Indymom

I started jogging using the C25K (couch to 5k) program on my android phone a month after surgery when my doc released me for full exercise. I was doing great up until the time that I got very ill (due to an unrelated medical condition). I haven't gotten back into it yet but was LOVING it.

I was allowed raw veggies at 3 months (certain ones I could have earlier like peeled cucumber) - I really enjoy salads now, but I have to be careful to still focus on the protein because it's easy to eat a little too much of the veggies and get full too fast.

Welcome! This is a great site. Sorry you had complications but glad all is going OK now. Good luck on your journey!

My nutritionist said that a lot of people have a hard time tolerating eggs. I wasn't allowed to have them until after the first month, and when I ate one for the first time it was surprisingly hard to eat! Now it's a breakfast staple for me but for whatever reason I found them difficult to digest early on. Good for you if you're able to handle one, it's a great source of protein!

During my pre-surgical consultation, my surgeon said that a LOT of people seem to stall out at the 200 lb mark, no matter what their starting weight. Not sure why that is, I know that I am at about 200 now and am a lot happier than I was 65 lbs ago but still want to keep losing. I'm not going to stress if my loss slows down during this holiday season as I am finding myself with a lot of the "old temptations" (holiday treats in the office, cocktails with co-workers to Celebrate, etc.) but intend to keep losing come the first of the year. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself where you want to be, how you want to continue to use your tool, and what makes you happy. Thanks for sharing your story!

Way to go!

I have tons of business lunches that I have to deal with. I usually order a small house salad with grilled chicken, or if there's an entree salad that sounds good I order that, eat primarily the Protein (usually chicken) and leave the rest. If I don't want people to ask me why I'm not eating, I take really small bites and push the food around a lot. I still enjoy the experience of dining out, but we don't do it very often because we're trying to save $$, so it's usually just work-related functions.

You definitely want to try and get more than 12 oz in a day, like someone else said SF popsicles do count as well. If you have trouble with cold beverages you could try lukewarm or even warm to see if that makes a difference - I didn't mind cold beverages, but I know some people have posted that they did much better with warm liquids. You definitely don't want to get dehydrated!

I took very little - toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and deodorant. I had my cell phone and work blackberry (and chargers) but used them rarely. I had TV in my room and usually had it on, but I honestly slept most of the time that I wasn't walking or seeing visitors.

Make sure you are following your food plan set forth by your nutritionist and surgeon. At this point after surgery your healing staple line and stomach are still likely very numb, so you don't want to overdo it because you "feel" OK. I was able to comfortably start on my Protein shakes on day 4 (maybe 5?) and didn't have any problem tolerating the shakes or full liquids I was allowed to have, but I wasn't allowed eggs or other soft foods for close to a month. Just make sure you're following your plan, but it sounds like you're having a good recovery!

I found the pain to be very manageable. I took the pain meds they gave me in the hospital, then only took one dose of the liquid pain meds at home and I was fine. I tend to have a fairly high pain tolerance and don't like the way pain meds make me feel in general, so that likely helped - but I was fine.

minaleigh - are you tracking your food intake? The 'winded' feeling could be just from lack of energy/protein, if you're not getting in enough Protein. My nutritionist recommended 75-90 grams/day early on, so that could be part of the problem. It may also just be residual from the surgery, keep in mind it's been less than a month for you. On the subject of eggs, I found them really hard to tolerate early on, even more so than any other protein source. Not sure why that is (and I've seen a lot of different posts where people have speculated about it) but there's just something about the way they sit in the sleeve. At 4 months out I can still only eat 1 egg for Breakfast and maybe a piece or two of turkey sausage . . . eggs just seem to sit heavier than anything else. My surgeon/nutritionist don't care if I drink right up until I start eating. Like some of the other posters said, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense why drinking right BEFORE eating should make any difference if your stomach is already empty. I wouldn't stress too much about the drinking before, especially if it's prohibiting you from getting all your fluids in for the day. Dehydration is nothing to mess around with.

