clk

Congrats FYE - that's a big accomplishment.

Sorry to hear about the delay with picking things up, OD. It's not easy to end a relationship and it's worse when it just drags out. I hope he can pick his things up soon and you'll be able to start putting that behind you. I hope you have some luck with your dates - get out and have fun, maybe you'll meet a great match.

I fasted yesterday and it was a pretty easy day. I'm also focusing on Protein again. I've been letting those numbers slip and of course I feel more "hunger" when I do that. If I'm not careful, I fill that "hungry" space with junk. So the last few days I've been pushing protein hard and I'm back up in the 90-100 grams a day range again (I can only hit in the 50-60 range on fast days). My overall calorie counts are falling and I'm staying just around 1,000 calories a day with relative ease. I feel like I eat all day long! It's wonderful, really.

I'm also down 2.2 pounds on the scale since I started checking back in with you guys. I'm 1.2 pounds from the top end of my maintenance window and I'd like to lose another 5.5 pounds from this point. Once I'm there, I can reevaluate and decide if I want to fight it for another five. I might just do that.

My ultrasound showed some pretty serious adhesions. The entire left side of my uterus, my fallopian tube, my ovary - they can't see much about adhesions in an ultrasound but they were clearly in the wrong location and appear to be fused to my back. Well, that explains the pain!

I'm off hormones right now but doc is insisting I restart them. Why? Seriously, they *might* prevent more adhesions (assuming the side effects aren't as miserable as they were last time) but they won't do anything for the current ones. She's, in her words, "reluctant to refer me for surgery" if I'm unwilling to follow the prescribed hormone treatment afterwards, as the adhesions will likely just recur. Well, duh? I mean, even WITH hormones they recur!

I hate my doctor. I'm currently in the process of working with the Tricare representative to switch my care to an entirely different military hospital. I refuse to see someone so incredibly idiotic. She's done nothing but waste my time and send me in circles for months. It took me going to the ER to get the referral for the ultrasound in the first place, and it took phone calls to a patient rep to get an appointment with my PCM to read me the results so quickly. Government involvement in almost anything leads to poor customer service. You can't do anything about it - there's no incentive to improve, no monetary benefit tied to quality of care and no real repercussions for poor performance. Your patients/customers keep coming in the door because they have no other options. It's terrible and I hate it.

I'll put off the other fast day until Thursday. I find that my overall desire to snack is diminished now that I'm so focused on protein. It's a relatively simple way to get that carb monster off my back and get some results. Here's hoping that shaving my calories down will finally jump start loss again. I've enjoyed this last week of no real bounces - I hold steady some days but typically drop at least a tiny bit every other day.

~Cheri

To step in on an old argument here - the starting of this thread is incredibly helpful. Why? There are too many "there is only one way to do this" or "I can never, ever touch those foods again" or "if I slip up I'll fail completely" people here.

Fact? We're ALL disordered eaters. We didn't gain ten pounds one night and wake up opting for surgery the next day. The sleeve, for many of us, was the final effort after years of failed diets. Diets that, for the most part, followed these very ideas that are so damaging here:

"If it's not working, you're not trying."

"Slipping up means failure, so once you've slipped why not quit?"

"Success depends upon never, ever giving in to temptation or stress again."

This thread shows people that when they need support the most - when they slip - there are other people that have gone through it, too. There are successful vets here that can relate their stories, too.

The struggle doesn't end with surgery. It's part of us. This thread, humorous and off track at times, reflects that reality. It's also incredibly powerful because it shows people that you can still be successful even if you make mistakes. Because everyone will make a mistake eventually and they shouldn't feel they have to avoid these forums because of it or that they're being judged for their choices. This is about support. This is about being understood. Confession is good for the soul, or so they say. Getting it out in the open is a big step towards overcoming your obstacles.

Thanks again for starting this thread. It's popular because people can relate.

~Cheri

Don't have time to read, I'm due to read at the kids' school. I'm the Kindergarten mystery reader today, even the twins don't know I'm coming.

