delta_girl

That is so true. I amaze myself at how much I can eat right before that time and how much I want to graze.

I'm getting close to 3 months out and I notice that I'm able to eat much more than I could at 6 weeks out. But "a lot more" is really relative. Maybe a difference between 500 calories as my average to 650 calories as my average.

You can always wear dresses.

I wonder too if there is a delayed reaction dealing with the bodies reaction to anesthesia. I have noticed that toenails have a bump on the big toenail that looks like it has been growing out since my surgery and the same thing happened when I had surgery back in 2004. Back then I recall my hair dresser telling me that they could look at my hair and guess how long ago we had been under anesthesia.

I suppose technically you don't have to eat certain types of meat at all as long as you are aware of your protein intake. Tofu, steamed fish, lentils, egg whites, cheese, beans, are all good sources of protein. There are even a few vegetarian sleevers around here that seem to do just fine.

A bit scary since some vsg patients replace their food addiction with alcohol.

First of all, that is a terrible idea. Most doctors say 6 months or a year. Your stomach is so tender and still getting over swelling from surgery. A year before surgery I had planned a trip to wine country with friends..non refundable. I went at 6 weeks. I drank wine. My sleeve was not happy. It was just way too early.

I had some edemame and two pieces of nigiri for supper last week. I ended up getting rid of the rice. Next time I will get the sashimi. Rice still isn't working for me very well. I LOVE Japanese.

When was your surgery? I take my perscription migraine medicine. I don't think we are supposed to take NSAIDS.

I did eat at all of my favorite restaurants and had ice cream and cheetoes and drank beer. But ..... my doctor warned me to lose weight. I dropped 7 lbs in the 2 weeks before surgery even eating that stuff, I was just veeeeery careful with what I ate for the rest of the day and I didn't do it every day.

That is a really personal decision and depends on your relationship. I had been dating a guy for 5 months that I really, really liked (still with him). He is a former pro soccer player and very fit. He and I started dating at my highest weight. He didn't know about my surgery until the day of and he went to the hospital with me. He didn't find out the nature of the surgery until a week after. As a middle aged person with a few controlling relationships under her belt, I did not want or need one more man telling me what I could or couldn't do. I never lied or deceived, I just didn't disclose until I was ready. He was really shocked at first, and somewhat hurt. Then he started cooking nourishing broths for me and has been my biggest supporter since. Not that this would be what might happen in your case. Just sharing my particular story.

Always, always a good idea if ever in doubt.

None of mine ever looked like this, but I did have an issue about 3 weeks out. One of my incisions was about an inch above my belly button where may pants band was and when I would sit down my roll of fat would overlap my pants and press against the wound. It got very red and swollen looking. I took my shower, cleaned it and put antibacterial ointment on it can covered it with an extra large bandaid that I did not remove until it was the next evening time to take a shower. It looked so much better. After that I kept putting antibacterial ointment on it 2x a day. It healed faster than any of the others and now at 11 weeks looks better than the others. It is hardly even red.

Smoked salmon is loaded with sodium and sulfites. Fresh is so much better!

I'm at 11 weeks and still do this about 1 time out of 10 times I eat. I've only been on regular food for around 2.5 weeks and sometimes I can't eat every 3-4 hours, so if I'm really hungry I tend to overestimate what I can put in my stomach. Yesterday I had about 3 oz of chicken and 4-5 raw sugar snap peas. After a few minutes I didn't think about it and started drinking some tea that was already on my desk at work. It didn't go down, just sat in my throat. That was realllly weird and very unpleasant. Enough of these experiences and we will eventually learn! I hope.

I'm less than half way through to goal and have started cleaning out several sizes from my closet. I can still wear the smaller sizes I have but have held back from any shopping, though I would LOVE to shop. Instead, I have been looking at clothing styles on Pinterest and I have a board where I collect what I would like for my "new style" to be. It is a lot of fun and satisfies the urge and gives me something to anticipate when I do go shop. As I clean out some of the baggy, ugly clothes that I have, I am realizing that I really didn't like a lot of them but got them because they were cheap and would do at the moment or they are what fit at the time. No more. As my closet empties it presents a really fun opportunity to decide what I would dress like if size and selection weren't an issue. I have looked at several online stores and thought about what I really liked if I could wear all of it. There is a huge difference between what I have been wearing and what I wish I could wear. So anyway....Pinterest!

My doctor didn't tell me my goal. I just happened to find out when I asked the nurse who was weighing me why she said I had lost a certain percentage of my weight to a goal and I knew I hadn't told her my goal. I asked her how did she come up with the number. She said that there is a guide that they use. It is 14 lbs more than the more common formula of 100 lbs for 5' tall and 5 more lbs for each inch over that.

I've lost 48 lbs. with 56 to go to get to my goal weight, and 42 lbs. left to get to my doctor's goal. Progress has been really great though there have been stalls as expected. Sometimes I worry that I won't make it to goal, or even near it. It's almost like so far it has been too good to be true and the dream will end just like past diets resulted in regain plus extra. I still get tempted, still crave things I shouldn't eat and sometimes I indulge, I skip exercise more than I should.

...and this is why

JEALOUS!!!!! ...but happy for you!

I can relate somewhat. I have been grabbing cooked rotisserie chickens from the grocery instead of cooking them myself. The ones that you get already cooked have the skin on and probably have more fat in the meat since it soaks in from the skin. I have been weaning off of the Protein drinks, but I'll still just grab a Muscle Milk light from the fridge instead of cooking an egg or oatmeal. For lunch I'll just eat Greek Yogurt instead of preparing something. Sometimes supper is a random pot luck from the refrigerator that yields quick combinations like cheese, pickles, nuts and some Goldfish crackers. I had never thought about it before as being lazy, but I suppose that is pretty accurate. Any level of success I ever had with a diet involved as little effort to prepare food as possible. Like Slimfast. The only exception to that was when I did Body for Life, but I would prepare a lot of food at once and eat it for the week.

I had to go through one too and it was a very strange experience. We discussed my support systems with friends and family and who cooks at home and what do we cook. We talked about my history of diets since I was very young. We talked about my job and if I drank alcohol, my education, exercise habits, etc. But we never discussed food as an addiction. He did ask how I planned on handling food choices when I traveled for work. The head part of this whole thing is huge. I have been very successful so far since surgery, though I have eaten things I knew weren't good choices now and then. Yesterday at work I suddenly found myself in the kitchen looking for something sweet to eat because I had this sudden craving. I wasn't hungry at all. There was some toffee popcorn and I ate several pieces of it then I got myself the heck out of there. Then I wished that I hadn't done it. The great thing about the sleeve is that it minimized the calorie damage since there is no way I can slam down food like I once did.