Bufflehead

I didn't, but I very seriously considered it. I ended up deciding that the travel from my home to Mexico and back was a lot of hassle as well, and to stick with my local surgeon. I relied heavily on the follow-up and guidance I got from my surgical team, and for that reason I think I made the right call for me. I do think the medical care you get in Mexico can be as excellent as the care you get here in the US if you choose the right doctor and facility. That was never an issue for me. Good luck in your decision!

My portion guideline on puree phase was either 1.5 oz by weight or 3 tablespoons by volume. I once accidentally over-ate (used the wrong measuring spoon) and had no idea until it was too late. I suffered miserably! The slimies are the worst!

I have always preferred making my own to using the premade ones. My favorite protein powders are Unjury (Chocolate splendor, or chicken soup made with warm water instead of milk for a savory change), Syntrax Nectar (cappuccino or chocolate truffle but they have tons of flavors), Chike Iced Coffee (or really any of their flavors), Syntrax Matrix -- any flavor, and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, any flavor but especially their double chocolate flavor. I usually mix mine with unsweetened vanilla almond or cashew milk, and add a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee.

I am 3.5 years post op, so my daily routine has varied a lot, depending on where I was in my post-op eating progression, whether trying to lose or maintain weight, etc. Where are you in this timeline? What are your goals? We might be able to give more helpful information with a little more background.

@@nikki b I eat lean meat and green veggies for snacks as well as meals. I do eat every 2-3 hours. Sometimes I get hungry in between meals and snacks but I just remind myself that while hunger isn't fun, I am not going to starve to death and I can push through for another hour or so. Just because I am hungry does not mean I have to eat.

My program's rules were: --first four weeks: stay under 650 calories --four weeks - six months: stay under 800 calories --six months - goal: stay under 1100 calories --do not count calories burned or attempt to "eat back" exercise calories. I followed those rules and they worked for me. Lost 200 lbs and hit my goal weight.

I wasn't allowed anything I couldn't cut easily with a fork for six months post-op. Also, low-protein, high-sugar foods such as fruit were supposed to be at the bottom of my list of possible things to eat.* *foods like grains and sweets and starchy veggies were off the list completely, of course. Fruit was on the list but at the very bottom.

A few pounds is normal fluctuation. You are going to hit some pauses along the way, which could be anything from hormones or stress making your body temporarily insane to constipation. Generally the preop diet is about shrinking your liver, not about weight loss -- though weight loss is often a nice side benefit -- so keep in mind that you are doing this for a safe and successful surgery, not trying to hit some arbitrary weight loss goal. I had a two week pre-op diet. The first week I lost 12 lbs. The second week, I went up a couple pounds in the first few days, despite doing everything correctly and eating the same way I had the first week. By the end of that week I was down 2 lbs from where I started the week, but losing 2 lbs in a week is a big difference from losing 12 lbs! But our bodies are not calculators or machines and don't always behave the way we expect. Keep following your program religiously and everything will be okay in the end. Good luck!

I log everything on MyFitnessPal. Focus on lean, unprocessed meat and green veggies. I keep my meals about 5 oz total (3 oz meat + 2 oz green veggies). This works really well for me -- much more satisfying and IMO healthier than doing something like all liquids. Good luck!

How many calories are you eating each day?

You really can't control his eating or his health. He has to take care of that himself. And yes, it can seem, after surgery, that people are eating insane amounts of food -- and our reference points tend to be a bit skewed. That said, there are some strategies you can use that benefit both of you: --stop eating out so much -- this will help your pocketbook as well as both of your health. Surely with a wedding coming up and a special needs child to support, a bit of extra cash in your bank balance will be welcome? --when you order, order healthy food. Even if he eats a lot of your leftovers, if all he is getting is grilled chicken and broccoli, it shouldn't make him put on weight or otherwise affect his health. If your dish comes with a side such as rice or potatoes, make sure you tell the server to hold that side. --make sure you order the smallest healthy thing you can find. Appetizers, small or half portions (some restaurants offer these) are your friend. Again, this will help save you some money too. --if you order a regular size portion of something, when you separate it out, keep it for your own leftovers. You can have it for breakfast the next day or lunch. Good luck!

