butterfyeffect

I know! I want to get a bathing suit for the cruise I'm going on in November, but am having trouble guessing what size to get! I tried on a 10 today (currently in 12/14) and it seemed so tight... but who knows what I'll be fitting in in 2 months?

My surgeon did the over-stitch thing too. They are dissolvable stitches, and I could literally tell when they dissolved. I went from only being able to eat 2-3 bites, to eating 1/4-1/2 cup at a time. It was around 2 1/2-3 months for me. But my advice, like everyone else's, is to not wish these first months of weight loss away. I am 4 months out, and my loss has already slowed to 0.5-1 pound per week. Not that I'm complaining, I wouldn't be losing anything if it weren't for my sleeve, so I am grateful. But sometimes I miss the days when 2 or 3 bites filled me up!

I was sleeved on May 6th, so I'm closer to four months than three, but I'm down about 50 pounds, from 231.8 pre-op. I'm now hovering around 180, but can't seem to break into the 170's! My biggest challenge has been spicy foods. I love them, but since surgery they have not loved me... but that doesn't stop me from wanting to eat them! My biggest surprise is just how normal I feel! I thought it would be this huge life-adjustment, but since I've been on "normal" foods, I really just eat smaller portions of just about everything. I still count Protein to make sure I'm getting enough in, but other than that, (and the hair loss) I could almost forget that I had surgery!

I can't chug a whole glass of Water in a few seconds like I used to, but I also don't just sip anymore. I can drink a few swallows at a time, wait 5 or 10 seconds, and repeat. May take a few minutes to drink a 16 ounce glass of water.

Protein shakes were my go-to when I went back to work as well. I knew I could tolerate them, and other foods were still hit-or-miss for awhile. But greek yogurt seems like another good option. I would definitely save the eggs for days off, because reheating them does make them tough. Or have them for dinner!

@@Tamlyn Yeah, I've tried several different types of fish (Salmon, tilapia, and canned tuna). All lead to at least a sliming episode. After trying salmon one more time the other night I decided all fish is off the menu for a little while.

Wow, I could have written this post. For me it was between 3 and 8 weeks or so. I literally went almost a week throwing up everything I ate except for Protein shakes. I ate extremely slowly (3-4 minutes between bites), chewed each bite 30 or 40 times... nothing worked. I remember the first thing I ate that stayed down after that stretch; it was shredded up chicken, maybe a tablespoon of it, in broth. I almost cried out of happiness when it stayed down. From then on it got a little better each day. Now I'm almost four months out, and can eat pretty much whatever I want, except for my sleeve's weird reaction to fish, and mustard... I'm pretty much guaranteed to throw up, or at least slime with those. Anyway, just wanted to let you know that it will get better.

I read something that someone posted before my surgery, something that stuck with me. The post was titled "Rules to follow after your sleeve" or something along those lines. Anyway, the very first "rule" was to eliminate the word "only" from your vocabulary. I have tried very hard to follow that rule, and I think I'm much happier for it. Every time I want to say "I only lost a pound this week!" or "I've only lost 8 pounds this month!" I instead eliminate the "only". Those sentences become suddenly very optimistic: "I lost a pound this week!" and "I've lost 8 pounds this month!" Or, think of it this way if you will: Would you have lost 23 pounds in 8 weeks if you hadn't had your sleeve done? Or would you have stayed the same, or even gained? Don't ever feel defeated in this. It is a journey, not a destination.

Is that ursodiol? I take that. It made me a little sick to my stomach when I first started it, but now it doesn't. No other downside as far as I can see... hoping to not have to go under the knife again if I don't have to, so anything I can do to help me keep my gallbladder I am willing to do!

I had the sleeve, so it's a little different, but my mom had bypass and she eats the "real" version of most things. Exception being that she uses splenda in place of sugar, but that's due to being a diabetic; she did that before surgery too. But, she never had an issue with dumping syndrome, they say that's about a fifty-fifty shot whether you get it or not, and she was just one of the lucky ones.

