Miss Mac

Pre-op, I could drink two 2 litre bottles of soda every day by myself. Truley, I do miss the bubbles, but I do not miss the bloat. I miss the flavor, but do not miss the erosion on my teeth. I miss the caffeine, but do not miss the gastric reflux and stomach ulcers. One thing that helped me to get past this trade-off was to think of it in monetary terms, and it can refer to junk edibles (can't call Twinkies and Cheetos "food") as well. My money is going to be my money, or their money. Once you begin to see you body as a container for the essence of your being instead of a culinary pleasure palace, it will be easier to make adjustment. food is fuel for our bodies. Just like you would not put Pepsi in your car's gas tank, you don't benefit from putting it in your body's gas tank either. The only ones who benefit are the over-paid CEO's of the snack and beverage industries. The CEO of Pepsico, Indra K. Nooyi, made $19, 087, 832 in 2014. I am on disability and made a little over $12,000 last year. No way am I giving my money over to her anymore. Once I fully realized how my old way of eating and drinking was chipping away at my health and quality of life, the old habits were easier to drop. Welcome to the forum. Just be aware that opinions and tact will vary in the process of encouraging you along your way. I wish you good luck and good health.

I am taking the max dose at 200 mg 3x a day. It works for me, plus helps keep my appetite down.

If I get that kind of craving, I mix Peanut Butter with chocolate Protein powder and roll it into little balls no bigger than a walnut. One - at the most two - fills me up for a while.

I got so tired of taking so many supplements that I just went ahead and got a potent Multivitamin. When I exercise, I just have Protein before and after. My labs are consistently fabulous.

I lost 23 pounds during my three-month supervised diet and 10 day liquid diet. I gained eight pounds in the hospital from IV fluids. It took me a week to lose that. The second week I lost another seven pounds. The third week I hit the "dreaded third week stall" which lasted through the fourth week. Finally at week five I started losing three or four pounds a week. At six months the dynamic changed and the weight started falling off in milligrams. It has taken me almost two years to get close to goal, but I could not have lost this weight any other way. Our bodies and circumstances are so different that it is fruitless to compare ourselves to the lucky folks who lose a hundred pounds the first six months. For example, I am older than most bariatric patients and have orthopedic issues that hinder consistent exercise. Someone else may be taller (or shorter) or not have a good support network. Medications make a difference. When I take Lyrica for sciatica acting up, I may as well just tape my food to my hips in spite of my other efforts. If I take a pain pill (hydrocodone) I get so sick to my stomach that I can barely eat at all. Just relax and follow the plan that your bariatric team gave you. I wish you good luck and good health. You have come to the right place for encouragement and support.

I just get whatever, but I have had to cut waaaaay back. The best way I could do that was to not eat or drink the stuff I was using it with. I was so addicted to it that I was going through about 20 packets a day. Plus it made me hungry for sweet stuff all day, and who knows what it's been doing to my kidneys. The closest I get to it now is my sugar-free Jello and popsicles.

Wow! That's a hot mess. I had my gallbladder out in 1973, and main restrictions for a while were nothing creamy, greasy or cheesy, and go easy on the spices. The gallbladder helps your body to digest fats. Do what your team says. Now that that's out of the way, here is what I do. I have been paleo/primal ever since about six weeks post-op and I am close to two years, now. My absent gallbladder healed up and my body adjusted along time ago. I enjoy bacon, but not every day. I buy the pre-cooked kind because it already has most of the grease worked out of it. I don't eat bacon, pork chops, pork roast or ham very much because of the salt. Once in a while, my boyfriend cooks ribs, but not even once a month. I have a couple of little ones and eat more veggies for that meal. I don't miss the bread and other wheat products. Since surgery, it sits in my stomach like Play Doh and makes Miss Tummy makes me miserable for hours. The closest we get to fried food is stir-fry occasionally. Paleo/Primal is OK with fats such as butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado. I use them, but oh so sparingly because of the calories. I tried coconut oil for the first time with a beef and veggie stir fry and it certainly did pick up the coconut taste. I can see hat I won't be using it very much. Your doctor is probably wanting you to hold off because grease is hard to digest w/o a gallbladder. Maybe later on.....hang in there. Miss Tummy likes cheese, but the scales do not. Dairy slows my roll. So I end up using almond milk. I eat some Beans for the Fiber, but have to eat small amounts because of the carbs. If I go over 50 carbs a day, I stall. Nuts are delicious, but the calories just kill me. They are a slider for me, so there is no "little bit". I have hardly had any since surgery. I would go through a jar of Planters in two days. For a long time I substituted sweetener for sugar, but my metabolism is rebelling. I had to cut that back, too, but that's ok. It seems like I have given up so much, but the reward is a healthier happier me. Mostly I eat chicken, tuna, deli turkey, steak once a week, and a nice variety of veggies. The scale moves better when I hold the fruit to one serving a day. I'm not starving.

