Lissa

Something about chewing up a food and spitting it out just strikes me as wrong! LOL Someone here posted a thread about developing an eating disorder after surgery and mentioned the chew/spit cycle as well. I'm really worried about crossover addictions and my mental attachment to food, so chew/spit doesn't sound like something I'd want to get into doing. Also, I had this surgery so I could live a more normal life. Normal people eat what they want, but they have the ability to stop when they are satisfied. That is what/how I want to relate to food. For me, I think it would be unwise to get into the habit of chewing and spitting out my food. I am working to retrain my appetite to want what my body needs.

Ophelia, A pouch test basically has you take yourself back through the stages of your post-op diet. If you google it, you will find the instructions. From what I read, you do a day (maybe two) of Clear liquids, then a day of full liquids, then mushies, then solid foods (perhaps one day of soft solids then one day of denser solids). I believe that both Tiffykins and Lil Miss Diva have posted that they sometimes do a modified version of this to help jump start weight loss after/during a stall. You may be able to find the instructions here on VST.

Cajun Cutie, From what I've read, the hernia repair is pretty painful in and of itself. Your doc gave you enough liquid meds for 10 days because that's how long he expects most people to need them, and you may need it for that whole time. Keep sipping and walking as much as you can. That will help handle the pain from the sleeve, but the hernia pain is out of my league. I was very thankful that I did not have one that needed repair. My surgeon told me that a hernia repair would increase the pain level a lot! Oh, and there is no blue ribbon awarded for not taking your pain meds. If you need them, take them. There is enough to deal with right after being sleeved without adding pain to the equation! Good luck with your journey!!

DMike, what are you eating? You should be up to either mushies or solids by now, depending on your surgeon's plan. If you are actively staying under 800 calories a day, I can see why you're hungry. However, 23 pounds since Halloween is amazing, that's only 5 weeks, so you're averaging about 4 pounds a week. As for the hunger, you really should talk to your doc about a PPI like Prilosec. Perhaps your stomach is producing more acid than normal at this stage. Also, you could try doing a pouch test and see if that resets the hungry vibe. I haven't done one myself, but several people here swear by them. food...ah, the conundrum, how to get in enough Protein and still eat other foods. You should be on a multi-Vitamin daily to help with nutrient deficiencies. Nutrient deficiencies can make your body feel hungry because it's wanting something you aren't giving it. I had a major salt craving last week and OD'd myself on 10 olives and 3 small pickles. Then my tummy complained for the rest of the night about all that vinegar! LOL What kind of protein are you eating? I am particularly happy with rotisserie chicken right now, especially the lemon pepper flavor. It's soft, so easy to chew, and it's dense, so it keeps my tummy full for a long time. I recently tried steak for the first time since surgery and that kept me full for quite a while as well. Are you getting any carbs at all? I know that lots of folks try to avoid eating a lot of carbs, but your body probably needs some carbs to burn daily. See if adding in some carbs help with the empty feeling. A piece of toast may be enough (or too much since you're so early post-op). I ate a lot of instant mashed taters with my early mushy foods. I don't eat them as much now, but they helped keep me feeling full back then. Of course "a lot" is a relative term. I'd have under an ounce of mashed at any one time, along with my 2 or 3 ounces of protein. Another thing I do is to keep mini babybel cheeses on hand. I'll eat one of those if I'm hungry and it usually keeps me full until my next meal time. Most mornings, one of those is my "breakfast". I just can't face real food until after 11 am, it seems. I wish you luck in this. It does take a little while to figure out what your sleeve will handle, but it is so worth it when you do. Good luck in your journey!!

I had my drain line for 8 days and it never hurt unless I accidently caught the stitch that held it in place on something. I was told specifically NOT to milk the line as well. I emptied the bulb morning and night by just turning it upside down over the sink, squeezing the contents out, then rolled the bulb up (to keep air out) and closed the stopper. I agree that a call to your doctor is in order. There could be something seriously wrong since you are having pain. I couldn't feel the tubing inside me, either. When my doc took the drain out, he had me take a deep breath and then he pulled it quickly. The sensation was kind of like the tummy drop you get on a roller coaster, but it wasn't painful at all. I did have a bandage over the opening for several days after the drain came out, but that's it. It is my slowest healing incision, but the opening is completely healed over with pink skin where the drain was at. Please call your doctor right away! This could be serious.

I've been considering yoga and pilates myself. I'm still a little too big to do much serious running, and I'm not sure if my knees will tolerate that once I lose weight anyway. So, I'm looking to build up my core muscles especially. I'll probably get a couple of beginner's videos and see if either (or both) work for me. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will answer us both.

You know, most of us didn't have surgery to attract more attention from the opposite sex, but that attention certainly feeds the ego, doesn't it? I would call your experience a success story! And, seeing your picture, I see why he is tripping all over himself trying to get a peek at you! You're beautiful!!