I do Zumba on my Wii! I like it better than workout DVD's because you can switch up the workouts, if you want it longer or shorter, there's like 12 options for each length, you can also choose the intensity level you want. And if you still get bored with a workout, you can change the backdrop, from a club, to a pool party, etc. It also keeps track of the calories burned (but over-estimates them I think) and minutes you work out each week. Check it out!

I had IV dilaudid via the PCA pump in the hospital. It made me nauseous though, so I stopped pushing my button for it at about 3am the night after surgery. Once I passed my leak test the next day, they gave me the liquid lortab, which worked fine. Then they sent me home with vicodin pills, which I took once or twice a day for the first week. I bought liquid tylenol on the way home from the hospital, and mostly used that. When I first met with my surgeon, I had to sign something saying that I understood that he would only prescribe pain medications for the first 30 days after the surgery. I'm amazed that some people needed them for that long, because I really had no pain after the first week. All I've used for pain control since surgery, for headaches, sore muscles, cramps, etc. is Arnica. I used to need to pop 3 or 4 Aleve a day during my cycle, but haven't had a bad one since surgery. Fingers crossed that the weight loss has somehow helped that too!

3 months and 1 week out, down 48 pounds.

I hit my goal of 60-70g per day with one Protein shake. I don't know how I could eat enough food to get there without grazing all day.

She had major surgery, give her a week or two to recuperate! For some it can even take a month or more, my mom was that way when she had her Gastric Bypass. Just help her focus on getting all her fluids and Protein, and take supplements if recommended by her surgeon.

Great post! So much of your story sounds like mine... I originally thought I wanted the lap band too, but couldn't be happier with my decision. Looking foreword to reading about your journey!

Well, here I am again. Almost three months post-op, and just over halfway to my personal goal of 140 pounds. My surgeon said that 160 would be a very achievable goal for me, but I'm going to try and push it to 140, which would put me at a "normal" BMI of 24, something I have never achieved in my adult life... or my life period, really, since I've been overweight since I was eight or nine years old. Actually, my stretch goal is 135, since I will likely put a few pounds back on after the first year or so, at least that's what I understand from reading what some of the long-term sleeved folks have to say on the maintenance forums. Speaking of BMI, I now have to write about how annoying I find the whole thing. The person who "invented" the BMI scale never meant for it to be used how it is today. It was meant as a very quick way for healthcare professionals to estimate about what a person's healthy body weight should be, based on their height. It was never meant to be used as the only way for them to determine what a healthy weight should be for everyone, since people are different, we come in many different shapes and sizes! The classic example, of course is the body builder who falls into the obese category on the scale, yet has like 3% body fat. But then there are also those who fall into the "healthy" category, but who have no muscle tone whatsoever, and are in fact very unhealthy! Since I'm a nurse, I literally see this every day. I also see some very healthy people who happen to have higher BMI's. And yet I am supposed to mark "Obesity" as part of the health history for every patient I see with a BMI of over 25. (I don't do this, by the way.) Okay, off my soapbox, and on to what I am doing to make sure that I fall into that category of a healthy person with a healthy BMI... I have to admit that since shortly after my surgery, I have been very lazy about doing cardio. This is bad, since my surgeon has emphasized to me that exercise is the one thing that separates his very successful patients from his moderately successful patients (apparently he does not have any unsuccessful patients). For the first two weeks after surgery, I walked about two or three miles every day. But then, I didn't really have anything else to do. I wasn't working, I couldn't eat anything, I couldn't go in my pool. So I walked. Then I went on vacation, and didn't do anything active the whole time. And then I was back to work, but cleared for lifting. So I got back into my weight-lifting workouts, which I had always been pretty consistent with before surgery. I do them with my husband so it's fun, it only takes about 20-25 minutes, and I really see the results, which I like. I have never actually seen any results from doing cardio, I just did it because I knew I had to. But with weight lifting, I can feel my muscles getting bigger, and see them looking more toned. Now that they've slimmed down a bit, I actually think I have very nice legs! About a month ago however, my husband started bugging me about running. In the twelve and a half years we have known each other, he has never done any cardio consistently (and never really had to, since he's one of these people who can eat like a horse, and not gain an ounce). But I was always telling him that he should, since he is starting to get some old-man problems, like high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, despite being at a healthy weight (ahem, see my rant above). So I really wanted to encourage him, but I hate running! Or so I thought I did. I had tried to do the whole couch to 5k thing before my surgery, to help me get a jump on the weight loss, but had only made it through week two before I stopped. I just ran out of energy during my two week pre-op diet. And I really had no interest in going back to it, since it was really hard to do before my surgery. And it's Summer in Florida! Ninety degrees, and one hundred percent humidity everyday does not make for a pleasant run! But finally, after about two weeks of him bugging me about it I downloaded the C25K app again, and we headed out on our first run together... And guess what? It was kind of fun! Turns out going running when you weigh in the 180's is a completely different animal from running when you weigh in the 230's. Who knew? We now go running at sunset on our nights off, mostly on the golf course that's about a half-mile from our house. It's a gorgeous time of day, with the sun setting in the west, and the palm trees swaying in the breeze. Today we were treated to Mother Nature's firework show off to the east of us, with huge, puffy white cumulus clouds and awesome forks of lightning making them glow (miles away, very safe). The sand paths on the golf course are easier on the joints than sidewalks, and our run takes us over a bridge that we always see turtles hanging out under. It has become something that I truly look forward to doing three times a week, and after eleven years of marriage, my husband and I have discovered something new that we like to do together. We are already planning on running a 5k road race in December. Like many other bariatric surgery patients have before me, I feel like I've finally found my inner athlete!

