Bufflehead

It's easiest to do on the web, not via the app. On the web, go to the My Home tab, then the Goals sub-tab, then the green Change Goals rectangular button, switch the radio button from the default "Guided" to "Custom", then click the green "Continue" button, then you will get the screen that allows you to change all of your percentages, calorie intake, etc.

Awesome, sounds like you are doing well! I remember that pain from the drain site no fun!

Dumping syndrome is very rare for sleevers, much more common for bypass patients. Unless you abuse your sleeve very badly you will maintain restriction in terms of how much you eat in one sitting, but yes, you will be able to eat more at a year out than you could at 2 months. People can 'eat around' any weight loss surgery. If I wanted to, I could nosh on M & M's, triscuits, and french fries all day long as long as I ate slowly. Sip milkshakes while doing it. And I would put on a ton of weight. The truth is (as my surgeon says) - anyone over the age of 30 with a BMI in the normal range has to work on it. And that includes people who have had weight loss surgery. IMO if you are not willing to work, no surgery, diet, or exercise plan is ever going to help you be successful. But the stats show you that people who have weight loss surgery are MUCH more successful in maintaining a significant weight loss than those who don't have it. This tool improves your odds greatly - but yes, you have to be willing to work.

Your PCP should be able to order lab work for you that will test all your vitamin and mineral levels as well as indicate whether you are getting enough protein. You shouldn't need a bariatric surgeon for that.

I use Trader Joe's High Potency multi chewables - for the first year I took a double dose. My labs have always been great. Oh and for the first few weeks after surgery I did a double dose of liquid multi-vitamins, Wellesse brand. You can buy that at Amazon or I think at Vitamin Shoppe/GNC type places. I was also told no gummies as they tend to be incomplete plus higher calorie and carb than other vitamins.

These are all great answers. One question you may want to think about in advance is if someone flat out asks you if you had weight loss surgery. Will you say yes, no, or I don't care to discuss it/I can't believe you would ask me such a personal question (essentially the same thing as saying yes)? I wish I had thought about that question in advance - I had a lot of answers prepped and ready to go but was flustered when someone just asked me if my surgery was weight loss surgery. I ended up saying yes and explaining my surgery -- a lot of people only know about lap band and gastric bypass - but I wish I had been even thinking that someone might ask me that question!

@@sandymom on the version I use (iPhone) there is a slider bar you can use to adjust the time, right under the picture of the plate. I set mine to a 45 second interval, I thought that was plenty. Also, if you tap the little i right above the spoon, you can change the sound used to indicate that it's time for a bite - just in case you missed that! It's not obvious at all. Love the app but wish they had the standard set up with a little gear to access settings.

I would mix in some flavored protein powder or Torani SF syrup - or both! On purees I was also allowed to stir in a spoonful of peanut butter or almond butter and that was really good. I don't know if that sort of thing is allowed on your plan though. I wasn't allowed yogurt on full liquids so it was a little different for me in terms of what I could add to yogurt when I was allowed to eat it!

@@Menina honestly I think it is way too early for you to be experimenting with bread and alcohol, no matter how slowly you eat/drink. I would really stay away from those things for the time being. Stick with food you can easily cut with a fork and water to drink (when eating out). Good luck!

You know, I had never even thought about that but Dr. Google tells me you are on to something: http://hearingsolutions.us/high-blood-pressure-linked-to-hearing-loss/ Good medical detective work there!

I did. It came out the next day.

@@Dragonfly1111 I don't think you are doing anything wrong. Most people pause in their weight loss sometime in the early weeks after surgery - and then repeatedly as time progresses. If you plot your weight loss on a graph it is never going to look like a smooth diagonal line flowing downhill. There will be stops and starts along the way. If you are following your surgeon's plan, just keep going and the weight loss will pick up again. Don't let your body's normal human reactions and variations stress you out. Check out the "Don't Sweat the Stall Stuff" sub-forum in the General Weight Loss forums to see what I mean - it really does happen to virtually everyone.