I should have fasted but totally missed that bus. I honestly don't think it's in the cards this weekend, either. Date night with hubs tonight and a classmate birthday party for the kids tomorrow. Hubs leaves on Sunday for a week in Germany, lucky bastard. Seriously. Both because I heart Germany and also because he gets to leave for a week. I wish I could leave for a week! Love my kids, love, love, love those stinkers to pieces. But yeah, a break? Talk about a fantasy!

I'm going in to the doc on Monday for an ultrasound - intense pain and cramping on my right side and more of that lovely lady trouble (bleeding again, weeks early) so my guess is a cyst. If they'd just do a dang partial hysterectomy, I'd be thrilled. Chuffed to Beans, right coops?

Holding steady on the weight, bleh. It's okay. No gain is good news.

Hope everyone is doing well, I will go back and read soon. I hope I didn't miss any bad news and if I did - I don't intend to be dismissive. I just don't want to put off checking in for weeks at a time again!

Best, everyone! Happy Friday!

~Cheri

Everyone's pattern is different but almost everybody experiences a pause early out.

A stall is three or more weeks at the same weight with no movement. And those happen for most people, too. In fact, my pattern was to stay at one weight, gain during my cycle and to only lose weight in the last week of the month! I also had two nine week stalls along the slow and poky 17 month journey to goal.

The best thing to do is recognize they happen and keep doing what you've been doing. Trust me, you're way too fresh from surgery to be experiencing a genuine stall. Your body is just in shock and is recovering. Once it figures out that you're going to keep on eating and everything is okay, you'll go back to losing.

Good luck and congrats on that sleeve. And do put that scale away. We want to see results every time because we underwent a drastic procedure and we're excited to succeed. But daily weighing in the loss phase can be frustrating and disappointing. There are too many variables that affect your weight and seeing a loss every single time just isn't possible. If it starts to frustrate you or ruin your day, put it away.

~Cheri

Half a cup? I am three years out and a meal for me is half a cup of cottage cheese!

Back off and listen more to your stomach than your nutritional guidelines. Do away with the idea that we have to eat three large meals and maybe some Snacks. Eat every few hours until you're able to eat more in a sitting.

It's a chore for some of us. I couldn't hit my nutritional and hydration goals for several months post op. And I had to eat around the clock just to consume those once I could do it! It takes time but it does get easy. Fast forward a few years and eating is altogether too easy for some of us!

Push liquids as hydration is your biggest focus right now. Beyond that increase your Protein as you can. If you can find a shake that you enjoy mixed with Water (I do chocolate nectar as with Water it resembles a Yoo-Hoo and is easy to drink) it will be thinner and go down more easily, helping you boost both the hydration and Protein numbers at the same time.

Good luck, congrats on that new sleeve. Don't sweat it. I see some people getting goals from their surgeons that would have been plain impossible for me to meet.

~Cheri

It will never get better, and you'll starve to death. Nah, just teasing! A better answer is "all too soon" because the struggling vets would LOVE to have a hard time eating. It would make life so much easier!

It's different for everyone and each person here can give you a different answer. I had trouble eating much of anything until more than a year post op. Incredibly small portions (less than an egg, less than an ounce of soup) would make me incredibly full and cause discomfort.

If any food gives you any discomfort you should back off of it. Retry it in a week or so. Discomfort and pain are your stop signals. So if it's hard to eat something? Stop. Come back to it and try it again later.

My stomach quieted a bit sometime after the first year, but I'm three years out and it still serenades my husband and I to sleep some nights, or makes so many gurgles we need to turn the television up.

Congrats on that new sleeve, and good luck!

~Cheri

Well, I did kinda leash my own kids in a bit. This was all new to them, so hitting about a dozen houses and coming home was no big deal for them. They have very modestly sized candy bags and I'm rationing it out to them two pieces a day until it's gone.

My issue? We did buy candy to give out and we didn't have the turnout we expected! I have half a very large bucket of incredibly tempting treats sitting in my living room, but I'm staying strong. I'm sending it all in to work with the husband soon. I know, it's cruel to fatten up his coworkers but this is survival!

Next year? I'm giving out bags with a small piece of candy and some toys for sure. No need to have this much junk around after the holiday!

~Cheri

Just wondering if ya'll saw this and had any opinions. I'd link the the original but there's an annoying video that auto plays on that site and it bothered me.

