MegInNOLA

I'm a music teacher/conductor. I went back the week after surgery but only because I could teach without conducting--mostly from a seated position. Frankly, I wasn't so much sleepy as just physically tired--seems like it took a while to feel energetic. I did begin to feel better once I started with soft foods, so it may just be that I wasn't getting enough calories in.

I had a friend ask me when I was going to "stop losing weight." I had to laugh--I'm at goal, but I definitely still have flab that I need to lose. I realized she has only known me as a fat girl--so I asked her what size she thought I was. She guessed a 6-8 and I REALLY laughed, because I'm a solid 12/14 (14 most of the time!). It's just a perception thing. It's also maybe that your friends are concerned if they don't know about your surgery--I know if I saw someone who dropped as much weight as you did and I didn't know that you'd had surgery, I might ask about it, too--but I personally would try to be a bit more delicate!!! I hope you have supportive folks around who appreciate all the hard work you've done in achieving such terrific success with your sleeve. Meantime, enjoy your life! HUGS

You're at the infamous 3-week stall. Just keep doing what you're doing (and personally, I think you're doing great to be getting in as much as you are!). The 3-week stall hits almost all of us. That feeling that seems like hunger may well be excess acid--are you on a PPI or other antacid medication? A lot of folks need that after surgery. If it's true hunger, then yeah, eat something on your "approved foods" list, focusing on getting your Water and Protein in first. Every person is different, and we all respond differently to stuff. Hang in there--that stall is going to break, and you're on your way!!

I'm smaller than I have ever been in my adult life, currently in size 12/14 and L shirts (I'm 6'2" and curvy). I thought it would feel strange. It doesn't--it feels WONDERFUL! I feel like this is "me," if that makes sense, and that I've been set free from my fat suit--that wasn't really "me." I still do not recognize myself when I catch sight of my reflection, and I still can't gauge my size appropriately for clothing--you know how all size 12's are NOT the same! But hopefully my brain will catch up with my new shape at some point. I may always feel like "the fat girl," but maybe I won't. :-)

So yesterday something strange happened--I pulled off my size 12 jeans without undoing them. I know it was at the end of the day, but---!!!!

You know you're a sleever when you hit the 2- to 3-week stall! Most of us have experienced it, and it definitely causes a ton of posts just like yours. :-) Search for "2-week stall" or "3-week stall" and you'll find a lot of folks who have been through this and come out the other side just fine (including yours truly). Just keep following your plan and getting in your water as best you can. This, too, shall pass!!

Good for you and welcome to post-op! Hope you're doing okay. Keep in touch and let us know how you're doing!

Girl, get a deep breath. I have been drinking coffee since recovery in the hospital (they gave it to me, thank goodness, because I NEEDED MY CAFFEINE!). Obviously, you are not in the same sort of tolerance zone that I was/am. :-) If you enjoy the taste of coffee, try decaf, which still has the tiniest bit of caffeine in there (it's impossible to remove 100% of the caffeine). Then move to a combo of decaf/regular, if you like, and if you like the octane boost. I do notice that when I drink coffee on an empty stomach, the caffeine effects can be less pleasant--shaky feeling, heart racing--so I only and always have mine iced with milk and something to nibble--just to keep it from hitting me all at once. Coffee is one of my favorite things, and I'm really glad that I still have it, but it sounds like you might want to go a bit more slowly with it! LOL On the plus side, we do know you a bit better now after all these posts.

Congratulations on your progress so far! You're rocking that sleeve!!

You won't have to worry about any of this pretty soon--clothing options multiply innumerably! And I also love Third Day and am excited for you to have gotten to hear them/meet and greet!!

Wow. If my best friend told me I had a bobble-head, I'd probably just cry... and then I'd let her know that I appreciate her support so much, but I still have a ways to go. Maybe something like, "Yeah, I know I look a lot different from before, but I'm still not where my doctor and I think I need to be, so when you say stuff like that, it hurts my feelings"? I don't know. I can't really be coherent when my feelings are hurt--I could later, though! I always come up with great stuff later!!! When someone was sort of rude to me (she said she had lost a lot of weight, too, but she did it "the hard way"), all I could say was, "Congratulations on your loss"--because I don't think she intended to be rude. If your friend was teasing you, okay, but you could certainly let her know that it sort of hurt your feelings! You rely on her support and honesty, but you also need to be reassured (like everyone else! including her) that you're okay, and it hurts when she says stuff like that.

