TiffanyC

I used to drink TONS of ice Water pre-VSG as of Oct 25th, 2011. (about 4 weeks ago! WOW) Before VSG I would drink 3 or 4 glasses of large 24 oz cups of ice water every night on top of whatever I drank during the day. I CAN drink water post sleeve thanks be to god!!! But I cannot drink much at a time. If I try not to drink when eating or a half hour before or after, which I try to eat about every 3 hours, it really makes it hard to find time to drink much! I groom dogs for a living so having a drink nearby while I work is hard - even a cup with a lid gets dog hair on the straw LOL . I also get so into my work that I don't think to take a sip. By the time 2 hours goes by (about how long it takes to groom a dog for me) my drink is no longer cold even in an insulated mug and I don't care for warm water. I do keep bottles in my car and if I feel real thirsty I will drink a few sips but I can't make myself drink much more when it is warm. Thankfully we are getting to winter so my bottles of water in the car will be cooler pretty soon I hope!I keep them under the seat out of the sun. I'm in TX and it's been pretty warm here so water in the car is room temp at best and usually much warmer. ICK! I sit here now with my second 16 oz glass of ice water for the evening trying to quench my thirst. I did not drink more than 12 oz of water before this today. I am getting strong feelings of thirst thru out the day. My urine is much yellower than it ever was before the surgery. I find unless I sit here at my PC and carefully and thoughtfully plan to drink a glass of water of the coarse of the next 30 mins, I don't really think to drink much at all. But I do know how important it is! I do not care for Crystal Light or other SF drink mixes that you put in a bottle of water. I cant bring myself to buy a cold water at a corner store when I have water in my car and I wont even be able to drink much before it gets warm since I cant drink very fast!! I don't like Gatorades or Vitamin Water (the low cal kind or the regular) and I have stopped even drinking coffee or tea since my surgery. I stopped coffee cause my cup got cold before I could drink even half and tea just doesnt taste good to me anymore. I have thought of making a little cooler to take with me every day to keep a water or 2 cold all day but I always forget to pack it before I run out the door I also keep some waters frozen in the freezer to take in a cooler for this purpose but again forget to grab them and the cooler..... I know - I just have to MAKE myself do it right??? How do I know if I am staying hydrated enough and do you have any tips or tricks for how to get more fluids in me??

I wish I could get an at home IV hook up and just take fluids while I sleep !! LOL

That is true and I did not find it too difficult. They tell you drink as fast as you can, I drank it down in two small gulps and didnt feel a thing. I was anxious to get the test done so I could get something to eat!!

I chose sleeve because I did not like the idea of rerouting intestines and dumping and malabsorption. I often wish I had had the bypass now because I am having trouble controlling what I put in my mouth, and I think the dumping would be a good deterrent. I am occasionally eating a cookie, a piece of candy, or a scoop of ice cream --and I feel very guilty for it. It is a habit I can't seem to kick. I think it is definitely slowing my weight loss.

I saw my PCP for the 3 month diet counseling required by BCBS, and I did not loose weight during that time either. I had lost 60 lbs on my own over a year ago and this was during a time of gaining all that lost weight back. So just FYI - I got approved even though I was gaining weight during that time.

Yes the gas is VERY bad rght after surgery but it does get better. I am 4 weeks out though and still do have gas daily, though not as bad. Not sure why. Gas X strips dont seem to help so I am wondering if it is lactose intolerance now.... Hang in there, it DOES get easier / better!! promise!

Fiesta has a HUGE variety of vitmains and supplements and the price is good. They have several liquid vitamins, and liquid calcium too. I think it is because hispanics use quite a bit of home remedies rather than modern medicines.

at 4 wks post op I have not been successful drinking coffee so have sort of quit. I miss it. It owuld get cold before I could drink half of it and I could even finish one cup so why bother?

Are you taking a multi vitamin supplement ?

I know your surgery date is past, but for others reading this who maybe havent had it yet - I also cheated on the preop diet. I lost like 3 lbs and followed about 70% of the diet but I had several regular meals - out to eat - during the week, and I ate a few no-no snacks too....my surgery still went just fine. I'm not saying it's ok to break the preop diet but if you do, dont freak out about it. My mom's surgeon doesnt require a preop diet. It is not medically necessary to have a successful surgery in my opinion but some Drs prefer it. ( even if they are just doing what everyone else does or how they learned to do it).

