Bufflehead

Sometimes your weight loss will just naturally pause for a while and you have to wait it out. But in order to be really sure, you need to make sure you are in a significant caloric deficit. How many calories are you eating each day?

Don't look for a physical sensation, weigh out a small portion of food and just eat that. If you find you overate, make sure to weigh out a smaller portion next time.

Not even for a second.

I like some of the Ocean Spray diet cranberry drinks, like diet cran-lemonade, diet cran-pomegranate, and diet cran-mango. G2 and Powerade Zero were go-to's for me as well.

and I worked hard. I earned every bit of my benefits; they are not entitlements. That is exactly what an entitlement is. You *are* entitled to it, and there is nothing wrong with that. Somehow some people in this country have made "entitlement" a dirty word. There is nothing wrong with getting the benefits that you are entitled to.

Sorry but I would run far and fast from a surgeon who would say something idiotic like "your body is comfortable at 200 lbs." Find a surgeon who will work with you to set an ambitious and healthy goal and hold you to strict standards in reaching it, not engage in new age BS about where your body is "comfortable" or "happy."

The only way I have success with nuts is to keep the plain, raw nuts in my house -- the kind you find in the baking aisle, not the snack aisle. When I really want some nuts, I weigh out the amount I can allot myself and stay within my daily calorie goals, then season and roast them myself. If I keep ready-made snack nuts in the house I will eat them basically until they are all gone. And I don't mean over the course of a week or a month, I mean in a single sitting.

Get a myfitnesspal account and a kitchen scale (if you don't already have them). Practice religiously logging everything you eat, good, bad, or ugly. Walk every day. If you are primarily responsible for shopping and/or food prep, start transitioning your family to a healthier way of eating for all of you. Good luck!

I've never taken a bariatric multivitamin in my life. I'm 3.5 years post-op. I take Trader Joe's High Potency chewable multi's, which are cheaper, lower calorie, and lower carb than any bariatric multi and my labwork has always been stellar. Bariatric supply companies with their fake candy vitamins can step off IMO.

A protein pill would basically be you just spending a lot of time taking your protein powder and tamping it into gelcaps, then swallowing all the pills, maybe 40-50 of them. I'd think you'd really have to hate protein shakes to go to that length!

I'm 3.5 years out and I still don't eat and drink at the same time. At least for me, once I lost that habit, I never wanted it back and the few times I've done it accidentally I have felt weird and uncomfortable. So, I just don't.

It will help in that hair loss is less noticeable with short hair, but it won't actually reduce the amount of hair you lose, at least not in any significant way.

At least as of last year the US did not allow people with wls in the military.

If the nurse isn't sure, get in touch with your surgeon, PCP, or ob-gyn. Keep pushing for an answer from a medical professional. Good luck!

Probably. No one can say for sure since recovery is such an individual thing. Personally I have almost no physical intolerances for types of foods, but have learned the hard way that I cannot have even a "bite or two" of my most loved foods, as for me that leads to a downward spiral in my eating patterns and an upward spiral in my weight. So those bites or tastes or splurges or whatever you want to call them are off the table for me except on extremely rare occasions. But do they make me physically ill? Nope.

It's really impossible to tell in advance how one particular person will experience life after vsg. Some people have greatly lessened hunger, others don't lose any hunger. Cravings -- which are different from hunger -- are another thing that may or may not come back. For *most* people, they experience much lower hunger, at least for many months after surgery. Cravings usually are gone for a while as well, but eventually both things may come back -- but usually to a lesser extent. When they do come back, you'll have a good tool to assist you in dealing with them. I can't promise you that you won't need to work at your weight and health for the rest of your life. I can't tell you that it will be easy. I can tell you that losing weight and maintaining weight loss will be *possible* if you are willing to do the work. I know that for me, losing weight and (more importantly) maintaining weight loss was impossible prior to my surgery. I mean, I tried my whole life, I have been morbidly obese since early childhood, and had never gotten close to normal weight. With my surgery, my hunger and cravings, which had pretty much ruled my life, went away completely for about eight months. I did gradually get my hunger and cravings back, but to a much lesser extent. Also, I was so close to my goal weight that I had incredible motivation to stick to my plan. That made it easier than it had been before. I do still work at maintaining my new body. I can't just eat whatever I want and not pay attention to things like calories and carbs. I have to be vigilant. Sometimes it is hard. But I can do it, and I never could before. Good luck to you!

Taking a small swallow of water in order to get a pill down after your meal should not hurt anything.

https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/bariatricpal-protein-drink-classic-hot-chocolate Or if you are willing to work hard: http://www.questnutrition.com/cookbook/drinks-shakes/hot-chocolate/ (this recipe uses Quest Protein powder but just about any chocolate Protein Powder should work). Good luck!

I wouldn't assume you need snacks. Pack a cooler with some protein drinks, focus on eating high protein for your three daily meals, and you should be fine.

@@GourmetH20 yes, my mother is firmly against birthday parties for anyone over age 12 except for milestones like Sweet 16, turning 21, and then birthdays with a zero . . . and since she is the boss of the family we all pretty much just fall in line. She's not against a special dinner at home with your immediate family and small gifts but otherwise she has pretty strong opinions anti-birthday celebrations. I have no idea where they came from though!

Definitely keep working on the right PPI, or the right dosage of PPI. A lot of people need 40 mg of omeprazole daily, split in two doses, 20 mg at night and 20 mg in the morning. Or they need to switch to a different PPI entirely. Keep in touch with your medical team and don't believe you have to expect daily/nightly reflux as your new reality. Good luck!

What is allowed on your preop diet? Not all are the same. I don't want to say something like, you should buy a lot of chicken breast only to find out you are only allowed liquids.

I don't think I could have done more than half days at Disney at a week and a half post op. If you do go, make sure you have an exit strategy for each day -- how you are going to bow out and get back to your lodging to rest if needed. Good luck!

Sounds like your stomach nerves are healing up after the trauma of surgery, but definitely call your doc if you are concerned. That is always the best option IMO.

Carbonation is painful for me. I don't have high blood pressure and don't eat many foods that are high sodium, so I don't worry about occasional foods with lots of sodium. If you are worried about consuming too much sodium, are you tracking your intake on myfitnesspal or a similar food intake tracker? That might give you a better picture of whether you have an issue to be concerned with. You might look into G2 -- it has lower sodium than Powerade Zero and is also noncarbonated. Or just drink water!