Fluffnomore

A couple of years back I had a surgery called a mid-urethral sling. Basically, it took care of urinary incontinence under duress. (Coughing, sneezing, exercise.) It was certainly NOT a secret surgery, but neither was it anyone's business. I work with about 100 volunteers, and the last thing I would do is write an email or make an announcement that I was having vaginal surgery. So the people who needed to know, knew. There was another layer that knew it was for a "female" problem. The rest? I don't know if they knew or not. I approached this the same way. I did not feel comfortable writing or announcing to a group of people (some of whom are little better than strangers) who didn't even know, ultimately, that I'd had surgery, what exactly I was doing. My inner circle knew. The next circle knew that I was having a hernia repair (which was a bonus inclusion on this wonderful journey!) As I've lost weight, I've told some people and not told others, but I have never really treated it as a huge secret. I also wouldn't stand in the middle of the grocery store or a PTA meeting and announce it, either. Interestingly, it has been mostly a nonissue anyway. Turns out, lots of people apparently knew I had some weight to lose, and most just say, "Good for you." I'm not ashamed of it, and I'm not a secretive person. But I am a person who believes that others' medical conditions are none of my business, unless they choose to directly share them with me. And vice versa.

You posted an attention-getting title, for this thread. It happens to be close to another topic that was started recently. I don't think that means people are stalking you, necessarily…but we do have a tendency to read and comment on topics we are interested in. That's the thing about an open forum. People will do that. There's a lot of good information and advice here. If you don't like an individual poster, or even a group of them, you can ignore them or report them if they have done something wrong. Your initial post…okay, in fact I am very sorry that anyone feels that way, and I think you had a right to say it. Your post above calling someone specific out when the posts in question are pretty innocuous? I think that's uncalled for. In some ways this is just like showing up to a party or a new work situation where you don't know anyone. There are hundreds of people in this community (or more, really) and you'll really click with some, but probably won't like the tone of and/or get along with everyone. Ignore the ones you don't like. I'm guessing most people you meet here aren't posting "at" you.

My two cents again; others may disagree. As I get closer to my goal weight, I am lucky to lose 3 pounds in a month. It's much more likely that I hover at about the same weight for several weeks and then take off a pound or two, then hover, etc. There's not as much there to lose, as far as my body is concerned. And as I'm within 20 pounds of a reasonably low weight for myself, and 30 pounds of my college weight, things are getting stubborn. It's okay. It's not fun, but it's okay.

Unsweetened iced tea. :-)

You can puree chili and that might help. I never made it, but there are people who swear that a ricotta bake was just the thing. I think it's basically ricotta cheese topped with spaghetti sauce and some cheese. When the flavor thing got to me, I made a home made onion Soup and strained (or later) blended the onion pieces. Really filling and great. My other favorite thing to do was get refried black Beans and top with cheese.

I take Flintstones. I tried bariatric vitamins but they never settled well.

I have more hair in the brush than usual and more tangling and breakage. I just use the Pantene Age Defy shampoo, and Redken Anti-Snap as a leave-in on the ends, and try hard to be very careful and patient combing it out. My hairdresser notices it but no one else does. If anything (probably from the vitamins and protein) I get a lot of compliments on how shiny and long my hair is. It sure as hell is thin, though.

I know there are others who have had far different experiences, but I had completely manageable pain post-op. By the second evening after surgery, I had taken my last pain medication. In contrast, with other surgeries I have had I had far worse pain. I will say that someone pointed out to me that it might be because with at least one of those I was very sick for a while leading up to it. But this was a breeze for me. And yes, I know how lucky I am!

I had mine done by Dr. Frederick Tiesenga at Westlake Hospital in Elmwood Park. I've had a great recovery and the experience itself was positive. Quick insurance approval/turnaround. Clean, private room. I feel like I know his staff. There have been a couple of post-op communications issues (when I am supposed to go for follow-ups, etc) but those are pretty much clear now. It's interesting, because without the huge university or religious affiliation it almost feels like a standalone operation, which has its positives and negatives depending on what you prefer.

I have a good friend who was sleeved 4 months before me. She started around 258, and she is just now around 198-200, almost 1 year out. On one hand it drives her crazy, but for the most part she lives with it. She exercises a lot, and her eating is pretty good as far as I know. I think it's maybe too early for you to assume that the 74 pounds you've lost is going too slow. We all hit this differently. If you really want to see if it's you or the sleeve, you can always redouble your efforts now, eat really clean, and see how it goes.

