Bufflehead

I was on purees for four weeks, so I had a lot of experience getting purees to taste good! I wasn't allowed fruit or veggies (or grains of course), only high protein foods. In addition to the standard refried beans, cottage cheese, poached eggs, and Greek yogurt, I did a lot of pureed meat -- I would puree it with a flavorful sauce or dressing of some sort, and heat it up in the microwave with some cheese on top. This made it like a little mini-casserole. Mostly I worked with canned/pouched meats, since I was eating so little it didn't make sense to go buy a whole package of fresh chicken breasts or something. Here are some of my favorite combos: Thai spicy tuna with sriracha sauce and pepper jack cheese Lemon-dill salmon with tartar sauce and swiss cheese Shrimp with remoulade Chicken with low carb bbq sauce and cheddar cheese Turkey with peanut sauce and jack cheese Chicken with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese I also made and loved Eggface's ricotta bake. I made a half recipe and still couldn't finish it within a couple of days though. http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html --scroll down a little bit for the baked ricotta recipe. She also has some other good ideas there.

It sounds like possibly orthostatic hypotension? In any event, I would definitely get in touch with your PCP and get this checked out thoroughly. It may be something not related to your sleeve at all. Orthostatic hypotension can be related to dehydration but there are lots of other causes as well. Or it could very well be something else entirely . . . but it doesn't sound like something you just want to guess at. http://www.healthline.com/symptom/dizziness-on-standing-up

I haven't been where you are so I feel weird giving advice. But I will say I have never seen someone come on here and say: I stay under (800/1000/1100/some definite number) of calories each day. I stay under (40/60/80 some definite number of carbs each day). I get at least (60/75/90/some definite number) of grams of Protein each day. I log everything I eat faithfully in MyFitnessPal. But I am gaining weight (or can't seem to lose weight). So for me, the lesson is pretty much that if I want to get to goal and maintain at that goal, one of the most important things is to have a definite plan and to make sure I follow that plan by logging everything I eat. I've also seen a lot of the veterans talking about the 5/2 eating plan and that is something I am open to trying out when I get closer to goal. There are some threads in the Veterans' Forum about that and you may want to check those out.

Honestly I feel more full after the sleeve than I think I ever felt before it. I'm 8 months out and depending on what I eat, my body usually tells me right around the 3 ounce mark to STOP, it doesn't want anymore. In between meals I do sometimes get hungry but somehow it is less intense and urgent than before the sleeve. If it isn't time for my regularly scheduled snack, even if I am feeling a little hungry I can just remind myself that I can eat later and I easily put it out of my mind and move on. I could have never done that before, I would have been raiding the vending machine at work because I "needed" an oversize snack bag of Fritos and one of Reese's Pieces, too.

My understanding is that employer exclusions are usually 100% exclusions, no exceptions for "medical necessity" or whatever. Appeals are usually taken when an insurance plan covers the surgery in general but denies it to a particular person because the company says that person didn't meet their criteria. Then the person appeals saying yes I do meet your criteria, and you are supposed to cover the surgery when these criteria are met, so you have to cover my surgery. However, I'm not an insurance expert . . . if you have a surgeon selected, there should be an insurance coordinator on his/her staff who can look at your policy and give you specific advice. Good luck!

I also take the Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable (2 tablets per day). My labs have been outstanding. They are cheaper than anything else I have found and they taste fine.

Many people don't feel full on liquids. Nerves were cut in your stomach so you may not be feeling much of anything, plus you won't have much restriction on liquids unless your stomach swells really tightly inward due to the trauma and keeps liquids from exiting quickly. For many people, their stomach doesn't do this major swelling -- probably a combination of skillful surgery work and your body reacting and healing well. Don't worry about feeling restriction until you get past liquids and purees and on to more solid foods. In the meantime, don't try to test your restriction by eating or drinking more than your plan allows. I would bet everything is just as it should be.

I stay under 60 -- unless I have a really big exercise day, then I allow myself to go up a bit, more towards the 75 range. That's rare though.

Unless they are a small company, they have to give you as much unpaid leave as you need (up to 12 weeks) under FMLA. Whether they give paid leave or not should be governed by their standard benefits package. You should talk to your surgeon about how much time he/she thinks you will need given your job requirements. For heavy lifting and fast paced work I would guess your surgeon will recommend at least four weeks off.

