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1984 - 135 pounds Levis size 10 relaxed fit 2016 - 137 pounds Levis size 7 slim fit Just sayin....

You had a drain? Is that common? Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App All surgeons have different preferences. Mine put a drain in everyone as a third leak check, put I've heard that he doesn't anymore.

First of all, your weight loss is outstanding, especially considering your low BMI starting point. You've lost far more than I had lost at 3 months and I never considered myself a slow loser. Secondly, I'd say talk to your PCP or a gastro about your diarrhea. Have you been tested for C. Diff or other infections? And what Probiotics are you taking? Most of the OTC ones off the shelf are worthless....too few CFU and limited number of species. Look for ones with at least 20-30 different strains and 50-100 billion CFU. The best ones are found in the refrigerated section of most whole/health food stores. In addition to fiber and probiotics, digestive enzymes can be very beneficial as well. Garden of Life as a good line of products that contain probiotics and enzymes.

Surgery at 3pm Friday Discharged at 9am Saturday. No pain, no nausea, drinking water and apple juice. No reason to stay. Went back Monday morning for barium fluoroscopy and to have drain removed.

I found most protein drinks more palatable when mixed with twice as much water/milk as instruction say. I diluted the RTD 1/2 and 1/2 with milk. Also use Torani syrups to vary the flavor. Syntax nectar, muscle milk, quest and premier are my favorite brands. Others like Bariatric Advantage and Isopure were downright disgusting.

Not cleaning my plate growing up was not an option. Whatever we left on our dinner plates we had for Breakfast. It only took 1 morning of cold liver and onions to learn that lesson well. But surprisingly, I was able to break the clean plate club habit. But I really only have to apply that one when I eat at restaurants. At home my portions are very small, don't even take up a whole saucer-sized plate and I do finish them. I guess my hardest habits to break are the ones I still have.....Eating fast, eating when I'm bored and sitting in front of the TV, snacking in bed at night, and drinking with meals. The good news is that gives me lots of stuff to work on if I ever start to regain.

@@Inner Surfer Girl has a good point. Do those 800 calories include at least 60-80g of Protein? Some patients have even higher protein goals. And what about fluids....at least 64oz? 100oz would be better. Appetite suppressants are a band aid. Yes, they will make staying at 800calories easier, but that is not a sustainable caloric intake anyways and your hunger would come right back when you stop the drugs. Learning how to cope with life without food as a crutch is a permanent fix. As for a therapist, someone who specializes in bariatric issues and eating disorders may be a good place to start. Personally, mine specializes in grief recovery and cognitive thinking. We don't even talk about food or diet. I barely mentioned I had WLS and it is not a focus of our discussions. But the mental tools she is giving me complement my VSG tool very nicely. Very rarely are obesity issues about food, they are about emotions and behaviors. All things that take a LOT of work to acknowledge, overcome and change.

Sounds about right to me. I'm 2 1/2 years out and every day is a battle between what I want to eat and what I know I should eat. I don't win every battle, but I am winning the war. To lose the war is to go back to the way I was....fat. And that is flat out not an option. Find whatever is your unwavering motivation and turn to that when you are struggling. I was able to increase my calories significantly after passing my goal weight, so you may find some relief once you reach that point. Actually, at 10 months out, 800 calories is pretty low. Have you tried to see what happens if you go up to 1000 calories? In any case, I find that maintenance is much harder than losing. Finally turning to a therapist to help me learn how to deal with stress and emotions and all that other stuff food used to "fix" has helped tremendously. And hey, we are all a little bit dysfunctional

Exactly what "effects" wear away? For bypass, your intestines are still rerouted and your stomach is still a small pouch. Sure, you can stretch the pouch if you aren't eating correctly, but there is still malabsorption. As for a sleeve, you don't grow back your fundus so your stomach will still be much smaller than an unaltered stomach 5, 10, or 20 years later. Your restriction will be less than immediately postop, but you will never ever have the same capacity as preop.

Ask your surgeon. But I was cleared for nuts, seeds, fibrous raw veggies and skins at 3 months.

I never had the gas pains that everyone talks about but I was certainly bloated. My belly stuck out so much it looked like I was pregnant. My sister thought it was a hoot! I couldn't wear anything except elastic waist pants and I couldn't sleep on my stomach because there was just too much pressure. The only way I could drink some days was to stand up and walk around because sitting with all that bloating was too uncomfortable. I took a lot of GasX during this time and it helped. Finally about 3 weeks out I was able to fit in my regular jeans and sleep on my stomach again.

I was a freakin rockstar the first week postop...travelled from Mexico alone, went shopping, got a haircut, plowed my driveway, feeding horses, spent Christmas Day with family at grandmas house, went back to work. But then, out of the blue, I hit a wall on day 9. Exhausted and Slept all day. It lasted into the next day, but then it passed. By day 11 I was back to feeling like I did the previous week. Just my body telling me to slow the f**k down!

I second the diluted pedialyte suggestion. I drank gallons of it the first several months postop. Your body needs those electrolytes as well as Water. Have a bottle with you 24/7. Start sipping the second you wake up and every 15 minutes until the moment you fall asleep. Warm stuff went down easier for me, so you may try decaf herbal teas and different broths. Whatever it takes to get more fluids in. Dehydration sucks. I needed IV fluids 3 times when I was 2-3 months postop. I had severe diarrhea and even with drinking 64oz I couldn't keep up with the Fluid loss.

