MinaT

Well, a good idea for you in the future is to sign up for something like myfitnesspal.com and do research before you go somewhere. We had nutritionional classes where I had surgery. chicken & broccoli were your right choices (depending on how they were cooked and if butter was added to them). At six weeks, being newly sleeved, corn on the cob would not have been a good idea. Corn is harder to digest, and it's full of carbohydrates. 19 carbs in a very small ear (2¾ oz or 77g) 22 carbs in a small boiled or steamed corn on the cob (5½" to 6½") 26 carbs in a medium boiled or steamed corn on the cob (6¾" to 7½") 29 carbs in a large boiled or steamed corn on the cob (7¾" to 9") If it's extremely salted then you will have the sodium issue and buttered, then a whole lot of unnecessary fat. The sleeve isn't a diet though, it's a way of life, so if you know you are going out to dinner, plan ahead. If you go somewhere for steak, inquire before you go how they prepare the steak, are they the kind of place that adds butter to the steak before they send it out? Are the vegetables sauteed in butter and never be afraid to ask for something that normally gets fried to or sauteed to be poached or to omit the added fat. A fair, however you don't have much choices, usually turkey, unbreaded chicken and unfried vegetables are your best bet.

PPI is a proton-pump inhibitor is a pill like prilosec, pepsid it is a long-last pill you take to help reduce gastic acid production. Acid reflux burns your esophagus. If you have ever woken up in the middle night because you threw up while you were sleeping and it went back down, that's acid reflux. It eventually wears down your esophagus. People who get sleeved are prone to acid reflux. I had acid reflux before being sleeved and luckily I have less now. When you first have surgery, a lot of your system kind of falls asleep. Some people have a problem having a bm, some people have problems urinating, etc. After surgery, your stomach is empty. All you are getting in your stomach is Water, maybe some Isopure or tea. After having 85% of your stomach removed and you have not had much food the acid producing hormone or whatever it is probably quite low, as you start introducing new liquids and foods, the acid starts building up in your stomach. Remember this acid is now going up against an incision line and your inside of your stomach is still very swollen from the surgery. Your stomach is going to shake, jive, shimmey and do all kinds of weird things at first. If I noticed I didn't chew well enough sometimes it feels like my stomach knots up and does a weird flip flop on one tiny piece of pretty well chewed up something or another. Best of luck again.

Awesome, thank you so much. I will have to try that! Why no caffeine, I was told no caffeine, was told caffeine after surgery is not good because it can cause dehydration and in the beginning, many people have a hard time getting in all their fluids. Dehydration is very dangerous while healing from the surgery. I said well how about after I heal. I was told that Caffeine could contribute to an ulcer. If you get an ulcer when you have 85% of your stomach removed, it wouldn't be good. I miss coffee a lot, but will try to hold off drinking it. All doctor's have something to say about something and no two doctors are alike. I guess we all have to pick and chose what's best for us or if we want to follow our doctor's advice.

Congrats to you and I'm glad to hear from you. It's great to hear when people had a great experience.

Everyone is different. You aren't going to know until after surgery. I took a nap every single day for the first two weeks. I had a drain for like 10 days. Do you know if you will have a drain and if so, when it will be removed? First week I took about 2 naps a day. I also walked every day at least 20 minutes and I tried to walk 3 times a day each time 20 minutes, but I walked inside my house the first week and outside in my hard and around the neighborhood the second week. Your general overall health, your age, whether or not there are complications, all have something to do with it. I'm going on 49 years old, I have Lupus, but I was exercising twice a day for months before surgery and I have a lot of stamina. I also had a complication with surgery. Truly, if you keep a positive frame of mind going into surgery, you should do fine, I know I was very positive and upbeat even after surgery, but I was still tired out. Best of luck and the surgery was definitely worth it.