For me the key was pureeing with strong flavored sauces, and then heating up and melting a little cheese on top. It made it like a little casserole. Some things I did: thai spice tuna with sriracha sauce and pepper jack cheese chicken with low carb bbq sauce and cheddar cheese turkey with peanut sauce and jack cheese chicken with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese shrimp with remoulade salmon with lemon dill sauce and gouda cheese Good luck!

I have to cut all that stuff (and more) out until I reach goal, per my dietician's orders. I started out as SMO (BMI of 60) so I'm 8 months out and still have weight to lose. Nothing with grains, no starchy veg, no refined sugar. I really haven't missed it.* I'm focused on eating well and staying on track in order to keep losing weight. Stuff like bread and Pasta doesn't have enough nutrition for me to waste my stomach space on it! *Disclaimer - I was given the go-ahead to sample (not gorge on) whatever I wanted on Christmas Day and I did eat all sorts of things that day, in tiny amounts. It all agreed with me so that was good, and I enjoyed my little bites. But I was able to close the book on that and move on the next day quite easily.

Hi Chris, pretty sure I remember you from support group. Glad you made it safely through surgery and are doing well!

Hi, I'm in the camp that says there is no scientific evidence that any sort of supplement helps with hair loss, so you shouldn't waste your money on it. For no. 4, it is probably fine to add in seasonings and make your food spicy. Some people do have a harder time tolerating spicy stuff early on, but lots of people don't. No way to know until you try. I can tell you that one of the very first things I made when I progressed to purees was chicken pureed with sriracha sauce and it was great. I haven't had any issues with spicy food and I eat it a lot. No drinking anything (not just water) while eating, or for 30 minutes after, is a lifetime rule per my surgeon and dietician. Good luck!

aww, sorry, I really didn't want to be harsh! I need to work on my tone. I will say, not for you but for anyone else who happens to be reading this -- I am a firm believer in having a plan with guidelines and following it as best you can, and logging all your eating and drinking so you can know exactly how well you are doing. I am not going to argue the particulars of the plan with anyone, since I am no expert, but I do think having a plan to work on is good.

I don't throw up either, haven't once since surgery. I think there are lots of us out there, but people who are having issues post about them more. I saw this comparison a few days ago and I think it's apt. If you went out shopping for the day and had your purse stolen, you'd tell people about it. But if you went out all day and didn't have your purse stolen, you wouldn't run around telling people "I walked all over the city today and no one stole my purse!" I basically never threw up before surgery either, so I think I'm just lucky that way. And I also follow my surgeon's extremely stringent rules about how much to eat, and what kinds of food to eat, and how fast to progress on phases (hint - VERY slowly, like four weeks of liquids, four weeks of purees, four months of soft foods) and I think that has helped.

Okay, this may sound a little harsh but I want to be blunt (and hopefully helpful) rather than mean, seriously. Some of your language about food is a little wishy washy. "I don't eat bad food in general." "I still don't eat much (relative to how much I used to be able to eat), although I can eat significantly more than I could" "The holidays happened." All of this kind of makes me think that you aren't consistently following a solid plan focused on small amounts of lean protein and green veggies, and that you aren't even really tracking what you eat. My apologies if I read your post wrong. If you aren't logging everything you eat and following a strict plan for calories, carbs, and protein, my suggestion would be to start both of those things immediately. And there is no magical amount of time -- not six months, and certainly not a year -- where you can be careless about what you eat and the weight just falls off anyway. You haven't really lost anything in almost two months. In my mind, that's not a plateau, that's maintenance, and if you want to get out of maintenance and back into losing, you are going to have to change up what you are eating and, from the sound of it, how much you are eating. I recommend the Beck Diet Solution book for dealing with hunger -- it will help you get to a point of being able to accept and deal with hunger and not treat it as an emergency that must be fixed immediately with food. Best wishes to you.

I've seen some vets say that it gets better a year or so out. Your body learns to redistribute some fat, or the nerves aren't as sensitive, something like that. I hope so, I get tailbone pain too! And I used to love to read in bed, lying on my tummy, propped up on my elbows. But now if I do that for more than about 15 minutes my ribcage starts to ache. Last year at this time I didn't even know I had a ribcage!