I'm at the three month mark, and it has started... I can't believe I have 6 more months of this!!! I'm taking Biotin, B Vitamins religiously. I only wash my hair twice a week, and never blow dry it, in an effort to keep as much of it as I can! But every time I do wash it, lots falls out. My husband showed me what he took out of the shower drain, and it looked like half of my hair!

My surgeon said that soda is fine in moderation. I drink one or two a week, usually over ice. It doesn't seem to bother me at all, but I don't crave it like I used to. Oh, and I use straws all the time.

I was told to wait three months to eat raw fruits and veggies, so I did. Just added them back into my diet, have so far eaten two salads. The first time, I had some stomach cramping after, but I also had my period, so the salad may have had nothing to do with it. The second time was a few days ago, and it went fine. I've never been a big fruit person, so I haven't tried any raw fruits. Figure I don't really need the carbs anyway. One thing I have found that I don't tolerate is spicy foods, and it's driving me crazy! I love spicy food! It makes me so sad... I got a burrito bowl from Chipotle last night. Normally I would drench it in hot sauce, last night I just put a few drops in it, and it still was a little too much. I ate it, but was a little uncomfortable after. Other than that, randomly I've thrown up the last two times I've tried to eat tuna salad. So that's off my list for awhile. And any Protein that's too dry tends to not go well. Better if it's served with a sauce that I can wet it with a little.

Do it! It's fun once you start, I swear! We go in the evenings, so sometimes its a little cooler, and less humid. When it isn't, I just tell myself that if I get used to working out in 100% humidity, when it's 89 degrees out, it will be that much easier when the evenings get cooler in the fall!

I agree with @@Sleeveless in seattle. I am at 3 months now, and feel pretty much normal. But a new normal... you can read my blog about it!

You look great!!

I've been eating Boca burgers for most of my life! I don't like hamburger, usually replace it with ground turkey in recipes, but if I'm wanting a burger, they do the trick, and are a little easier to prepare than a turkey burger. They also make something called Smart ground, I think, that is the same type of Protein as the Boca burgers, but in ground-up form. It works well for chili, stuffed peppers, meat sauce... if you'd rather not go the ground turkey route. Unfortunately it's been hit-or-miss since surgery whether the Boca burgers agree with me. I think that has more to do with the mustard and pickles I like to eat on them, though. I'm still not doing that well with spicier stuff.

Couch to 5k is a training program that is supposed to take you from doing nothing (i.e.: the couch) to running a 5k in 4-8 weeks. You can do it via an app on your phone or iPod, or just google it, and follow the instructions they give you. I've gone through the online program a couple of times, just never stuck with the running after I completed it! This time I'm using the app, which so far is a lot more fun, for some reason... probably just the not having to keep track of time and distance myself anymore.