Danilax

My mother had the sleeve October 2012, lost weight for four months, suffered a serious physical trauma that left her hospitalized for six weeks and in a wheelchair to this day, and ended up regaining all but 8 pounds of what she lost. Let me tell you, she was depressed and I was scared to see that it was possible for the sleeve to only work for a few months. She was reluctant to talk to her surgeon's office about it, sure they would blame her for every time she had a snack food or, like her primary care doctor, blame her for being in a wheelchair and not trying hard enough to walk again! She was so sure it was because she had junk food a couple days a week or because she wasn't getting enough exercise because that's the conventional wisdom. But I finally just called the office myself and after they spoke to her last week, they told her they don't care about anything but that she gets her Protein in. They don't want her to count calories now, or watch carbs or work out, just protein. That was less than two weeks ago and she's lost eight pounds, after doing nothing but gain for months. Just by changing protein! So I don't know if protein has a mysterious fat-burning quality but it is definitely a stall-breaker. It's funny because before I had surgery I knew we had to get a lot of protein but the only reason I was given was to prevent hair loss and other signs of nutritional deficiency. It wasn't until AFTER surgery when I found out that getting a lot of protein along with drinking a lot of fluids can help you lose weight. I had a long stall after about 9 weeks or so and I noticed that I generally got between 40-50 grams of protein a day, which felt like a lot for me. But when I went up to 50-60 the scale started moving. Now I'm close to the 75 per day that my surgeon originally asked for and I think things are going better. 64+ Fluid ounces is also critical. In fact, more than 64 is really better.

I weigh daily but chart it with Libra app for Android (there is also a website, physics diet, that allows daily tracking but it's not always working). The app tells me trends, makes predictions and creates pretty charts. I've come to realize that what I lose or don't lose from day to day tells me much less than what happens in a month so I don't stress anymore if nothing changes from Tuesday to Thursday, or if it goes up between Sunday and Monday. I just try to hit my nutritional targets. My mom and best friend only weigh when they go to the doctor, so that's another strategy that may work better for scale anxiety.

That's great! Used to go to Cedar Point all the time but then my best friend wasn't allowed to ride because of her weight and that scared me so I never tried again. She had the sleeve last year and I had it this year, maybe someday we'll both go back.

Yeah this is important information. You have to get in at least 64ozs of liquid and probably more to handle large amounts of Protein. Also, I was told that eating more than 30 grams in a sitting may not be useful as you won't absorb it all. At the same time, I've found that increasing my protein from 45 (the "average" American woman as cited in that book above) to 70 has significantly sped up my weight loss. More protein equals less carbs because we can only eat so much.

My tastes have changed but I didn't discover it until I was much farther out than you are because that's when I could eat any kind of food. I have discovered I no longer really like glaze donuts or Twix candy. I lost Twix candy! Oh I know, I know, it's a real blessing not to like these things anymore. But still...Twix.

Like Joia, my doctor doesn't restrict anything and every time I see the nutritionist she tells me not to count things. Of course I count but you can still lose. The rules I'm supposed to follow: Three meals a day, at least 60 grams of protein (higher if you're male), and 64 ounces of water. What I find is that when I follow these rules I DON'T HAVE MUCH ROOM FOR ANYTHING ELSE. With the restriction I have at four months out, it's a struggle to get the protein (I don't drink the shakes anymore, get it all through food). But I had a brownie today. And some crackers. These all have carbs. On the other hand, I made them myself using low carb recipes so they have minimal carbs but they have some.

Mmm yes those calcium chews are delicious. For the B12, my mom had the sleeve and she gets a B12 shot once a month. I use the NOW B12, kind of orange-flavored, very tiny and I don't notice any chalkiness.

The drinks with sugar in them have to go. This made the biggest difference for me pre-surgery. I loved kool-aid and soda. I just went cold turkey. Crystal Light helped a lot, but there are many kinds of sugar-free drinks. It also helps one get used to just drinking more Water. Diet soda is iffy especially since carbonation is a no-no after surgery so no point getting used to it. Seriously, the drinks with sugar have absolutely no nutritional value and increase calorie count tremendously. I didn't think I could drop them but I don't miss them at all. Edit: Oh, and on the main topic, I know how you feel! Grocery shopping is the only shopping I ever liked to do and shopping for liquids was no.fun.at.all (especially since I was still in a lot of pain). It was so pointless and there was no joy in it and no meals to look forward to. But when I got to mushy foods and soft foods it got a little better. And now, 3 months out, I LOVE IT more than I ever did before. You should see how giddy I get over the new ingredients I can try and finding them in my local stores. Also, I am a low carber but there's more to it than meat and cheese. But I also like to cook and love finding new recipes and have spent hours finding and even creating my own low carb recipes so that does help.

Twix. Never in my life have I not liked Twix but I had some and it was not at all good. My best friend congratulated me on not liking Twix anymore and it is a relief to check another temptation off the list. But still...Twix. I used to love Twix.

