prettylittleheart

& I'm a shoe addict! I am replenishing my closet!

Yes, I'm 3 months out, shoe size has definitely changed from a 9.5 to a very loose 8.

Sounds like me early out, I was soooo miserable - I tried dulcolax one night, miralax the next night, and the finally I was tired being in pain because the other things didn't work so I used Milk of Magnesia. I had to take two doses to get total relief but I took in the day and I was going but not enough for total relief, took it again at night and was completely relieved the next morning. I haven't had a problem since. I found it worked better at night too. hope you feel better!

I ate spicy food since purée stage, no problems. I made buffalo chicken. Still eat to this day,

Sleeved 2-28 SW: 326 CW: 266 Down 60 pounds today! I lost 23 pounds pre-op & the rest post-op!

I feel the same way! Instead of enjoying what eat now, it's more like a chore lol - yes agreed, small price to pay. I just feel like now I have to map my life around 30 mins before, 30 mins after and know if I don't keep the schedule tight... I'll never get it all in lol

As someone once told me - the greatest revenge is doing well for yourself. No one can take that from you. I know you are mourning food now, but he will be mourning the loss of you later. You are on the right path & time heals all wounds. Rejection is God's way of saying he's got something better. May be painful now, but may also be a blessing in disguise! Take it easy, do good for yourself! Maybe you need to focus on you for once. Someone who treats you like that doesn't deserve you anyways! Know that you are a good person and good things come to good people, even if a bumpy road leads to those great things - good luck!

The smell of cooking oil, vanilla, and really fatty meat such as bacon all make me a little queasy. Also my sense of smell has heightened for sure! Don't really particularly care for sweet smelling things either.

Freezing your Protein shakes might help too. I also did Powerade zero - froze them and cures the need for crunch, and sugar free Popsicles were my life saver. So if your doctor says those are ok - those things really helped me especially at midnight lol night time was hard for me too. As for Protein powder - I used Body Fortress and mixed with skim milk or Water. I did use water for 6 days after surgery because I had to reintroduce milk. Tolerated it fine though. & good luck! I was also one of the unfortunate pre-oppers that was on full liquids! I would have knocked someone over for a celery stalk lol! Don't regret it at all!

Trust me, after the liquid diet I was on I was ready for anything purée! it's not beautiful to look at, but tastes pretty good.

I used canned chicken (the lemon pepper was yummy) but regular you can do your own thing with. I did egg salad - went down fine, the only problem was before surgery I was the biggest fan of mayo - after surgery I hate it so I pretty much stay away from it. Also did tuna salad - same thing with the mayo though. I did the buffalo chicken thing too - I seen this recipe in the recipes section - but not as freshly - I work so much and constantly on the run so : Canned chicken ( I used 2 tablespoons) 2 tablespoon FF ranch dressing 1 teaspoon of buffalo sauce ( I used Moore's) Optional : bleu cheese crumbles Salt and pepper to taste *spray butter milds the spice if you find it's too much (I used I can't believe it's not butter) Puree until smooth. (This was my favorite) Canned chicken (same serving size as above) I made McCormick's Chicken Gravy in the pack Poured 2 tbsp over the chicken Salt and pepper to taste Puree until smooth Canned chicken (same serving) 2 tbsp of light Italian dressing Salt, pepper, and garlic powder Couple of sprays of butter Puree till smooth Canned chicken (same serving) Shredded 1 babybel mozzarella cheese (melted) 2 tbsp (you can use more) of spaghetti sauce ( I used Ragu) Parmesan cheese on top Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste ( this was yummy - tastes just like chicken Parmesan) Canned chicken - great value sells a lemon pepper brand This is delicious right out of the can truthfully. The only thing I added to it on an occasion is the spray butter. Didn't even add salt or pepper. For sides, I did carrots & string Beans. I still do these recipes during the soft stage Just for veggies now I do asparagus spears too. I didn't even feel deprived eating these recipes & I was soooo happy to reach purées.

