Lakelady

Totally sweet!

iegal-Thanks for the 1 year update and outline of struggles of maintenance. You are at goal right? And staying there right? Maybe you are a little hard on yourself? I had a Weight Watcher's ice cream bar and Mike's hard lemonade last night but I don't feel bad about it-they were delicious and eating straight protein and veggies won't work for maintenance for me. I know I'll if my scale ever get near 130 again I'll switch right back into losing mode. Maybe I'm too early and too honeymoon to know the return of hunger and reach the peak of my stomach capacity? I know I couldn't limit my intake or choices before surgery-maybe it'll became difficult again and I just haven't experienced that yet. Okay-enough chatting-off to work!!

Diva-your pics are just amazing! I have a friend who is miserable with complications after a gastric bypass which she instead of a sleeve because "she had so much to lose!" You had more to lose and did it all with the sleeve! From now on I'm going to be singing the praises of the sleeve and steering people this way.

How fun that there is chatter here again! I'm still trying to maintain instead of losing. This surgery has made me think and eat like a skinny person. I can eat about twice as much as I could the first few months if I really try to get the calories in. But then I'll have a day where I couldn't possibly have taken in more than 800 Kcal. Sigh. I hope it stays so easy. I really need to stop losing-I've never been this small and its so weird.

I drink coffee, diet coke and alcohol-all in moderation. I didn't drink much alcohol until I was close to goal. At this point though I'm trying to get Kcal in to maintain and quit losing! Nice problem right? I don't mind being this amazingly thin but almost nobody knows about my surgery and is sorta watching me and freaking out. Anyway, the only rule I followed was 60 grams of protein everyday. I didn't get all the water in, but tried. I didn't stop eating carbs, bubbly things or coffee. I drink when I eat and I eat carbs in moderation. However, I find I don't have much room for carbs when I'm pounding the protein down. The other thing I did was exercise. Anyway, in my brain those are the most important things. Its been 8 months and its still a honeymoon!

Now some of you may not agree but I love the look of a muscular woman. I've had that look in the past (with a layer of fat) but now I'm lifting weights and not getting bigger muscles like I'd like. Are any of you able to "body build"? Did you bulk up after stopped losing? Apparently I'll need a dose of whey protein within 1/2 hour of lifting (which sounds yucky but I can manage). Any advice?

I am SO MUCH more social now than when I was obese! My friend came over today and helped me redecorate my house. We have campfires in the evenings. I go for walks with friends. I cook a lot with friends and enjoy a small amount of the food. I sit at tables and almost nobody knows about my sleeve and nobody notices what I do or don't eat. It all changes and food just doesn't matter now. It's not like going out trying to diet and craving everything-now just a few bites will do you and the rest is just social. I wouldn't have been able to understand before surgery-its all so different and easy now! I drink socially-sugar just kills me but a glass of wine or whatever is fine!

Awesome!!

I was freaked because I had reflux for the first month or two. Now-NEVER. I hate reflux and agree with Tiff-if I had a problem I'd medicate rather than have my esophagus damaged. I have so much OTC prilosec in my cabinet because I never take it anymore. Just wanting to reassure you this may be temporary. Now if I eat gluten...hours and hours and hours of abdominal pain, bloating and heartburn. If anybody has those problems-try going off gluten for 3 days.

I considered walking away from the surgery prep room! Really it is 2 days of feeling crappy and then HELLO thin!

I've never felt like liquids with my meal effect my sleeve's capacity in anyway. I had soup last night and took forever to eat about 6oz-normal meal for me now.

Yep. Your meal was too large. I get that when I try to eat socially acceptable portions which really sucks because it isn't socially acceptable to go throw up!

That all sounds fine for 5 days out. I feel totally normal now. It's all temporary-keep doing the best you can. I didn't have a drain so I can't comment on that.

Nope! The post-op food intake was so low-cal it really didn't matter. If you get 60 gram of protein in-you won't be able to eat anything else!

It is a guide that is removed after the sleeve is formed.

I was very pleased with Dr. Pleatman. The cash pay price was mighty fine and I've been doing great! I thought he was a good surgeon with a good office staff. I'm 3 hours away so I don't go back for anything but I do email him with updates. I thought his personality was fine but I'd be fine with a jerk who was a good surgeon! That wasn't my experience tho. I really didn't like all the staff of the hospital telling me I was too small for the surgery but WHATEVER-cause I won't ever see any of them again! That experience was an excellent exercise in learning to not care what others think. They should see me now!!!

I don't track anything except protein. I just add up my protein mentally through the day (egg 7, greek yogurt 20, chicken 10 etc). And then I eat whatever else-usually healthy but sometimes not-never very much. I cannot handle much without feeling quite sick. I have no nutritionalist visits because I traveled for surgery. I'm pretty much on my own, with my surgeon's instruction book and this forum. I literally have no idea how many Kcal I have in a day because I despise food tracking (altho I know it works to lose weight). Right now I'm actually trying to eat more to prevent anymore weight loss! If I start to regain I'll have to track more to get back on track.

If there was a surgery that cured alcoholism or other addictions you better believe it would be performed frequently! I'm so thankful that this surgery helped me cheat (translaticfon, it worked) and experience this level of health and happiness. Wow I never thought before surgery I'd have such exuberant posts but wow!

That is mystifying with the stated content of the shake. Maybe just too much? Weird.

I have EXTREME fatigue and shakiness after drinking/eating sugar. Check for level of simple carbs in the shake. Terrible feeling. In order to not lose anymore weight I'm eating more complex carbs and fat but not sugar!

I couldn't bear to not at least sip with meals. I haven't noticed that it effects my ability to eat. But that's just me. If I regain I'll take a look at anew.

I'm a nurse and thought the vidoes of the surgery looked so sweet and simple. I guess it depends on your perspective. I only had post op pain for about 24 hours.

After a week or two I felt decent except for acid. You can look forward to feeling unbelievably fantastic soon!

32. My doc used to use a larger one but says results are better smaller. I'm sure it also has to do with how u use the sleeve afterward! I have no complications and am happy with it. Any if these sizes are tiny compared to a normal stomach!

I'd try to eat more calories if I were you but I bet I was in about the same place at two weeks out. The first month is a temporary transition and not the way it will always be. Soon you too will have a few bites of regular food at meals! I did find I'd start losing more weight in the early days if I increased calories.