Celebrate it. So this is my first year ever that I carved a pumpkin and I'll be taking my five year old twins to trick or treat. To minimize the candy, we're only hitting the dozen houses on the block where we personally know the neighbors. Trick or treat is weird if you didn't grow up doing it. The idea of knocking on strangers doors and asking for candy is just bizarre to me, but it's totally normal to Americans that grew up with the tradition, I guess.

We're also handing out goldfish crackers and candy. I got the smallest bite size portions I could find. It's not my job to parent everyone else's kid, but I will minimize the damage I do, I guess.

Anyway, not sure if this was a hoax or an attempt to stir people up but I will say that she sucks. Handing out humiliation and shame is far more harmful than handing out candy. My house is pretty streamlined - we eat junk sparingly (at least, the kids do and I try very hard to!) and I bake or make almost everything we eat. I still have an obese five year old. It's not her fault - it's really not - she's active and eats well and just plain inherited the same crappy genes and insulin resistance that made me fat. I'd hate for someone else to feel it's their right or duty to attempt to shame her into being skinny. I'd happily give this woman a piece of my mind if she did anything like this to one of my kids. Furthermore, if she really were concerned about childhood obesity (a serious issue) she could hand out fruit chips or granola bars or she could sponsor a Halloween party that was a healthier alternative to trick or treating. But this is just being a a-hole, plain and simple.

Opinions or thoughts?

Enjoy the holiday, people!

~Cheri

Oh, and sarsar, thank you for sharing a few pages back. It's hard. But I think I really realized once I got to goal that the reasons I was having trouble and still feeling unhappy weren't weight related. Digging through all of that crap is painful but beneficial in the end.

You've come a long way, congrats on all of your success.

~Cheri

Globe, I am so sorry to hear your news. I'm so glad you've been proactive and are already trying to find ways to help yourself. All I can do is give you virtual hugs, and thank you for sharing.

~Cheri

I will I weigh in on Thursdays. I fully expect to still be a slow loser even with weight watchers but I'm confident that this may be what I was missing all along on my journey. I haven't told my leader about wls and don't plan to. She seems very open minded but I don't think it's any of their business. I do plan on signing up for the "monthly pass" since I'm basically paying the same with the week to week or pay as you go plan. Since I lost almost 3 pounds my first week, I'm not expecting a big loss this week and wouldn't be surprised if I maintained. Also it's that TOM :/ (sorry TMI) but I've still counted every point and haven't gone over my weekly points.

How's it going with the loss now?

It may be that this weight is where my body wants to be. I'm good with that if that's the case.

Have you lost anything else? Honestly, your lifestyle changed tremendously with your injury so I doubt you're done. It's more likely your body isn't sure what to do because you went from an athletic lifestyle to a more sedentary one overnight! It's important to be happy with our limitations (for instance, I'd love to weigh 120 but my body says nay) but don't throw in the towel just yet!

~Cheri

Thank you for recognizing that we're all different! Don't let those differences sabotage the way you feel about your success.

In three months I lost 44 pounds. Those were my three best months. It took me another EIGHT months to lose the next 44 pounds!

I am 5'1" and my start weight was 242 pounds.

I wouldn't fret about losing too quickly, as the body will slow or stall if things get too crazy. I also wouldn't worry about losing slowly, as frustrating as that might be. Some people lose 100 pounds in 9 months, and some people take 17 to lose 107, like me.

Good luck, and congrats on that new sleeve!

~Cheri

That seems fine, and if you're losing weight you know you're on track! The ideal combo of calories, carbs and Protein is going to be what works best for you, keeps you feeling satisfied but doesn't sabotage your loss. So far you're doing great. It's not easy to log a big loss early out when you've done a pre-op diet so I think that you're doing exceptionally well. I didn't lose any weight my first month until the third week -I even gained eleven pounds in the hospital!

Great work on hitting those nutritional and hydration goals so early out. It's a real challenge for a number of people (it took me months) so you're ahead of the game here.

Expect a slow down or stall soon but don't let it panic you. Keep doing what you're doing, because it looks like you're doing what's right for your body.

Congrats on that new sleeve!

