Kindle

I'm 17 months out and that happened to me early on. Between 6 and 10 weeks Postop I actually gained 3 pounds, but lost a whole pant size. I passed goal and my weight stabilized about 9 months ago and I've dropped 1 pant size since then.

I tried to eat a healthy, balanced diet from the get go. Besides eating plenty of Protein and veggies, I was putting soft fruits like peaches, mangos and bananas in my Protein shakes starting the 2nd week postop. Since artificial sweeteners hurt my sleeve I was using pureed fruit to flavor my plain Greek yogurt. I was OK'd for seeds and skins at 3 months postop and started adding berries to my smoothies and I had 1/4 apple with Peanut Butter as a snack several times/week. I put craisins in my mixed nuts which I. snack on everyday. In the summer, frozen pineapple, frozen melon chunks and frozen orange segments are a favorite. All that fruit and I still passed goal at 7 months and have maintained 10 pounds below goal for over 9 months. I still shoot for a healthy, balanced diet of protein, veggies, fruit, whole grains and plenty of Water. I must be getting good nutrition because I only take a 1/2 dose of a whole food based Multivitamin, some extra Vitamin D and B12 and my bloodwork is perfect.

It is not unusual to become intolerant to certain foods (including lactose) after VSG. My surgeon explained that our new sleeves are not quite functioning normally and food molecules end up passing into our intestines differently than before. Not quite as "digested" as with a normal stomach. Our intestines may react negatively to these "new" molecules. The intolerance may be temporary or permanent. As for me, plain Water, artificial sweeteners and milk all caused stomach pain right after surgery. I simply drank lactaid milk, coconut milk, almond milk, decaf herbal teas, diluted fruit juice and diluted regular (not low cal) sports drinks. The odd thing was I could eat Greek yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese, just not milk. After about 4 months, all of these intolerances went away, and I could finally drink milk and plain water with no problems.

I was a huge beer drinker (pun intended) before surgery and I really thought I'd miss it. But I tried my first one at about 5 months and discovered carbonation is the one and only thing my sleeve won't do. One or two sips and my tummy hurts. The closest I can get to beer is hard cider over ice until it's pretty flat. I can drink non-carbonated alcohol, however.....anything from wine to vodka cocktails to straight whiskey. I was actually bummed to find out alcohol doesn't affect me any differently than before surgery. I could practically out drink a football team without feeling drunk, and I was looking forward to being able to get a quick buzz, but alas it was not meant to be..... So I went from having 2-3 cocktails every night (yea, really) to maybe a drink 2-3 times a month. Since surgery, my brain just decided all those calories aren't worth the minor buzz I might get.

@@Alex Brecher Thank you for the clarification.

Being as you advertise him as Dr. Jesus Lopez, the names DO match. And from his post, sounds like even Alex didn't know the difference. BTW, nice sarcasm...very professional!

I LOVE these! I could not tolerate artificial sweeteners postop, so I was drinking skim milk, herbal decaf teas, 100% fruit juice, and regular (not low cal) sports drinks. Then I discovered these! Yum. The only downside is they do contain caffeine which I am sensitive to. I can't drink them after about 3pm or I won't sleep. Other than that they are one of my favorite fluids

Have you tried a recumbent bike? May be better for your knees than the treadmill, but don't know how your back would do. Do you have access to a pool? Low impact water aerobics might work. But remember to go VERY slow when starting any new exercise. Maybe 5 min for several sessions, then up to 10, then 15, etc.

Id like to hear an explanation, too. I think The article mentioned sanitation issues, outdated equipment and/or lack of maintenance. But hey, when you offer bargain basement prices, you've gotta cut costs somewhere. I'm sure the Mexican medical authorities are just as disgusted with these facilities that feed the stereotype of Mexican health care and Medical Tourism. This is why research is SO important, and not just reviews from online forums Checking both surgeon AND staff credentials, ratings and certifications of the facility, verifying suppliers, equipment, standard safety precautions, sterilization techniques, drug and anesthetic protocols are just some of the things i checked out before scheduling my surgery at a facility that meets even the highest U.S. standards.

Isn't that enough? Actually I bought a new saddle....had to, my old one was way to big for my new skinny butt.

As part of my grieving process, I've found myself cleaning a lot. (Very out of character for me). This weekend I decided to gut my drawers and closets and ran across this forgotten weight loss "program". Positive Subliminal messages hidden in soothing music and nature sounds to help boost your willpower to lose weight. Brought me a welcome chuckle.....

Giving up my membership in the "Clean plate club" was one of the hardest things for me. But I only had to overeat and feel miserable once before I didn't make that mistake again. My dogs helped retrain me, too. I formed a new "leave 4 bites on the plate, one for each dog" club and they were big fans. I also used the "eat slow" app on my phone to help slow down my spoonfuls. Now eating slowly and just until satisfied, not full, is second nature. You'll get there.

