TheGamer

As long as the incision isn't open and/or bleeding you should be fine.

Look for posts regarding the week 3 stall and you'll find that this happens to everyone as the body readjusts. You may even gain some weight, but you'll be losing inches.

I would see if you can tolerate liquid meal replacement at all. I have really good luck with GNC's Total Lean pre-mixed shakes as they're not heavy or chalky like a lot of shakes can get. What's most important is to get in your nutrition, or at least as much of it as you can. I look at my nutritional needs as far outweighing my caloric intake.

I go over 19g of carbs most days, so for me it doesn't seem to impact my weight loss. You're actually coming up on the post surgery time that a lot of people stall for 2-3 weeks. Do a search for week 3 stall and you'll see what I'm talking about. While you're stalling, don't feel that you're not losing. I can attest that even when my weight doesn't move I am still losing inches.

The only person who can answer that question is you. Nobody can answer it for you. By the time I was in high school, I was anywhere from 180-220 in terms of weight so I can identify with where you are. When you're overweight, it can make things difficult on a number of levels - physically, socially, and emotionally. If this had been an option when I was your age, I probably would have considered it. Objectively, though, you're still growing. I don't say that to mean like I'm talking down to you, I'm not. But realistically your body isn't done developing and VSG is still a relatively new procedure, medically speaking so there's not as much data about this as there are other procedures. I'm sure you understand that this decision isn't something that can be undone and that it presents its own set of challenges and issues. It won't magically fix the weight problem, but it can help, but only if you realize that this will change things for the rest of your life. My food issues haven't gone away just because I had this surgery. I still have to struggle with the desire for things I know will only be bad for me and I know that even having surgery doesn't mean I'll succeed. Give it a lot of thought and take your time.

I'm losing between 4 and 5 pounds a week on average right now, but I had a very high start weight. I'll lose a pound or so then lose nothing for a couple days, then lose some more.

Have you tried tracking what you're eating? I know it's really easy for me to eat the wrong things if I don't write down every thing I eat all day long It's just too easy for me to eat things that taste good but that aren't that good for me nutritionally.

If you look around the forums you'll see lots of posts referencing the "week 3 stall" where it's not uncommon for the body to just go WTF and stop losing weight for a couple weeks while it sorts everything that's happened out. During my stall I put on a couple pounds even though I was eating about 600 calories a day (and I weigh over 300). Sounds to me like what you're experiencing is normal, so don't worry, it'll pass.

My first week I spent all my time losing the Water weight I had put on in the two days in the hospital, so really my first week? I didn't lose any weight at all that I hadn't put on a couple days prior. The first couple weeks are the worst. Craving things you can't have is normal. I know I wanted "real" food more than anything and I just hated drinking everything. It gets better, though. I developed a dislike for plain water (which water and tea were the ONLY things I drank at all prior to surgery) immediately after surgery and wouldn't drink it if it wasn't flavored. Have you tried subbing out crystal light or tea? Get a sugar substitute like splenda or liquid sucralose (which I prefer - less carbs) to sweeten it up and make it more tolerable. Some times it's just a flavor thing. When we aren't getting flavor anywhere else, just water seems icky. I'm a few weeks out now and I'm losing about 2kg on average per week, some times a little more. My body likes to not lose anything for a couple days then lose a bunch all at once so some weeks I lose a lot, some weeks not so much.

Yeah, it didn't take long for me to figure out that for the rest of my life I'm going to have to be strict with what I eat all the time. It's not because I won't be "allowed" to eat it, but because I know my relationship with food. My relationship with food with never be healthy, not for the rest of my life. It's always going to be that thing I can't control if I let it slip. Sure, a cookie will be okay for some people, but I don't ever think it will be for me. This wasn't easy, isn't easy, and won't be easy, not ever.

I had such a hard time with nausea that I was given a prescription anti nausea medication.

I don't worry about my calories so much as getting in what I need to - protein. I find that by the time I eat all my protein I've had about 500-700 calories and I don't really get hungry much because I eat about 5 times a day. If I just want to snack, I try to make it something "good". Lately I've been on a pickle and greens kick, though I wouldn't do that 3 weeks out.

A vegetarian avoids meat. A vegan avoids products that come from animals like egg, milk, or honey, even if the animal is not harmed.

One of the things that has helped me (aside from the stricture that kept me from eating ) is that everyone around me knows about my surgery and my restrictions that go along with it. Word spread pretty quickly that while I do appreciate the thought of being included, I'm okay with being excluded to keep temptations away from me. If it's unavoidable, I take the smallest bit I can, take an appropriate sized bite, smile, talk about how yummy it is and then take it back to my cubicle where it goes straight in the trash.

Yup, you're doing just fine. As many of us here can attest, even if the scale isn't moving, we're still losing fat. My body likes to lose weight in 3 day increments. I'll lose a pound or more on one day, then nothing for two. Lose more, nothing for two more. It all results in less weight, though, so I can't complain

Have you considered meatless alternatives like Yves meat substitute or seitan? Both are decent in terms of protein and relatively low in carbs.

With me, the one closest to the internal stitches always hurt the worst.

I like the 100 calorie almond packs in wasabi soy and cocoa flavors. I will also use veggies like steamed broccoli, spinach, or collard greens (with pepper sauce!) to snack on.

With the exception of my port drain, all my incisions were at least 3" above the belly button/waist. Port drain was about 2" above. I did, however, try to keep myself in stretchy things and dresses because it was really easily irritated.

I don't come anywhere close to what I ate pre-sleeve. I could go to the Chinese buffet and polish off three plates + desert and not even break a sweat. Now, I feel like I spend a LOT of my day eating, but not eating much. I eat tiny bits about 5 times a day, 100-150 calories at a go. Today I've eaten 4 times for about 63g protein and a little over 500 calories.

They seem to be low protein, high carb/sugar and with not much nutritional value. I would avoid them, personally, as they seem kind of like candy bars repackaged to seem healthier.

Warm liquids are still my favorites. My stomach reacts very strongly to cold anything and I'll usually feel nauseated when I drink it.

Yeah, the dilation has to do with getting food in to the stomach. I had to have this done on Friday because it was difficult for me to eat *any* food at all, even soft foods like mashed potatoes. Remember, the sleeve is a tool, not a magic fix. We still have to pick and choose what we're going to eat in order to have success. Just being able to eat food isn't a sign of failure

Hot chocolate with protein powder was my lifesaver. I'd mix two packets with two scoops of unflavored protein powder, put it in the blender and that would be my breakfast. 20g protein at a go.