I added pureed soft fruit (bananas, mangos, peaches, etc) to my Protein smoothies starting about 1 week postop. I was working 10 hours/ day during most of my liquid and pureed stages so the added carbs gave me much needed energy. The smoothies I made were 24-32oz and typically contained 30-40g of protein and ranged from 200-400 calories. Drank at least 1 and usually 2 of them everyday for the first 3 months then dropped to one/day once I was able to get more protein via food. I wasn't cleared for seeds or skins until 3 months and at that point added berries and apples to my smoothies too. And ate apples and Peanut Butter as a snack several times a week. Oh, BTW, since I couldn't tolerate artificial sweeteners I also drank lots of diluted fruit juice. I really don't believe natural sugars and carbs are the scary monster everyone makes them out to be.

Well I heard that Coke can actually help you lose weight....but only if you drink it through a straw.

Unfortunately an individual can't have bypass and VSG at the same time so you will never get a perfect apples to apples comparison of the two surgeries. And there are too many variables that go into someone becoming obese to ever be able to plug in some numbers and get a definite answer to which surgery is best. Your decision has to come down to weighing your personal pros vs cons and what your priorities are. And unfortunately for the number crunchers that like to try and simplify the answers with statistics, Collecting long term data from all those thousands of patients for comparison is also very difficult. Mostly because of the elective, mostly complication-free nature of the surgeries. Here's what I see happening...,For those that are successful, they've moved on and likely do not require follow up care. Why would they check in 10 years later just to let their bariatric team know how they're doing? On the flip side, those that fail may be embarrassed or resentful and again, don't follow up. Seems the majority of long term data would come from those that may not be entirely successful but are continuing to seek help, or from those with complications. Makes for pretty biased statistics. And then there's the thousands that have gone abroad to have surgery. I went to Mexico, and the facility I went to is a Center of Excellence so they send me surveys every year. I do return them, but I am probably in the minority of patients that do. And as far as the US healthcare system is concerned, I never even had WLS. So my 100% success will likely never get recorded in any study performed in the states.

I'm surprised this comment was pretty much ignored. All this arguing about which excercise is best for losing weight when the fact is excercise is NOT how one loses weight. It's about what we EAT. Excercise may be good for our cardio health, stamina, metabolism, strength and looking good naked, but it contributes very little to actual weight loss. Your diet is responsible for that. I lost over 100% of my excess weight in 10 months and have maintained that loss for over 1 1/2 years. I have not spent one minute at the gym or in the water or on a bike or in running shorts. I have a physical job and active lifestyle, but it is the exact same job and lifestyle that I had as I gained 50 pounds over the last 5 years. The only thing that changed for me and how I lost 100 pounds was what I ate. @@Beck90 Good for you for wanting to be more active and start an excercise routine, no matter what it is. And like others already pointed out, doing something that you like and does not cause pain (or injury, for that matter) will be something you are much more likely to keep doing. @@PissiChrissi and anyone one else who thinks they got fat because they weren't doing the "right" kind of excercise is delusional.

I got the Medline 4000ml on Amazon for like $10. Worked great and I was able to increase my volume from 1800 to 2500 prior to surgery. Continued using it for several weeks postop. I also used it before and after my gallbladder removal.

Ask your surgeon, all programs are different. I was allowed any form I wanted (chewable, gummy. Tablet, capsules) starting 2 weeks postop. I had a bunch of leftover chewables from preop but hated the taste postop so switched to capsules (except my sublingual B12)

7 days....but 4 of them were the weekend, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so I really only missed 3 days. As a business owner, there's no such thing as paid vacation or sick leave. And I really didn't have any problems going back that soon.

Treat your postop diet restrictions like any other prescription medication. If you had an infection, you'd take your antibiotics. If you were diabetic, you'd take your metformin or insulin. In this case, you just had a large portion of a major organ removed. Following your surgeon's instructions to a T is simply the prescription you need in order to heal without complications.

What she said. Surgery won't do anything to address your binge eating. Everything that got you where you are now will still be there postop. It may take a back seat for awhile, but without the right support and learning how to change your behaviors, the demons will reappear. Finding the right counseling/therapy now will be invaluable to long term success.

Weight regain is based on a patient's ability to make the necessary lifestyle changes and continuing to adhere to a bariatric friendly diet plan, NOT what kind of surgery they had. The type of surgery doesn't dictate success or failure, an individual's behavior does that. I will add in an exception....with the malabsorption of bypass, you may be able to get away with eating off plan without regain more so than a sleeve patient. I have two good friends that had bypass almost 10 years ago and I would certainly regain if I ate like they do. However, they suffer from a variety of illnesses related to nutritional deficiencies. Personally, I'd rather take on the added accountability and stick with the healthier lifestyle required in order to maintain my loss. And as for studies comparing weight gain between the two surgeries you probably won't find that many. VSG just hasn't been around long enough to have accumulated enough long term data. But really, that data is only going to tell you what OTHER people have done, not what YOU are capable of.

Started at a 22W. Ended up at a 5 or 7 depending on the manufacturer and whether or not I'm wearing long underwear underneath.

Yes. And like I just mentioned, take it separate from any calcium. And monitor your levels at least annual (forever) so you can make any necessary adjustments.