Bufflehead

IMO, you are crazy if you are going against your team's post-op eating plan, but I can't tell from your post whether that's what you are doing or not. Whether you can have soup from Panera again depends on your plan from your team -- there aren't universal rules, and you need to be sure you follow the rules from your own team. I could have strained soup but I still had to make sure I stayed within my calorie and carb goals. Good luck!

The hospital I went to tests every woman under age 50 who has a uterus.

I used a Cuisinart mini food processor. Very simple and easy to use. http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DLC-2A-Mini-Prep-Processor-White/dp/B0000645YL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462728593&sr=8-1&keywords=cuisinart+mini-prep+plus+dlc-2a

I have heard that the pins and needles can be a side effect after operations because you may have your legs strapped down tightly, which causes some nerve compression. I think that it takes most people a few days to a few months for the nerves to get back to their proper way of working, but they do. The palpitations feeling I have heard about less commonly. I would say, try doing things a little bit differently -- cool liquids instead of warm, drinking very small amounts slowly, things like that. It may be just that your system has been through a lot of trauma and is just freaking out a bit. If it persists, I would say check in with your surgical team to make sure they don't think it is anything concerning. Good luck!

Some people don't experience hair loss, but IMO, that's luck, not some magical formula of biotin and protein and special shampoos and whatnot. I think if there were a way to prevent hair loss after surgery, no one would lose hair because everyone would do it. My surgeon told me to save my money on biotin, that it won't prevent hair loss. I wish I had listened! I took large doses for months before and then after surgery. I met my protein goal every single day starting the first 24 hours after surgery (and I ate high protein beforehand too). I took zinc even though it made me sick. I still lost tons of hair (on my head that is -- I did get the well-known biotin side effect of growing lush crops of hair on my face and everywhere below the navel).

2-3 weeks probably.

I would advise against the pajamas, robe, and slippers. Your pajamas and robe are not designed to deal with IV lines, drains, catheters, etc., any or all of which you may have and be dragging around the halls with you. Hospital gowns are. Just put on an extra one facing backwards (like a cape) when you go out walking, so you won't accidentally flash anyone. Also, if you get blood or drainage seepage from your wounds, or IV fluid leaks, they'll mess up the hospital's clothing, not yours. Hospitals provide socks with no-skid bottoms, which are safer than slippers on slippery hospital floors. Many hospitals won't even let you wear your own slippers. The pillow -- as long as you trust the person coming to pick you up and take you home, just have them bring a pillow. No need to haul it around the hospital with you when you only need it for the ride home. Gas strips -- they may be useful for the placebo effect but the truth is Gas-X has no impact whatsoever on surgical gas. That is a completely different kind of chemical than the gases they work on. Also, most hospitals won't let you use your own meds that you bring in from outside unless they are prescription, so if you do choose to bring them, hide them from the nurses. One thing I would suggest if you have one, if you are more comfortable wearing a bra, is a cotton, no-wire bra, preferably a leisure-type bra that fastens in front. Many surgeons will leave you with an incision right at the bra line and trust me the last thing you want is an underwire pressing up against it. Don't worry too much about what to bring -- hospitals are quite used to people being admitted with absolutely no advance warning (people in car accidents and who have heart attacks are rarely traveling with a neatly pre-packed hospital bag) and are perfectly capable of meeting their needs. Good luck!

I am almost 3 years post-op and have not thrown up once. I have not experienced acid reflux. I did get the foamies twice, and both were my fault and easily avoidable. First time, I used the wrong measuring spoon to measure out my food and accidentally ate too much. Boy did that teach me to be super-careful about distinguishing between the regular measuring tablespoon and the special 1.5 T measuring spoon! Second time, I thought, hey, I never get nauseated, I can take my mineral supplement pill without food. WRONG. So, if I had been a bit more careful about following orders I would never have experienced even foamies. And as unpleasant as those experiences were, they were not the end of the world. I would have the foamies every single day for the rest of my life if that is what it took to get from morbidly obese to normal and healthy. Seriously.