~Cheri

My secret? It's not really so secret because I'm not one to keep a lot of them. But I walk the line (cue the Cash?) and I do all those things that I caution other people about - eating foods or drinking drinks that could trigger a binge fest. And 99% of the time I'm good. It's no big deal to have a small glass of soda and a small portion of popcorn. I can eat it, be done, and not have to do it again or go after more. I make excellent choices most of the time.

But 1% of the time? I'm forced to face the fact that I cannot eat this way when I'm feeling stressed or emotional or hormonal. At those times I can stuff in an entire candy bar and wash it down with a coke if I want to - and I've done it. I can eat a slice of pizza, rest a bit and go back for another slice. I can and have logged upwards of 2,400 calories in MFP on occasion, because even without physical hunger I can eat and eat and eat until I'm physically ill. Even when I don't enjoy the food, even when I didn't want it in the first place, even when I know I could sabotage myself - if I just let loose and let myself do this all the time, I could easily gain a large amount of weight back. Probably not all of it, not without some serious effort. But definitely a big chunk.

Usually I do okay with it. But I eat less than ideal choices in larger than I should portions on occasion. Moderation is hard. This is why I urge caution with it even if I'm not always careful myself. Because it only takes indulging the carb monster a few nights a month (hello, PMS) to build a habit - an addiction - that is incredibly difficult to break.

My name is Cheri and when the hormones hit me, I struggle with my food addiction. I sneak eat (still!) and I overeat because I can, not because I need to. Also, this is why I don't share my MFP with anyone.

~Cheri

I hated food. I didn't miss it. I felt free without it, if that makes sense.

I never realized how much our social rituals revolve around food, though. At times it's been challenging and at times there was resentment that I couldn't indulge in something I really liked, simply because I had no room. Our embassy lives were challenging too, because I was expected to eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink while doing events with the locals - so there were times there that I really wished I had more room, but not so I could eat. I didn't want to eat. I just wanted to avoid being sick because I was expected to eat so much!

But I love that I can say no and walk away more than 90% of the time. And while I still struggle with those old food demons, for the most part food doesn't control my life any more.

Everyone deals with this differently. For every person that posts that they resent that other people eat around them (as if the world were sleeved with them and should adhere to their diet!) there are several more than have no desire to eat at all and aren't tempted by food in the slightest.

For me, each and every struggle I have today is a head one - I still have no hunger. I still don't need to eat. When I slip up, it's because my head isn't in the right place, not because my lust for food got in the way. Even now, if I snag a piece or two of candy I know I don't need, I don't even enjoy them! At three years out there are times when I really enjoy food. But I enjoy a small bit of it and then I'm done. There's no resentment or anger or frustration that I can't eat the entire pot or go back for seconds.

And this can only be a good thing!

I think this boils down to mindset. If you're feeling negative, it bothers you. If you're feeling positive, you see this as a boon.

~Cheri

The pre-op diets are hard for people. Hang in there and do your very best with it. Here's my long list of advice. I'll try to keep it short, but I'm not so good at short posts.

Stock up on groceries and supplies before surgery so you won't have to run out afterward.

Also stock up on meds. I hope you have your PPI, because you'll want one for at least a short period post op.

Walk, walk, walk post op.

Sip, sip, sip. If you're awake, you should be sipping. If cold liquids don't cut it, try warm ones.

If you don't like the Protein shakes post op, find another one. There is a shake out there that you like, you just have to find it. Protein Shakes are a tremendous boost and getting as much Protein as you can will keep you from losing muscle instead of fat.

You're doing a pre-op diet, so you likely won't log huge loss numbers your first month. Anything you lose pre-op should be counted into your loss total. Remember that we all lose at an individual pace, so even someone the same height and weight sleeved the same day will see different results. If the scale gets you down, put it away. You're going to lose weight because you're slicing out 85% of your stomach and can't help but lose weight. And yes, you will probably stall (three weeks at one weight) at some point, and it's normal and no, you aren't done losing weight just because it happens.

Follow your post op nutritional guidelines - do not eat foods before you're supposed to eat them. But that advice about calories/carbs are guidelines. There is no one size approach to this, so the ideal combination of calories, carbs and protein is the one you can live with that gives you results.

