delta_girl

I've read probably close to everything on these boards about sleeve stretching and I've read as much as I could find out in the inter webs. There are a lot of different opinions and people have a lot of different experiences. So .... today at my 2 month office visit with my surgeon, I asked him about my sleeve stretching. I wanted a definitive answer to this question that has been driving me nuts. He said that you can "challenge" your sleeve by eating more than you should. You can even challenge your sleeve every day. This means eating way too much (not that it necessarily hurts to do it). Then I asked him if you could permanently stretch your sleeve. He did say that over time as you heal and begin eating more normally, your sleeve will relax, which is good because you do want to be able to eat somewhat normally. I would also guess that if it never did relax you might be in danger of losing too much. So based on this conversation, my understanding is that the sleeve will eventually relax many months out but it does not stretch and will not stretch permanently. You can, however, challenge it all you want. But that would be cray cray after going through all that vsg entails. The next time you meet with your surgeon, please ask him or her the same question and post here to share what you found out directly from your surgeon (not your primary care doctor or nut).

No soda for me ever again, which is fine with me. Now beer...that is a crying shame. I will absolutely be compliant. I didn't run around being fat and unhealthy for 44 years to go through the expense and pain of surgery, the recovery and the change in relationship with food, just to sabotage myself back to where I was before. That would be insane.

The knot may be a pocket of inflammation or an infection. Don't be afraid to call your doctor at this stage.

Mine is not pretty and getting worse as I drop more weight. But if that is the price to pay, I'm good with it.

I had a really great supper last night. I sautéed some cut up chicken pieces in seasonings with a very tiny bit of olive oil. In a bowl I chopped up some baby spinach leaves, 1 pecan, a bit of feta, a small piece of tomato, a tiny bit of goat cheese, some sweet pear, and a little bit of avocado. I mixed it all together with fat free raspberry vinaigrette. It was SO GOOD!

I would think the doctor telling me that would be enough motivation. It really comes down to how much you want it.

I had my first few bites of salad last night. I used a very small dessert sized paper plate and put my bits of chicken and torn spinach on it, some low fat raspberry vinagrette, a few crumbles of feta and a tiny piece of avacado. When I got full I looked at my tiny plate and it looked like I had never eaten anything from it. It was still full of food. So leftovers for lunch today. It really seems bizarre when you think about how much we could eat before!

How far is your house from the hospital? I couldn't have done it, though I was at work 5 days after surgery.

I have read some really far out posts in the forums about stomachs stretching back out to their original size or larger, having to redo the surgery, so on and so on. Then I've seen posters flock to tell their story of the same thing happening to someone they knew. So much hearsay can really ramp up the rumors. There may be a unique case or two when something unusual happened to a sleeved stomach, but it is certainly not the norm. Then there are so many new members here that ask questions about their sleeve stretching out that it strikes fear in the minds of readers. I like facts nice and tidy whenever I can get them that way.

My father has a lap band (2 years) and has the same problem. It is slow, but he drops a pound here and a pound there. His weight loss has not stopped. He eats all of the time, too. It isn't to the point that it is frightening, but eventually it really needs to stop. Your problem to some here may sound like, yeah....that's a problem like winning that big lottery ticket. But it is a very real issue. I hope you get things turned around soon and when you do please share what you did.

I had my first bm at 10 days. At 9 weeks I've only had 4 bms.

It takes a few weeks. The first few I was crazed with wanting food. Not now.

