Lissa

Welcome to VST! I think we all feel/felt like stalkers at first because there is SO much information here for us all!! Good luck on your journeys!

Welcome to the loser's bench!! Congrats on having the surgery behind you! Now, the rest of your life officially starts!

It's not that big a deal, but yuo don't have to tell them about things you did 30 years ago. Just be honest and it will be fine.

It's too late for buyer's remorse, so now it's time to concentrate on healing and feeling better. Sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, walk. You need to stay hydrated, which will help improve your mood. If you think you're already dehydrated, it's time for a trip to the ER or doctor to get some IV fluids in you. Once you're rehydrated, you'll feel better. Get up, move around, concentrate on why you had this surgery. In a few days you will feel so much better that you'll wonder what you were ever worried about today. But, for right now, drink some Water and take a walk. It will improve your mood. Good luck!!

Everyone has some moments of doubt just before surgery. Keep remembering why you decided that this is the best option for you and you'll get through it fine. You trust your doctor and you know what to expect. Just take deep breaths and concentrate on how much healthier you're going to be in just a few months!!

Great job!!

Maggie, I've lost 94 pounds in 8 months. I'm past the high losses in a hurry stage and now I'm adding exercise to help push it down. But, in the last two months, I've lost 3 sizes...and I'm about to lose a 4th.

Great job, both of you!!

Good luck!! I can't wait to see you on the loser's bench!!

LOL at you!! Dumping syndrome is highly unpleasant! Do you really want to be in the bathroom with diarrhea every time you eat something your pouch doesn't like? It could be sugar, but it could just as easily be fat or spicy foods. My understanding of RNY is that they leave a large portion of your stomach separated off from the main portion of the stomach, so you have restriction, but that area of the stomach is still susceptible to ulcers and stomach cancer. No thanks! Also, the RNY reroutes your food from your pyloric valve directly to your intestines, which means you don't have that pretty little valve down there to hold food in your stomach. This means that what you eat slides into your intestines before it's digested...which is another cause of dumping and discomfort. This also causes malabsorption of the Vitamins and minerals that are present in food. Yes, you lose weight, but not in a pleasant manner. By contrast, sleevers typically don't have dumping syndrome and can eat small portions of most foods without worrying about dumping. We also absorb at least some of the vitamins and minerals from our food and we feel satiety longer when we eat. We still have to take vitamins to supplement the food, but the balancing doesn't have to be as precise for sleevers as for RNY patients. I haven't done tons of research on RNY because I knew someone who had RNY years ago. While she lost her weight, I'd have rather remained fat (and I did) than to have an RNY done after watching her struggles!

Fish and meatballs sound good to me. I am guessing you are eating with the family? How about doing something to make it special for yourself? Maybe make sure you're eating off a small plate with a smaller fork. I bought some pretty little china plates on which to eat my meals. I also got myself some small pretty glasses for juices, etc. I bought them from Goodwill, so very inexpensive, and I feel like I'm "dining" rather than just "eating". Treat yourself well and you will feel better. This is especially important during the recovery process. I even drink my Protein shakes out of real glass rather than from the cups provided with the magic bullet. I deserve it! You do too!!! Making meals an event will, hopefully, help you cope with the reduced capacity, but will also make you feel better about yourself.

Welcome to VST! You've come to the right place for VSG questions. There are a ton of threads on here about what to eat at the various stages, including some threads for vegetarian sleevers if that is applicable for you. Use the search function in the upper right side of the page to look up what you specifically need to know. Hopefully, your doctor has given you at least basic guidelines to use for eating. With those, you should be able to put together a diet you can safely use. This surgery, like any other WLS, is only a tool. The weight will fly off to begin with, but it's up to you how well you use this tool you've been given! Good luck!

Ricotta bake is still, essentially, liquids, so you may be able to eat more of it than you expect. You will feel restriction once you start denser Proteins. Just keep doing what you're doing, measure out your portions and eat just the portion. If you do feel "full", it will probably be pain somewhere besides your stomach. Mine was in my left shoulder when I ate or drank too much. Now it's back in my stomach/sleeve. Good luck!!

I took antibiotics very early post-op, within the first month I think. I just broke the horse pills in half and swallowed them with a little water. May I suggest adding more water to your daily routine? If you're already susceptible to UTIs, it might help prevent future infections.

I can't see your pics either, but your profile pic shows a huge difference from your before pic! Great job!!!

Welcome to VST, Prissy! Ask away. There's also a great search function here for lots of questions!

You're doing great and you will thank yourself for all of your hard pre-op work when you are sleeved! Having built up some endurance ahead of time will make recovery much easier.

