melodymouse

My surgeon counted my surgery day as day 1.

I celebrated my one year anniversary by walking an extra mile, because I could! I've noticed that there are a lot of people posting accomplishments on FB and seeing how many likes they can get. Easy, free of cost.

Mine didn't speak to me for 3 days when I told him I was having the surgery. He knows he's been a lousy husband and was sure I would leave him. But that is his problem born out of his own insecurities. I just don't let it be mine because then he wins. In the beginning he would try to sabotage me and try to get me to eat things I shouldn't. When he realized I couldn't eat those things, he would offer them and then go "oh, but you can't eat that" rubbing my nose in it. Playing mind games. One of the best things I have learned in this journey, is how to stand up for myself. I finally looked him in the face and said, " at some point you are going to have to realize that every time you do something to try hurt me, or try to stick it to me, the person you hurt the worse is yourself!" He asked what I meant and I told him to think about it. It wasn't long after that, that he stopped trying to undermine my efforts. Sadly you may encounter a lot of negativity during this process. You just have to do what's right for you. You will never be able to make everyone else happy, so spend your energy making yourself happy!

It can also be a side effect of dehydration.

You need to notify your doctor. I was having vision problems and had blood work reveal that both my vitamin A & D were low Even though I faithfully take all off my supplements. It was an easy fix. Had my supplement levels boosted and now my eyes are back to my pre surgery vision. Good luck!

Something else you can try, is take the third pillow and put it under your knees when you sleep on your back. It straightens your spine and takes the pressure off of your hips and stomach. Good luck!

To the rest of the newborns out there, it really does get easier pretty quick. The most important thing you need to do is adjust your attitude because Attitude is Everything! You can't go back from here you can only move forward. You seriously need to stop asking "what did I do to myself?!" And start saying, "I am strong and I can do this! I am leaving that miserable life behind me! That's why I did this!!" It isn't that some of us are stronger willed, it's easier for us because we have made THE CHOICE to look at things from a positive perspective. You made a courageous choice to take control and get your life back. Don't let something as insignificant as a little hunger stand in your way! We have a saying at our support group, "NOTHING tastes as good as THIN FEELS!!" Hang in there! YOU are worth it!!!! Best to you!

Mashed potatoes are empty calories. Go for something Protein packed like cottage cheese or Greek yogurt. Warm low fat or non fat ricotta cheese seasoned with a butter substitute like mash potatoes is a nice alternative.

Thanks for posting the label! Sounds yummy but has more fat than my WL team recommends. They say 3g fat/100 calories is considered low fat. That said, I also believe that anywhere you cut Fat or Calories is a plus!!

They use an intubation tube during your surgery and may have scraped your throat. Something I wasn't told before hand is not only does WLS reduce the production of hunger hormone, it also reduces the production of saliva. I would wake up in pain because my mouth and throat were so dry. I started taking a bottle of water to bed because I thought I was dehydrated. It helped to just hold the water in my mouth and let it trickle down my throat. I know for me it is the reduced saliva because I am still dealing with it at almost 15 months. Hope you feel better!

Congratulations, Jeff! I was also advised to lose 10 more than my goal. My PA said you tend to gain back about 10 during the maintenance phase. I had 3 goals. A realistic goal, a dream goal and a fantasy goal. I'm working on the fantasy, but my body is more interested in maintaining! Best to you!

This is definitely the hardest part of any diet. Here's some things that helped me. For boredom- I have planned distractions. Knitting or crocheting something with a pattern to keep my mind focused and busy. Clean something. A drawer, closet or cupboard. Go for a relaxing walk. Or my personal favorite, I turn on music and dance around the house like a silly fool! For a sweet craving- try frozen grapes. They are awesome! Other frozen fruits taste good too and freezing them seems to intensify their sweet taste. For a salt craving- I grab a green olive. The kind in a jar. I suck on it for a while before I chew it up. They are super salty and olives actually have some good nutritional value as opposed to chips. Just don't over do. And yes you can "Eat Just One"! For food triggers- I change the way I do things. For example I take an alternate route so I don't drive past all the fast food places. I buy Snacks or sweets for my family that I don't really care for. My least favorites. Makes them much easier to resist. I also rearranged my cupboards so I have my own healthy choice cupboard and I don't have to open one and see all my old "enemies"! I DVR everything I watch on TV so I can Fast Forward through all the food commercials. Hope these help! Good luck!!