Our old bigger stomach can stretch - so why not our new little one? It is made of the same thing our old one was after all. Did you ever diet in the past by eating smaller portions? When you started putting the weight back on do you recall thinking "wow my stomach must have shrunk! I used to eat this much and not even feel full!" but eventually - after stuffing our big tummy really full several times our stomach stretched and stayed bigger and then we didnt feel that uncomfortable when we ate so much going forward. Same will happen with our new tummy. And if we constantly fill it to overflowing, it could stretch out quite a bit I heard. I believe our stomach could even have the capacity to grow back to normal size if we kept stuffing it super full for a long time. Our muscles can grow huge and small again - think of body builders - our skin can too - when we loose weight (less so as we age)- so why not the stomach? That is why measuring and portion control are so important. Do not eat until you get pain in your chest or have food in your esophagus or throw up. That is when you are stretching your tummy. My surgeon said the scar area is tight and in 6 months or so it loosens so we can eat maybe 6 oz instead of 3 or 4 and that is normal - not stretching he said.

Are you feeling a physical stomach pain type hungry like you felt before surgery? or are you just craving food/eating in your head? It could be from habit - I felt a strong urge to eat very often until a day ago - I think the old habit is finally falling away. I am about 23 days post-op and I get a achy feeling in my tummy on occasion - like right now I have it - but I just ate a meal less than 2 hours ago. Maybe my tummy is already empty but I know I should not eat again. I am having a sugar free popsicle as a snack and drinking water to fill my tummy instead. My achy-ness is not like hunger I had before surgery so I suspect it might be excess stomach acid or just the feeling of food digesting in my new tiny tummy or gas in my tummy. Sometime if I can get myself to burp I feel better.

I am 4 weeks out. I moved myself to a regular diet very early, against my surgeons orders. I have taken and eaten lots of Protein and have always felt great, no lethargy. I was very careful not to eat much at all when I did start eating real food so as not to over stuff my tummy. I would eat 1 scrambled egg, 2 pieces of thinly sliced ham or turkey deli meat, lean sliced brisket (no bbq sauce), a small meatball, baked chicken, etc - I would eat maybe 2 oz max. It was very satisfying ot be able to eat protein, but I was often very frustrated that I could not eat more. I knew it was mostly due to my bad habit of eating waaaay too much portion sizes before the surgery. I even sort of regretted the sleeve for an instant when i did eat but only because I wished I could eat like a pig but that is why I am a fat pig --so my feelings were quickly replaced by feelings of "Well -it's a good thing you can't eat like that any more! Look at what it got you!". I have only lost 23 lbs so I think I am going to be a slow looser. I already had a plateau this week -wk 4- but today it appears i lost 3 more lbs - woooohooo! I am also a grazer and I am trying to break that habit now before it gets to ingrained. I did good yesterday so I think it helped break my plateau. I think the grazing might have been a physical necessity early on when I could not eat much volume, but now I can eat a little more and feel less desperate about getting anything and everything I can inside my tummy for sustenance. I am also getting used to not feeling hungry and my brain is finally beginning to realize I do not have to eat to prevent my tummy (and head) from hurting which I used to do in the past. I hated feeling hungry. So now my brain is starting to be ok with eating such small amounts. Though I do feel physically satisfied after I eat 3-4 oz (my tummy feels very full and I dont want to eat more) - but I am not feeling mentally satisfied like I did before when I ate huge amounts. But I think that desire is going away. Since I am unable to have that feeling, I am forgetting what it felt like, and therefore I can not recall the pleasure I felt, and therefore I am missing the pleasure less than I did right after surgery. As I suspected, the desire/need/addiction/drive/habit of over eating appears to be going away. The desire for snacking is leaving me less slowly. That is the grazing thing. I have eaten a candy bar, I felt horribly awful mentally for doing it, but it went down easily. THANKFULLY it was not as rewarding and delicious tasting as it was presurgery. And this was my most favorite candy bar! I think i ate it just to see how I would feel about eating it, and I was glad to find that it was not very rewarding or satisfying, and i hope that means I will not eat another one any time soon. PS - I never got ketosis or the yucky taste because I am allowing myself some carbs. My surgeon even suggested oatmeal, mashed taters, or grits during mushy phase ( wk 3 according to him, but I started eating it at day 5). If you feel this might help you, try just one tiny bite of instant mashed potatoes and if you tolerate it, eat just one bite 3 or 4 times a day. You can make just what you need and portion it out and save the rest. Make it with milk instead of Water and add a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese for some protein. You could also suck on non SF candy, or eat non SF popsicles to get carbs in and move out of ketosis. My surgeon DID tell me that is is ok to eat some non SF popsicles and Jello right after surgery if you are feeling crappy. A body does need some carbs and no sugar at all is tough on the body. And be sure to sip on the high protein shots - getting enough protein also makes a huge difference in how you feel right after surgery - (mentally and physically) - I know they are nasty but I found if I chased them with a swig of a chocolate Protein Drink or spoonful of pudding, the taste went away fast and I could get a few swigs a day down that way. I did not sip either, too much tasting for me, I would take a big swig at a time to get as much down as possible in one gulp, then a quick chaser to remove the after taste. I did this nearly every time I walked past the fridge. You could chase it with anything at all that you like, but I think it needs to be something of equally hi flavor. Water wouldnt work for example. I also found mixing the berry flavored protein shot with OJ was not too bad and I could drink a small glass that way. The first time you try any new real food it is important to only take one small bite and wait 5-10 minute s or so to see how it sits in your tummy. Then repeat. Doing it this way I have never gotten ill. I think it also helped me because I never over ate, I was very careful to only eat 2 oz at a time. The main reason for liquid diets after surgery, is to prevent vomitting. I advanced my own diet after reading this from Cornell Universtiy: http://www.cornellweightlosssurgery.org/pdf/dietary_guidelines_sleeve_gastrectomy.pdf