I totally had second guesses before surgery. I freaked out. Anesthesia scared me so much, I was just in general worried about everything - I went through an ocean of emotions. After surgery, I did have a day and half of depression which I read is very common - but after that - I've never looked back. No regrets, just happy that I have a chance of gaining my life back rather than just existing & I have control over food - food no longer controls me.

I also bounced back and fourth between 5 pounds - so frustrating I know, but it will go!

I stalled between weeks 3-4 and broke it the 4th week. I dropped 5 pounds. Sometimes when the scale isn't moving you are really losing inches. I thought something was wrong with me and talked to my Doctor about it because I thought maybe I was eating too much - he said I was actually eating too little. I get around roughly 600-650 calories a day (he also said don't worry about that either because it will increase on its own.) Less than 40 carbs, and very little fat probably about 3-5g give or take a few. The first thing he said is stop weighing myself everyday. Pick one day of the week and weigh and I did and it has been SOOOOO much more rewarding. The scale will drive you crazy. I am a few days over 6 weeks out. Also fluid is important. You can search on this site "stall at week 3" or "week 3 stall" very common at that time. Hope it breaks soon. Continue on the right path! Good luck!

I don't use unflavored protein powder, but I do know Unjury has one on their website. They also have a cheesy protein powder too that turns into a cheese sauce to put over things like veggies, meat etc. might want to check out their website, they should have samples for you to try

Lol after my month of liquid diet I was ready for anything puréed. It really isn't that bad. I actually didn't feel deprived at all during the purée stage.

A recipe that I saw on here that helped me: Canned chicken in Water (2 tablespoons fill me up) 2 tbsp fat free ranch dressing 1tsp of buffalo sauce (I use Moore's) Salt & pepper to taste Bleu cheese crumbles (I didn't use the bleu cheese crumbles - I'm on soft foods & I still don't was really high in fat) ( I find if you use the spray butter - it milds out the spice too but still gives it flavor) Something I threw together - Canned Chicken in water (2 tablespoons fill me up) 1-2 tbsp of Fage Plain Greek Yogurt 1 tsp of Salsa Top with shredded cheese & salt & pepper to taste. - I threw this together & love it tastes like Mexican chicken pretty yummy & high in Protein. Something else I threw together - Canned chicken (2 tbsp) 2-3 tbsp of whatever kind of spaghetti sauce of your choice I used Ragu mushroom & garlic Salt & pepper Blend until smooth Some melted shredded mozzarella cheese This tastes like Parmesan chicken so yummy. Another quick thing I threw together - Canned chicken (2tbsp) I buy the chicken gravy in the packs from Great Value or McCormick & put 1-2 tbsp on the chicken - heat it in microwave & blend until smooth 3 sprays of spray butter Salt & pepper Another favorite of mine - This is yummy straight from the can Great Value at Walmart has Lemon Pepper chicken in the can right next to the canned chicken in water same amount of calories and carbs & it's delicious. I add a little spray butter & heat it Blend until smooth. You can also do a tuna salad, egg salad, all yummy, nutritious, and high in protein. I am on a soft diet now & still eat these daily. It's also convenient for work too. Each recipe on takes about 5-10 minutes to make. Hope this helps!

