, leveling and even going up at times. This is just how it is, and it is a good thing. Here is my suggestions: Weigh yourself once a month. You will always see your weight drop, so you stay encouraged. Otherwise, you will go insane. If you don't believe me, read the 3,234 posts on this EXACT topic posted on this forum last month (no, you are not alone in this experience) Remember the calories/weight thing I mentioned above. If you always remember this, you will know that even though the scale may not change, you are losing fat (and muscle). The weight may not change, but that could be for 1 of about 563 reasons for that. Don't justify cheating on your guidelines because of what the scale says. As I have pointed out, the scale lies. It is not measuring fat. Measure yourself. All over. You would be amazed to see these numbers shrink when the scale's numbers don't Rightsize your expectations for this journey Read #1 again. Don't give into the temptation to weigh yourself daily. Good luck and keep us posted!

You sound like you are a serious pronator and need to be properly fitted at a shoe store that can do this. I would suggest a running store, even though you may not use them for running. What you are looking for is the proper support for your level of pronation.

You learn what you need to eat and get into a groove as to when to eat it. As long as you are conscience of your constraints, i.e. needing to perform at a second's notice, you'll be fine. As a somewhat competive runner, I was able to keep my body fueled just fine. I was able to run 6 miles daily and up to 18 miles through the hills on the weekends. It took some training to get my nurtition just right, but once you figure it out, you'll be fine. There are lots of us sleeve athletes on here, so just keep reading and asking questions.

NICE! That's 12,921 per day. Wow!

Don't stop, just slow down. Wait 3 or 4 minutes in between bites. Imagine taking one of those hollow swimming pool noodles, but now swelling the foamy part to twice the size. Twist it around a bit, too. This is how your stomach has reacted to the latest trauma. Yes, liquids can pass through, but it is going against swollen tissues and may have to push against this swollen tissue to get on through. The suture line is going to be irritated and just not happy with you at all. You just have to take things easy.

1/3 of a cup is a good start. Don't push yourself past that. It can be hard at this time, because your body is not able to tell you when you are full or still hungry, so, slowly enjoy the 1/3 of a cup. Take at least an hour break before trying more. Just don't be frustrated if it takes you half an hour to eat the entire 1/3 cup, or even if it takes you 5 minutes. Everyone's swelling is going to be different.

How far out are you? Salads are very fiberous and difficult for the stomach to digest. Remember, the stomach is the mechanical part of digestion and you just had 85% of it removed. Salads, then red meat were the last things for me to be able to eat. I had my first salad (iceburg) 4 months post-op. Sounds to me like you may have eaten salads a little too early on your journey.

Well ... not quite what I was trying to say ... When I was a couple weeks post-op, after being on a shake and lean/green pre-op for two weeks and Clear liquids and shakes 2 weeks post-op ... I was in the, "OMG, I am never going to eat "normal" again." I felt that if I even tried to eat anything with any texture, my teeth would crumble since they hadn't had anything crunchy in over a month. I didn't want to eat what my definition of "normal" amounts ... I just wanted to eat "normal" food. REAL food ... I didn't care what it was ... a carrot, a cracker ... whatever. Eating food akin to what is served in nursing homes was making me crazy. Then, even when I did eat the pureed food, I could only eat 2 or 3 bites. Psychologically, I had HAD IT! I was tired and knew I was only eating around 500 calories. It wasn't a stretch for me to know that I needed to get more calories than that, but it was just soooo difficult to do. WHEN WAS THIS GOING TO CHANGE? I didn't want to eat anywhere near what my old "normal" was, but I knew I couldn't maintain that current level. I needed to consume more than 2 or 3 bites at a time.

Oye ... everyone's tolerance for pain is going to be different. What is your history with pain meds and surgical procedures? First timers seem to be on them longer while surgical vets sometimes don't even use them at all. Tylenol and rest is all they use. I'm in the middle, there. I was on liquid loritab for 4 days, then transitioned to tylenol for a couple days.

HERE is a thread I participated in on this subject.

Surgery on Friday in Vegas (baby!). Enjoyed my time there walking all around post-op. Went back to work the following Wednesday. I would have been fine traveling after.

I had reflux issues prior to surgery as I had a hiatal hernia. This was repaired during my VSG and I have not suffered since. 20+ months post-op here and doing well in this department (and most others, too!)

It will depend on what it is, and, of course, your bites should be a lot smaller now than they were before, so it is all relative. You should be able to eat more than 3 bites of yogurt, now. As far as other foods and lean Proteins, it will progress something like this: 4 bites of deli turkey meat - 5 weeks out 4 bites of tuna salad - 6 weeks out 4 bites of grilled chicken - 8 weeks out 4 bites of iceburg lettuce salad - 12 weeks out 4 bites of Romain lettuce salad - 16 weeks out 4 bites of Spinach lettuce salad - 18 weeks out 4 bites of grilled NY Strip - 6 months Hopefully you get my point ... it is going to be different for different foods and for different people. But I'm guessing you know this deep down and you're to the point where you feel like you are never going to eat normal again. Don't worry ... you will. There are no foods I cannot eat today and enjoy them all at 20+ months out. I just enjoy far less of them now. So will you.

As soon as you are off pain meds and your mind is clear.

Do you have a Sam's Club or Costco nearby? Premier Protein are by far the most popular amongst sleevers here. Not for everybody, but I know dozens of us who have settled on Premier. If you don't believe me, do a site search on Premier Protein. Chocolate or vanilla. I sound like a salesperson ... but I'm not!

What pre-op diet does your Dr have you on? For how long?

Ah ... yes ... OK, the good news is you are right where you are supposed to be at. I'm guessing you are wanting to change that top value: Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activity? The really good news is you are not allowed to change that. It is based on your activity level. The bad news is if you have had a recent BMR test, which 99.9% of the folks haven't, you will not be able to enter that value in there. Just tweak the activity level to get it close.

Oh, yes ... don't buy the processed stuff. Try making a couple varieties of soups as you don't want the white chicken chili to grow old. Then, years from now you won't be able to eat it because all you can remember is eating pureed white chicken chili. Know what I mean?

I don't know if I would quite say this ... There was this guy in college who used to make this mushroom and herb pizza that made me feel REALLY good. Funny thing was, he would only give me 1 slice, though.

Codeine does it for me ...

Looks like you can customize the nutrition info with THIS. Add 2 for cheese ...

After you change goals, you should be asked if you want guided or custom. Are you selecting custom?