My program doesn't allow soup unless you drain the broth, drink the broth, then eat the remaining chunks of meat, veggies, whatever. As you can see, programs vary -- you may want to check in with yours to get their guidance.

I started by not following my own advice. I always tell people who ask that they should consider "the holidays" to be one meal, or at most one day, not a stretch of days or a season, when deciding whether to eat off plan for "the holidays." I did a terrible job of following my advice over the past couple weeks and as a result when I checked in with the scale, found myself up 9 pounds. So for those of you wondering whether it is possible for people to gain weight back with the sleeve and how long it takes, let me tell you, yes they can and it can be done very quickly! So, I am following my own advice I have given here before for people who have found themselves off track, gaining weight back, and eating crazy things. I have done this before a couple of times and it is HARD but it works. 1. Throw away all off-plan food in the house. I don't give myself permission to finish up the Cookies or whatever. They all went in the trash. 2. Start right away. I did not wait until the end of the weekend, the New Year, or any other artificial starting point. My starting point is now. 3. Three days of nothing but unprocessed meats, eggs, and green veggies. No weighing portions or counting calories. Eat as much as I want whenever I feel hungry. 4. After these three days I'll go back to weighing my portions and counting calories. Probably another day or two of just lean meats and green veggies before adding back in things like dairy, nuts, and fruit. Today is my first day of the carb detox. I find myself doing some serious internal whining about how hard it is and how unfair it is and I don't want to and one more day of Starbucks indulgences won't really set me back that much . . . but I will push through it and keep reminding myself that I get to eat as much as I want, whenever I want, it's just that I can only eat a few types of food. It will get easier.

Vomiting and GERD -- I haven't had any Pro's and con's -- first time in my life I am at a normal weight, which means my life has changed entirely. No real cons except (1) it's major surgery, so that does mean a period of pain and tiredness after as you recover; and (2) some people find themselves unable to tolerate certain types of food after. I can't/don't eat bread anymore or anything carbonated. Advice -- you have to be ready and want to build an entirely new relationship with food. Food will no longer be your comfort, your entertainment, your stress relief, your way of celebrating holidays or family. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it though. You have to be willing to work hard at weight loss and weight maintenance for the rest of your life (I'm deadly serious about that). You have to be willing to accept the possibility that you radically change the kind of food you eat for the rest of your life. Don't kid yourself into thinking this surgery means you eat three bites of pancakes for breakfast, one mini-cheeseburger for lunch, a Snickers fun bar for a snack, and a twinkie for dinner with a side of a couple french fries. Doesn't work like that. If you are like most of us, those types of foods are either entirely or very largely excised from our lives completely if we want to be successful in losing weight and keeping the weight off. Small portions for the first month? I didn't have any "portions" for the first month. My plan called for liquids for the first month post-op. After that I was allowed to move to pureed high protein foods for four weeks. Portion size there was 1.5 ounces weighed or 3 tablespoons measured. This was more than enough, believe me. After that I moved to soft foods for four months and my mandated size for each of my three daily meals was 3 ounces. I could rarely eat that much though. I am now 3.5 years post op and can eat about 5 ounces per meal, depending on what is in the meal. I still focus on high protein, low carb eating in order to maintain my weight loss (over 200 lbs). I don't know that there are stats or averages for weight loss in the first month. The first month post-op, your body does some insane things trying to recover from the trauma of surgery. Healing and getting used to a new way of relating to food should be your focus in the first month post op, not how fast you are losing. All that said, I would think anywhere from 8 - 25 lbs is a reasonable expectation for first month loss for someone your size. Focus on the lower end of that and if you lose more, let yourself be surprised and happy. Good luck in your decision!