Ii was able to do mild sauce at six weeks. I tried jalapeno poppers at six months and was miserable for a couple of days. No more for me.

44D to 36B

I love Avenue.com and Romans.com. I just bypassed the expensive stuff and bought clearance and sales item a couple of sizes ahead. I would like to shake the hand of the person who invented elastic. Most of my clothes along the way have been elastic waist pants and tunic tops. At 50 pounds down I had to start buying a few basic tops. My belly did not keep up with my boobs, so I have change out tops more often than pants.

I took waaay too much. I did not read my books, do my crossword puzzles or listen to my CD player. I just slept and watched TV for two days. If I owned a cell phone, I would have taken that. I left my laptop at home. Don't take anything you will miss if it is stolen. My two most important take-alongs were Chapstick and my teddy bear. It served as an arm rest, telephone prop, brace for my tummy when I laughed, sneezed, or coughed, not to mention familiar comfort when my support people were home sleeping. I wore the loosest clothes I had so that nothing was tight on my tender abdomen on the way home.

I have found that post-op, any of those things make me sick. Anything heavy or doughy sits in my new tummy like a brick and I regret it for hours. The other issue I have with starchy and wheat products is that any time I eat it, I have gained weight overnight and then it takes a long time to get it back off. Also, the carbs are not worth it. At almost two years out, I am still at 1,000 calories a day. It is hard for me to get complete nutrition if I eat 150 calories of potato chips with 1/2 tuna salad sandwich on sourdough bread. I am better off eating tuna salad and sliced cucumbers and using those calories for fresh fruit. All of those things you mentioned tickle the tastebuds, but my tastebuds are no longer in charge. Miss Tummy is the boss of me forever. There is a category of foods called "slider foods" that throw us off track so quickly. Over time you will experiment and learn what your personal sliders will be. Mine are ice cream and potato chips. I can eat them mindlessly before realizing how much I have eaten, so I just don't eat them. You will find your balance, but take it from a veteran, you are walking into a dark woods and can get lost from your focus on health and a better quality of life. These things you mentioned should go on your "rare treat" list. With Thanksgiving coming up, I suggest that you will do fine with turkey and veggies and deviled eggs. Besides, you can only eat so much without it coming back up to haunt you. My new substitute for pumpkin pie is a custard I made with canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) and ricotta mixed with yogurt. I added a little sweetener and some pumpkin pie spice. I even threw in some pumpkin spice whey Protein. I spooned it into muffin tins and froze them. Now if I feeling like something desserty, I grab a pumpkin pod and thaw it out. I have even blended them with milk and a little extra Protein powder for a shake. I was told to not even try bread until three months out. So, I waited but found out the pain and discomfort were not worth it. I wish you the best of recovery. Listen to your tummy, not your taste buds. food is only fuel for the human container that the essence of you lives in. Just as you would not put Pepsi in your car's gas tank, you will learn that you feel much better and have more energy and a better attitude when you put foods with nutritional value in your body. Here is what helps me when I feel like stepping back into old ways. I think of foods made in a factory as "edible crap". I think of the drive-throughs as McPoison, Poison King, Poison Bell, etc. Just be careful. I wish you the best.

I mentioned this on a different post just yesterday.....I had gone to see my pain doctor who had not seen me for months. He did not recognize me and asked the nurse if he had the right patient on the table! Loved it - made my day.

Welcome! Congratulations to you for being pro-active and getting this done early in your adulthood. Many of us oldsters who yo-yo dieted for decades had to have strokes, heart attacks, diabetes or excruciating orthopedic issues to convince us to investigate bariatric intervention. I am so proud of you. I wish you good luck and good health.

I have used the Voltaren topical cream for years for orthopedic related aches and pains in my hips and legs. I just used it straight through with no problem. The good news is that losing weight has created its own relief on my joints and I have not needed or used the Voltaren cream for months.

Chinese food. Steak and peppers lo-mein and crab rangoons.

I was a slow loser too. I am soon to be 64 and have orthopedic issues that limit my activity, so I am not going to lose as quickly as someone who is able to take up an aggressive exercise program. One of my blood pressure meds causes weight gain. All of our bodies and abilities are so very different, so just relax and stick with your program. Also when I was stuck on a stall that lasted for several month I gave up dairy and the scale started moving again. Hang in there and be patient.

I was on ten meds pre-op. I was off seven of them very quickly, but I still take the blood-pressure cocktail to keep me level. I am at 21 months.