Well, I think that if you want to vary from your prescribed pre-op diet, you need to get permission from your surgeon's team, not from random strangers on the internet. Explain your situation, and maybe they can help you come up with alternatives. For example, you can make your own vanilla iced coffee at home for about 15 calories and 1 carb. Or if they really won't budge, perhaps they can do a better job of explaining to you why it's important to avoid coffee/caffeine pre-op so that you will be more motivated to follow their rules. Speaking of which, and I mean this in a good, friendly, loving way - time to get over the "I can't, I won't, I don't want to" stumbling block that is running in your head regarding food. Yes you can do it, and you need to get in a space where you are committed to following your surgeon's plan, not just the parts of it you like and find convenient. Picking and choosing what we want to do with respect to our diet is what led us all to need weight loss surgery. Plus, your surgeon and his or her team are the experts and understand what their patients need - not you, and again, not random internet strangers. Good luck!

You are doing great. The reason you saw a lot of posts from people with nausea, trouble getting liquids down, etc. are those are the people who tend to post a lot. They are the ones who need information, reassurance, etc. But there are tons of us out there who had problem-free recoveries, able to get in all our liquids and protein right away. You just didn't hear from us a lot because there was no real reason to post about it. Someone else said, it's like if you spent the day walking around the city and shopping. If someone stole your purse, you'd probably get on Facebook, twitter, your social networking site of choice, and post about how your purse got stolen. But if nothing bad happened to you, you wouldn't post on Facebook, "I walked around the city all day and no one stole my purse!" It just means that your body heals well and your surgeon did meticulous work that didn't leave a lot of swelling, bruising, or trauma to your insides. Keep doing what you are doing

This may be more than you want but I have a 12 page file of tips and recipes on protein shakes. Some of the recipes are mine but others were gathered from various bariatric sites around the web. You can view or download here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/236442268/Protein-Shake-Recipes

I gave up coffee because I knew I would have to give it up for a few months after, and I figured why deal with caffeine withdrawal headaches at the same time as post-op pain. I used the shakes my surgeon mandated (Bariatric Advantage) and did not mix anything with them other than milk, per his orders. If I had my choice, I would have used Unjury, Syntrax Matrix, or Jay Robb shakes - similar numbers but taste much better IMO than Bariatric Advantage (yuck).

Yes, and your surgeon should give you explicit instructions on your lifting restrictions. I couldn't lift anything more than 8 lbs for about four weeks, but surgeons vary in their post-op rules, so check with yours.

My opinion is that you need to get your surgeon's opinion on this issue, assuming you weren't already given guidance about when to resume exercise.

Yes, it's completely normal. Keep following your plan and the weight will come off. Not necessarily in the manner or at the rate you want - but it will come off! Most of us end up losing in a kind of stair step pattern. Don't let it stress you out.

I second the recommendation for the Eat Slower app. I used that religiously (set the timer to 45 seconds between bites) for several months after I was released from full liquids. I don't need it anymore but when I did, it really, really helped me.

"I should either stay off the scale for the first four weeks, or, if I absolutely cannot do that, set up an account at trendweight.com and use that so that I don't get freaked out by daily fluctuations and pauses in weight loss."

Per my surgeon's plan, I was on full liquids for four weeks, then purees for four weeks, then on to soft solids. I followed his instructions faithfully and had no problems.

I found that dropping those first few sizes took a long time. I think the larger the sizes are, the more weight you have to drop between sizes. It took me 50 lbs to go from a 36 to a 34, but now that I am smaller it seems like I go down a size in maybe 10 lbs. Starting at a 28, you probably shouldn't have every size on hand. You can probably wait and skip sizes, like maybe have a couple of pairs of 24 on hand for when your 28's get absolutely huge. Unless you have tons of money to spare and don't care how much you spend! Which, more power to you if that's your situation! It wasn't mine so I only bought clothes when absolutely necessary.

Spicy refried beans was one of the first things I started on purees. Poached egg with spicy Indian ketchup was another early favorite. And spicy thai tuna pureed with sriracha sauce! I never even considered waiting a year. Spicy food has never given me the tiniest bit of trouble post-sleeve, and I do like it hotter than a lot of people (I mean normies, not even wls people) can handle

I use the Wellesse liquid calcium - I buy it from Amazon. If you end up using gummies or chewables just make sure they are calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. And beware -- the "Citrical" calcium brand products are often actually carbonate despite the name, so read labels carefully! As for protein powders, I would recommend getting some samples to see what you like. Everyone has different tastes. My favorites are probably Chike, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, Syntrax Matrix, and Unjury (their chocolate splendor flavor is awesome). Here is a link to another post I did with places to get samples: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/316137-vitamins/?p=3566753 Good luck!