There is evidence out there that we can only absorb 10-20g Protein in an hour (depending on the source) Any excess is converted to glucose. So if you are drinking that morning shake in a short period of time you may be short changing your protein requirements, and basically drinking a "glucose shake". Like others said, there are a lot of healthy food choices out there and we have a very short period of time to develop the new habits required for a lifetime of keeping weight off. In those first few months I ate only healthy, whole food..... tuna, fish, chicken breast, shrimp, ground beef, crab meat, edamame, refried Beans, Greek yogurt, peaches, mangos, broccoli, spinach, green beans, 10 grain Cereal, cheese, cottage cheese, homemade elk Jerky, mixed nuts, pumpkin seeds, Brussel sprouts, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Never had any fried or breaded food or "white carbs" like potatoes, rice, Pasta or bread. Other than my Protein shakes I stayed away from artificial sweeteners or anything processed. Not only did this help me retrain how I ate, it gave my body the opportunity to detox from all the processed food I'd been living on. You'll be surprised what your new cravings may be after you get all the crap out of your body.

You're right, we all need to find our own ways to be successful and happy. I was never a number person, either. Never weighed, measured or tracked calories, carbs, etc. I can count on one hand how many times I stepped on the scale in the first 3 months. I don't even own a scale...I just use the one at work when I think of it. I've been maintaining below goal for 9 months, I weigh 2-3 times a month and that seems fine for me to stay within my bounce range. There's absolutely nothing wrong with weighing daily as long as you use the scale as a tool and don't let the numbers ruin this wonderful experience.

Same here.... I eat whatever I want, in moderation and guilt free. (Mmmmmmm cheesecake)

My surgeon OK'd NSAIDS as long as you take a PPI or antacid if you are taking more than 1 day. In fact, he sends all patients home with sublingual NSAIDS immediately postop. I have taken an occasional Advil and even a three week course of prednisone (which is just as ulcerative-causing as NSAIDS) since surgery with no problems. I took Omeprazole and sucralfate while on the pred. That being said, I take traumeel (a natural pain reliever) for the little aches and pains, Advil or Aleve for the next level, and am a fan of tramadol for the heavy duty pains.

I don't speak Spanish, could you give a brief summary?

Do a search for stalls and you will see that Babbs is right. Your question has been addressed dozens of times. There is actually a whole subforum on here that you should go to "Don't Sweat The Stall Stuff". But the most important thing I can tell you this early on is STAY Off THE SCALE! Stalls are gonna happen, and if you aren't obsessing over the stupid numbers you won't even know about them. I never had a 3 week stall because I only weighed at the doctors office. you should be concentrating on staying hydrated, getting in all your Protein and eating healthy.

To me, ALL Protein shakes are too thick and sweet. I dilute the RTD 1/2 and 1/2 with Water or milk. The powders I mix with at least 16 oz liquid, not the 6-8oz the directions say to. I also froze my Protein drinks into Popsicles and sucked on them instead of SF Popsicles that have no nutritional value (besides water content) You may try different shakes, too. I've tried dozens of different brands/flavors over the past year and a half and Bariatric Advantage was by far the worst tasting to me. And Isopure is the only one that ever made me gag postop. Syntrax nectar has the similar, thinner consistency as Isopure. My other favorites are Muscle Milk, Syntrax Matrix, Quest, premier, Spirutein, and BSN Syntha 6. You can get samples to try at Nashua Nutrition so you don't have to buy a whole tub.

"chocolate tastes like pooooop......" (Pretty sure the "complete" program included an electroshock kit to attach to your tongue )

Started 2 week preop diet at 238. Surgery day 216. I never weighed that often postop, but these are a few weights I remember... 11 days still 216. 6-7 weeks 199. 10 weeks still 199. 3 months 191 After that it was slow and steady until I hit my new normal (140ish) at 9 months. My surgeon wanted 60-90 min of aerobic exercise pretty much immediately. Cleared for crunches at 2 months and resistance training at 6 months. In reality I never exercised, but I was lifting 40-60# at work I starting at 3 weeks postop, and I typically log 12,000-20,000 steps just in my regular daily activities.

Those details and requirements are all very surgeon-specific and insurance policy-specific. Check with your doc and your insurance company for clarification.

It took me about a year before I quit freaking out over every little tweak in my abdomen. But better to be safe than sorry, so feel free to call your doc's office whenever something doesn't feel right.

I couldn't eat salad till 6-8 months out. I still get a little gassy and bloated if I eat too much lettuce at once, but I've kind of figured out how much I can tolerate and stick with that. The Caesar salad I used to get from my local deli as a single meal now lasts 4-5 meals.

If they aren't finding an answer, ask them to retest. My first C. diff came back negative but I insisted they retest using a PCR test instead of the ELISA test and it was positive. In the meantime, try and get in lots of probiotics ....the good, refrigerated, multi strain ones contain 50+ billion CFU like Garden of Life brand (usually found in health food stores) not the worthless OTC kind they sell in the grocery store. Saccharomyces boulardii can be helpful, too.