Bufflehead

At three months I was still on soft foods and could eat about 1.5 oz of dense protein or 2 ounces of very soft food like yogurt. I remember going out to dinner and ate one medium-large sized scallop and could not take another bite. At six months I could eat about 2 ounces of dense protein such as chicken breast or turkey burger, Maybe 2.5 ounces of slightly moister meat such as grilled salmon. At a year out I could eat 3 ounces of dense protein. At 3+ years out I can eat 3 ounces of dense protein + 1.5 oz green veggies. High carb slider foods I can eat almost unlimited amounts, which is why I try very hard to just avoid them and not start -- because there is almost no stopping point. You cannot count on this surgery to restrict how many cookies or crackers you can eat -- at least not for long. Some people do keep that type of restriction, but many don't -- so don't count on it to keep you in line after the first several months.

Go, have a good time, as Sai says, sip on some water or unsweet tea. Doubtful anyone will press food or drink on you, but here are some sample scripts in case they do: Them: care for a cocktail? You: No thanks! Them: Here, have a slice of birthday cake! You: I wish I could, but my doctor ordered me not to eat food like that until I lose some weight. Them: why aren't you eating? You: I've been having some tummy issues recently, trust me, you do not want to see the results at this party if I eat some rich party food. Them: Why aren't you drinking? You: My doctor told me no alcohol because I need to lose weight. I swear I am not pregnant! etc. etc. Pick the type of excuse that works best for you, though I doubt you will have to use it.

I think that's fine, and what kind of procedure you are having is not any of their business. I do think it's a bad idea to lie at work -- I mean flat out lie -- because likely people will eventually figure out that you have had weight loss surgery, whether you tell them or not, and if they think you lied about it, they might start thinking of you as a dishonest person in general. So be prepared with what you might say if people ask you: --what procedure are you having? --did you have weight loss surgery? etc.

Coffee isn't a no no for me! Most of my fluid intake is black coffee, I rarely drink water. No issues with acid or ulcers, great weight loss, happy, healthy, perfectly hydrated (the idea that coffee will dehydrate you is a myth as per published scientific studies -- anyone tries to sell you on that BS, tell them to SHOW YOU THE SCIENCE -- they can't!).

I'm over 3 years out and I still occasionally get the rumblies. It's embarrassing but I just remind myself that it's not nearly as embarrassing as being 350+ lbs in public, having to sit in two airplane seats, or being unable to fit in a restaurant booth!

The only thing you are doing wrong is weighing yourself too soon. Your body just went through major trauma and weight loss is not going to happen in any sort of orderly fashion. Stay off the scale (SERIOUSLY) for at least a few weeks more and just focus on healing and getting your post-op program down right. You are going to drive yourself nuts if you are already stressing over weight loss at less than a week out.

Honestly that sounds to me like a broken scale, I really don't think there is any way you could gain 15 lbs in 2 weeks so soon after sleeve surgery, I guess the other possibility is some sort of medical problem that is making you retain water like crazy. Maybe your surgeon or PCP has a scale you can drop in to use?

As long as you aren't experiencing any discomfort or pain, you should be fine. Definitely stop whenever you feel pressure, and try to stay more towards small swallows than big gulps. Good luck!

Y'all need to erase this "only" word from your vocabulary! I lost just under 40 lbs in the first 3 months and I thought I was doing great, as did my medical team. So maybe technically slower than any of you -- and yes I was a heavyweight -- but I still managed to lose over 200 lbs and get to my goal weight. It isn't a race, and comparing your weight loss to other people is generally a recipe for unhappiness. To quote Teddy Roosevelt, comparison is the thief of joy.

A couple of ideas -- If you aren't positive about your portion sizes (weighing them by the gram is best), weigh and track religiously for 3-4 days to make sure you are on point there. Consider cutting your calorie intake by about 300 calories per day -- everyone is different. I know my maintenance range is right around 1500 or a little less (I weigh less than you do though). Consider changing up the type of exercise you do. Maybe give 5/2 a try for a couple of weeks. That helped me break extended stalls a couple of times. If you aren't familiar with 5/2, the basic idea is that for five days a week, you eat at your normal maintenance calories -- which you appear to have found, at least for now -- and then for two days a week, you eat a max of 500 calories, typically in an abbreviated window of time such as only eating between 2 PM and 8 PM. Exercise as normal. Oh and your 2 "fast" days should not be next to each other, but ideally separated by at least 2 days. I usually had Tuesdays and Fridays as my fast days. Another thing you might want to try is changing up the type of food you eat, even if you keep the number of calories the same. Some people are very carb-sensitive, and find that if they replace about half of their current daily carb intake with fat and protein instead, they start losing. Keep working -- you are in charge here! You don't stop weight loss until *you* decide you want to stop weight loss. Good luck!

