AvaFern

Nah, don't feel guilty. Think about it this way...what would you have eaten this time last year and if you had eaten what you ate this year instead last year would you have not totally felt like a diet rock star? Every once in awhile it is ok to indulge and really your indulgence does not sound bad at all. Every November and December I enjoy Cookies and chocolate and I did this 4 months after surgery and again last year. January 1 I am right back on the healthy eating train and because I know that I get to enjoy it all again at some point, I really don't crave it much. Feeling guilty never helped anyone...enjoy your little break and get back to work when vacation is over!

Yes, you will feel completely normal again. I think I was uncomfortable eating for about 6 weeks until that chunking feeling in my throat that feels like swallowing rocks went away. I am now almost 2 years post-op and I managed to eat 1800 calories today without barfing and without feeling miserable at all, so enjoy the misery while it lasts!

Woohoo! Congrats! You look fantastic!

If it makes you feel less jealous, I am two years out and my sleeve makes me barf roughly once or twice a day, lol. There are some foods that I feel like I can eat much more than I should be eating and carbs would be one of them. My stomach doesn't like gravy or potatoes, but it loves crackers- I can eat a whole box of crackers in a few hours if I'm not paying attention. It's possible you may have just found one of your slider foods early in the process. As someone else said, focus on getting the Protein in first. Once you are back on solid food, this means eating the full serving of chicken, then a vegetable, and thennnn the potatoes. For me, dense Proteins make me feel instantly full and a bite too much or a bite of something my stomach decides it doesn't like, and I am barfing it all right back up. For now, try Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and thicker Protein shakes (you can blend stuff in a blender like...almond milk, Protein powder, frozen Greek yogurt, and PB2 to give you a thicker consistency, plus it tastes better). Also, why not cover your bases and make sure your stomach is actually gone? I sincerely doubt that the procedure was not done fully or correctly, but visual confirmation is always nice. Ask for a swallow study...you basically swallow this disgusting cup of goop and they watch it make its way all the way down your stomach to your intestine. You can actually see that your stomach is gone (I very vaguely remember this, I was blitzed out of my mind for my swallow study) and visually seeing that you no longer have a normal stomach might help you as well.

Hahaha! I was like, $7..that's like 14 donuts, that sounds awesome...bad, but awesome. Then I read the receipt. I also like coffee, so my bill is usually $4.77 from Starbucks- grande skinny iced caramel machiatto. Mmmmm.

All of the pre-op tests are mandated by your insurance and really aren't neccessary for your actual surgery. I was self-pay in the United States...I had a single CBC blood panel done and they made me meet with a nutritionist once...2 weeks after my initial consult, I was in the OR. So, if Mexico doesn't have as many tests it is simply because insurance isn't dictating what needs to be done and really self-pay in the US isn't all that much different.

I noticed in your topic you wanted it moved to the general forum, so hoping it's ok for a woman to be responding even though you're in the man's room. I can understand your concern about being stuck with bypass instead of the sleeve and I would also have a hard time with that. That being said though, you noted that you were successful on your own losing weight and that it just took one slip to start gaining again. Much as the first year or so is like a honeymoon after bariatric surgery, you will still spend the rest of your life counting calories, working out, and potentially gaining weight if you are not aways vigilant. I love my sleeve, but the further out that I am the more I realize that my weight will always be a battle. Every day I wake up and I weigh myself. Then I drag myself to the gym or for a run, I log my food in MyFitnessPal, and some days I still wake up the next day fatter than the day before. If I am not always on my game, every single day, I can now see that I can very easily gain the weight right back. So, while I am all for bariatric surgery, remember that no matter what option you choose, you can still be a fat person with 20% of a stomach, a fat person with a band around your stomach, or a fat person that has no food routed through their stomach. It's less about the surgery and more about recognizing that you have a tool, which you can use or not use, but in the end, the fight to not be fat is a lifelong battle. Good luck with your decision!

I don't like the pre-mixed Protein shakes. If you have time to use a blender you can make something way better tasting and healthier. For example, I use either almond milk or the Ensure protein as the base, then throw in a greek yogurt that I have frozen in my freezer, a serving of PB2, and a half scoop of a Protein powder I like...it works out to almost 40g of protein for about 350-400 calories (if I use the Ensure instead of the almond milk). I just never really liked any of the protein shakes that came pre-made.

@@laguerr13 I certainly hope you weren't referring to my post as being -2 points off of everyone's IQ....