Plus-Sized Mannequin Offends Some By LIZ NEPORENT | Good Morning America – 5 hours ago Email Share 291 Print RELATED CONTENT View Photo Plus-Sized Mannequin Offends Some … Department store mannequins with plus-sized curves have had quite an oversized reaction in the blogosphere. When a user of the online forum Reddit posted a photo of a big boned display model under the heading "Anyone else horrified that they make obese mannequins too now?" it received hundreds of comments and thousands of "up" votes. "Obese people being sold clothes?" said one typical post in favor of the mannequins. "That's just treating them like people." "OMG, it's about time! I've always hated seeing the size I have to get displayed on a much smaller model, then trying it on to see that it looks completely different on me," read another supportive comment. And another said in defense of the mannequin: "It's not fat, it's just big foamed." Not everyone on the site agreed that bigger is better. "I just fear that obese will become the new normal as we try to be politically correct about it. Being obese is not the same as being black/gay/whatever," one commented. Another wrote, "The problem is that most people who are fat take any medically accepted way of reducing their weight as ridicule. They then attempt to dissemble said fact and prove to you how they are a special case and that you are really being judgmental for assuming that it's the doughnuts they are chugging that are making them fat. Sorry, I'm done with the fat people sympathy wagon." The online debate reflects a real-world conflict. Nearly 70 percent of Americans now fall into the overweight or obese category, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average American woman is a size 14. Yet in a sort of reverse vanity sizing, the typical store mannequin remains a svelte size 4 or 6. Ed Gribbin, president of a mannequin manufacturing company, Alvanon, said he thinks he knows why. "There is an ingrained mentality of merchants that clothing in smaller sizes looks more appealing -- it's also why runway models are so small. They believe there is an aesthetic appeal that is violated by using larger sizes in their displays," he said. According to Jennifer Thomas, a body image expert and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, retailers may be right in hesitating before they upsize their displays. "Walking into a store and seeing nice clothes on a mannequin that has a body type similar to your own could be a huge boost for self-esteem, but it might also backfire," she said. "A lot of fashion is aspirational, such that people hope they will look like the mannequin if they buy the clothes. In our society, most people would rather be thin than obese." According to Gribbin, some retailers are beginning to fatten up their floor models in response to consumer feedback. "They certainly don't want to be seen as passing judgment on anyone and plus sizes are now the majority of sales for many," he said. Besides the unnamed store in the Reddit post, J.C. Penney quietly introduced more amply proportioned models in its stores in 2009 and TV retailer QVC has been using Alvanon's size 18 and 20 mannequins to hawk clothing on air for the past six years. Gribbin estimates the mannequin in the Reddit post would wear a plus size 24-26. That's probably larger than most retailers would be willing to display. Either way, most Reddit users do seem to agree the model is creepy -- and it would seriously benefit from having a larger head, less sausage-like fingers and more realistic proportions. As one commenter put it, "It's like the person who made this has never seen a fat person before."

Reading OneWritersSoul I remember that I loved eating canned tuna mixed with low fat cottage cheese during that food stage. It really felt like "real food." It was filling and tasted SO good after all of that liquid stuff.

If we eat 3 meals and two Snacks a day, and there really isn't much difference between the size of the meal or snack, and we are supposed to spend 30-45 minutes eating each, then that would be up to 4 hours a day just eating. Not practical.

I have had to reduce my closet by about 1/4th or so now that I've lost around 40lbs. I think I can still make it through the next 20-25 lbs without shopping with what I have now. But I think I'll go to Goodwill first and see what I can find there before investing in a new wardrobe or trying on a lot of things in a department store. I don't even have a clue as to what I will look or feel like in another 20, 40, 60 lbs lost. I would imagine that it does feel strange, but hopefully a good kind of strange!

Greek yogurt has around 11 Grams of Protein. If you get the unsweetened kind it is a bit like sour cream and you can put it on a potato. For Snacks I like Ostrim Jerky, which has around 60-80 calories for 10 grams of protein. 1 ounce of chicken (or most meats) has about 7 grams of protein, so 3 ounces has 21 grams of protein. 2T of PB2 has 45 calories and 5 grams of protein. And then there is cheese.....mmmmm....tasty cheese. Just be careful of too many calories/fat.

I haven't thrown up yet, but I have overeaten a few times and it was very uncomfortable. I still drink shakes, though not every day. I do notice that when I don't drink a shake it is more difficult for me to get in enough protein. I either use Isopure and mix it in a blender with ice or drink the Muscle Milk Light chocolate with 100 cals. I eat a lot of Greek yogurt, too. I have been trying a lot of things, but not raw vegetables or fruit yet, and no steak. I'm in no hurry for those. The things that seem to upset my stomach so far is pineapple, more than just a taste of sugar, turnips, onions, but again I have only recently been reintroducing a variety of foods. My two worst experiences were when I tried to eat something that had sugar in it. My snacks are Greek yogurt, Ostrim, sugar free jello gelatin or pudding, Goldfish crackers, ...I need to work on adding more variety here.

How tall are you? I was sleeved on the same day. My pre surgery weight was 216 and was 212 the day of surgery. I am now bouncing between 176-178.

Hummus on whole grain crackers. Grilled chicken with sweet potato. Beef stew with carrots and onions. Peanut butter on celery or apples. Tuna salad with tomato slices. Grilled salmon with sauteed zucchini. Lemon pepper catfish with asparagus. Red beans and rice with turkey sausage. Steamed broccoli with low fat cheese and lean butterfly porkchop. Stir fried shrimp with snow peas.

Haha! I can have anything but I still want shakes fairly often. The feel good going down

You may need iron. I'm anemic and that sounds like how I feel it I skip iron

I'm out of town on business and took myself out to eat. I ordered a seared tuna steak. I made more of a mess of the tuna than anything, but probably ate around 2oz. I ate a bit of the veggies and two small bites of rice. Not sure how to enter the panko-wasabi crust in myfitnesspal, though