Congratulations! I am amazed at the clarity of your post. No way I could have written anything that legible or coherent the same evening as my surgery! Haha! You should have no trouble doing the post surgery walking! Best to you!!

I would also recommend staying away from PB. Too much fat especially this early out. One of the purposes of the stages of the post op diet is to "prime" your system for maximum weight loss. Don't sabotage yourself by eating the same old junk. Things higher in fat digest much slower and will in turn slow your weight loss. =(

Do you get your blood work done annually?

Quite possibly. 9 weeks out may also be too early for such an intense workout unless you were doing that much pre-surgery. Be sure you have gotten enough protein and carbs for that kind of demand. We are all so anxious to get the weight off, just don't forget your body went through a major trauma and needs time to heal. There is a quick basic test you can do yourself to see if you're dehydrated. Pinch and pull up the skin on the back of your hand. If it takes more than a count of 5 for it to go back to normal, than your body could use some more fluid. Feel better!

Just to clarify this, I did not drink 50g of protein at one time. Unless you are a body builder and putting a large demand on your muscles, you body can't assimilate more than 30 g at one time. Most of the flavors I use are 23 g per scoop. The unflavored is 10g.

Yes, I do use the Nectar in just plain water. It was really great in the beginning because the thicker protein drinks didn't want to go down. Some of the fruity flavors were a little overwhelming for me so I could add extra water without adding extra calories. Something about the Isopure didn't agree with me and it was like drinking liquid fire. The Nectar was a much milder for me.

I'm almost 15 months out and had 85% of mine removed. The only way to stop physically craving those bad foods is to detox. Just like with drugs or alcohol. You have to rebalance your blood sugar by eliminating all those foods that either contain sugar or transform into sugar. That is really a big factor in why we lose hunger in the beginning, not just that our stomachs have been severely reduced inside. The mental issue is a different story. We have a doctor who comes to our monthly support group who is the most knowledgable person on the subject of weight I have ever met. He told us how researchers have used functional MRI brain scans to show how some foods, even just the smell or thought of them, lights up the same neuro-pathways as heroin does in an addict. That's astounding! I always knew food was addictive, now fortunately there is scientific proof! Obesity is an addiction and in my opinion, you will have far greater success if you treat it like one. The psychological aspect is so important! http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/04/04/food.drug.addiction.same.to.brain/index.html

The only thing I was told not to eat again are things with certain types of seeds. Blackberries, Boysenberries that have larger seeds and seeds that are a strange shape like caraway seeds because they can get caught in your staple line. Everything else are just recommendations really. The sleeve diet was adapted from the RNY diet which is strict because they run such a high risk for complications. I will never drink soda or anything else with carbonation ever again because of a presentation I saw on how it affects your stomach. It literally bIew up like a balloon. I don't want to stretch it back out. I did have a little wine on Thanksgiving/Christmas but plan to only have that on special occasions. The truth is, with a sleeve you will eventually be able to eat anything. The bigger question is why would you want to? One of the great things that WLS does for us, is that it tames the hunger beast inside. You eat those old bad things and you run the risk of awakening it. That's why so many people put their weight back on. I personally went thru too much and worked too hard to lose the 104% of my excess weight to sabotage myself and out it back on! Good luck on your journey!

Don't worry. It's only temporary. Pretty soon you will be able to go out and be able to find something good on the menu. Just get used to always having a "doggie bag"! = )

Welcome Ms. Kat! You will find a lot of useful information here. It is a great site!

Hi BrittNicole, drinking just water and apple juice is NOT a good idea. It will put your body into starvation mode and you won't lose. As lifetime dieters we were incorrectly led to believe that less is more, less food equals more weight loss. This is not true when it comes to proper nutrition. Your vital organs all operate on protein which is why we have the Protein First rule post surgery. You also need some carbs for energy. I learned a saying, " Fat burns in the flame of carbohydrates and protein lights the fire." If you think of building a real fire, your excess fat is the log and the protein is the match or lighter. You could hold the match directly on the log and eventually it would start to burn but it would take a long time. If you add some kindling, small pieces that catch fire and burn quickly, the log lights much faster. The carbs are the kindling. But you have to choose good carbs, veggies and a little fruit. You also need to choose lean protein. Watch the fat and salt content in what you are eating. Hope this helps and great job on giving up on the soda! Unfortunately, the only thing good about IT, is how it tastes! Best to you!!