You'll get the hang of it. Hundreds of thousands of people before you have. It's good that you are conscious of the need to change and are planning for that. You'll do fine.

Weight loss is a matter of caloric deficit. How many calories are you eating each day?

No juice is good juice IMO -- way too many calories, carbs, and too much sugar. Like mainlining a huge hit of sugar right into your system, without even much fiber (it gets destroyed and removed in the juicing process) to counterbalance it.

I stayed under 650 calories for the first four weeks. The lack of energy after surgery has more to do with your body needing to recover from surgery IMO. A person eating 2500 calories a day after a gall bladder removal or heart bypass will also likely be exhausted and weak for several weeks after surgery, too. That's the body's natural response to major trauma.

At ten months, I was still in weight loss mode and a typical day might look like: Breakfast: 2 oz spicy turkey sausage + 1 oz refried Beans Lunch: 2 oz chopped chicken breast + 1 oz chopped green veggies + 1/2 T. salad dressing Dinner: 2 oz tuna salad + 1 shirred egg Another day might be: Breakfast: 2.5 ounces Greek yogurt with 1/2 ounce almond butter stirred in Lunch: 1/2 turkey spinach feta burger patty Dinner: 2 oz lamb chop, 1 oz oven roasted broccoli And another day: Breakfast: 3 oz sirloin steak rolled with dabs of mustard inside romaine lettuce leaves Lunch: 1/2 can sardines + 1 oz chopped grilled asparagus Dinner: 1 egg + 1 egg white scrambled with curry sauce & 1 T. cheddar cheese Snacks on all days: Protein shakes only My basic rules were: 3 meals per day of 3 ounces per meal (at a year out I went up to 4-5 ounces per meal), no snacks other than Protein Shakes At least 2 oz of each meal must be high protein food (meat, fish, eggs, beans) No grains, starchy veggies, sweets, tropical fruits, or liquid calories other than protein shakes I leaned heavily -- and still do -- on frozen and prepared food from Trader Joe's and my local food coop.

I had a drain but only for 24 hours. It was gone well before I left the hospital. Also, it was not a big deal!

If you are "eating back" calories logged as burned via your Fitbit, you might want to reconsider. Those numbers are not as reliable as you might think they are -- one of the possible reasons that using a Fitbit has been shown to actually hamper weight loss rather than help it. http://readwrite.com/2016/09/24/new-study-hints-wearable-fitness-trackers-harm-good-hl4/

@@Heather I that sounds like ketosis breath. For many people it goes away after a couple of weeks, others not until they start eating more carbs. It's something that happens in your bloodstream -- all the brushing and mouthwashing in the world won't change it, though some find that sugar free mints can help mask it. Good luck!

It's too soon past major, traumatic surgery to expect any sort of rhyme or rhythm to weight loss or anything else. Stay off the scale for a while because the "information" it gives at this early stage is meaningless.

I looked into Blue Apron but I realized that it includes a lot of high carb foods that are not permitted on my plan -- bread, potatoes, noodles, etc. -- so I would be paying for food that I would just be tossing in the garbage. And it was too expensive for me in the first place. So cost-wise, I could not make it work. I have heard good things about the meals, though.

I drink about 5 cups of black coffee a day, sometimes more. If I order anything from Starbucks, it's usually a tall redeye, dark roast. Very rarely, as a treat, I will get a tall skinny vanilla latte or a tall vanilla sweet cream cold brew.

Syntrax nectar protein powders (the fruit and tea flavors) mixed with water, Unjury chicken soup protein powder mixed with water, vanilla protein powder stirred into warm (not hot!) vanilla chai tea, unflavored protein powder stirred into warm beef or ginger miso broth. For non-protein options, G2, Vitamin Water Zero, Powerade Zero, diet cranberry juice drinks (Ocean Farms Diet Cran Lemonade etc.), sugar free popsicles.

In small amounts because it is so high calorie and high carb. I like it as a bit of binder with chopped hard boiled eggs, or just have a few small spoonfuls on its own.

I used Wellesse liquid multi-vitamins for the first several weeks. I took a double dose, one in the morning, one at night. I eventually switched to Trader Joe's Chewable High Potency Multi-Vitamins. For the first several months, 2x/day, then switched to one per day. I've had my labs drawn throughout and they have always been great. Both Wellesse and Trader Joe's are cheaper, lower calorie, and lower carb than any bariatric specialty vitamins, which are, IMO, basically formulated to be fake candy with vitamins added in.

milkshake at 2 days post op, smh