Thanks, guzel! I'm finally starting to like pictures of me. My face is definitely showing my progress faster than any part of my body! I'm still happy dancing for favored one!!!

I don't remember craving anything when I was first post-op, which may mean that my brain has wiped those memories. I do remember dreading how much Water I had to try to drink because I couldn't find anything I liked to flavor the water with, and plain water doesn't have much taste. Now I use Mio drops in my water because I can put a tiny bit in there rather than having it super sweet. I watched a ton of food Network in the early days, but now I just check out the couple of shows I like and stay away from it otherwise. Most of the food didn't really appeal to me, and I love to watch Guy Fieri, because he and I do NOT have the same tastes in food! I can watch him and not be tempted, which is good. If you aren't already on an acid reducer, make sure you add one to your routine. I didn't think I needed one, but once my doc replaced my Calcium with Tums, I discovered that I wasn't hungry either. The head hunger takes a little longer, and completely goes away (for me) once you are on mushies and then solid foods again. I think it went away for me because I refuse to tell myself that I can't have what I want, but I concentrate on getting my Protein in first. Good luck on your journeys!! This is the hardest part, but it's also where the fastest weight loss happens for most of us.

Refried Beans are great, and you can sneak little bits of extra Protein in there with some ground beef or some cheese. Even pureed this still tastes yummy. Egg Face's Ricotta Bake does not require blending because it's already really soft, and it is DELICIOUS! My son and I still eat that sometimes. He puts his over Pasta, but it tastes just like lasagna and has no pasta in it. Wendy's chili is good pureed. If it's too spicy for you, you can always add a little tomato sauce to it. You won't be able to eat/drink a whole small one, anyway. Bean with bacon Soup was pretty good to me, and didn't really require a puree. I just mushed it up with my spoon, and I only ate a couple of ounces out of the whole can. You can thin it more with broth or Water and it hides the taste of unflavored Protein powder pretty well if you want a big protein wallop. I also pureed up some dinty moore beef stew..and, I'll be honest, I ate a couple of chunks of that meat without pureeing it, but I chewed REALLY well. One small can lasted me several days. I used broth to puree up a little of the meat we had for dinner a couple of nights, although that tasted a little like baby food to me. I've heard of people pureeing all kinds of things that I never would have thought about, from slices of pizza to turkey and dressing. I bought a magic bullet specifically to use for post op blending and it worked out really well. We still use it sometiimes to make Protein shakes, so it was definitely money well spent, IMO. Good luck!!

I finally had someone question me on "can you eat that?" yesterday. I ate half of a small brownie that someone made at work, maybe one bite, and one of the salespeople asked me if I was "allowed" to eat that! LOL I explained to her that I am "allowed" to eat anything I want to eat, just not in large quantities. Privately I was thinking that I have barely hit 700 calories in weeks, so that one bite of brownie wasn't going to "blow" my calorie allowance, and I was right. As for other women competing, I SO get that. One of my good friends is under five feet tall and normally weighs about 110-115. She's now on a "diet" and has lost 7 pounds or so. She tells me that her 7 pounds is "like" me losing 50 pounds, it's so hard! While I admire that she's trying to keep her weight where she wants it, it seems silly to me that she went on this diet at the same time I had surgery. She's also enrolled in a kick boxing class and has taken up jogging with her two daughters. I keep reminding myself that being healthier won't hurt her, but I hate the underlying competition I hear when she talks about this new lifestyle she's started. Oh well, I suppose I should just be happy that I've inspired her to get her health back on track.

Check you out! 18 pounds lost already! Woot! Woot!! Your dinner sounds like Egg Faces Ricotta Bake, and yes, that's the yummiest thing I had on mushies!

Congrats! You'll soon be changing your screen name!

You're doing it perfectly. Well, don't post in all caps...some consider that shouting. There is an entire section of this forum devoted to band to sleeve revisions, and quite a few of the frequent posters here actually did just that. I wish you luck on your journey. I went straight for the sleeve, with no band in between. Yes, it's a big decision to donate 85% of your tummy to a landfill, but it definitely works. I won't sing the praises here, but do your research and see what other bandsters have to say about their revision to sleeved life. Good luck with whatever decision you make!

ab, even if your doc is saying that you don't need a PPI, it sounds to me like you DO need one. Try taking a couple of tums for a few days and see if the "hunger" doesn't decrease dramatically. Once I started taking Tums (on doc's advice), my "hunger" disappeared unless it had been several hours since I had eaten. Increase your Water and Protein intake to the recommended levels (64 oz of water, 70g of protein) and up your calorie intake at least to 800 calories a day. Your body may well be in starvation mode. I know some don't believe that exists, but I do believe. Those three things may be what you need to break that stall. I got stuck just under 300 pounds and was getting frustrated. My regular doc suggested I back off my exercise just a bit and that helped. Sometimes the key to breaking a stall is simply shaking things up. At 500 calories, your body probably thinks it needs to hoard every calorie for future needs. Once you add in a little more fuel, it may think that it's okay to burn some of those pounds off. I know I ramble, but I hate to see someone so frustrated. You will start losing again and it will be a big whoosh! Try to stay positive and on track and start looking for the NSVs. Are your clothes bigger? Can you walk farther? Those things are just as important as the number on the scale, possibly MORE important. Good luck!!