I had a hard time with portion control before surgery too. I'd only eat one time a day, and eat a huge plate of it & snack later in the night. Since surgery, I eat anywhere from 3-4 times a day (including breakfast) & it's very small portions. I mean 2-3 tablespoons of anything except fish. Fish goes down really well, but even then one filet fills me up. I don't get hungry. Sometimes I have to remind myself to eat, but most of the time I know when it's time to eat again. I get sluggish when I'm hungry & I feel my body fueling off of everything I'm taking in which to me, is a good thing. Post-op, eating has become a chore for me. Before surgery, I looked forward to every meal. Now, I can eat the same thing everyday & most days I do & it doesn't even bother me. Most of the time this past time has begun to feel like a chore for me. I feel like I work, work, work to get in all my nutrition. Since surgery, I get satisfied waaaaaay more quickly and things taste differently. For example, I used to love mayo with almost everything before surgery - after surgery, I hate it. Haven't used it but one time - and threw that meal away because I can't take the taste. Doesn't make me sick, just don't like it anymore. I usually stop all meals when I reach the point of satisfaction which I never could do that before surgery. In the beginning, I was so concerned that I was never going to be able to eat again like a burger or etc, but when most people told me when you reach a certain point - you won't even want those things - they were right! I have no desire to get off track & I feel like when I'm ready to treat myself I'll be able to make much better choices on how to do it. Sweets - I read about this a lot, I don't really have much input on this because before surgery I wasn't a sweet person & still don't like it afterwards so I've been incredibly fortunate in that department. I'm a little over 6 weeks out & weigh myself once a week. Last week I was down 50 pounds. Good luck!

Thank you! You look wonderful! Congratulations!

My surgery was Feb 28th at 7am (I was his first one) & next morning they did a swallow study to check for a leak - after my results came back at around 2-3 that day I was discharged to home.

My surgery was Feb 28th at 7am (I was his first one) & next morning they did a swallow study to check for a leak - after my results came back at around 2-3 that day I was discharged to home.

This journey is definitely not an easy one. I was blessed with family support. But as we all know here, unless you are physically going through this you have no idea how to respect someone who is. I watch my family eat and it irritates me at how much and what because of their health but not because I want what they are having. The beginning is the worse - but your feelings are normal, all of us here at some point go through it. I'm 21 - I know what it's like not to want to tell your friends. I tell everyone who asks because this is my body & I do as I please & if they bother to pass judgement, they weren't really my friends to begin with. Now, I go out to eat with my family & have the knowledge to make the right choices and get to enjoy the social aspect of eating still, and seeing the pounds drop on the scale. I'm 6 weeks out and I've lost 45.5 pounds including pre-op and I finally feel like the first time I'm doing something about my weight. We are really too young to be battling obesity, we should be having the time of our life right now. It gets better! A therapist would be great to talk to. Also, if you want someone close to your own age - you can always message me! I hope you feel better. Also getting creative with your dietary restrictions helps too. So many recipes on here have helped me and I honestly didn't feel deprived at all.

Lol thanks everyone for your input, I kinda just miss raw veggies right now and can't have them for another month or so. I was just looking into experimenting with this juicing thing thinking ANYTHING is better than the junk I used to eat. This wouldn't be an everyday thing either, maybe on days that I work out, I'd have one right before or something is what I was thinking. Just inquiring as I really didn't & don't know much about it (lol so obvious) I'm also trying to boost up my calories too right now which is happening slowly but surely I'm at around 600 (give or take a few a day) I'm 6 weeks out.

It gets easier. At first, I was using Crystal Light all the time( fortunately Crystal Light started tasting different too - most of the time I couldn't handle the sweetness of it & tea with lemon or peach used to be my absolute favorite, but now my taste buds hate tea lol) now I find I can drink plain water without any issues, no matter the temperature. Keep in mind everyone is different though, I have been extremely fortunate with my sleeve and have been able to tolerate everything I have tried so far including skim milk. Although, water did and sometimes still does sit in me like a brick. Only takes a few minutes to pass. I'm 6 weeks out tomorrow & am back to drinking water almost normal (except I can't gulp like I used to), just try to do anything to get the liquids in as almost nothing is worse than feeling dehydrated (my trip to the ER my second week out was SO NOT FUN) I hope y'all start easing your ways with water soon! Good luck!

If I'm usually a veggie person, would I like it? If it tastes like roots, I doubt it. I just need something I can compare the taste to. Like a virgin Bloody Mary? V8 tomato juice? Etc. I know it depends on what veggies you use but are those drinks similar to what juicing is like?