I am only 4 weeks out and can eat anything I want. I have not had any nausea or vomiting. I have chewed gum since my sleeve- ALOT - and it just so happens that I accidentally swallowed it once too! YIKES - I was a little worried but seems ok- Hadn't swallowed gum since I was 7 yrs old!! In the first 3 weeks I chewed gum alot to get past cravings to eat. I don't chew it much any more and I feel my cravings to eat all the time are lessening. I found the SF dessert flavors very satisfying when on a liquid diet. I have eaten a little bit of shredded coconut with no trouble. I never heard it could be trouble. I do not drink carbonated drinks but I have had a glass of wine on several occasions and I do not feel a thing from it like I would have before the sleeve. (no lightheadedness, like it isnt getting absorbed)

My mother is trying to get her insurance to approve WLS (the bypass is all it covers- it is Medicare Texan Plus) - and the psych eval found her to be depressed even though she has been on medication for depression most of her life. They gave her an additional script and told her they want to eval her for 3 months before approving her for surgery - only if she seems to be out of depression. Apparently it's a pretty big deal the depression one can get after the surgery so they don't want her depressed going into it. Her severe depression right now is mostly due to her excess weight making her immobile. We both feel if she looses weight she won't be as depressed So it's difficult to to accept that though the surgery might eventually help her out of the depression some, it could also make her worse initially when she has to break her food addiction relationship. She is a heavy snacker and so I know that part will be difficult for her. I am torn between wanting her to hurry and get her WLS so she can break free from the eating addiction, and be healthy (I worry she is about to keel over her health is so bad- literally!) - and wanting her to be successful and not have more severe depression - so waiting....waiting is so hard! I waited 10 months for mine to get approved! 2 more months for her to wait is nothing I geuss when you're talking about the rest of your life (which will hopefully be longer since she will be a healthy weight!)

Those little sweet berry flavored Protein shots are NASTY. Is that what you mean? And the Protein shake my surgeon's nutritionist sold me is very blah. It's Bariatric Advantage chocolate. To give it more flavor I use one scoop BA and one half scoop Slimfast and one splenda packet. Have you tried different Protein drinks? I like EAS Myoplex Chocolate Drink - it has 42g of protein in 16 ozs. I think. if you sip on that all day you'll be doing good to get in 42g during 2nd week post op. Muscle Milk is available most places and has 25g protein and several flavors incl choc, banana and strawberry. I drink a few sips from a Myoplex every time I walk past the fridge. I bought some Ensure high protein drinks too but I dont like them as much and they are only 25g. I went to all the different grocery and drug stores around me and bought a large variety of different flavors and drinks and mixes and tried each one till I found one I liked the taste of. As for clear soup, you dont need a home recipe, go buy a jar of bullion cubes at the store, or even by Raman Noodles and throw out the noodles, they have a large variety of flavors of broth. Same for cream Soups, Campbells makes quite a variety available at the local grocer. But surely you know that? I did not like those soups myself. UGH. I liked broth much more than cream soups..... But even with these soups you still need to get protein some way as the soups don't have any or much. So you will still have to drink protein drinks and shots and shakes as well to get your daily dose.

