delta_girl

What for?

I'm in a week 10 stall and yup, they are no fun. At 500ish calories a day I know I don't need to cut back. I ate around 800 cals yesterday but the scale didn't budge. These dang things happen and drive us nuts. You can try to mix some things up with food or exercise or water, but when your body wants to take a break its going to have its way. Just keep plugging along.

Just read through sections of the forums. You can also do a specific search up top.

Eat some Protein instead of crackers. But I know how you feel. Yesterday I had 4 cups of coffee then didn't eat all day. Then last night around 10 I ate salted edamame. This isn't typical, but happens sometimes. I'm in a big stall so didn't worry about it.

I'm week 10 post op and I'm still trying new things. I have had very bad experiences with anything that has much fat in it. I took a bite of the fried crust from fish and chips and two fries and felt bad for hours. I ate a few bites of chocolate cheesecake and felt really sick. For some reason pineapple doesn't sit well, nor do boiled turnips. I don't have any trouble with bread, but I don't eat it because I just don't crave it much anymore and would rather eat "real" food. Right now my favorite things to eat are chicken, yogurt and cheese. My surgeon said he wanted me off of Protein shakes by Jan. 1 and only eating food. That is freaking me out just a little.

It took a while. Laying on your stomach ....at least for me pulled on my internal stitches. Having a pillow to prop against your stomach helps when you are on your side. I couldn't comfortably sleep on my stomach for several weeks.

I had bad neck pain for the first week after surgery. I thought it was probably a result of my body jerking in reaction to fighting the anesthesia, or if the surgeon placed my head in an odd position. It went away after about a week and all was well. Went back to edit this. I didn't intentionally fight anesthesia, but I have a very assertive personality and it might have been involuntary. Does anyone have any information on this reaction?

My surgeon recommends Mirilax 2x daily. I've also had good results by including chia seeds or even taking old fashioned Exlax.

I've said this somewhere on here before, but I remember being groggy from anesthesia in recovery as I was coming out of it thinking that I had better hurry up and make up my mind if I wanted surgery or not since it was about to happen. Doubts and fear are very natural. Even well after surgery. There are internal conflicts going on that are much more complex than physical issues. You are making a commitment to a huge change that will be life altering from then on out. You will have to reprogram your eating habits, challenge the ghosts of old habits, find other sources of comfort and control than food, overcome compulsions that rise up out of nowhere to make excuses to not exercise or to eat things you know you shouldn't. You may grieve food, or what it represented to you. You may have situations that arise in social environments that are unique such as eating far, far less than others, no longer indulging in favorite drinks or foods with family and friends, questions about rapid weight loss (if you haven't elected to share that you had a vsg). We here have a common experience and the more you interact on these boards the more you will realize that many have the same stories to tell, the same questions, the same battles. It is also interesting to see how there are big differences between us in recommendations by surgeons and nutritionists, the progress of our weight loss or stalls, complications or lack thereof, fidelity to compliance with our programs, relationship issues, internal struggles, and many more things.

There is one that a patient wrote and published on Amazon as a Kindle book for $3.99 though you can get the paperback for more. I read it and it is basically a general summary. The title is: The Sleeved Life: A Patient-to-Patient Guide on Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Weight Loss Surgery. I was really hoping for something more from the book. Everything you can read here is the same types of thing you get from your surgeon and nut and can read on these boards, but you may find it informational. There is another book which I have not read available from Amazon by Dr. Alvarez. Successful Weight Loss with the Gastric Sleeve

Some pills should never be crushed. Be sure to check to see if it is OK first. Split, yes ..crushed...no.

Carbs?

If you are asking from the point of view as a vegan or vegetarian, there are many ways to get your complete Proteins in. Soy, miso, spirulina, hemp seed, tempeh, amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa are all complete proteins unto themselves. Foods with incomplete proteins can be eaten throughout the day: nuts, legumes, lentils, peas, Peanut Butter, Combinations of foods also create complete proteins. hummus + pita Beans + rice tortillias + beans Pasta + cheese pasta + beans cheese + whole wheat bread tofu + salad

The sleeve doesn't stretch, it just relaxes. The difference is what you put in it. You still have to make good choices by eating low fat foods, eating Protein first, not eating sugar or fried foods, not eating too much. Weighing or otherwise measuring your food is a good idea if you aren't sure about portion control.

My first two weeks was only liquids, too. Clear broth, diluted juice, shakes mixed with water, sugar free popsicles, tea. I couldn't even have jello, pudding, yogurt, or baby food until weeks 3-4.

I think I'd hold of on any more cheese for a few more weeks. It doesn't sound like your stomach is ready for that.

Mirilax and chia seeds.

I've gone once every two weeks since surgery and it is rough. Smell is atrocious. Yes, I'm doing something about it now.

My surgeon doesn't even want his patients eating eggs at all, just egg beaters. I go with just the whites. If you look at competitive athletes and body builders, they eat egg whites for the protein and ditch the yolk. You can even purchase huge gallon jugs of egg whites only.

I dated a guy for six months that would tell me if something happened between us I would never find anyone else as good as he was, that I would have to settle for some elderly man with no teeth. He wasn't trying to be funny, he was serious. A little stab here, another there. As long as he kept me in an insecure position and he had relationship power, he felt that he could say things that diminished me as a human being. But he wanted to marry me. I finally had enough. No one should ever feel like they have to settle, that things are comfortable enough not to rock the boat, that they've been together this long so might as well.... All of that is bullshit. You don't get your life again. This is it. Why waste years? You are better off being emotionally healthy as a single person providing self-care and surrounding yourself with people who love and support you unconditionally. If a man's commitment is conditional on your weight, then ...and I'll probably get a lot of heat for it ...but you might want to look at yourself for why you are willing to stay. It's easy to blame the guy, but half of the relationship is you accepting whatever is going on in it.

Don't wait for surgery to start weight loss. Do it now. You will feel better, your surgery will go easier and your recovery will go faster.

No yolk for me. Just whites. Yolks are fat.

Yesterday

I'm 5'3" and set my goal weight at 115 lbs. When I asked my doctor's nurse why they had selected 128 lbs for their goal weight for me, she said that it was based on their guidelines, which look to be in line with the weight chart posted by Pinky Green.