9days post op and I feel hungry sometimes. I heard that it's not hunger that I'm feeling, so I ignore it. I'm not really eating much...mostly yogurt. Had salmon yesterday. But I can't tell when I'm full so I just eat very little. You don't want to eat until you are "full." Your stomach is still healing and can't give you reliable signals about satiety at this point. You want to measure out small portions and eat them -- or less than the small portion if you start to feel uncomfortable while eating. What happens if I actually do get full? Does that mean I've stretched my stomach? Lots of people will feel extremely sick, nauseated, dizzy, or even throw up if they are "full." The old full feeling that you are used to is gone and don't expect it to come back. Instead, stick with your measured small portions. You will start to feel pressure or tightness if you eat too much. You may also find that you get a runny nose, or hiccups, or something weird like that if you eat too much. This is because the food you crammed into your tiny stomach is irritating the vagus nerve, which runs across the top of your stomach. It controls things like sneezing and hiccups. So remember, if you get symptoms like that, you ate too much and need to eat less next time. Over eating one time will not stretch your sleeve. Making a habit of it likely will, although it will not stretch out to the size of your former stomach. I was so tired of only drinking water so I got a small mango/pineapple smoothie from McDonalds today I had less than 1/4. Is that super bad??? Will calories from 1/4 of a smoothie derail your weight loss? No. But making a practice of choosing to eat junk food loaded with carbs and sugar (almost 50 grams of each in a serving, I looked it up!) will definitely derail your weight loss. You didn't get this surgery to make lazy choices of horrible food. Get some premier protein shakes or similar to keep on hand. Diet fruit juice is good. So is G2 or Powerade Zero. Vitamin Water Zero is another choice. Your only options aren't water and sugary fast food smoothies. I know this sounds harsh but I really am saying all of this because I want you to succeed! I know it is hard early on but this is the time to learn to make good choices with respect to food and your eating habits. Good luck!

I had to wait two months. Did I like it? No. But I sucked it up and followed my doctor's orders. I had to tell myself over and over again that as much as I might think I know better than my bariatric team: 1. They've guided literally thousands of people from morbid obesity to healthy weight; 2. They have many advanced degrees and decades of experience between them in bariatric surgery, recovery, eating plans, and exercise 3. I was in charge of one person's nutrition and health (mine) and that person ended up morbidly obese and needing bariatric surgery 4. I have no advanced degrees or years of experience in bariatric practice ergo, I need to tell myself to shut up and listen to the people I trusted to perform major surgery on me and guide me to better health. Thinking I knew best and listening to my own advice didn't work out so well before.

I'm going to take a different tack from the posters above. I think that if you want your weight loss to start up again, you need to stop the "nibbling" -- and to be honest, oranges, apples, toast, cheese etc. sounds like more than "nibbles." Make a food plan for yourself for a couple of days and stick to it, with defined meals and snacks. Keep some pre-grilled chicken breast on hand, and tell yourself that if you are hungry, you can eat as much of that as you want. If you aren't hungry enough to be happy about eating chicken breast, you aren't really hungry. I love that you are being so thoughtful about this whole process and are honest about what you are eating and what your struggles are. I will be that with a little bit of changing in your eating habits you will be right back to losing weight the way you want. Good luck!

I think you are eating too much. Try cutting your portion sizes in half and see if it keeps happening.

@@ecoreen94 I do weigh my food unless it comes in a single serving portion or I am splitting something in half, like a can of sardines. I think you have to do what works for you. For some people, weighing is essential. For others, it can be disheartening. I would say whatever you choose, keep in mind that you may need to reevaluate if you find it isn't working for you (this goes for everyone). ETA I do think weighing is crucial for everyone early on. At that point you aren't getting reliable signals about how full you are and you don't want to damage your early progress by eating the wrong portions.

I have grilled chicken breast for breakfast

When I had my surgery I was single with 2 cats and a dog. The dog gave me no problems! I had to brace my abdomen with one arm for the first few days when I reached down for her bowls (or anything else) but that was not a big deal. She was super happy that I was home for a couple of weeks and we went for several walks every day. The cats were a different story -- lifting kitty litter and picking up cats were a no go for weeks, plus I had one that liked doing a kamikaze dive onto my stomach while I was napping. Ouch! Keep in mind that if you are used to picking your dog up for anything, you'll have to develop workarounds for at least a few weeks.

Nope! 200+ lbs down and I could not be happier. I had an easy recovery and never had even a second of "buyer's remorse."