I am only 3 weeks post op and I can eat anything I want to. I advanced my diet against my Dr orders (please don't gripe at me). I never experienced any nausea or vomiting. I have always had a tough stomach and I chose to try a few things during the full liquids at 2 weeks, and they went down fine, so I went totally to real foods and it's been fine for me. I wish I had had nausea and other symptoms to make me not want to eat but I was dying for real food. I definitely feel restriction after 2-3 ounces and sometimes after just a few bites. I do have a taste change going on. I lost 3 lbs on a 1 week pre-op diet and I have lost 15 lbs post-op but I am already experiencing hair loss pretty heavily. I am getting 40-60 grams of Protein each day for sure - I have been since the surgery by drinking protein shots - and now I am eating 2-3 oz of real food Proteins every 3-4 hours (fish, chicken, tuna, brisket, beef Jerky, eggs, Beans, cheese, milk, pudding etc ) -plus protein supplement drinks too. I am taking a liquid multi vitmain and Calcium daily -even more than is required. Liquids/water- I get atleast 32 oz every day and closer to 64 on most days. The only thing different on this diet is I am not eating much fruit or veggies at all. When I dieted in the past on my own I did not loose hair. Does anyone know the scientific reason why the sleeve makes you loose hair? If it is from lack of Vitamins that come from fruits and veggies why isnt my liquid Vitamin stopping it??? I am going to increase my protein by +40g a day and see if that fixes it. (using protein shots ) But that adds more calories too!! UGH.

As disgusting as they are you should get some Protein shots and take a sip every few hours to drink one a day. This on top of what you manage to eat or drink in your diet. Walgreen's carries one that is the most Grams Protein in the smallest ounces, meaning less to drink - they are super sweet and icky but I chase them with a swig of EAS Myoplex chocolate Milk Protein Drink and that washes the taste out of my mouth plus I get a few more grams of protein in that. I also chase my icky tasking liquid Vitamins and Calcium with the Myoplex and I drink one for Breakfast if I don't have time to make a full blown protein shake. I also take a swig of EAS several times every day to add more protein. I never got tired after my surgery. My NUT says it's because I am getting so much protein. There are several other Protein drinks - Ensure - Slimfast, etc - but I found the Myoplex by EAS to have the most grams of protein per ounce of drink. Which should be our goal since we can only get in so few ounces of food/drink a day. I also found pouring just a tiny tiny bit of the protein shot in a drink like K20 or Crystal Light was bearable. I used to drink TONS of Water before my sleeve - I am frustrated that I cannot drink big gulps like I used to. I find the best way to get lots of fluids is to get one of those big hospital mugs with a straw and lid- and keep it full of ice water - every where I go I make a fresh one - and just get in the habit of sip sip sip - I am still working on remembering to sip often enough. I am drinking with meals most of the time too. I can't stand not drinking with a meal. Just a few sips to wash things down. I do not think drinking with the meal or not makes any difference regarding how fast my food is digested and I am ready to eat again. If you can eat eggs now, try baked fish as a soft mushy protein source. I found a great solution - Gorton's in the frozen seafood section (by fish sticks) has a Grilled Talapia item- comes in several flavors and each box has 2 - 3 oz servings. They bake in 18 minutes and are pretty darn yummy I think. Try cottage cheese- and if you don't like it much, try it with sugar free jelly as a flavored topping. String cheese also goes down well for me. I am not supposed to be eating meats yet but I have been - I had to have more protein -- so I bought pre-cooked chicken at the grocery store and I bought lean bbq brisket and pulled pork at a BBQ restaurant (no bbq sauce), and eat an ounce or two of that for most of my lunch and dinner meals. Another trick - if you like baked Beans - cut out alot of calories by rinsing them in a strainer before eating. They still taste great because the flavor is marinated into them. Same can be done with Ranch beans. Refried beans with cheese on them is a good protein source too.