Escape_Pod

WOW!!! Awesome progress - you look fabulous!

Veda, I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations - sounds pretty sleezy to me. Do you still have this stuff? I'd be willing to buy some of it from you. Let me know what you have.

Ok, I'll admit this adds up to enough carbs (with syrup) to be limited to an occasional treat, but the Big Train buttermilk pancake mix is really fabulous! It actually tastes like REAL pancakes, and is very satisfying - I'm 4.5 months out and could eat only half a serving. Definitely worth a try if you find yourself longing for a pancake fix. My husband thought they were good too, and he doesn't low carb! 1 serving has 190 calories, 7 net carbs (12 total, 5 fiber) and 11 grams protein.

Annette, I know it's frustrating, and you should absolutely feel free to whine and vent, and stamp your foot, and do whatever makes you feel better. But the BEST thing you can do for yourself is to STOP paying any attention at all to how fast others are losing weight! We are all different! Some lose fast, some lose slowly. Age, gender, starting BMI, and a bazillion other factors can all play into your weight loss rate. It's a marathon honey, not a sprint. And more importantly, it never ends. We've made permanent changes to how and what we eat, and to the extent we can, to how much we move. We eat to live, not live to eat. Celebrate every last pound you've lost so far, ban the word "ONLY" from your vocabulary, and keep doing what you're doing. Talk to your surgeon and/or nutritionist for advice on your diet, but try not to get discouraged. Hugs, Beth

Five years ago I lost 80 pounds (for the third time in my life) by changing what I ate and exercising like a maniac. No diets, no programs, just changes I thought I could live with long term. I was very happy with how I looked and felt, and then pound by pound I put it all back on. AGAIN! It was devastating to my self-esteem. I decided I deserved all the help I could get to lose the weight again, and this time to keep it off. Pre-op I lost over 20 pounds in about 5 weeks, and I discovered what a difference high-protein, low-carb makes in terms of weight loss and sugar cravings, but it never made me doubt my decision to go ahead with the surgery. So here I am, just over 4 months post-op, getting within spitting range of my lowest weight from last time (which took me over 18 months to achieve). I've lost over 80% of my "excess weight" by my surgeon's calculations. I haven't had to do much clothes shopping, just digging out clothes that have been in storage for years. I know maintenance is still going to be a challenge, but I think it's doable this time, and I have confidence I can succeed. I enjoy my workouts again, and I have SO much energy. I am seeing fairly substantial hair loss, and have been since almost immediately post-op, but I'm blessed with really thick abundant hair, so nobody notices it but me, and it's temporary, and a price well worth paying.

I've told almost no-one, just my husband and a couple of close friends and coworkers I knew would understand. That may change though, as the weight comes off and I regain my self confidence. I've gotten quite a few questions at work, as my weight loss has gotten to the point of being really noticeable, and I get some questions when I'm mixing my morning Protein shake in the break room, but I generally tell people I'm eating more protein, lower carbs, and getting more exercise, all of which is true. Certainly losing the weight post-surgery is a lot easier that the last time I did it with just diet and exercise (I'm still about 10 pounds above my lowest weight from 5 years ago when I did it on my own), so in that way, I think it is the "easy" way out. But this time I know I have a fighting chance to keep the weight off, and that's what was always impossible for me in the past. Sometimes I worry that by not telling people I'm perpetuating the myth that fat people could be thin if they just worked at it. But honestly, some people are just going to believe what they believe, and nothing you can say will convince them otherwise. I think the only thing that matters is that you're comfortable in your own heart and mind with the decision you've made. I decided at some point that I loved myself enough to give me a fighting chance of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight by taking advantage of what medical science has to offer, even though I had to pay for it myself. I'm worth it!

Don't worry - this is completely normal. Everything's very swollen from the surgery, so it's harder to get anything down right now. Sip, sip, sip every chance you get, and get as much liquids in as you can - it's WAY more important at this point to stay hydrated, protein can wait a little bit.

