Bufflehead

You should ask your surgeon for specific guidelines on lifting. I would not have been cleared to lift like that for at least four weeks after surgery. Good luck!

My tip for smuggling in food, at least for women - put it in an interior zipper compartment of your bag. Put a couple of tampons and sanitary pads on top. No one is going to rummage past those! And I've noticed that most places are a lot more lax these days about searching handbags than they were ten years ago, when everyone seemed convinced that Al Qaeda was going to try to blow up their local concert in the park.

In my experience, in most of those places you can find wls-friendly food. Would it be something you would want to eat all day, every day? Probably not, but it won't hurt you for one day. Get a burger and throw out the bun. Get a turkey sandwich and throw out the bread. Most of those sorts of places will be harboring things like sausages, shrimp skewers, hot carved sandwiches, or salads somewhere. To be on the safe side I usually do smuggle in some nuts and protein bars, but I've never had to actually use them.

That does sound like the kind of pain that comes from eating too fast and too much. If that were happening to me, I would slow down my eating by using the Eat Slower app on my phone and try 45 seconds between bites. I would also lessen the amount of food at each meal. If that didn't solve the problem, I would get in touch with my surgeon for guidance. Good luck!

Tenderness is usually pretty normal, but I think that since it seems to be getting worse rather than better, you should have it checked out by a medical professional. Either your surgeon or your primary care physician should be able to help you.

My surgeon recommends labs at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and then yearly after that. As to the exact tests needed -- hopefully your surgeon can provide that information. If not, then your PCP should either know or be willing to research it in order to help you. Don't be scared. Your PCP either is supportive and wants to help you and see to your medical care, or should be your ex-PCP. And if they get scared away from a patient who is having surgery, they should DEFINITELY be your ex-PCP! Just tell them, "I'm having (or had) a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in Mexico on [date]. Here's a list of the blood work I'm going to need done in the first year. Can you help me with this? If not, can you recommend a doctor who can?" You might also want to check and see if any local bariatric surgeons provide follow up care to wls patients who went out of country. I know mine does. But in most instances, follow up lab work from your PCP is all that is needed. Good luck!

I really don't believe there are limits to what you can do as long as you are committed to following a strict eating plan and reaching out for help when you need it. I have about 15 lbs to go to reach my goal but I am confident I will get there, and yes I have lost well over 100 lbs (check my ticker). I am on plan and still losing, even if not as fast as I was 9 months ago. I know plenty of other people on this forum and others who have lost significantly more than 100 lbs and either are still losing or are successfully maintaining their weight loss. You can do this! eta: 2 before pictures, and 1 "during" - 185 lbs down. I feel self-conscious posting these pics but I know that before & after (or during) pics really helped me a lot pre op. Hopefully these will show that yes you CAN lose over 100 lbs! I have been struggling with obesity my entire life and had never had this kind of success before. excuse my messy hair and room in this last pic - it was never intended for public consumption but it's the best I've got right now!

I don't like any of the premade shakes, but I use lots of different brands and flavors of protein powder to make my own shakes. I use Unjury, Chike, Jay Robb, and Syntrax Matrix brands the most. I mix my shakes with Carb Master milk - comes in plain, vanilla, and chocolate, and is higher in protein and lower in calories and carbs than regular skim milk. It is available at Kroger. I also use a lot of different flavors of Sweet Leaf Sweet Drops and Torani sugar free syrups to change up the flavors of my protein shakes. For hot protein drinks, I use the Healthwise cappuccino and hot chocolate. Those I mix with 50/50 water and carb master milk, and again, use lots of different flavorings to add variety.

@@Healthier2day1227 you look so gorgeous and happy! Congratulations on all your success and hard work!

I take the Trader Joe's High Potency chewables and they taste fine - mild with a slight citrus tang. I can't handle swallowing big pills like multi-vitamins since my sleeve, though I know a fair number of people who can. It's an individual thing.