I jumped on the scale just about every day, but tried to do it at the same time of the morning, no clothes, after going to the bathroom, etc. so I was as close as possible to consistent. It still jumped up and down a bit . . . and RickM is exactly right about the 'stall' and the chemistry behind it. Hang in there!

Some restaurants have healthy options on the kids menu but far too often they have lots of fried and fattening foods only. If there's an entree that I know I will enjoy the leftovers from, I'll just order a full meal and plan on eating it a couple more times . . . or I will do a side house salad and have them add some grilled chicken to it.

When I go out for business lunches and don't want to have to discuss my surgery, I do a soup/salad or a grilled chicken entree salad. It's easy to eat mostly the chicken and push the rest around.

Yep, I agree with UXGrrl. I'm sure the liquid diet is HARD but just stick with it, just think that every pound that comes off before surgery is one you don't have to lose after!

At home, I don't bring a drink to the table either. If I'm at a restaurant I typically order water to drink. I rarely sip on anything while I'm eating, though if I am eating spicy food I do take a small sip here & there to put out the fire. I have tried to take a drink too soon after eating and it's really uncomfortable, like it almost sits on top of the food in my stomach. It hasn't been that hard to get used to not drinking while eating, you'll be fine!

Splurged a little today on some buffalo chicken wings at lunch. When I plugged them into my nutrition tracker, while I was thrilled by the Protein I almost fell out of my chair on the fat grams. That will be a very rare splurge for me! Of course, I got stuffed full on about 4-5 of them (with nothing else on the side) - now I think about how I used to be able to eat 10-12, along with fries or onion rings . . . . and a couple big beers. YIKES, I can't imagine the calorie & fat intake of THAT meal!!

I love stew in the wintertime! If you slow-cook for long enough the beef will be so tender it will just melt in your mouth. We put some potatoes in ours along with carrots, celery, mushrooms, onion, etc. but you could just omit the potatoes if you don't want the carbs. Unfortunately my husband always just makes from scratch so I don't have a recipe, but I know he uses beef boullion, bay leaves, and a bunch of other spices.

I wasn't too nervous before surgery though like others, I would have brief periods of questioning such a life-altering decision. My surgery and recovery went extremely well, but I did have a bit of a breakdown at about 2-3 weeks out because of the nutrition limitations at that point on my plan. This site was a huge help to me as I could read about all the other 'veteran' sleevers who got past the tough stages and were leading normal, healthy and THIN lives!!

I also paid a one-time fee (I think it was $150 or $175) for my pre-op nutrition class. It was the only thing that wasn't able to be submitted to my insurance.

I had a c-section as well as my sleeve and I agree that the sleeve recovery was easier. I had less pain after my sleeve surgery. I did recover well from both, though, and I attribute my quick recovery to walking as quickly as possible in both cases.

Try to avoid the scale (easier said than done!) and keep up on your walking, protein, etc. Stalls suck but they happen to almost all of us. Your body has been put through the wringer and it's a little shocked right now, but the weight will start to come off again soon!

Think of it this way . . . 30 lbs in 5 weeks is 6 lbs/week or almost a pound a day. That's outstanding weight loss! Try to not focus so much on the scale day to day but on a long-term basis. Especially when the dreaded stalls hit . . . If you consider what your caloric intake was before surgery and what it is now, you honestly can't help but lose weight. 750 calories sounds right on track with where you are, and also keep in mind that based upon your ticker you're a 'lightweight' with less to lose than some. Therefore, the loss might be a little slower. Some people don't even focus on calories and instead make sure they are hitting their protein targets first. I track my food so it calculates my calories, and at 4 months out I'm sometimes hitting or exceeding 1000 cals/60-80 grams protein a day . . . and my weight loss has continued. Hang in there!

I don't know about Nexium, but my doc switched me to Dexilant in the morning and an OTC Zantac at night. I'm doing well with both (was originally taking 20 mg omeprazole twice a day and that wasn't doing squat).