I also seem to have a sleeve of steel, and agree that it's a blessing that also has its down sides. The behavior modification is definitely up to my brain - my sleeve never tells me no, or makes me sorry if I eat one bite too many. I've got some work to do there - my brain often thinks it wants more than my tummy needs - sigh.... On the other hand, I've been blessed with very steady weight loss. Not particularly speedy, but I only had about 80 pounds to lose post-op so I think it's normal to be a slower loser, and I haven't experienced a real stall yet (knocking on wood...)

I was at Safeway last week and in the deli section they had "crackers" that were made entirely from cheese - four different flavors. They're nice and crunchy. Of course, I love anything made with cheese. But, no carbs, and several grams of protein in them. You can make your own too, which I've done, but I have a hard time baking them for the right amount of time to get them crunchy. (There's a recipe on these forums for them).

My surgeon said it depended on the cause of the GERD, and whether I had Barrett's Esophagus (scarring). When I had an upper endoscopy, we found a fairly large hiatal hernia and no Barretts, so he felt it was ok to proceed with the sleeve because the hiatal hernia was likely causing the GERD and could be repaired when he did the sleeve surgery. RNY patients do tend to have less issues with GERD than sleeve patients, and particularly if you're already seeing Barretts, it's nothing to mess around with. It can lead to esophageal cancer, which is usually discovered too late for effective treatment.

I know I should just count my blessings and move on, but I feel a little weird about the fact that I've never experienced the slimes, and I've never thrown up. I hear so many people say their sleeve teaches them not to overeat, because if they have one bite too many it comes back up again. I feel like my sleeve isn't really giving me much feedback at all, and I'm 3 months out! I've certainly had days where I felt like I probably ate a bit more of something than I should have, just kind of a full / restriction feeling. Some foods feel a little heavier in my pouch, but that's about it. I guess I worry that I'm not learning to be as disciplined as I should because I've never had a bad reaction to anything. At my support group this week, someone said it's a good idea to make sure you always have plastic bags in your car ,in case you need to throw up, because it WILL happen. I'm thinking -- really? This is SO not my experience! Am I the only one??

Ugh - the quote button won't work for me! dragon, on September 29, 2011 - 6:17 AM, said:The beauty of VSG is that it changes how you feel about food, what you crave, and how much you want. I can eat one occaisional peice of something sweet, and be satisfied; I can leave the rest sitting on my plate (Really!) without wanting to finish it. And it pisses me off when I take one flipping bite of cake, and feel like crap until it all comes up. (It doesn't happen every time, and I am stupid, so I do try to eat a bite of sweet or two about once a month). I envy you that change. I don't think my struggles with sweets are over. For the most part the cravings are well under control, but I credit that more to low-carb, high-Protein than to the surgery. But when faced with something yummy and chocolatey, I'm just as likely to eat too much of it and end up regretting it, even now. Granted, "too much" is WAY less than it used to be, but it's quite a bit more than one bite. This is definitely an issue I have to fix by myself - the surgery's not going to do it for me.

For yogurt, you can just buy the plain, and add sugar-free jam and/or syrups and/or splenda. There are also some low carb yogurts (Fred Meyer carries has a store brand low-carb version), but to me they're WAY too sweet - I generally mixed a tablespoon or two of the flavored into plain greek yogurt. I've been thinking about doing the same thing with Kefir - I started drinking it about a year ago but had to give it up for the carbs. It might make a good base occasionally for a smoothie, but I'd have to watch the carbs. Good protein value though.

I was on clear liquids only for the two days I was in the hospital post-op. Then full liquids for 2 weeks, pureed foods for 6 weeks, soft foods for 4 weeks, and then on to full diet.