Good luck! I wouldn't trade my sleeve for anything.

~Cheri

Ugh Optifast. It'll work, though! You'll shed those pounds in a few weeks on that plan if you can hang in there.

As for counseling/therapy, I'm of the opinion that EVERYONE should have some. The group of people here that don't have disordered eating, food addictions or other underlying issues is minuscule. Almost everyone here has some form of disordered eating and most of us have reinforced those bad habits for years. Our relationships with food and our emotions about eating are incredibly complicated. We like to tell ourselves prior to surgery that all our issues are due to overeating and illness or genetics and that the sleeve will be that choice that finally cures it all for us. Sadly, this isn't the case!

And to take it a step further, in many cases the obesity isn't the issue. I wasn't unhappy because I was obese. I was obese because I was unhappy. And losing the weight made me feel a little better, yes, but it also made all of those things I was hiding under the food and the fat come to the surface. So I definitely needed support to get through that.

Long story short, counseling will never, ever hurt. It can only help.

As for losing the pounds, it's hard but you have a choice. The sleeve isn't going to make everything easier, either. You're still going to love food and want to eat, at least after the initial healing phase (and sometimes during!) so those struggles you're facing now, having trouble sticking to a plan? It won't be as tough post op, but there will still be times you run in to the same challenges, particularly once you're into maintenance and trying to live this new life for the rest of your life.

But Arts is right on - Optifast is hard but you'll lose weight on it!

~Cheri

You can go back to liquids but it's also possible to revisit those early month eating habits. Make a diet plan first thing in the morning. Log all your food so you know what you'll eat for your meals and Snacks that day. And stick to it. Go heavy Protein. Start adding in a shake - find one you like, because with enough work there really is one you like. It took me forever but I found what I like after many failed attempts!

When you get hungry, be sure you're really hungry. Distract yourself. Drink Water. As a last resort, eat a fibrous veggie or Protein snack like a hard boiled egg or Jerky.

This is the real deal here, what you're struggling with right now. You aren't alone. Many of us are food addicts. We have poor habits that we've reinforced for most of our lives. A few months (or even years!) of new habits doesn't break the old, as much as I'd like to say it does.

This is something you will likely face more than once because maintenance is forever. So tackle it head on. Take the food demons on, take control of your diet and move forward towards your goal.

While going to liquids will help, I think that it will be exceptionally difficult and discouraging, and that once you do fall off of it the feeling of deprivation will make you binge again.

So for this week, log those foods. Protein, protein, protein. For this week, don't worry about calories. Worry about the quality of your food choices. Shave calories back down once the carb monster is off your back. And once that little beastie is quiet, move on to controlling your desire to eat more than you should, or to eat emotionally. If I eat 1,000 calories in a day, I can't just eat three meals or I'll feel deprived. I break it up so that I get to eat as many as six times a day, even if one of those meals is a Protein Shake. Make it so you eat so frequently there's no room for the desire to eat things off your plan.

You can do this. I've detoxed a few times. So many of us have! Every single vet I know has had to do it at least once!

~Cheri

I relate a lot, too. In my case there was a huge amount of self-sabotage but well, that's a can of worms I don't feel like opening today. I'm usually so sharey-sharey with no worries or cares about what I put out there, but not tonight. This time of year is hard.

Anyway, sounds like everyone survived the day and it went well. I need to head to bed because me desire to eat sugary things because I miss my husband is getting to me. I hate it when he travels - I've gotten used to having him home and had forgotten what this was like!

~Cheri

You're looking great, Jane! I can't believe how nicely you're healing! Maybe plastics aren't so bad after all and maybe someday I'll be posting before and after photos. We'll see.

That's a heck of a lot of surgery at once, though. I can't wait to see pictures at a month out. I bet you've still got a ton of swelling and things will look even better then.

~Cheri

It is very hard. I would like to sugarcoat that for you but I'd be doing you a disservice.

I was two years out and easily maintaining when I chose to get pregnant. I gained pretty normally - between the hormone shots and pregnancy I put on 35 pounds.

