joatsaint

I was told they were going to remove 80 to 85% of my stomach, but I'm sure it was just a guesstimate. Once the doc gets in there he used a bogie as a guide for sizing and stapling, so I'm sure he never really took an accurate measurement of my starting stomach size. So it could have been more or less than 85%.

OMG!!!! I'm going to steal your line..."I still don't see normal..I see my therapist" and add it to my collection! It's nice to be "normal". My BMI number says I am "merely" overweight. But to me it's just a number. I prefer to go by how I look and feel about myself. I've been allowing myself to be judged by someone else's standards for far too long.

When I'm feeling tired and weak, (and sometimes after a high protein/low carb meal) my brain starts coaxing me to eat carbs - because it knows I get a temporary energy boost from sugar. But I can satisfy that feeling with good carbs, like Beans, lentils, squash. You might carefully examine that craving next time it happens - note your energy level or mood and try to figure out if you're really craving a certain flavor or just carbs in general.

My cravings for sweets when away the week after surgery. I rarely feel the need to eat sweets. But I do get a craving for bananas and apples, but only if I walk by and see them. It seems as long as I don't see the temptation, I don't get a craving. I can only remember walking by a bowl of bananas at my mon's house (about 4 months post-op) and suddenly had a craving flung on me. I HAD TO HAVE A BANANA! Up until that, I hadn't even thought about bananas. So I don't keep any temptations in the house.

I didn't take Vitamins the 1st month. I started taking Vitamin pills once I was release to eat full foods (at week 4 post-op). I've never had a problem with any pills post-op - other than being careful about how much Water I'm washing them down with. (It sucks taking a big swallow and the pill doesn't go down and then wondering if I take another swallow, will it be too much for my sleeve. ) I have read where some people are pureeing their vitamin pills and mixing them into Protein shakes.

Congrats on joining the Loser's Bench. I wasn't able to eat but a bite or 2 per day for the week post-op. Concentrate on staying hydrated first, food second. I knew that I had enough calories stored on my body to feed me for months! It is hard, emotionally and physically, those first few days post-op, but it will get easier day by day. In 6 months, you'll look back and wonder what took you so long to have this life changing surgery!

My mainstays for meat based protein are pork loin and chicken breast (or a whole rotissery chicken - Sam's club has them for $5, can't beat that!) My diet is pretty simple, it mainly consists of baked pork loin mixed with lentils, onions, garlic and beef bullion.

I had a small panic attack when I thought about all the food I WASN'T going to be able to eat. But then I had to summon my inner pimp and Pimp Slap myself to remind me that I would be able to eat again and the whole point of surgery was to STOP me from eating large amounts of food.

Congrats and welcome to the Loser's Bench. When you wake up, but sure and ask them, "Am I thin yet?"

My diet was very simple. At 5 months, I was still having problems eating chicken, vegetables, fruit or breads. I created a concoction of refried Beans and finely ground turkey hamburger and ate on it for months... until Frankensleeve began to tolerate a wider variety of food. Here's the recipe: http://www.bariatricpal.com/blog/9018/entry-31168-my-favorite-mexican-food/ For my cheat foods, I allowed myself 1 or 2 tablespoons of peanutbutter per day. (I could have eaten much more easily, it was too easy to eat). Every Saturday, I ate out with friends and allowed myself whatever I wanted for that meal. I wasn't able to eat much more than a total of 4 or 5 ounces all together, but I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted.

I was very lucky in that my job is education related, so I had the same 2 weeks off for Xmas that the school kids get. I timed it just right, and was able to get sleeved on Dec 27th and was back at work on Jan 2nd. I was back at work on day 11. No one at work ever knew it happened. Turns out I was worried over nothing (about anyone at work finding out). Everyone was very supportive. Turns out there were 3 ladies at work who had bariatric surgery (not at the same time as me) and they were very supportive. As people started to notice my weight loss and ask questions, I just told them that it was a combination of eating less and walking. Only a few people at work knew about my surgery. One person was convinced I was taking some kind of miracle drug to lose weight...( but she could see that I was walking before work and at lunch and eating very little ) - I never told her about the surgery. :-P

Congrats on two great NSV's!!!

My doc wanted me to transition to real food as soon as I could. He said protein drinks are okay, but you don't get a lot of the macro nutrients that are in real food.

At 2 months out, I was still only eating a teaspoon or 2 for a meal. My sleeve stayed swollen for a long time and I could only handle Cream of Mushroom Soup, and a few weeks later, refried Beans with pureed turkey hamburger. Even though I was cleared for full foods at 4 weeks, it was months before I could eat chicken/eggs or vegetables like carrots or squash or any kind of fruit. During my 1st 6 months, the healthy food was the hardest to digest. The funny thing is, processed foods like Peanut Butter were very easy to eat, so I had to carefully portion it out to myslef. When I would eat something Frankensleeve didn't like, he would seize up and it literally felt like stones grinding in my stomach. And it hurt. It does get better. I lived on Cream of Mushroom soup and Protein shakes for a few months. I ate more than soup during that time, but I'm talkin bout a teaspoon size bite here and there. :-) Once you're released to full foods, try eating foods that are more pureed - like refried beans and finely ground turkey - I put my turkey hamburger through a food processor and mixed it into the beans.

It truly was a challenge. But I have to say that the pre-op diet was so much harder than anything I have gone through post-op. Hunger and cravings disappeared from the 1st day post-op. The pre-op diet was a constant battle with my food cravings. Even though I knew I wasn't physically hungry, my brain kept telling me I needed to eat. Hang in there, words can't describe how much better life is post-op. It was worth every minute of stress, excitement, pain and hassle.

I'm definitely with you on that one. It truly was an "ordeal" those 1st 10 days post-op! I can definitely say it was some of the worst pain I've ever gone through, but I'd do it agian in a second to get where I am today. :-)

Congrats on such a wonderful NSV.

This has happened only once or twice since surgery, but I'll be eating something so delicious that I wish I could fill up on it the way I used to and enjoy the flavors longer. But I wouldn't go back to the way I was for anything. I don't regert any of it.

Your stall is completely normal. It's just your body adjusting to the weight loss and reduced calories. I found that if I kept to my diet and calorie limits, the weight would start dropping again. I've gone through several stalls during the 1st year and each time I was worried if it was the end of my weight loss. But it wasn't, it was just a temporary "time-out" while my body adjusted to it's new way of living.

I didn't attend any seminars, I just made up my mind that VSG was my only solution. I was nervous/excited about my new life. I mean, I was excited to have the surgery, but I didn't know how I was going to handle being thin. I could do FAT... I've always been FAT. How do I do skinny? It turned out that it wasn't that hard to adjust. :-) Hope these videos help.

You might try Jergens "skin firming". It was recommended to me by a friend. You might also look it up on Amazon.com and read the reviews to see if it might be for you.

Many people rave about eggface - http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com - I haven't tried any of her recipes, my taste in food is pretty simple and I tend to eat the same thing day in and day out.

I stick with Premier Protein chocolate. I have tried EAS and Muscle Milk but always go back to Premier shakes.

I took Milk of Magnesia once, it did the trick. I just read a thread - http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/324173-smooth-move/ where pinkbunnies was recommending "Smooth Move" tea. I also recommend adding a small banana to your daily diet to stay regular - it's been working for me. :-)