gamergirl

Brooke just give it time. You'll be able to eat veggies soon enough. I can understand why your doc is against juicing. My husband and I are both very carb sensitive. After a month of green smoothies WITH all e fiber intact, our blood sugar went up 10 points. It's not for everyone. I'm 8 months out and can get 2 c of veg in daily maybe more if I tried. It will happen

We use it in sugar free pudding mix and sugar free jello whips. I have recipes on my blog but it's a very tasty way to get some protein into a "treat". We go through more unflavored protein powder than any of the shakes at our house.

Jacqui I am so happy for you! Can't believe it's been a year. I have fond visuals of you hanging onto a dumpster lid for dear life and needing to be rescued so glad you're doing well! Congratulations.

RJ I'm so sorry to hear this! Take care of yourself and I hope you recover from this quickly.

Thank you! My husband is unrecognizable. We look at his before and now pictures, and it doesn't even look like the same man. He's turned into a very skinny man. Such a wonderful journey.

Yellow squash with proscuitto as a side dish for pork ribs. Because you can never have too much pork.

What a difference! Congratulations!

The goal is to consume all your Protein eventually. I was nowhere near it for several weeks post op. What I did was keep sipping. But I didn't force it. When I sipped, I sipped protein if possible. It must have taken me 2-3 weeks before I could even get in 64 oz of fluids comfortably, let alone protein. I think you should ease into it, keep the goal in mind, but don't make yourself sick from trying to down all the the protein if you can't in the first 2-3 weeks. Just work toward it.

So here's what I learned about myself. I am a sugar/carb addict. That part I knew. What I learned was that the first time I ate sugar, which was 8 months after I started pre-op/surgery etc., it made me so violently sick that I "knew" I was never going to touch it again. Ever! i mean, ew! Why?! Except that I am an addict. I kept trying a little at a time until it no longer made me sick. And then the cravings hit in earnest. Some of us are addicts when it comes to carbs and sugar, some of us are not. Some of us can do moderation, some of us can't. I think the trick is in figuring out which one YOU are. What's working for me is sugar-free treats. I've come up with several Desserts that I like including a key lime pie equivalent, a brownie recipe, some sugar-free cake, puddings, etc. and when the cravings hit, I eat a piece of those. For whatever reason, the fake sugar doesn't trigger my addiction and craving. YMMV because I've heard from others who say it does trigger theirs. Again, figure out which one YOU are, and life will be good

So I'm seeing this with my husband who has lost 90 lbs and me at 70 lbs lost. The skin looks HORRID at first just miserable. But then, some magic happens. The skin starts to shrink, and you can practically SEE it shrinking because one day your stomach is less...jiggly...than before. There's less skin. I am not sure what happens. But it goes away. I've spoken to several vets and all agree, the skin keeps getting better, and it changes for up to 2-3 years. Having said that, people still do need plastics. There's no way to lose 100+ lbs and not show some "damage" for lack of a better word. But I think the consensus is to wait for a while before deciding that all hope is lost

Realizing that I would still be hungry, and that every day was not weight loss day. That despite having cut out 85% of my stomach, I would still have to be very careful what I ate and how much I ate. Every. Single. Day.

Hi CWJ, it's been a while . Thank you I'm hanging in there. Kinda like the last 10 lbs that are hanging on to me

I tell you what, he will definitely not know for tasting them! I can't tell the difference. We are going to try them with agave nectar this weekend. We tried stevia and it was a no go

Of course, it's www.twosleevers.com The 2 sleevers in question are my husband and me

I have a bunch of full liquids and soft food recipes that I used posted here. Be sure to read the list of ingredients carefully since different docs have different reccos on what is allowed. All these are high Protein and low carb. http://twosleevers.com/category/recipes/full-liquids-soft-foods/

Could it just be Water weight? That's quite normal. Have you ever weighed a glass of water? it's quite heavy! if you are eating 600-70 calories and walking, you can't be putting on real fat so i would stop stressing about that for sure. I think some up and down is normal. food, water, food in intestines, hormones, periods, etc. all add to small fluctuations which are normal.

Hi Melissa, what worked for me was to read, read, read like a mad woman on this forum. There are so many people who share their experiences, it's almost better than one mentor because your experiences might be quite different from that one person. Are there local support groups that your surgeon's office runs or that you can find from this forum?

Indeed it is! Life is good. Good to "see" you again too

For me, I think my ill-health cost me a lot more than $13k. When you are young, this is less of an issue, but as we age and carry that extra weight around, it adds up. By the time you add costs for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, etc. it's cheap at twice the price.

Tanya, how are your calories compared to before? have you changed the type of food you are eating? Eg too many sweets, not enough protein etc?

I honestly don't think I would have made it to this point without the site. I learned so so very much from everyone here. The main thing I learned I think was that it's not a magic bullet cure, and that for many of us, you need to use the early months to learn good habits otherwise once the sleeve heals, you will be in a heap of trouble. I know it doesn't work like that for everyone, but for some of us, the ones who never lost the hunger, the ones who are EXTREMELY carb sensitive, the first few months are a time of re-learning. While I envy those who can eat "a little bit of everything" and "never feel hungry" that is not me. I was hungry 5 days after surgery. I cannot lose anything if my carbs are over 50 gms. I know. I've tried My husband reached goal a month or so ago, and started grazing again. Put back on 4 lbs. He's back to having to monitor everything again and is flirting with liquid diet etc. all over again. I learned a lot here and I'm so grateful to the ones that took time to post and teach.

Talk about being able to make a girl feel good! Thank you so much for those who posted and said nice things. I did take a much-needed break. For a while after surgery, EVERYTHING in my life was about surgery and that's all I did. The balance pendulum always swings us back in harmony right? So I took a little breather. But I kept up with some of you, missed most of you that I'd friended here, kept up my blog (www.twosleevers.com) with sleeve-friendly recipes--and then woke up this morning ready to check in here again. Lovely to see so many of the old faces still here and posting. Time for me to update my ticker and say hello to everyone

Thank you!! I appreciate that

Also in re your comment about gluten free, hidden gluten in soy etc. I really don't think the miniscule quantity of gluten in some of those things will hurt you--unless you have celiac disease. But for most of us, simply reducing gluten is a huge move forward anyway. So don't let perfect get in the way of progress, you know?

I follow Paleo for the most part. I do some dairy but not really. To make it really simple, it's meat, vegetables, nuts and fats. You could get all fancy with almond flour this and coconut the other--or you could just give up wheat and other grains, and Beans plus processed food. I chose to do the latter. Some Paleo types eat dairy some don't. I do a little Greek yogurt or cottage cheese for the Protein once in a while. Mainly it's just meat and veg for me. My blog www.twosleevers.com has mostly Paleo recipes and almost all are gluten-free.