That was half of the hard part. Gaining weight - even for a good reason - is very difficult if your focus for the past two years has been losing and maintaining. I didn't gain too much at all. I looked great (or so everyone said) and when I was at my due date people insisted I was "too tiny to be due any day soon!" My daughter was born at a healthy weight with no complications. I had no complications myself. No gestational diabetes (I was diabetic prior to sleeve) or high blood pressure, no preeclampsia - just a nice, smooth pregnancy. Well, except the plague of morning sickness, but that varies by baby!

By just a few weeks post op I had lost all but 15 of my pregnancy pounds. By less than a month postpartum I was in my pre-pregnancy clothes, though I admit I was in the biggest sizes and even they were a teeny bit snug. Not uncomfortable, just not quite as roomy as they'd been before!

So as far as that goes? That part was pretty easy. But losing the final seven pounds has been a challenge for me. I'm doing it but it's slow going. My daughter is seven months old now and I'm still trying to six more pounds to get back to my goal weight.

But in all fairness, it took me a long time to lose those final pounds the first time, too. This might just be my incredibly frustrating norm.

In the end? It's worth it. It's oh so incredibly worth it. My twins are five, so I'd forgotten sleepless nights and I'd forgotten how hard little babies are to take care of but I'm so grateful I did this, even though I'm frustrated by these last few pesky pounds.

There's never an ideal time, really. You're always going to worry about the weight and even if you never chose to have another child, you'd STILL worry about some day regaining the weight. If you want another child, go for it.

I do encourage you to stick to a very good diet during pregnancy, though, and keep away from indulging bad habits. I wasn't as careful about my quality of carbs because all meat and dairy gave me morning sickness for several months of my pregnancy. Breaking that carb monster was HARD after she was born, and getting rid of the nighttime snacking habit (because I'd wake up hungry in the middle of the night while preggo) has been a real challenge.

But it's definitely possible to lose weight at any point post op - your sleeve is the same from about one year out and will still restrict your quantities if you make solid choices.

I do suggest you wait until at least a year post op to give that sleeve time to really reach it's capacity, so that eating while pregnant isn't a chore or challenge. There's a reason for those guidelines - I wasn't able to eat more than one egg in a sitting until more than a year out!

Good luck,

~Cheri

Most of the surgeons for self pay are very good about giving you a full price up front. It's insurance that's a hassle, honestly. The hardest part now is picking your surgeon and deciding how to pay!

I researched three surgeons for self pay - Dr. Nick Nicholson (Plano, TX), Dr. Trace Curry (Cincinnati, OH) and Dr. Aceves (Mexico). After much deliberation I opted to go with Dr. Aceves. He was cheaper ($8,700 for surgery) but that wasn't my full motivation. I have insurance that does not cover the sleeve at all and flew from Germany to have my procedure. I wanted a longer hospital stay before my return flight home. I felt I got much more bang for my buck with Dr. Aceves, and it was several thousand dollars cheaper, too, even including my travel. I paid $10K for everything including my flights, medications in Mexico (I brought them home with me) and my extra hotel night (I had to pay for one night on my own because my international flight landed the night before).

Find a reputable surgeon with believable positive testimonies online. Then find people here and on OH (that aren't working for the surgeon!) to share their experiences. Scour the web for positive AND negative reviews. Read BOTH. Make an informed decision before you go forward.

I have paid nothing else for my surgery. My PCM resumed my care - they saw me shortly after one year post op and did my blood panel with no issues. I didn't bother getting a prescription for my omeprazole because my insurance gets charged about three times what I pay for it myself and that's just ridiculous. I also by all of my own supplements and Protein shakes, too, but that's not exactly a hidden cost.

The worry comes when you fall into that 1% group with complications. Weigh that carefully. Nobody expects to be that person. A way to minimize that risk is of course to be very careful about selecting your surgeon. But there is risk with any surgery, and should complications arise you could find yourself footing the bill if you pick the wrong surgeon.

Best of luck. Start researching and take your time. This is a big choice to make. The good news is that once you do decide, things move quite quickly.

~Cheri

It took me a few MONTHS to get to the point where I could hit my Protein and hydration goals consistently.