Information is power . . . it's hard for you to know how you are doing with intake if you aren't weighing or measuring your food and logging it on myfitnesspal or a similar app or site. On the other hand, do not trust their estimated calorie burns for exercise, they tend to way over IMO. Also, they try to force you into using their "guidelines" for how much protein etc. you should be taking in. Don't use their guidelines -- customize to fit the guidelines given to you by your surgeon or dietician. If I didn't customize, MFP would be telling me to eat hundreds of carbs per day, and that is not going to happen! You can also customize which nutrient macros you track, how you name your meals, etc. I track calories, carbs, fat, protein, calcium, and fiber, and the "meals" I use each day are Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, and Vitamins & Supplements.

Disclaimer - I haven't tried the 5 day pouch test. But it seems to me that drinking a lot of protein shakes = lots of carbs, possibly lots of calories, not much engagement of restriction. The "back on track" plan that I have seen a lot of people use successfully: 1. For three days, eat nothing but lean meat that you prepare yourself, green veggies, and small amounts of healthy fat. Drink at least 80 oz. of water every day and don't drink any calories! Don't count calories or carbs. 2. For the next three days, set calorie, carb, and protein goals that you feel comfortable with -- a point that is challenging, but you know you can do it. Aim for as low carb as you can do. For those three days, again, nothing but lean meat, green veggies, and small amounts of healthy fat. Weigh, measure, and count everything! No estimating! 3. After those three days, slowly expand the types of food you eat, but stick with the same calorie and carb restrictions.

I haven't had millet in a while, but I love it! Millet muffins are my absolute favorite. But of course all my millet muffin recipes are full of wheat flour, sugar, etc. Here is a savory recipe I like a lot but I punch it up with lots of additional spices: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cuban-Inspired-Millet/Detail.aspx?evt19=1 It's great served with carnitas or anything along those lines. If you can find or make millet flour, it works well in meatloaf, meatballs, things like that.

It would not have been okay or anywhere close to okay for me, under my surgeon's plan, at four weeks out. I was just starting pureed food and not allowed ANYTHING that isn't high in protein, and certainly no fruit. But what does your surgeon's plan call for?

I get that you are frustrated but please don't take this person's lack of competence as a "sign." If you are looking for signs, it seems to me the more obvious sign is that you are obese and weight loss surgery is the most effective known tool to fight obesity (sorry if that sounds harsh -- we have all been there!). Or maybe her delay is a "sign" that if you chose to do surgery on your initial date, you would have been killed while driving to the hospital and therefore postponing a few days saved your life. Seriously, the lack of diligence is what it is, and nothing else. If you aren't ready for surgery, it's okay to admit that and cancel or postpone for your own reasons. If you are ready for surgery, you won't let this derail you, it will just make you more determined. You can also get some frustration out by writing a letter to your surgeon explaining how unhappy you are with the situation!

completely, utterly normal: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=three+week+stall

My problem isn't getting to the CVS . . . it's walking past the giant display of every imaginable kind of candy bar that they have right by the entrance, at least they do at my local CVS. So tempting!

Make sure you check the ingredient list. A lot of the New Whey products aren't actually whey isolate protein but instead made with collagen protein, which is (according to my dietician anyway) almost completely useless to the human body.

I like Chobani Simply 100 Greek yogurt. 100 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and it is all natural!

It's a very interesting topic. I think both nature and nurture come into play here. For the nurture side of the equation -- obese people are more likely to have obese pets than normal weight people are. Clearly they are not passing obesity genes on to their pets! But people who have trouble controlling their own food intake apparently aren't good at limiting it for other household members. http://www.embracepetinsurance.com/hot-topics/fat-owners-fat-pets And for a really interesting read . . . this study indicates that children born to mothers who had bariatric surgery had healthier genes than their siblings born earlier, prior to mom's weight loss surgery. Yes, somehow the surgery affected the genetic makeup of the children born after and made them healthier. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/moms-who-had-weight-loss-surgery-may-pass-on-healthier-genes/

Honestly? If you are following your surgeon's plan, then you are doing everything you can. Other than that, you can't control how fast you lose weight, so IMO there isn't any use in stressing over it. I think you'll be a lot happier if you do your best to stop comparing yourself to other people and just focus on complying with your doctor's plan. That said, I didn't have gastric bypass and have no idea what a "normal" weight loss is for the first month. But if you are following your plan, don't worry and keep moving forward - you'll do fine and get to goal. Focusing on how fast other people get to their goal won't help you, I don't think.