Not per my team's instructions. They say to hold off on drinking after eating food, not to hold off on drinking anything else after drinking a Protein shake. liquids go right through your pyloric valve so there shouldn't be any reason I can think of to wait. You may want to check with your team when you get a chance though, just in case they have different ideas.

@@Lizardlady I think 40 carbs per day for life would not be possible for me. I maintain at about 1600 calories per day. 40 carbs per day would mean getting 10% of my caloric intake from carbohydrates. So if I got 50% from protein and 40% from fat, that would be 200 grams of protein per day and 71 grams of fat per day. I don't think that's healthy, not to mention that I don't think I could even afford to buy 200 grams of protein per day! The only way to get in that much protein and keep your carbs so low is to get virtually all of your protein from meat and/or protein shakes, both of which are pretty expensive. When I am in weight loss mode, I don't eat any grains, starchy veggies, sweets, or beans. That keeps my carbs pretty low. Even in maintenance, I avoid white flour and keep whole grains, starchy veggies, sweets etc. to a minimum.

You aren't supposed to find something great, so give up on that idea. Some people do, but most people find something palatable or something they can choke down. It's never going to taste like a milkshake! My favorites are Chike, Syntrax Matrix, Syntrax Nectar Sweets, and Unjury Chocolate Splendor. The taste of the shake can really vary depending on what you mix it with. I generally use unsweetened cashew milk, which has a much milder taste than soy, almond, or dairy milk (plus is lower calorie).

@@VSGAnn2014 psst Ann minimum for fiber are based on how many calories you eat each day . . . you are supposed to get 14 grams per 1000 calories as per the USDA. The 23-25 number is based on the assumption that a woman eats (I think) 1800-2000 calories per day. Just saying this so people who are eating 600 calories a day right after surgery don't start freaking out about the fact that they can't get in 23 grams of fiber in such a small amount of food! Don't freak out, surgery newbies!

I need to take off a few lbs, so I am in weight loss mode right now. And this is pretty much the way I was eating at a year out, when I was in full time weight loss mode. Here's my diary from Friday Early morning: fat free hot cocoa made w/ cashew milk Breakfast: 3 oz chopped chicken breast Lunch: 3 oz chopped chicken breast + 1/5 oz green Beans + 1/2 T. light champagne vinaigrette Afternoon snacks: small apple, Protein shake Dinner: roast brussels sprouts, curried tuna & kale w/ an egg baked on top After dinner: Greek yogurt, roasted rosemary walnuts & fig Totals for the day: 1,095 calories, 93 grams protein, 87 carbs, 13 grams Fiber If you want to see diaries on a regular basis, friend a bunch of post-surgery people on myfitnesspal, that way you can check their diaries every day ETA: at a year out, I was probably eating more like 2 oz of chicken breast at a meal -- at that point I don't think I could have eaten as much as 3 oz in a sitting.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Viactiv chews are made with calcium carbonate, and some surgeons want post-op people to have calcium citrate, not calcium carbonate. Apparently there is an issue as to whether a post-sleeve stomach can properly absorb carbonate. I personally avoid the controversy by not taking any calcium supplements, but I'm a rebel that way

I didn't have to do protein shakes pre-op. Post op, I used Syntrax Nectar Sweets, Syntrax Matrix, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, Chike, and Unjury. I mix mine mostly with unsweetened cashew milk. I've tried some samples of Quest and thought it was pretty good. I would stay far away from Herbalife -- the numbers are terrible (calories and carbs way too high for the amount of protein you get) and they are very overpriced.

I'm too lazy to fix breakfast so I just have 3 oz of grilled chicken breast. I buy packages of grilled chicken breast from Trader Joe's and then just chop up the right amount and take it to work with me in a little container (I usually eat breakfast between 10 and 11). You can't beat it for calories, carbs, and protein.

I don't trust GENEPRO -- I am not sure what kind of alternate universe they live in where 15 grams of powder can give you 30 grams of Protein. A gram is a measure of weight. In the universe I live in, Isaac Newton helped us understand things like basic laws of gravity where you can't get 30 grams of anything from 15 grams of powder. The whole company seems like a scam. Look at the other stuff they sell. "Male enhancement" supplements etc. I think it's the modern day equivalent of the traveling snake oil salesman. So, long story short, my preference is for unjury because I trust them!