I went to three seminars, and found them very beneficial. I don't think there were more than 20 people at any of them, and I think the smallest group was 5 attendees. I benefitted from the surgeons' thoughts on the different surgical options, and found it a good opportunity to get a sense of their personalities. All the surgeons talked about recent research on WLS and went through the details of the various surgeries. Also, I had an opportunity to inquire about self-pay costs. One of them felt more like a sales pitch than an informational seminar (kind of a why you shouldn't have WLS with anyone but me approach), but it was good to know that side of the surgeon before paying for an appointment at his office! If it's not terribly inconvenient, I'd certainly recommend attending at least one.

I recently discovered Just the Cheese Crunchy Baked Cheese snacks. Yummy, and satisfies that desire to crunch! I just ordered some of their popped cheese too - I miss popcorn sometimes and hope this might be a satisfying alternative for an occasional treat.

I'm an emotional eater, and I have the same concern about regain (great! One more thing to stress me out so I want to eat! ) I'm right at 3 months post-op, and so far it's been pretty easy. I had one day where I let my sweet tooth get the better of me, thought I could have "just a little", and I ate the wrong thing and too much of it. But I got right back on the wagon, upped my workouts for a couple of days, and I've been good ever since. Still, I think it was a sign that I can't just think the emotional eating is going to go away by itself. Eventually I'll be able to eat more, I'll be hungry more, and this new lifestyle will feel more routine. The thrill of that number on the scale and those skinny jeans will ease over time, life is no longer a series of positive reinforcements for weight loss, and that's where the rubber hits the road. Real Life. Maintenance. I truly believe that if I want to keep this weight off, for years, and years and years, I have to conquer my emotional eating tendencies, and the surgeon can't fix that for me. So, I'm continuing to work on finding a therapy that works for me, and learning new ways to cope with stress that don't involve food. It's something extra I have to do to ensure my long term success, but it's totally worth it, and I believe I can win this! I'm not one of those people who has to remind myself to eat post-op. I do feel hunger, but it's a very manageable feeling. But honestly, if I'm eating because I'm stressed or bored, I'm not truly physically hungry. Not if I'm really paying attention. It's my body telling me I'm hungry for something other than food - hungry for comfort, for friendship, for positive reinforcement, for a relief from stress.

If you want a more scientific comparison, you might check out these comparison statistics from Dr. Cirangle - one of the leading surgeons in the field of VSG: http://www.ssat.com/cgi-bin/abstracts/08ddw/O4.cgi Also, I understand we're all big fans here of VSG, but there are more bypass patients than sleevers in my support group, and none of them looks sickly. Now, if you're not following doctors orders and getting your Vitamins and supplements in, you might have health issues with RNY, but I think it's a bit alarmist to suggest it's an unhealthy option. I'm very grateful not to be lactose intolerant (many RNY patients develop this post-op but not all), or to have to look at everything I eat with an eagle eye for lurking sugar content (tomato sauce, etc.). Dumping certainly sounds like a miserable experience (and again, not all bypassers dump, and some sleevers do), but there've been times when I ate irresponsibly, and wished I did have a bad physical reaction - sometimes I could use the additional negative reinforcement! And for those with GERD, bypass can be a much better option. And throwing up? I could point to about a zillion posts from people here with the sleeve that throw up when they eat too fast. There's a reason there are still several options in weight loss surgery - the best option depends on the patient. I think if you live someplace where there are several experienced surgeons, it's well worth your time to go listen to several of them, especially those who have considerable experience with both sleeve and bypass.

Do you know how much experience your surgeon has with performing the sleeve? It may be that he's just not as familiar with it, in which case you may want to consider researching other surgeons. As far as your window of weight loss goes, I'd say it's at least 24 months, and there's no real end point - it's still calories in, calories out. I think where the rubber really hits the road is with regain stats, and in my opinion, we're just too early to know for sure with the sleeve. I think it's not uncommon for surgeons to recommend bypass for really high BMI patients, because you get the added help of malabsorption for the first couple of years, but it doesn't seem like your BMI is that high... I think there are pros and cons to each surgery, depending on your personal eating habits and issues, and any associated medical issues you may have.