The surgery will work for you as long you as you follow the rules. You are only a week out, a lot of the "hunger" pains you are feeling are either acid reflux or healing pains. If you cut your finger or stub your toe, it throbs right? Well your stomach was cut from one end until the other, it was stapled, and scar tissue is forming over the titanium staples. This "hunger" feeling you keep feeling is not "real" hunger. Your stomach is so swollen inside and outside of it. Once you get more Protein in and get to go to full liquid, the protein will actually fill you up more. As real food is introduced you will finally notice the restriction of the sleeve. I know you have read this many times probably, but the sleeve is only a tool, the real work comes from you, battling the "head hunger". There are foods that are harder to get down later, protein you have to chew chew chew, you eat your protein first then vegetables second, there never really is room for carbohydrates. However, if you eat Carbs first, you will see you can eat, eat and eat, it's the same way after surgery as before surgery. Many carbs are "slider" foods. My best advice to you is to already stop telling yourself you are afraid you are going to fail. That's self-sabotage talk immediately. Think about what you put in your mouth. That taste of Peanut Butter didn't hurt you, but if it was icing or something else...it could. It's a lot of mental work at first, and seriously for the first 2 months food becomes an obsession, what to eat, how much should I eat, not liking your Protein Shakes, or finding one you like, how much Soup should I eat, what kind of soup should I eat. It's a lot of mind games. Listen to what your doctor says, and for each stage, if you have questions, never be afraid to ask. Best of luck to you.

Oh what a relief it is getting the drain out for sure. I am so glad to hear you are doing well Skowronski. If you ever decide to go to one of their group meetings, let me know. I went to one in the Munster office last ***ht. It was very good.

Purple, it's mostly head hunger, make sure you take your PPI and if you have a lot of growling or movement in your stomach, like hunger pains, remember it could also be healing pains. Hard to tell the difference between acid reflux, hunger pains and healing pains. You cut your finger, it throbs...your stomach was cut, it's going to throb while it's healing, the inside and outside is very swollen. When I would get the pains I realized it was just healing pains. A good test is drinking 3 or 4 ounces of Water, I could get 3 ounces down but the 4th I would feel so stuffed and that was just water. I'm 8 weeks down, I am still eating 1/4 cup of food, or 2 ounces depending. I can get one egg down for lunch and I am stuffed. It is a little bit hard since starting real food to watch my family fill up their huge plates with food, and I'm eating off a saucer or a 1/4 cup little pretty bowl that I use, and they eat their entire plate and are going for seconds, and I'm not even 1/2 through my quarter cup. I am grateful that I don't eat the way I used to. I used to compare what I ate to them....they would stay the same and I always gained even if I ate 1/2 of what they ate.

First week I was drinking Water, and Isopure and decaff peppermint tea. Second week I started full liquid diet. It took me about 2 hours to get in 8 ounce Protein shake for Breakfast, I was only able to get in 1/2 of ready-made sugar-free Jello or sugar-free pudding cup. For dinner I was able to get in about 1/4 cup of cream soup or 1/4 cup of broth at a time. I would save the soups for the next evening or have my family eat the remaining. I always shared my sugar-free vanilla pudding cup with my husband, I ate half and he would eat 1/2. About 5th week I was eating healthy choice bean and bacon , I would add about 1/2 ounce of water and blend it, then put it in my small saucepan add a can of water and cook. That I usually had about 1/4 cup of per evening. Sometimes I would try to get 1 or 2 teaspoons of 1% cottage cheese in. I can only eat 1 scrambled egg or poached egg. At 8 weeks I am still at about 1/4-1/3 cup of anything at a time, though I'm on solid foods.

8 weeks out, and I am doing okay. For the first 5 weeks, drinking out of a water bottle hurt me, even sips. I had complications during surgery so that could be part of the problem. I am fine with drinking out of a water bottle, but I still can't slam down water like I used to.

I have size a size 8 skirt and a size 10 skirt, both are from 1995. I have a friend that wears a size 2. My size 8 skirt is too small for her. When did this vanity sizing take effect exactly lol. I haven't lost in a week and yet, this week everyone, including my husband seems to be thinking I've lost a lot more. I exercise a lot so something is changing on me but at this point, I'm ready to target practice on my scale!