Amytug, this won't happen to you unless you let it happen. The OP has taken responsibility for herself and is trying to get back on track. GO, SkinnyAgain!! You CAN do this. Artsy gave you a very good starting point. You know you need to eat 70g of Protein per day and drink 64+oz of Water. Start with that, then gradually add in some exercise. I understand kneee pain. I have RA in my knees. But, it IS possible to find exercise that will not make your knees hurt. Walking short distances is a great place to start. Find a recumbent exercise bike that you can use and start doing it. Even if it's only 5 minutes a day to start, you WILL get better at it. It's GREAT cardio for a beginner. Start lifting small (1-2 pound) weights. Do as many reps as you feel comfortable with; I started with 10 reps each for biceps curls, front arm raises and triceps kick backs. I'm now working out at a gym where the minimum weights on the machines are 30 pounds and I'm able to do more than the minimum for many of the exercises. How you think is how you behave. If you believe you CAN do this, then you can. If you believe that you CAN'T do this, then you can't. Only you can change your way of thinking. This tool is permanent. YOU can start working with it any day of the week. Make today that day. Please let us know how you're progressing. I know you're going to be successful at this and you will be Skinny Again!!

I waited 3 months for steak. Pot roast should be okay if it's super tender. Lissa

I like the idea of a monthly thread as well. My weight loss has slowed down tremendously, but I'm still dropping sizes in a hurry, so I'm not too worried about the scale. I've lost 94 pounds and nearly 10 sizes. I'm in between size 18 and 16, depending on the cut of the clothes. I started in a 24/26, so I'm thrilled. I'm still trying to stay around 1,000 calories a day and I'm doing very well with my Protein and Water goals. I've also been ramping up my exercise as I go. I'm now doing 30 minutes of cardio every day. 3 days a week I add in a second 30 minute cardio session. 3 days a week I do weights for my full body. On Saturday I rest, but I am still doing either cardio or a lot of walking on Saturdays. I had an EKG recently that shows how much good the cardio is doing me, along with chest x-rays where they could actually see my lungs without all that fat in the way!! Althought I don't talk about it much now, my libido is still extremely high! It really sucks when you're single!!

sublingual B12 just means that the pill dissolves under your tongue. I take 500 mcg daily. The Biotin helps your hair, nails and skin to regenerate themselves supposedly. Nioxin makes a biotin type med, but it's sold in hair salons and costs a WHOLE lot more than mine. I buy my Vitamins and supplements at either CVS or Walgreens when they have B1G1 sales. It seems to work out that I replace half my vitamins one month and the other half the next month. I've never been a big fan of anything gummy, so I preferred the chewable Centrum, actually Spectravite, the CVS brand. It has 100% of the RDA of most of the vitamins we need except Biotin (13%) and Calcium, both of which I take in other forms. It only has 2% of the RDA of potassium, but I eat a lot of bananas, so I'm not concerned about that Vitamin too much. You definitely want to go over your vitamin regimen with your doctor or nutritionist to make sure you're getting what you need. My nutritional needs are slightly different than yours because of Rx meds. Yours will be different from others because of a variety of factors including age, how much you have to lose, what makes up your diet, etc. I get a lot more Vitamin D in daily than someone who lives in a snowy or rainy climate, so I don't have to supplement there. I also get in more Iron than many because I love collard greens and spinach. Others may need an iron supplement even with a multi with iron in it. I've NEVER had a problem with anemia. Just some things to keep in mine while you're building your routine. BTW, I used to take glucosamine chondroiton for knee pain. I've eliminated that completely because the knee pain is gone, gone, gone. Some people add in magnesium for knee health, but my doctor says I don't need it so far. What's in my multi is sufficient. If this all seems overwhelming, I'm sorry. I remember reading other people's vitamin regimens pre-op and thinking I'd NEVER be able to figure it out, but it has evolved over time into the current set up. It may change later.

How many calories a day are you getting? You may need to actually raise your levels to keep yourself from the fatigue. Use a tracker like My Fitness Pal to help you see what you're eating. I try to stay under 1,000 calories a day, but I'm finding that I need to raise that number some as I continue to work out more and harder so that I don't feel major fatigue. It's also possible that your fatigue is from residual medicine in your system. Hopefully you'll feel better very soon!

I'm a single sleever. I'm enjoying dating again, but most of my dates have been with people who have known me for a long time, so no worries about how long to wait to reveal I had surgery. One "new" guy I went out with actually told me to "go ahead and eat" when he noticed that I hadn't finished much of my meal. I just told him matter of factly that I'd had WLS and was full. It didn't seem to be a big deal to him, but he did later confess that he really likes BIG women. We haven't been out again. I'm LOL, but I'm not his "type" anymore!