Ditto from me--I stocked up before surgery only to find that post-op, Sleevie rejected any and all protein drinks. NOT a good use of my pre-surgery spending. Maybe get a couple of single-serving packets or something, but try those first before investing, and definitely wait until after surgery--things can change.

WOOT! Congratulations and welcome to the Century Club!! Down 100 is a great accomplishment!!! Be super proud of yourself!!

I understand exactly what you mean!! I had to learn how "full" felt post-op, and I had to learn that I couldn't/shouldn't eat "until I was full," but "until I wasn't hungry." That's the cool thing your sleeve brings to the party--and yes, it feels really different, and I felt both sad and upset at first that I wasn't able to get that same sense of satisfaction... but now, a year out, I DO feel satisfied after a meal, and I still can't eat very much volume-wise (small and non-stretchy sleeve, I guess!--thank GOODNESS!). I feel satisfied in a different way from before, but it's become my "new normal," and honestly, it's true satisfaction, just different satisfaction. I don't feel stuffed or "full" or sluggish or heavy after I eat. I feel energized and fueled and nourished and ready to tackle the rest of my day. I enjoy my food tremendously. I can smell and imagine the taste of food without having to rush right out and physically eat it--what freedom!!!! And when I do eat, food tastes great; I have learned to eat slowly and enjoy the experience, both for my own enjoyment and to keep from being finished with a meal 30 seconds in while others are just picking up their forks (LOL!). Hang in there; you'll get to your 'new normal,' but it probably won't be like your pre-op normal--here's the important part--and that's okay--neither are you going to be like your pre-op normal. You'll be thinner, healthier, and on your way to being around a lot longer. HUGS!!

Hey NannieG: Yep, I actually live north of NOLA in Covington, but I teach down in New Orleans. Still losing somehow--not really working at it, just living, but Sleevie is doing his job. I'm at 185 at this point (yay); someone asked me the other day when I planned to "stop losing weight," and I had to sort of laugh--like I planned any of this at all, after having the surgery--!! I didn't. I don't. I haven't. It just happens. My sleeve tolerates what it tolerates, and the extent of my involvement in the process is that I choose certain foods at certain times (because I prefer them, not because of anything else) from the group of things that my sleeve will handle, and that's that. I try to make healthier choices, but that's the extent of my "trying." For instance, at lunch today I ate about 1/4 c of green salad with an olive-oil vinaigrette, a few fried crawfish tails with tartar sauce, and a couple of bites of cheese grits. Completely NOT diet food--but I could only eat a few bites total, and it was delicious, and Sleevie loved it; he typically doesn't tolerate fried food comfortably, so I only had a couple of the crawfish and they were fine. A few minutes ago, I had a couple of crackers with brie. Later, I'll have some grapefruit; I'm craving it now but I'm still full from the cheese. Then I'll probably have a few peanuts later tonight. And this is my life and my eating life. Tiny, snack-sized meals, probably five a day--not always horrible-for-me food, but not always super-healthy food, either. I just eat what I feel like having in tiny portions, and it's all good. This probably means that I'm not as far along as I COULD have been, because I haven't been strict with myself AT ALL about carbs or fat content or anything--it's been purely, strictly about volume control and about certain foods that Sleevie won't handle (most fried food and most mayo-based stuff, today's lunch notwithstanding; sweet/fat combos like pastry or frozen coffee drinks--blech--I love them and Sleevie just does NOT; Pasta, bread, tortillas; meat; grilled chicken; tuna; super-sugary anything, although I can eat a few of certain types of candy--jelly Beans, Skittles--without bad sleeve consequences). My sleeve LOVES vegetables and all fruits, although he still has problems with grape skins and with strawberries (although I'm hoping this gets better next year, since I live in strawberry heaven here in south La.!) and with raw onion, celery, and carrot (cooked is fine). I prefer to eat a veggie-centric diet, so I'm doing that just by choice most of the time and enjoying it very much. Anyway, nattering on here---back to the important stuff! FYE, is this the vacay where you're coming to the New Orleans area? I'd love to meet for coffee or something if so. My school schedule is pretty flexible these days--most of our concerts are done--so let me know if you'd like to meet up! Coops, I have a feeling that your new exercise plan is going to fix things for you--I just have a super positive feeling about it! Keep it up and let us know how it's working out!!