For breakfast I tried the bariatric funnel cake recipe here. I didn't have Carbquik so I made it with Bob's Red Mill low carb baking mix, but that was a mistake. That mix is much too hearty and thick. I ended up making a jacked-up pancake. But that mix does have a good amount of protein and I got 18 grams from my "funnel cake". For lunch I had zucchini julienned into noodles with italian sausage, garlic and drizzled tomato sauce. For dinner I plan on having something new, chicken, spinach, onions and peppers wrapped in flatout foldit multigrain flax flatbread. For my evening snack a mozzarella cheese stick probably.

Yep. I had pasta after 8 weeks but I kept having the same kinds of thoughts, that the food wasn't beneficial in any way. But I still love so many Italian flavors. I recently discovered Zoodles (julienned zucchini). I got a julienne peeler from my local supermarket, julienned the zucchini and sauteed it in a little olive oil with fresh garlic. Combined with italian turkey sausage and a little bit of sauce. It's become one of my favorite meals and satisfies my pasta craving. Another thing I'd suggest is learning to make pasta and having it as the occasional treat. I think if you make something yourself it gives a greater appreciation for the food and also feels more like a treat rather than something had all the time.

I have tremendous sympathy for the venters. Never stop because this educates people. I did plenty of research and my mother and my best friend had the sleeve before I did. But there are a lot of things you might read or "hear about" before surgery but you cannot know what it is really like until you experience it. There is so much that must be experienced to be understood because it isn't like anything you have gone through. For everyone in here talking about the need to do research, it is threads like this and the comments from frustrated people that serve as TRUE research. Another issue is that no amount of research can prepare you for the idiosyncratic things that only you will experience. None of us has the exact same experience after surgery. For example, I wish someone had told me that I'd be in tremendous pain for an entire month, unable to even sit on the toilet without level 10 pain. No one told me that because it doesn't happen to everyone. But going through that much pain for that long had a big impact on my first month of surgery. I too didn't realize what it would mean not to eat a proper meal. I don't miss eating large amounts of food. I love the savings on my grocery bill! But I also love to cook and put together flavors. It can be such a letdown when I go to all of that effort and then after a few (SLOW) bites I'm done. Another thing is the need to eat really slowly means my food gets cold and rubbery. So even though I knew before I had the surgery that the amounts of food would be low and I looked forward to that, I didn't know how it would alter the whole experience of eating a meal beyond just smaller portions.

Before surgery it was definitely pizza. Pizza every day. I'd eat it cold, hot, whatever. But I had never made my own. Since surgery I haven't even attempted normal pizza because I'm sure the experience won't be the same. I know I couldn't have more than a few bites and it wouldn't be the same. I'd just be mad about blowing my diet for the day on nothing but a few bites. I don't want to ruin my pizza memories so I'll leave them in the past. However, I do eat the easy individual pizza recipe from this site once or twice a week and it absolutely satisfies the craving. Better yet, since I put it together myself it's easy to throw veggie after veggie on and feel good about it while not blowing my counts. Since surgery my vice is Fat Free Reddi Whip. It makes me feel like I'm eating ice cream at only 5 calories for two tablespoons. But a can only lasts me two days, which is definitely vice territory.

I just started it today. I've had the site bookmarked for a couple years and I've finally begun. I didn't even know if I could run since I never run for any reason. But I did it and it actually felt pretty good. I enjoyed the jogging parts more than the brisk walking.

I made these tonight. Sooooo delicious!

I don't like the idea of a lot of people knowing about it either. Since I've had complications I can't hide that there was a medical issue. When people ask, I say I had surgery or stomach surgery. If someone were to flat-out ask how I lost the weight (haven't lost enough yet to be noticed), I would tell them the truth because...that's how I lost the weight. But I know some people will judge. I don't mind being judged when I did nothing wrong but it helps that I am confident that the surgery was the right thing for me to do. Last week I had to be re-admitted due to a complication and an old family friend asked me if I had weight loss surgery. When I answered "yes" she got pretty upset and started talking about other people she knew who had it and then suffered like I was suffering. She thought I'd been pressured into it. I made it clear that I wanted the surgery and was aware that complications can come with major surgery. I didn't like that she was negative about it but I also realize it's her opinion and it doesn't have to shake my world just because someone has a different opinion.

I followed a diet like ones I've seen posted here (shakes plus protein/green veggies meal). I lost 12 pounds on that for two weeks and more importantly I found it really easy. A typical day would be 2 slimfast shakes and pork chops with spinach for dinner. Prior to that I lost 17 pounds in the 8 months before surgery just changing some habits. So total I lost 29 pounds. I didn't follow the diet prescribed by my program (no solid food or Soups of any kind) and I lost weight, but I don't know if I would have been better off following theirs. I think it would have been harder for me mentally but who knows if it might have been better in other ways such as shrinking more fat around the liver.

Honestly I was starting to wonder if I couldn't just keep doing the pre-op diet since it wasn't so bad. I didn't follow the diet they wanted me to follow. They wanted me to just drink 4 or 5 Slim Fasts a day. Instead I drank 2 and ate an extremely low-carb dinner. I found that had me quite satisfied and I still lost double digits since I was always under 1000 calories. I only did all liquids the two days before surgery. But the weight loss was already starting to slow down in the 2nd week and it was a very limited diet. Slim Fast might taste okay but for that to be the only thing I ever have for Breakfast and lunch for the rest of my life? Doubtful I would have stuck with that.