After your surgeon's office submits all the paperwork for approval, it could be anywhere from one day to a month or so -- it really varies depending on your insurance company and your luck of the draw. If I were you I would just assume you won't get a decision for 3-4 weeks, then if it comes early you'll (hopefully) have a good surprise. Best wishes!

They have a product locator here: http://www.premierprotein.com/where-to-buy/ Just go to the link and it should detect your location and show you a map with all the stores nearby where you can buy their drinks. If it doesn't detect your location from your computer, you can put in your zip code and it will generate the info for you.

My favorite brands of powders are Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard, Syntrax Nectar, Syntrax Matrix, Unjury, and Chike. The first three you can buy at netrition.com (they do ship internationally) or nashuanutrition.com (also ships internationally, plus they sell samples - I recommend buying a couple of samples of lots of different flavors you might like - don't commit to buying a big tub of something until you have tasted it after surgery!). http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/protein-powders/protein-powder-samples-1-serving.html Nashua Nutrition also sells the Chike and BSN Lean Dessert brands, both of which I think are great. I also really like Unjury, particularly the Chocolate Splendor and chicken soup flavors. The chicken soup is a really nice change from all the sweet flavors. You can buy a starter pack from them: http://www.unjury.com/store/protein/unjury-protein/unjury-starter-pack.html

Here's a recent day for me. Aussiekye, I'm going to try to convert measurements to the metric system for you Breakfast: 1/2 container (70 grams) Sophie chocolate Greek yogurt with 15 ml PB2 stirred in. I don't think you have PB2 in Australia, it's powdered peanut butter. Lunch: 35 grams sliced roast beef, 1 Babybel lite cheese, 15 grams roasted edamame, 20 grams cinnamon almonds Dinner: 3 thin asparagus spears, 40 grams mackerel, 65 grams (60 ml) cooked lentils, small amount of grated parmesan cheese Snacks: iced coffee protein shake (1 scoop Chike coffee protein powder, 1 cup Carb Master milk, 1 spoonful instant espresso), Healthwise Protein Hot Chocolate made with 1/2 Carb Master milk & 1/2 water, plus topped with a little fat free whipped cream. Numbers: 765 calories, 53 carbs, 91 grams protein.

I stayed home alone and was glad for it. The last thing I wanted was people getting in my way or me feeling like I had to entertain them. I just wanted to have peace and focus on my job -- getting my water, protein, and walking in. I had my housekeeper come for an extra visit to change the kitty litter and do the heavier house cleaning but other than that I needed no help. If you don't have a regular housekeeper and like your house nice and tidy, you might consider having an agency come in for a single visit, or allowing your friends to help by taking an afternoon to mop, vacuum, scrub toilets, etc. I have three cats and a large dog and had no trouble taking care of them. My dog loved all the extra walks she got -- walking is so good for you in recovery! I had to keep reminding myself not to pick up my largest kitty as he is over 10 lbs, but I managed to do fine with some close calls. Good luck to you!

I am miss tracker, so I took all your food and ran it through myfitnesspal's recipe builder to see what the numbers would look like. I had to make some assumptions but I think they were reasonable (you ate lowfat cottage cheese rather than full fat or nonfat, for example). Here's the numbers I came up with for the day: 944 calories, 113 carbs, 80 grams protein, 14 grams fiber, 20 grams fat. The calories and carbs would be too high for me on my plan (I stay under 800 and 60 respectively), but the protein is good and the fiber is too. I know lots of people who have numbers similar to yours and are losing just fine . . . sometimes patience and persistence are what is needed to break a stall. But if you are looking to change things up, I guess I would start attacking the calorie and carb numbers -- but that's just me and the program I follow. It isn't necessarily right for everyone.

Daily supplements: 2 Trader Joe's High Potency Chewable Multis, 1 Citracal petite, 2K mg Vitamin D, daily iron supplement (brand varies), Bariatric Advantage chewable probiotic, and a couple teaspoons of Equate sugar free fiber powder -- same fiber as in Benefiber but sugar free -- and cheaper! I am just about eight months out so I can't answer the second part of your question. I don't have to do B12 or any special B vitamin supplements as my lab work showed they were not needed.

I love to read so I buy myself a book for every 5 lbs I lose. And I get myself something bigger for every 25 lbs, but it varies depending on what I want and need. When I got under 200 lbs for the first time in over 25 years I bought myself a new Kindle Paperwhite.