Focus on hydration first, then Protein. At this point it's hard. I doubled my scoops of protein to be sure I was getting at least 40 grams per shake. I never mixed with milk, either - I developed lactose intolerance post op and while I can now have most things dairy, milk is still off the table. I like picking a protein that goes well when mixed with Water. Sounds crazy but it's thinner so I was able to drink more early out that way.

I still do a shake a day, mixed with coffee, tea or Water. I've changed favorites many times over the last few years but one constant is the Syntrax nectar - especially chocolate. It goes well with anything.

~Cheri

Oh - and if you're on soft foods a bodybuilder friend of mine taught me to make sludge early out. Use one Tbs of peanut, almond, soy, or sunbutter mixed with one scoop of protein (chocolate is best, but use what you like) and add in enough water to make sludge. I then toss in a tsp of mini chocolate chips to make it more palatable, no lie, but you can skip that part. Chill it and then eat it up. Weird, I know. But strangely satisfying and it packs a calorie and protein punch. It's good for those early days when it's hard to even hit 500 calories a day and even now I'll do it once in a while if I'm low on calories.

The single biggest tool you should use is MFP so you're on the right track. And you're getting some nice guidelines here but ultimately, the ratio you need to hit is unique to you. It's that sweet spot where you feel satisfied, hit your nutritional goals (60+ grams Protein, for sure) and lose weight with some measure of consistency. Your loss pattern is your own - for me, I only lost about one week of the month, but with the exception of stalls, I had the same pattern throughout the entire loss period.

Start with some of the suggestions here. I was on clears for 11 days post op and then on liquids for another ten days, I think. I can't remember anymore, it's been more than three years! After that I moved into soft foods and advanced to a normal diet as I felt comfortable.

Your biggest focus right now should be hydration as you're at risk for dehydration in the first month. After that, aim to increase your Protein until you're getting those high numbers your body needs so it won't feed off your muscle. After that, as you're able to eat more, worry about counting calories and making a stricter diet for yourself.

Good luck, welcome to VST and congrats on your new sleeve!

~Cheri

I drink a shake a day, too, even a few years out. I like my Protein to be around 90 grams a day.

I think that dieting - and going all liquid is definitely a diet - is something you should not do. Not only because it will be very challenging and perhaps discouraging. More because I think that part of what we do wrong prior to our sleeves is mess with our bodies. There's kind of a delicate balance, and I think that confusing your body by starving it all of a sudden might help you lose weight, but might also screw things up once you start eating again. I also think that our diets should be something we can maintain for life so that we can stay consistent. It's one thing to shave a couple hundred calories off and another thing entirely to cut your calories and carbs down the to bone.

The reality here is that even though that final stretch sucks the real goal isn't hitting your goal weight. It's being able to stay there, long term. Read these threads here in the vet forum. You'll see a lot of us struggling with our old destructive eating habits. You'll see plenty of regain posts. You'll see a number of people still not at goal, too.

You might very well hit goal on such a restrictive diet. But what comes next? How will you maintain that loss? If you think that you can do this and your number one priority is actually reaching goal, then do it. But my honest opinion is that you're hung up on just "getting there" and not really seeing what dieting to lose does to us. The real goal for us should be getting to goal and staying there, not getting to goal and bouncing up again only to have to diet back down again. That's a cycle many of us repeated for years (without ever reaching goal!) before surgery.

Do what works for you, though. For me, smaller changes can jump start my loss more effectively and are easier to maintain for the long run. For instance, I am still trying to lose seven stupid post baby pounds. I've shaved my daily calories back down to just above my loss phase intake (I did 700-900 to lose before - I'm between 1,000-1,100 a day right now). I don't count carbs. I do a modified version of 5:2 and add in my fast days as well, though I am considering dropping 5:2 altogether until maintenance because it doesn't really do much for me if I'm not eating 1,600+ calories a day. In any case, the loss is slow, slow, slow (as usual for me) but I'm dropping tenths of a pound each day, the scale is FINALLY moving again and I'm doing it eating real food without feeling deprived. If you can do the shakes, good for you. For me, after this much time eating "normally" there is no way I could do it without losing my mind and feeling like I was on Medifast again!

~Cheri