MegInNOLA

Oh I wish I could give every one of you a big hug.... I felt the EXACT same way!! My husband was sleeved a year ahead of me, and he kept saying, "There's no way for it NOT to work--look how little you're eating," etc. etc. but I just knew I was going to be the one person in however many hundreds that the sleeve didn't work for. Stalls! I HATE THEM! And I'm so sorry y'all are stressing about this! Seriously, it's going to work. Your body is just in the process of adjusting. It's freaked out! It's having to decide how to live with the new program, and it's not burning a lot of energy yet until it figures it out. Just stick with your doctor's program. Walk a little. Take time to rest. Be grateful for your life. I promise it's going to get better. You'll feel better. It just takes time! Y'all are like me--we are some kind of impatient people!! Bodies don't just zip around and change as quickly as all that (at least mine didn't!). But it has over time. I'm wearing size 18--18!!!--pants right now, and 3-1/2 months ago I wore a tight 26/28. (I know, some folks START at a size 18, but not me... I'm 6'2" and have been huge for decades, so the 18 is a victory!) So yeah, it takes time, but it works. My loss is slowing down considerably, but it's still going---time is your friend, not your enemy. A few months from now you won't even remember this.... HUGS and best wishes to all!!

Breathe! Your sleeve works fine. Liquids go right through. The fact that you're able to drink more than some folks just says that your sleeve is healing from the swelling, etc. faster than many--Celebrate that, since you won't have a problem staying hydrated! You definitely need to take a PPI on a regular basis for a while--I was one who had no problem with reflux or acid prior to surgery, but after surgery, I got this strange gnawing feeling that I thought was hunger because it felt like it!! It wasn't--it was excess acid. You'll begin to feel the restriction when you begin with food, I promise. You're evidently one of the lucky ones who has no issues with swelling or long-term post-surgical problems, which is GREAT! You'll definitely be able to tell a difference once you're on the PPI and also once you start mushies. Don't worry. Pretty soon you'll know what I mean. Best wishes to you!!

What a fabulous post! Congratulations on your losses and on your gains!!

Yes, my tastes have definitely changed. Now, I can't even think about fast food without feeling slightly ill. Ditto greasy foods, like potato chips--which I, like another poster above, could eat an entire bag of pre-surgery (and I would have enjoyed every bite!!). Can't do it now. Sleeve doesn't like them, and happily that has translated into my not wanting to eat them. Ditto, really, bread, which I used to LOVE but haven't had since before surgery (except for tiny bites at communion). I don't know. I think maybe our bodies help us out a bit and start to crave the things that they need to function properly. Thus my absolute mania for shrimp a few weeks ago, and now my almost uncontrollable craving for melon of all types--think I need to up my vitamin C? It's fun that what I'm craving is more driven by nutritional aspects instead of "head hunger" or white food carb cravings. Hopefully these "new" tastes will stick around for a while!

Y'all hang in there. I felt "okay" for the first couple of months but not really back to baseline. Now, however, at 3-1/2 months, I feel fabulous--energy is back, positive attitude is back, sense of humor is back (even when I get sick).... Part of the recovery process is learning what works for your body, which foods when, can you or can you not eat that, get your Vitamin and med schedule set and routine, etc. It takes time, and your body needs time to get used to things and feel better. If you've had any sort of complications, difficulty eating, food intolerances, or just general frustrations, your body needs EXTRA time to get better. Go easy on yourselves and Celebrate any success--seriously, the early part of the post-surgery period is just icky, and there's no getting around that. Some "not sweet" liquid options: 1. Soup. Whiz it up to make it smooth--just no noodles or rice. You can add nonfat powdered milk to creamy Soups to up the Protein, or add some canned chicken before you whiz, or an egg if you can tolerate them. Try the old-fashioned "icebox" soup with tomato juice, cut-up veggies, and seasonings--just whiz it up and store in the fridge, shake well, and add a squeeze of lemon or lime before enjoying! (Or you could go "all out" and stir in some fat-free sour cream or Greek yogurt.) 2. Tea/coffee, decaf if you like. I prefer my tea iced and unsweetened, but I love my coffee iced with milk, almond milk, and sugar-free Hershey's. Yeah, okay, that's sweet, but it's so good I wanted to share! 3. V8 or bloody Mary mix. Just so good!! And it's one way to get at least a little "veggie" into your diet at this stage. You can make a rather nice "chickamato" juice using the unjury chicken broth and extra spicy bloody Mary mix... it's delicious with a bit of Worchestershire and/or a shot of Tabasco or a wedge of lime. You can doctor up your tomato juice (get the low sodium--less frustrating Water retention!) with fresh herbs--I love cilantro, so that's a go-to for me--just whiz it up with a little taco seasoning, and serve super cold--YUM. Very refreshing and not sweet. Work food for me needs to be reliable--something I know I can eat and have it behave in my sleeve. Soup fills that nicely. Some folks can tolerate boiled eggs or tuna salad. I prefer soft, creamy textures when I'm working, since they tend to sit comfortably, so for me, that's Greek yogurt (I add whatever sugar-free syrup I need to to make it taste good), cottage cheese (savory with veggies chopped fine or a sprinkling of celery salt or both), soup, iced coffee. I also use Think Thin Protein Bars, but I'm not low-carbing; they're 20 g protein per bar and a good source for me, since I can't tolerate the Protein shakes at all.