My "cookie" substitute was Protein balls that taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I took peanut butter and chocolate protein powder and mixed it up until real smooth. I rolled it into balls the size of walnuts. One, sometimes two was more than enough to take off the edge of hunger. Just don't forget that peanut butter has calories and you wouldn't want to go crazy with this. My liquid diet included bone broth, which was basically homemade vegetable soup with meat on the bone, and vegetables. Boyfriend ate the veggies and meat. I drank the broth. My preferred brand for shake mix was Syntrax Nectars. My favorite was the grapefruit because when I mixed up with Crystal Lite Lemonade it tasted like Fresca soda. They have a lot of flavors. I waaaaay overbought and took about 18 months to use it up. Right now I have on hand Syntrax Matrix Vanilla, Syntrax Matrix Chocolate Mint (tastes like a Peppermint Patty) and Core Athlete pumpkin Spice......OMG it's actually good! I used the unflavored in soups. My Vitamin is a generic brand from Walgreens, labeled for women over 50. My labs are fine. My goal outfit is just a few pounds from fitting. I bought white skinny jeans and a Vera Wang silk blouse. I have never in my life bought clothes of any quality. Vera was my first. I also ditched the white granny panties and Walmart $6 bras for good quality girly things that match. I felt a difference in my weight at 30 pounds down, and that is when my primary noticed a difference in my face and skin tone. People around me noticed a difference around 50 pounds down. At 65 pounds down I had an appointment with my pain specialist whom I had not seen since pre-op. He did not recognize me and when he and his nurses were doing their pre-procedure "time out", he said "Are your SURE we have the right patient on the table." I cracked up. Total NSV!

There are a few of us on here. I am in Alsip on the far southwest side. My sleeve was done 12/23/2013 at Loyola University Medical Center. Where are you having your surgery? What part of this great metropolis are you in?

I was surprised that I don't miss my old favorites as much as I miss the routine. I used to just grab a pastry (OK 2 or 3) for Breakfast with at least three cups of verrrrry sweet tea. Now I have to actually fix breakfast, but that's OK. I thought I would miss salty Snacks, but found out what I miss is having some small munchy to mindlessly nibble on while watching TV. This summer I have been using cherry tomatoes. Boy, I can fill up on a lot 8 little tomatoes (maybe with a couple of gherkins), instead of the big bowl of popcorn. Fish is an adjustment. Pre-op, I could eat an insane amount of Long John Silver's batter fried fish, but can hardly eat properly cooked fish now. Apparently what I miss is the grease and the salt. So, I have tuna salad or salmon patties throughout the week. It's progress. Celebrations are hard because of all that darn cake. In one moment of weakness I discovered that sugar makes me gag now. And if I don't vomit I will be miserably sick for hours. I thought I would miss drinking two 2-liter bottles of soda a day, but it sure don't miss the bloat. It's funny how hard it is to get my fluids in now, when I could drink an ocean of addictive factory made crap. Other than that I have made adjustments through substitutions and altering recipes to make them sleeve-friendly. I am so much healthier and have a far better quality of life that all that stuff I grieved over with a week-long food funeral does not even seem important. It's all overwhelming pre-op, but once you are on the other side and have a new tummy to adjust to, you will find ways to compensate. I call mine "Miss Tummy" and she is the boss of me.

I am not a stomach sleeper, but at six weeks out I had a spinal injection and had to lay on my stomach. Not only did it not hurt, it was easier than my other injections because I had a lot less stomach. And speaking of sleeping, one of my first victories was that one night it became apparent that my bed felt bigger and it was easier to roll over.

Congratulations. You will be a very different person in a year from now. Take a picture and keep doing that every month. The insurance dance is the most aggravating part of this journey, not recovery. I have BCBS for Federal employees and had to provide two years of documented effort for weight loss and three months of supervised diet. Along the way, I had to get a cardiac clearance, EEG, Endoscopy (not too bad - they gave me a nap - I woke up and it was done), and liver imaging. At the end of meeting these requirements, the info was sent to my insurer. I was approved in two days and scheduled my surgery for three weeks later when my boyfriend was taking vacation to take care of me.

My recovery was easy, too. I had no shoulder gas and no hair loss either.

You are having what we call a food funeral. It's hard to eat less when you still have a regular stomach. By the time you lose the first thirty pounds you will start to feel the difference in your gait, your posture, your digestion and flexibility. My surgery improved my blood pressure and cured chronic diverticulitis. If you are not already on a medication for depression, ask your doctor about. My bariatric physician prescribed Wellbutrin at my first visit. My appetite went down and my libido went up. Just this past Monday my primary doctor increased the dosage to help with my appetite and I could feel the difference after the first day. Hang in there, the waiting is actually the hardest part of this whole deal.