I feel like many people who are researching weight loss surgery cruise around boards and only really absorb the stuff they are inclined to absorb. That varies from person to person. Some people may be more optimistic, and focus on posts from young men who weigh over 600 lbs and lost 40 lbs in their first month and then they expect they'll be the same. They just gloss over everyone reporting in maybe a 10 - 20 lb weight loss. Those overly optimistic people who focus on the best outcomes may also be the ones who are, post op, posting things like, I'm two weeks out of surgery, why am I tired? Or, I'm five days out of surgery, why do I still feel pain? On the other hand, there are people who are perhaps more pessimistic or cautious by nature, and they are the ones who focus on what they read about complications, re-gain, etc. and they come back after surgery and post things like "why am I able to drink stuff, does this mean my sleeve doesn't work?" or "I'm not throwing up constantly like I thought I would, what is wrong with me?"

No! Eyes on the prize, and the prize is not stuffing my face.

Just checking in here for accountability -- I made it through these three days of nothing but unprocessed meats, green veggies, eggs, and healthy fats. It was not as hard as I anticipated, but it *was* hard! It got a little less hard every day. For the next two days, I'll keep eating the same way but add in modest amounts of dairy and go back to tracking everything on MFP. After two days, I'll reassess and see what I think my best plan is going forward.

whenever I get that on this site, I just keep hitting refresh and eventually the error message goes away and I land on the page I wanted. Sometimes I have to refresh five or six times but it always works sooner or later.

Lots of people do their Mexico surgeries without someone such as a spouse or friend accompanying them. The hospital or program you use will have someone to take care of you whenever it is needed. You are basically shepherded from place to place by local employees.

Syntrax Nectar, Syntrax Matrix, Optimum Gold Standard 100, Unjury, Chike.

I was allowed to try bread once I had reached my goal weight and successfully maintained for a few months. I did try it (when I was permitted, about 20 months post-op I think), a couple of times, but it always made me feel very uncomfortable, verging on painful, so I've stopped trying.

I would say you are probably losing faster than average. More than a pound a day? Crazy fast and don't expect to keep losing that fast as that is unlikely! There really isn't a "normal" rate of weight loss in the first several weeks. You and your body should be focused on healing and recovery, not how fast you can lose weight right now. The scale will do weird things in these first several weeks -- if it stresses you out, do your best to stay off the scale and just focus on getting in your liquids and protein. It sounds like you are close to where you need to be with liquid and protein, but keep pushing a little more each day. It is very normal to be completely exhausted for several weeks after surgery. Some people aren't but most people are. You will likely find you get a little more energy each day, especially as you get closer to your fluid and protein goals. Rest when you need to and do a little walking when you can. If you aren't ready to go back to work on the 9th, take the time you need or maybe consider going back part-time for the first few days to ease into it. Good luck! Edited because apparently I can't read.

I would guess it is the acidity. But definitely ask to be sure.

Honestly I do think you have an upper hand and it isn't fair for you to compete. If it weren't easier to lose weight with weight loss surgery, none of us would have had the surgery. It's like showing up to a bird watching competition where everyone else has to use their naked eyes and you have a high powered set of binoculars. I would say, participate but make it clear to the organizers that if you win you want to bow out and have the next person get the prize.

@@barbbbsss I am 3 1/2 years post op. I have never thrown up once post op (at least, not from food, I did have an episode with a migraine-type headache that had me throwing up -- completely non-eating related though). And although I have occasionally felt pain from eating too much, that is rare as I know how to recognize my signals for satisfaction and will be able to stop before I go too far. My problem has been with eating the wrong kinds of food -- anything high carb or high sugar is, 1) calorically dense, so you can eat a relatively small amount and gain weight; 2) liable to cause you to have cravings to eat more of that type of food; and 3) unlikely to cause fullness, since they slide right through your stomach without engaging your restriction. So, you can eat a lot more of them without feeling full or even satisfied.