Well I am pretty sure they can merge threads, but I wonder if it would be in accordance to the first post, I think there may actually be a word limit on each post, which would probably be another reason I can't "edit" the original one. The second one I made I was able to edit for a while, but maybe that again reached it's peak. I don't have the time today to redo a thread, add new people and speak to Alex about it as I am having guests come in to***ht, perhaps Monday I will start a new thread and see if all three could be merged in after I do the thread. Thanks Jane

I agree with the above, each meal seems to be high in carbs, skip the popcorn stick with the nuts, having oatmeal, raisins & granola (I would replace this with a Protein shake) all three are high carb items. The banana, while great for potassium is high carbs, I would add a high protein yogurt instead or find something else to get your potassium, like almonds. Cheddar Rice Cakes only have 8 grams of carbohydrates and you could do worse with something else so if you need that crunch, that's definitely a better choice than the popcorn. Even the 100 calorie Smart Popcorn has 24 grams of carbohydrates. They say Air Popped Popcorn has a little over 6.2 grams of carbohydrates. I don't know anyone that has a air popper anymore, though I will look into one of these perhaps some day. If you actually counted your carbs & protein you will notice that you aren't quite getting enough protein there and your carb count will be higher than you think. The good news is it's very obvious you are being very cautious on your calories but to get off the stall perhaps adding more protein with a Protein shake or scrambled egg and choosing a different fruit would be your best bet for now. Nobody is saying not to have oatmeal once in a while but if you do have, make sure you squeak in a high protein shake at one point. Pick and chose carbs wisely, don't have mashed potatoes, oatmeal and popcorn in the same day. I think you have done well so far. I had a discussion with nutritionist and nurse last ***ht and we talked about how Jared lost so much weight with Subway, when we all know Subway has a lot of bread. Here's a guy that weighed a whole lot and probably could take down an entire pizza himself, a bag of doritoes, drink several pops just for a meal. Anyone that eats that much that walks to subway, and severely limits their calorie intake is going to lose weight, lots of it, and he probably lost a lot of muscle tone too because his protein to carb ratio was pretty big. I once went 330 to 128 pounds, eating only carbs...yes, only carbs, I quit meat, I did once in a while have shrimp or eggs, but I lived on tortilla shells with fat free butter, skim milk & oatmeal, toast, etc. I did this for 5 years. The catch....I ran up to 10 miles a day, I lifted weights, I did step aerobics, and I spent most of my day and evening exercising. I swear I did isometrics in my sleep. It wasn't healthy for me, I lost the ability to go #2 and when I got sick and couldn't work out anymore, I gained it back and fast and I had become so unhealthy. For me, I'm not a sweet eater, which I suppose many will say I am lucky, but I'm more of a savory eater I love oatmeal, popcorn, potatoes, rice and grits, so I avoid these now for many reasons, but most importantly, these are food choices that you can eat a lot of without realizing how much you ate. Popcorn, I have been known to eat an entire Jumbo Bag at the movies, with salt & butter....and still wanted more, while I sucked it down with the largest Mountain Dew. Now I know why I got so darn sick. Best of luck to you, you have done a good job, now it's just time to tweak things and I do suggest myfitnesspal.com to chart everything. A good range is 800 - 1000 calories 80 grams of protein and 45-75 grams of carbohydrates (during maintenance) --- 800 calories 80 grams of protein and 20-45 grams of carbohydrates while trying to lose more.

Soda & Tonic is definitely carbonated and according to my surgeon & nutritionist it can expand your "pouch" or your "sleeve" and it is not recommended and taboo from my bariatric center. There will be those that state they were told it is okay, it is something you will have to speak to with your nutritionist or surgeon or do up to your discretion. I would rather err on the side of caution, though I do miss my soda water.

I am sorry that both Compilation threads, including the updated does not allow me to edit to update any longer. If it seems like there are many that want it I can start a brand new thread and redo it to add the new Junes but I am sure that will be confusing to some, because most people keep going back to the original one and skip the 2nd one.