You should be fine. They should be selling Water, but you can stick some of the Protein packs that come in single serving sizes in your purse so you have something to drink that should give you a little energy. I'd say bring your own drinks and food, but generally they make you throw it out before you go in, so sneak some stuff inside the inside pocket of your purse. They almost never open all of the compartments.

I don't disagree with everything this person said and I do disagree with the fact that people jumped all over her. I went from going to the initial meeting with my surgeon, 2 days after I thought about getting the surgery, to being in the OR two weeks later, so I disagree that you cannot make an informed decision in that amount of time. I was 29 when I had the surgery, so sort of young compared to this person's standards, and I understood the irreversibility of the surgery. My sleeve hates food...I barf at least 10 times a week. There is nothing wrong with my sleeve that would physiologically be causing its hate for all things that taste good and I know that for the rest of my life pizza, Pasta, bread, cheese, sugar, milk, cream, meat, some vegetables, most fruits and all kinds of yummy things come at the cost of a good barf if I choose to eat them. I won't lie, this sort of really sucks, but would I still get the sleeve? Absolutely. I think people who are considering the surgery need both the bad and the good and this person represents an opinion about why the sleeve may not be for everyone. Simply because we don't agree with her, doesn't mean she doesn't have the right to post a respectful (I saw nothing we should be offended by that was rude or hurtful or that was in poor taste, no bad words, nothing really awful) discussion about her own ideas. Also, I don't entirely agree with the whole muscle/ fat thing, however I can say that at 126 pounds I have very little muscle left and if you look at me from the right angle you can tell that I am what people call skinny-fat. I look great in clothes, I look semi-decent naked thanks to plastic surgery, and I can run a wicked few miles...ask me to lift something though or do a workout that takes a lot of prolonged muscular strength and I am out of luck. Prior to surgery I was a beast...in more ways than one, but in this instance, I was strong. I sacrificed being small for being strong, I know that, and frankly I don't care a whole lot. Prior to surgery even when I was thin, I was always muscular, and part of this may be because a lot of dense Proteins make me barf now whereas in the past I never had an issue eating them. Is this a side effect of the surgery? Sure, I suppose so because my sleeve hates food that once upon a time my stomach loved eating and which contributed to me being strong. Therefore, I am fine with this original post. I don't feel I need to agree with something for a person to have the right to say it and I can understand, from my own experience, where some of the sentiments that the poster made are coming from. For anyone who may be considering the sleeve, you need to read both the good and the bad to make an informed decision, so chalk this up to one tally mark on the bad side, and keep doing research. The sleeve is not all sunshine and daisies and while most of us love it, it comes at a cost....understanding that is just as important as recognizing the benefits.

Yay! Good for you! I'm sure you look fantastic!

You can use a straw and for many they find that a straw is the only way to get enough fluids the first few weeks. Surgeons tell you not to use a straw because there is the possibility that you might get a bit of bloating or gas if you end up sucking in air. I accidentally drank something with a straw about 2 weeks post-op and it was the first time I got in enough Fluid. I am now almost 2 years post-op and I always drink with a straw. Initially it was because it hurt to swallow and now it is probably just a matter of habit, but it is far more comfortable to drink with a straw right after surgery than it is not to.

You can eat both pizza and spaghetti again- you really shouldn't, lol, but you can. I had about half a piece a few weeks ago and roughly half a piece a few months ago, but mostly I've stayed away from pizza. I have had Pasta a few times, but it doesn't usually go over very well on my stomach and I don't like it enough to eat it and get sick.

Congrats on hitting a size 12! My stats are: Weight: 126 Height: 5'2 Jeans/Pants: 0,2,4- depends on brand Shirts- XS Dresses- XS,S,0,2,4

My surgery was not covered by insurance. In terms of cost, the below is a breakdown of what I paid: Abdominoplasty- 12K Breast lift/augment- 8K Thigh lift- 8K (I think- it was either 7K or 8K) Posterior body lift with auto augment- 8k Brachioplasty-8k Lipo- $1800 each area I found my surgeon by googling. I used Real Self a lot too to look at other people's results but my surgeon didn't have a ton of reviews. I had planned to get consults from multiple surgeons and I had only originally intended on having my boobs done. I went for a consult for the girls, liked the doctor so much, I went back two days later for an abdominoplasty consult, and then stuck with him for all three procedures (multiple procedures were done in 3 surgeries spaced out over about 7 months). I used Dr. Ankit Desai in Jacksonville, FL. My recovery from the tummy tuck and boobs was easy- very little pain, I was walking 8-10 miles a day at 10 days post-op. I was back to working at a desk from my home at 5 days post-op for 12 hour days. My arms and thighs were another surgery...also minimal pain and I was back to working 12 hour days at about 4-5 days post-op. The posterior body lift was a b*tch of a surgery...you can't sit on your butt for like a month, which when you work in a chair makes things insanely annoying. I also ended up with wound separation first and then a whopping abscess that basically ripped apart a 6inch portion of my back and gave me a giant hole, which made this procedure by far the worst. I was again working in 5 days purely because I had to, but I ended up laying in bed a lot the first few weeks to work because sitting was impossible. I had that surgery in March and just this week my last wound has finally closed, so while the complications were no fault of my doctor and just a matter of how I healed, there is the potential for plastics to be a huge pain in the rear- in my case literally, lol.