There's so much difference between doctors' orders for post-op eating, isn't there! At 2 weeks, I was still on liquids, and not able to really swallow very much of those at one time. If you're having trouble and you're exactly following your doctor's orders for what and how much you should be eating, you might give the office a call and just check in. Sometimes, your sleeve is on a different track--mine was. Doesn't mean something's wrong, just means that you may not be able to eat as much or the types of things that your nutritionist/doctor says are okay. You may need to back off a bit and go back to liquids or soft foods or whatever the previous stage of eating was, and also cut the amount a little until you can eat comfortably. I found I was NEVER able to eat as much as my nutritionist suggested (my sleeve is super small and was SO PICKY!), but I managed to figure out an eating plan that worked. You will, too, through the same trial and error process. Start small--eat a couple of bites at a time and see how you feel. The key for me was eating until I wasn't hungry, not eating until I was full--there's a big difference.

I could have done it from a "healing after the surgery" perspective, but not from an "I have enough energy" perspective. That soon post-op, I felt like a limp dishrag! LOL

Y'all, your stomachs are about to make some of the worst noises you've ever heard. :-) It's all good, though--some of it is gas, some of it is just that you're on liquid or super-soft diets right after surgery, and some of it is just normal tummy noise. It does get better, although mine still makes horrid squishy, gurgly noises when I drink. My students have learned to just laugh at it, because YES, they can hear it from several feet away.

Y'all are all singing my song, too--it took FOREVER for me to see any difference in clothing size (literally 75 pounds or so before I saw a change), and now, bam, bam, bam dropping like crazy, and that's AFTER my weight loss has slowed down! So very bizarre the way our bodies work differently! I, too, now Celebrate stuff other than pounds off--like fitting into those student desks, sliding easily into booths at restaurants, having to adjust my seat belt in the car, etc. etc. And yeah, one of my favs is losing a size in clothing--when you've been at what I'll charitably call for myself "size huge" for most of your adult life, I think one might be forgiven if a bit of excessive shopping/celebration occurs fairly frequently. (big grin here) Hang in there. It really does take a long time to lose out of plus sizes, but not that long in regular sizes, and that's on its way!!

You look fabulous! Way to go!!

I didn't get any sort of card--I typically just order smaller, or I order something that I know will "keep" well, so we always end up with yummy left-overs. My husband and I are both sleevers, and we've gotten pretty good at ordering for more than one meal (what for other people IS only one meal but for us is more like three!). Dressings always on the side to keep salads from wilting, things that will reheat well, etc.

My biggest obstacle was having a truly picky sleeve that wouldn't allow me to eat enough healthy protein--I couldn't tolerate Protein shakes, chicken, tuna, eggs, beef, or lunch meat. NOW, a year out, he has calmed down enough to where I can enjoy hamburger, scrambled eggs occasionally, and even a bite or two of roast beef--what a treat!--so it's all about healing and time. My advice is to do what your sleeve allows you to do (if you have a "normal" sleeve, just eat the way your nutritionist says to!), don't sweat it, and do what you can when you can. It's a great, flexible tool.

My husband was sleeved a year before me and had great success, so he was 100% supportive of my decision to do it, too; in fact, he was my biggest cheerleader and was very encouraging. I think the key is, as others say, education and getting the facts. Let's face it, none of us would have this surgery if we didn't need it. Not one person here would happily hop onto a surgeon's table and say, "Hey, cut out most of my stomach, please," if we didn't absolutely need to--because we couldn't lose weight in other ways and keep it off. Happily for us, this procedure allows us a way to live longer, to be healthier, to enjoy life more--thank goodness for the sleeve!!!!! I'm happy you got your date, and I'm hoping your husband has taken the time to check it all out, prepare himself as best he can for y'all's new life together, and is ready to roll with ya! You will find, I think, a much happier you, and he will have a much happier wife in the long run. That's what my husband says, anyway!

I still can't eat bread or many refined flour products. Just how my sleeve works (or doesn't, LOL!). Sorry that happened--but now you know! Toast sometimes works better.

Britt, April 18 is a fabulous day for a sleeve. It's my 1-year sleeve-aversary!! So special HUGS to you from me--this time next year, your body will be very different!! Congratulations on the start of your new life!!