Glad to hear from you. I hope every day is a better day and I am sure your Mom and little brother are happy and relieved you are doing better too! Keep us posted!

I myself was upset too when I heard about the six months pre-op weigh ins, which many require you to chart your food. If you are not ready yet, then let it go, however, each insurance company is different, and the truth is, most people really need the six months to start making the changes they need to in order to succeed. Start charting your food on something like myfitnesspal.com - start drinking 64 ounces of Water a day, charting how much actual exercise you get in. You will most likely need to have psychological testing, a nutritionist, a group meeting, medical testing (sleep apnea) upper gi, blood work, some need ekgs. Many people have been around the block so many times that this is what they feel is their last hope and are ready to jump through every hoop to do this. WLS is not easy....at all. It takes discipline, it takes hard work and dedication. The sleeve is only a tool. It doesn't mean you won't be addicted to fast food anymore, not want pop, not want caffeine, not want to overeat, it just makes your stomach smaller. It's not a cure all, most of the work comes from you. It's how you deal with the situation. If you are serious about changing your lifestyle and your life, and wanting to change for good, then go into this six months and make the changes that you need before surgery. It sure makes it easier after surgery. I did the six months and lost 10 pounds a month pre-op. I was so proud of myself. I even had days I went out and overindulged once in a while, but I made sure I got my 64 ounces of water in, I started out by marching in place for 5 minutes a day, then 10 then when I lost enough to fit on my gazelle I did it 5 minutes a day, 10 minutes then 15 minutes, then 15 minutes twice a day. I learned to stop drinking my water with dinner and eating my meat first, my vegetables seconds and I learned to chew everything well. You have six months to make a difference in how well you do after surgery. If you are not willing to do that, think about self-pay and perhaps going to Mexico to do it. Truth is, I think most people should be made to go through a six month program, because many people need to learn the sleeve doesn't make you not want food, that's up to you and this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. Best of luck.

Looks good but it has caffeine which is expressly forbidden to me from my doctor, unless he lifts the ban on coffee, it won't help me much. Boo... maybe they will come out with a decaff one

Honestly I am enjoying that I am back to dreaming again. I was going to bed at 3:00 am and waking up at 8 and never dreaming. I weaned from ambien at the beginning of the year, and when I started exercising, I started getting to bed by 10:30 and sleeping to 6-7:00 am. I sleep so much more but I'm actually dreaming again, which has been pretty sweet I think dreaming is actually healthy for you. You know that between 7 - 12 days many sleevers report getting a bit of depression and that's probably some of what is going on here with being tired, being tired is something that happens during depression. You are still newly out and learning this whole new way of eating while healing. If you need to nap, nap, make sure you get your fluids in and you walk around enough. Just give yourself some more time to heal and do your best with Protein and it eventually everything sorts itself out.

I suffer severe migraines and carbonation always helped me with my migraines. I used to drink Mountain Dew or Coke only when I had a migraine, I'm not a big pop drinker. I switched to Zero Flavored Seltzer Water. It worked just as well without the sugar. Having to quit that was something a bit hard on me, because along with it, I am not allowed Excedrin Migraine any longer, which is the only medication that helps me. You will read that people state they drank pop up to surgery and even diet pop right after surgery. Some will say there is no proof it stretches out your stomach. You are going to have to decide whether or not you are willing to trust your Doctor's advice, considering (s)he will be taking out 85% of your stomach. For most of us, this is not a diet, this is a way of life. I can tell you some day I would like a sip of champagne or a sip of beer. It won't be for a long long time, until I am completely to goal. I like coffee and I gave that up to, but I sure like the way this feels. I really am not willing to take a chance on stretching my sleeve at this point. I am sure some day when I'm at goal and I am really sure of myself I will allow myself a sip of champagne or something with seltzer, but I'm using this time to break anything that is a form of habit that doesn't benefit me nutritionally.

Congrats, best of luck and keep up the positive attitude Remember to rest, walk and sip !