I have the same problem- I can visibly see bloating now. Usually I wake up in the morning and my tummy-tucked stomach is nicely flat with a little ab definition and by noon there is no more ab definition. I notice especially after the gym when I do an ab workout, I look almost pregnant by the time I go to sleep. When I know I'm going to be wearing a tight dress, where the entire world will be able to see my bloated stomach, I stay away from veggies and fruits for the day (for some reason they make my stomach feel like it's going to pop for hours), I drink a medium amount of Water (too much and I feel like I can see it) and I stick to super small Snacks throughout the day. I have read that drinking a lot of water can help to fight bloating symptoms on a consistent basis, and a friend of mine swears by drinking a gallon of water that has been infused with cucumber and lemon. She cuts up the cucumber and lemon and lets it sit in the gallon of water over night, then spends the next day drinking the majority of the water and she claims she feels completely un-bloated by the next morning. Maybe something to try...

Is it possible that a major part of your problem is the heat? I assume you've been walking 8 miles a day outdoors? I had my last plastics procedure in March so I was only able to walk for about 2-3 months, which in March, April, and May was great, however by the time June and July rolled around walking only the 3 miles I was walking was exhausting because it was so hot. Walking 8 miles outside at this type of year is not going to make an in-shape person feel great largely because the time spent outside combined with the heat is zapping your energy. If you were running 8 miles, you could finish in an hour- hour and 20 minutes, but a walk must take at least 2 hours? No wonder you don't feel good. I resolved my issue by joining a gym for the summer. Sure, it's boring, but now I can workout for an hour in the air conditioning and I don't feel anywhere near as drained as I do when I run for an hour outside. Also, if you aren't getting enough fluids that is likely also contributing to dehydration, which in turn makes you feel crummy. I had no problem working out on the small amount of calories after I had the sleeve, but it was in September when it was much cooler and I was only outside for maybe an hour jogging at a time.

So I've never heard of Fairlife milk, but it has a TON of Protein. Thanks for the tip!

I've had 4 surgeries- 2 of them I woke up feeling like my throat was on fire and 2 of them I was fine. As the others noted, it's just a side effect of intubation. The times I did wake up with a sore throat were both 6+ hour surgeries. The sleeve is about an hour so your throat doesn't dry out as much with the tube in it and you're less likely to have a sore throat. Of course you could have a rough intubation, which doesn't help much either. Either way, it heals in a few days.

You are completely capable of doing Crossfit. I do it periodically- it's not really my thing, I prefer running, but it is part of the MMA workout with the team I train with and I've never had an issue.

I used Dr. Ankit Desai in Jacksonville. Not South Florida, but he did a great job on all of my plastics procedures. For your reference a breast lift and augment was 8K, arms were 8k, and thighs were 7K.

No one gave me my goal. I chose 129 because I figured it was more realistic than my life long goal of 119. It's also close to being in the middle of what is a healthy weight for my height. I still would like to hit 119, but that's my stretch goal. I've found that at 129 I can live a very happy and healthy life and I'm not as obsessed about 119 as I could be.

I'm almost 2 years out and my hair is still thin and not very long. Fortunately, I don't have bald spots which I was concerned about and I get optimistic sometimes that it feels a little thicker. I had clip-in extensions in briefly the other day for the first time since before surgery and I wanted to cry- I miss my long, pretty hair! The article was interesting though, thank-you for posting!

In my experience the Aria is not very effective at measuring body fat. I am well under the acceptable body weight for my size and according to my Aria, my BF% has barely changed and is significantly wrong compared to a professional measurement and my Tanita scale. I have gotten to the point where I don't even use that part of the scale anymore and I only wait for my weight to be picked up because the BF% is so ridiculously wrong.