Thanks! To be fair, only 34 of that loss is post-op, but I appreciate your confidence in me! I'm not that fast of a loser, but it does come off pretty predictably - I think that's a lot less stressful than long stalls alternating with dramatic drops. Mmmm... that shake sounds yummy! I'm stuck on Protein hot cocoa in the mornings. I'm tempted by some of the pumpkin shake recipes I've seen - I'm just not so sure about cold pumpkin. Maybe a warm vanilla pumpkin latte kind of thing? Well, at least I know I can quit worrying about my carbs being too low!! (I went through a spell with a lot of headaches, but I seem to be past it). Actually, I take a lot of my supplements as gummies - a gummy probiotic, Calcium chews, and gummy Fiber. I've been noticing that really does add up to quite a few calories and carbs over the course of the day. Might have to drop that...

I'm getting really frustrated with myself, because I don't seem to be able to find any thrill in this process. I'm not unhappy at all with my progress - I've lost a little over 30 pounds since surgery, a little over 50 since my highest weight. I'm down to a size 14 from 18W/20W. I look much better, and I know that. But when I step on the scale in the morning, and the number has dropped, there's no little jolt of joy. When I can fit into a pair of pants that were too small before, there's no feeling of victory or accomplishment. Maybe it's because I'm just working my way back to someplace I was before. Just 5 years ago, I was at a weight I was pretty happy with. I fit into clothes I loved, I felt strong and healthy, and I felt so good (aside to the absurd number of hours of exercise I had to do to balance what I wanted to eat and not gain weight). I've got some way to go before I get back there, and I hope to lose more than that. But I feel like I haven't given myself permission to be happy about how far I've come, and where I'm at now. I've accomplished so much since May, and every pound lost is wonderful progress. Why do I still think "meh" when I step on the scale in the morning?? Why am I not dancing with joy to be shopping in the regular stores and not the plus sizes??

My surgeon doesn't have me on B12 supplements (or anything really, aside from a multivitamin). I decided to do calcium on my own, but I'm wondering about B12. My B12 levels were actually high in my pre-op bloodwork, but don't most of us need B12??

Hi, I'm Beth, and I was sleeved by Dr. Chebli at Evergreen Hospital 6/29/11. Nice to meet you both!

Guess I've gotta try the Oh Yeah wafer bars then! Where do you guys find this stuff? Do you just shop online, or are you finding them at local vitamin/nutrition stores? I can't eat whatever I want, that tends to lead me into BIG trouble (unfortunately, I've found my sleeve doesn't punish me if I go overboard on sweets, and I could eat more that I'd hoped!). But I totally agree that it's important to eat in a way you think you can live with, FOREVER. Otherwise I get myself into a mentality that this is a diet, implying that it will end at some point, and I can go back to my old food habits. NOPE!! Low-carbing is definitely helping with sugar cravings for me. I have a Calcet creamy bite chocolate each evening as a mini-dessert. Not sure how long that will go on fooling my taste buds, but it's very brownie-like. I also have a small bite of things - a spoon full of my husband's ice cream when he has it, or a couple of small tastes of a restaurant dessert if I'm tempted, thoroughly savored. I also have some alternatives - half an Atkins PB Cup, or Eggface's recipe for espresso chocolate Protein truffles, or SF pudding with SF coolwhip. It's a balance I'm still finding. I need the occasional treat so I don't feel deprived, but too much can set off a domino of bad eating...

Thanks!! I think I'm still ok on carbs, but I realized today that the entry on MyFitnessPal I'd been using for my morning unjury shake included the calories, but not the carbs from the milk! UGH!! So apparently my carbs haven't been as low as I thought... I'm really on the fence about milk vs. almond milk. I'm ok with the taste of the almond milk, and it's lower in calories and WAY lower in carbs, but has almost no Protein. I'm debating whether the carbs/protein tradeoff is worth it for skim milk.