I answered your other thread, but what do you mean by soft....you went from liquids to....soft food? Most people go from Clear Liquids (broth/isopure) to full liquids (cream Soup no chunks, shakes) to pureed food (tuna pureed in a food processor to mush consistency) instant mashed potatoes (watch the carbs), 1% cottage cheese, to soft food (anything you can cut with a fork) egg, hamburger patty, cheese. Is your soft food jumping the pureed (baby food consistency foods) like pureed tuna & chicken? Your best bet is to add only one new food at a time. I did Tuna with ff mayo, added onion powder and celery salt and blended it in the Magic Bullet. It went down still too dry and felt like it caught between my esophagus & stomach. I was able to get in 3 teaspoons. I was five weeks out. The magic bullet didn't seem to blend it enough. For your first try I would try throwing it in a food processor or really make sure it's moist. My biggest staple was rotisserie Chicken (you can make it yourself in a crock pot but it's cheaper to buy one made already. I used my food processor and I chopped up onions & celery (make sure you pull any excess string off the sides and try to concentrate on the middle of the celery) and I blended it in the food processor. This went down so much better than the tuna. It's moister. When you are ready for "soft" where you can cut with a fork, rotisserie chicken goes down easier than homemade chicken. A lot of people were eating Fat Free Refried Beans with cheese or Fat Free Sour Cream. One of my favorite things during full liquids to purees was Healthy Request Bean and Bacon Soup. I put the soup in the magic bullet and i blended the beans with a little tiny bit of Water. Then I put it in a small pan and added the cup of water. (If you blend it with full water it causes too many air bubbles and air bubbles causes too much gas & bloating). It has decent amount of Protein and the carbs aren't that high. I ate (and still do) eat cottage cheese with every meal. I usually try to get in one or two teaspoons of cottage cheese. Best of luck and please try just one food at a time, because you will need to know which does not agree with you. A few teaspoons at a time and go slow and if you have to chew it chew well.

I wish you the best. I was on full liquids 5 week straight, then a week of pureed food, then a week of soft, then to regular and I'm still sorta sticking with soft. Nothing tasted right to me (especially my shakes) for 5 weeks straight, and considering I was on full liquids...it sucked. Depression is most likely part of the anesthesia wearing off. There is a plethora of threads regarding depression. Most people seem to get a bit of depression about 7 - 10 days out from surgery. If you can give yourself a pep talk and realize it's normal after surgery, it will help you through. Many people have taste bud changes. shakes they liked pre-op were horrible. Remember whatever you do don't force yourself to eat food and if you are going to do softs, remember to chew. I could barely get in 1/4 cup of anything soft (cream soup) for the first 5 weeks. Please remember this, every day does get better and try to stay positive. There's no going back, so try to rest when you can, and do what you can to keep yourself positive. Eventually you will be able to eat with no problems, it does take a while. At 8 weeks I am still going very slow and still at about 500-560 calories a day, about 20 grams of carbohydrates and 65-70 Protein. Best of luck.

I am glad it has helped you. If it wasn't for my Bigelow Decaff Peppermint Tea I wouldn't have made it through 5 days in the hospital. I still use it to de-stress or when my tummy hurts. Eight weeks out sometimes 1/4 cup of food is just too much and I wait my 1/2 hour and I have to have some tea to help my tummy out. It was the smartest thing I brought to the hospital with me, that and my truvia and my brown cuddly blanket! Feel well soon and congrats!

I use smaller plates and bowls for myself now and I measured beforehand so now I can eyeball. I use very large Mikasa plates and I have a big set and I use the bread plate (or the plate the soup bowl fits on) for my dinner plate now. I also have small glass bowls (one is 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/2 cup) that I use depending on what I am having. This has helped me learn to judge. I really do need a scale though since I'm suppose to be on regular food because I suck at judging meat sizes. I'm used to 12 ounce steaks. I guess I'm lucky that I eat meat and I can only get a few bites in before I am full still, but one of these days I suppose that will change and I plan on getting a scale.