lark60

congrats on setting a date. The time will fly!

I am 4 months post op and just started adding salads back into my diet. I make sure there is plenty of protein and eat the salad slowly. Though I make "half a salad" I still eat half of that and it takes about 90 minutes to eat. I enjoy salads and am glad to get back into eating them while it is still warm outside (don't like them much in the winter)

I am at week 15 post op and tried my first salad today. I had red leaf lettuce and spinach leaves with "broccoli slaw and slivered carrots", 1 roma tomato, cheddar cheese (shredded) and the mini turkey rounds (the slices are the size of pepperoni) I added my fav dressing (basalmic vinegrette) and was able to eat about 1/2 the mix (about 1/2 cup total) The dressing seemed very strong to me which is a first. I didn't even use a teaspoon of dressing. I was happy I didn't have any stomach problems and this was my first attempt at fresh veggies. Next time I will try a different salad dressing though

I had the same problem and the nutritionist told me I was "eating too fast". She recommended smaller spoon (I now use the baby food spoon) and to "savor the flavor" of each bite before swallowing. It did help the food go down.

sipping water helps to fill your stomach and get rid of the hunger pangs.

I take mine with water. I also have spaced them over the entire day since I have to double up on several. (my 12 week post op labs were not great and I am very low on several of the vitamins) Sometimes I feel I "eat more pills" than real food.

To answer JS's question "Why 1 meal and soup"... The surgeon I was going to recommended 2 shakes a day and 1 meal. As for why soup.... It is the easiest thing to make that has protein and cooked veggies. Since I work and take my lunch, the soups are simple and I can make up a few "meals" in advance. I have tried adding new foods and find that either I cannot tolerate them yet, or I stop loosing weight so omit those foods for now. My surgeon advised me to focus on using the shakes when weight loss slows.

I am 13 weeks out and my 1 meal a day I work on making Soups with high Protein (I pick a Soup that has high protein and low carb count per serving and then add deli chicken, turkey or ham to up the protein gms). The other days lunch is a sandwich with multigrain flatbread (9gm protein) deli meat and low fat cheese. Snacks are string cheese or cottage cheese mixed with yogurt (2-3 oz) and of course, the famous Protein shakes for 2 meals a day. I tried a chicken pot pie soup (added a can of mixed veggies and a can of chicken) the mix made 6 meals since I can only eat about 1/2 cup at a time. This was my first soup combo and I have made it for a potluck (I topped the mixture with crescent rolls and baked it to brown the rolls) and it was a hit at the party.

I have been one to weigh every morning and recently started weighing at night. The strange part is that my weight no longer fluctuates the "2 lbs" a day like it did before the sleeve. My weight is the "same" all day long and "magically" changes by the next morning. I don't understand it but at least I am slowly loosing again so I am not complaining.

Hello Everyone; I have been searching for answers and ran across this site while surfing the web. My story: I am 52, divorced, have raised 4 children and am a Family Practice physician. The year my life became very stressful (1998) I gained 100 lbs. That was the year I chose to let my husband leave the family (he had another "love"), I was accepted into medical school and moved the 4 kids to a new home, in a city where I had no friends or family and no employment. Yes, STRESS will cause one to gain weight. At that time I couldn't focus on my body and had to get through every day one at a time. Now fast forward 15 years: I have had a successful career as a physician, raised 4 wonderful children who are all now married and living good lives and am now an "empty nester". I decided it was time to focus on my health and weight. I always felt awkward telling my patients they needed to loose weight when I was overweight as well. 3 years ago I started working on my weight and was able to loose 65 lbs with a low carb diet & exercise. My weight stalled at 198 lbs but I felt better than I had in years. I knew stress was a factor in the plateau (I was "retiring" and closed my clinic since the economy was chipping away at my income as the sole proprietor.) I took a year off of "dieting" and went to work for a cruise line to travel and see the sights. I managed to maintain the weight loss for the most part (gained 10 lbs while cruising) and exercised an hour daily on the ship. Then my grandmother was placed on Hospice for back pain from crushed vertebrae (she was 90 years old) I quit my job with the cruise line and came home to be around for my parents and grandmother. Then my mother had her 4th heart attack. More stress and a new PCP (primary care provider) that insisted on messing with my thyroid medication caused me to gain all the weight back (265 again). I commented to the PCP that he should have listened to me (I am a physician after all and know my medical history) and his solution was to suggest bariatric surgery. The funny part is that I have recommended this to many of my patients and never thought about it as an option for myself. I believed that carful healthy diet and exercise would work again. My concern was "stress" seemed to be the bane of my existence and I would never loose weight when stressed. I researched the options (medical web search), had the PCP office request the prior auth and then met with the surgeon to set the date for surgery. Since I had the records from my weight loss progress and my PCP provided the weight gain record (I gained the weight back over 3 months) The auth for surgery was approved. I had a vertical sleeve procedure May 29th this year. My pre-op diet started the weight loss (incidentally the pre-op diet was similar to the low carb diet I had followed previously) and I lost 13.5 lbs the 2 weeks prior to the surgery. I also had my gallbladder out at the same time and the surgeon performed both procedures by a new technique using a "spider instrument" which was through one umbilical port (so only one incision!) My hospital stay was prolonged by a day because of the additional procedure. I have not been able to take in more than 3-4 oz at one time since the surgery. I thought this was normal and didn't ask questions about this until my weight loss stalled. At 7 weeks post surgery I hit my first plateau. I was following the diet to the letter (2 Protein shakes and one "meal" of protein, soft meats & cooked veggies) I would mix the shakes so the 3 oz had 25 gm of protein and would create a Soup that had at least 10 gms of protein in the 1/2 cup of soup. I was taking in 48-60 oz of Water each day and my exercise routine included walking my 2 dogs (a bull mastiff puppy and an 18 month lab/heeler mix) 2-3 times a day (60 to 90 min) and swim laps for 30-45 min when the weather cooperates. My surgeons response was I was eating too much! He wanted me to cut back to 50-55 gms of protein. Now I know the protein is the main measure but the calorie count of my meals was under 500 calories. He stated that didn't matter. I followed his advise for the next week but still did not loose any weight. That was the last time I went to his office. I have increased my intake by adjusting the shakes (still 3 oz) to 10 gm each and increasing the intake to 3 shakes, "lunch" (the soups), a snack of either cottage cheese, yogurt or string cheese (1-2 oz for a snack) This has increased my calories to around 750-800, my protein intake is 55-60 gm daily and I am slowly starting to loose weight again. I average 1 lb loss a week over the past month. So this is my story and I am looking for others to build a support system since I am on my own (my choice)

I agree which is why I increased my intake (almost doubled the calories)

I know doctors make terrible patients but we are human too... I tried to be the "good patient" but when the surgeon doesn't listen when I asked about my concern about limiting the calories and "only focus on protein" I followed my own training and decided that I would follow the advise I would give one of my patients if they came to me with this concern about their surgeons lack of input. It is good to know others have hit a weight plateau soon after surgery. I will continue to be optimistic and keep calm (lots of deep breathing!) so stress doesn't sabotage my efforts.