Wow, you look GREAT! Very athletic and fit. Way to go!!!!!

Hoo, boy, now I know I'm getting my butt up off this couch and getting busy--you look AMAZING!!! And it's from all your hard work. Congratulations to you, and thank you for being such a motivator and sharing your successes!!

I started in a tight Lane Bryant 26/28 and 3x shirts (really more comfortable in 4x). I've lost 63 pounds (just saying that seems really unreal) and sort of jumped from a 3x to a 1x to, now, a regular XL (I was surprised to learn that 18W and 18 are not the same size!) and size 18 in pants/jeans. I didn't really see a lot of change for the first 45 pounds!!! It seemed like I was losing but nothing was happening size-wise. After decades of being in plus sizes, I am finally wearing a size that starts with a "1"!! And I'm only about halfway done with my weight loss, so I'm hoping to trim that number down substantially--because it's not about the number, it's about the options available. I've discovered I really do enjoy fashion and clothing--who knew?? I say let's enjoy it and have some fun. You'll start seeing the size changes soon... in fact, if you were to go shopping, I bet you'd find you were in a smaller size than you knew. I kept wearing my 3X's long after smaller sizes would have fit, simply because I didn't SEE my body changing--it looked sort of the same, even though I could feel my clothes getting bigger. I have learned I can't gauge my size by what I see; I evidently haven't got enough experience with smaller sizes to be able to tell what I need to wear! Best wishes in the fun that's coming!

Congratulations! It's the "little things" that make up the majority of our lives, so they're really important!!

I find that I engage with my friends and family at a different level now--I'm not so self-conscious. I am not so worried about being huge. I still have a long way to go, but already I am feeling more open, less barricaded by my fat, if that makes sense. I could never be fully comfortable, not even with my very supportive and nonjudgmental family, because of feeling like a failure due to my size. I find that sense of social isolation slowly diminishing--I feel like I can be myself now!

So sorry to hear! Yeah, that stinks.... at least you know now. This sleeve really is a process of learning what works and what emphatically does not work, and sleeves are usually pretty good about alerting us--sometimes in a very unpleasant way, but for me, that helps me not forget. Gross, but it works. Hope you're doing better now. Meg

I know people who haven't had the surgery do tend to think of it as an "easy way out." One of my best friends did (although I didn't know it). After being with me through several meals and observing the amount I eat and, on one occasion, the way the sleeve rejects things it doesn't like even though I didn't overeat or eat too fast, she said, "Wow, if I hear anyone saying you took the easy way out, I'm going to set them straight. This is NOT the easy way out!" We hadn't been talking about it as an easy way out or about it at all. The way she said it made me realize that she had been thinking that but was friend enough not to say it out loud, but that seeing the sleeve in action had changed her mind. She has been nothing but supportive, though, and I'm glad she was observant and realized it was a complete change in my way of eating and not easy at first!!

Yay! I find steamed/baked fish goes down comfortably. Sometimes boiled shrimp works, but it works best cold with remoulade or cocktail sauce (aka "food lube"). I still can only eat 2 moderate-sized shrimp at a time. I'm so glad things went well for you!