The sugar-free syrups are available at Amazon, at Walmart, and a ton of other websites/stores. Amazon has/had a special going with six different flavored bottles for around 36 a few weeks ago. They also sell pumps that you can put in the tops of the bottles for a few bucks more. There are other brands besides Torani, so you may want to buy one or two smaller bottles and see what you like before you buy a six pack. Good luck!

Ladies, Ease up on yourselves. Everyone loses at a different rate, and stalls ARE frustrating. But, have you lost inches? Are your clothes looser? Those stalls happen because our bodies are adjusting themselves to our changed eating habits and to our increased exercise habits. When you are not losing pounds on the scale, you really need to be looking at the NSVs (Non Scale Victories). While I was stalled just under 300 pounds for a couple of weeks, I lost all my pants. They simply got too big and I shrank right out of them! I went down two sizes during that stall. I also had to adjust my car seat and how I sit to drive. I'd been used to sitting as far to the left as possible so the seat belt didn't dig into my butt. Now I'm sitting in the middle and that seat belt doesn't bother me at all! So, while I was stalled at 298, I lost several inches off my hips and waist. Go Me!!! Stalls happen because our bodies have to readjust and keep up with the rapid weight loss we experience after being sleeved. WE have to keep looking for the positives rather than worrying so hard about the scale. Oh, and take a good long look at your tush, Lisa. I'm betting all that walking is making your legs and butt look better because you're building muscle. Muscle, for a fact, does weigh more than fat. Good luck to you both. Once my last stall broke, I've dropped 10 pounds in no time. You ladies have barely started seeing the results you hoped to have. It WILL happen!

Favoredone, You are truly favored today!! I'm so happy for you!! I love seeing your smiling picture on posts, and I'm THRILLED to see that you got your approval! I can't wait to see your face shrink and that smile growing bigger!! You're one of the reasons I wanted to post a new picture of me with a smile on my face!

I had my three week stall, and added in working out on the treadmill almost every day. That stall broke, but then I stalled again. I was going up and down the same three pounds when I had just broken into the 200's. My pulmonologist told me to ease up on the workouts and the weight would start dropping again. And, he was right! Since I've backed off the treadmill some, I am dropping again. Why? Because I'm not building up the muscle as fast as I was. At my BMI, the muscle is important, but I want the pounds to come off. I DO NOT want 280 pounds of muscle! LOL OTOH, while I was working so hard, I could almost see the definition in my legs and butt getting better and I dropped 2 pants sizes, so there are pros and cons to each way of doing things!

Awesome!! I'm so thrilled for you!!

That's an NSV to shout about!!

You know, you don't really have to say goodbye to all those foods. You just won't be able to eat as much of them post-op as you can now. You might not even want them post-op, once sleevie kicks in and starts working his magic! However, I was reading your post about pizza, cheeseburgers and the seafood buffet and none of them sounded yummy! It's literally about protein/not Protein for me. Not to say that I don't enjoy a good piece of pizza or a cheeseburger, and goodness knows that I love me a few shrimp, but I don't crave foods very often at 3 months out. We all panic and think we'll never be able to eat "x food" again, but that's not true. You are making a lifestyle change, so food won't be good or bad. It will just be food. It's like clothes, you can wear whatever clothes you like and that fit you, with no need to wear purple because it's a "bad" color. Food is the same. You can eat whatever you wish to eat once you are through the liquid diets. The major difference is that you won't be able to eat as much after being sleeved, just like you won't be wearing a 3x shirt afterwards. You won't need it. I hope that made some sense. LOL

Okay, I have tried to change my picture by clicking on the change button ON the picture and it will allow me to upload the picture, but the change doesn't stay and I can't figure out how to save that. I've also tried going through settings and clicking on the change photo button and uploading the photo, but that doesn't change my picture that appears on my profile and my posts either. I have searched several times and read all of the instructions others have given, but I cannot figure this out. Will someone please help me? Thank you!

Walking!!! That's my biggest accomplishment since surgery, so far! Before surgery, I could barely waddly my fat boo-tay from the house to the car. Walking around a store exhausted me! I started walking up and down my hallway, then around the end of my building, and then on the treadmill. I'm still slowly increasing my distance, but I walked the length of the mall and back a week or so ago and I wasn't tired!! That's amazing to me!! I keep looking for the NSVs, but being able to walk some distance is my favorite thing so far! (Looking better doesn't hurt either!)