Thanks so much for your post! I love reading inspirational stories like yours. Congratulations on your successes!!

I used to eat eggs almost every morning. Post surgery, my sleeve has rejected them emphatically 3 times, and not because I ate too much--I'm wondering now, after reading these posts, if I tried to eat them too quickly or something. At any rate, they're "off my list" for now and I miss them. Good luck with your egg venture!!!

Congratulations to you! You're coming up on a big milestone--I bet you can't wait to hit that -100 mark!! I'm excited for you.

Applebees has a lot of options for you. They have soup of different kinds. They have appetizers that have minced chicken. They have shrimp dishes. If you're allowed potatoes, they have mashed and baked; those are pretty easy on a newly sleeved tummy, although not protein. I ate at Applebees with my family a couple of weeks after surgery and ended up having a few spoonfuls of broccoli-cheese soup and taking the rest home to enjoy later (and I did, for several meals!). Funny how long it takes to eat a "cup" of soup these days!

Jennifer, after surgery I weighed a LOT more than before, thanks to all the fluids they pumped in during my stay at the hospital. Give your body some time to adjust. Keep following your doctor's eating plan. The weight will come off. I think you're doing great if you're getting in most of your protein and water--the first week after surgery, I could barely get 8 ounces of water in, and that took some serious effort! Just hang in there. :-)

Look at you! Fantastic!! Congratulations!

Typical day for me: Upon waking (around 6): Water and Synthroid. Around 8: Iced coffee with milk, Calcium chews. Around 9: 1/2 a Protein bar (I like the Think Thin brand) Around noon: 2 shrimp with remoulade sauce Around 2: A few peanuts or a cracker with Peanut Butter Around 5: A couple of small slices of cheese (around 1 oz total) Around 7: 2 super thin slices of lunch meat and maybe some cheese or fruit or whatever sounds good. I should say that sometimes I have a 2nd coffee (I am having my 2nd one of the day today), and sometimes I have a saltine cracker with my first coffee. I have a very small and very particular sleeve, so my eating habits have adjusted to take in calories and protein (although I'm still under with both). I feel good and am losing, but I worry about the amount of protein I'm able to consume over the course of a day; however, I can't tolerate the liquid Protein drinks, so I try my best to do what I can with food and bars.

Joan, I'm not sure about the Crohn's piece of the puzzle, but almost everyone experiences a stall or even a gain at around the 3-4 week mark. I know you're in week 6, but it might be the standard stall just delayed because you had to slow down the progression of your diet. I would say don't freak out--if you're keeping track of what you're eating and you're within the suggested counts, the scale will start moving again, I promise. I thought the same thing when I hit that first point where my body said "What's going on?" and weight loss stopped for 2 weeks, but it started again and has kept going. Hang in there--I think this is your 3-week stall, just on a Crohn's schedule. HUGS, though, cause seeing that scale move up is disheartening when you're doing everything right!!

I ate a few bites of hamburger steak (hamburger patty with brown gravy), very soft texture, a few weeks after surgery and loved it. I did follow my nutritionist's plan--I think it was at 4 weeks out or so. Come to think of it, I probably want to try that again--it was delicious and very comfortable to eat, plus good protein.

The first few weeks were challenging for me. We tend to watch a lot of Food Network, and all those shows plus the commercials made me really miss solid food. Until I started eating it, that is.... some of my old favorites just don't taste good any more, and I have absolutely NO desire for any sort of fast food. Partly, I know I would only be able to eat a couple of bites (still working with only a couple of tablespoons' capacity), and partly, it just doesn't sound good any more. I actually find myself craving shrimp (boiled and chilled), my protein bars (! who'da thunk?), and turkey slices. Weird, I tell you, just weird!! But great. I think once we start listening to our bodies, which we have to do in order not to eat past the point of comfort, it can tell us more about what it needs/wants, and junk food really doesn't fit into that plan.

I'm looking forward to a bit of that when we go back to school at the end of August, but I'm really tall, so I don't think there will be a lot of question as to who I am.... but I think I might really be stoked about it! My sleever husband has had that happen--people pass him in the hall and have no clue it's him. His own mother missed him at one point because she was looking for a "bigger" guy! Maybe try to think of it in a positive way--new body, new way of presenting yourself to the world, same great person. Congratulations!