Oh! We also have a specialty grocery store that does full meals in a bag here. They're expensive but cheaper than going out for dinner and my entire family enjoys them. I just eat the Protein and they eat the rest. That same store also regularly sells things like pre-marinated crock pot dinners. All you do is pop the package open and stick it in the crock pot. These are so great.

First of all, 28 pounds is nothing to sneeze at. When have you ever lost that much weight in a month or two? You are not starting from such a high weight that you would drop more, more quickly. Of my 60 pounds so far, the first half (or, almost 30) was in the first couple of months. Second, you might want to focus more on Protein. I don't know what your overall diet is like during the day, but for me chocolate mousse (if it's not protein pudding) and hummus are empty calories. I wasn't eating raw vegetables that early. It's not that I would label either food "bad" per se, but the thing is, we really are supposed to entirely change the way we're eating, and that usually also means changing the way we think about eating. For me, hummus and carrots would be a useless snack. I'd be better off with an ounce of full fat cheese or dense protein. Finally, you might want to consider why you are snacking on foods you say you shouldn't. At 7 months out I will openly say that I experiment a little bit here and there, but at 2 months my bigger focus was on following the program to a T. I'm at 1200 calories now, but I work out pretty consistently. At 2 months I hadn't re-incorporated foods that were a slippery slope for me (and I still stay away from them.) In answer to your calorie question, my surgeon doesn't believe *any* adult needs more than 800 calories a day. I think that's a little extreme, but that number works for a lot of people. So... In some ways I think that 2 month period is hard. We don't look SO different, we are still restricted on what is safe for the sleeve, and we are all impatient. This is a long game, though. Try to keep the faith and stick to your plan.

I love to cook and I'm good at it but I hardly do anymore. Here are my suggestions: Rotisserie chicken. If you can't eat a whole one, cut off the meat and freeze some of it for later (or for Soups and stuff.) Here's how you make stock: boil a chicken carcass with some cut up onions and whatever vegetables you want, salt and pepper. Chili: brown some ground beef and drain, get a package of seasonings, and open some cans of tomatoes and Beans. Mix together, let it simmer. (Directions are on the seasoning package.) Couldn't be easier. Restaurants: Just bring home half of your meal and eat it as leftovers. I do this at Breakfast (omelets) or dinner (usually a steak or chicken entree from a Mexican restaurant as that is what my family prefers.) Have some shakes or Protein bars on hand for when you just can't face it. Scrambled eggs. Bacon. Sausage. These are all pretty basic and easy to do. My favorite way to cook bacon right now is to line a cookie sheet with foil so that the foil comes up the sides, and lay out the strips of bacon. Put the pan in the oven and then turn the oven on to 375. Takes 20-30 minutes and the cleanup is easy. Just wait until the fat is cool and then crumble up the foil and throw away.

This is an excellent point. My clothes pre-op varied from 16-18W in pants and 1-2X in tops. Looking back, it's pretty obvious that I *was* a 16W-18W at the minimum. So it was a little surprising to me at first that I could wear a certain pair of size 16 jeans for a very long time. There was about a month or two of them fitting more like they were supposed to, followed by about a month of them really being too big (while I also wore some size 14s.) Looking back it seems like this took forever but it was really only two-three months. I'm currently in sizes 10-14 (depending on cut and style) but the size 14s that I still wear are cut very small. Either way you look at it, 60 pounds/7 months is equal to at least 3 sizes down, probably more like 4 or 5. Patience!

This is also why some doctors will tell you to limit your usage of yogurt, protein shakes, etc. if you get to a certain point and stall. Even though they can be good sources of protein, it's harder to overeat dense protein.

The other option that would be nothing (much) to worry about is if you have hemorrhoids. You might be able to feel them, you might not, but if they are slightly inside rather than outside the irritation from firm stool pooping can sometimes cause them to bleed a little. My husband had this happen. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get it checked out, but just that it might not be anything dire.

My nut was not as bad as some, not as informed as others. Pushed the standard nut line of fat-free, sugar-free chemically laden foods. Gave me a list of foods to eat at different fast food restaurants. Etc. It's not the way I wanted to approach my eating. I try to stick more to whole foods; I'd rather have one bite of something I like than a half cup of chemical junk. But I'm almost 7 months out. All that said, I think it's a great mental exercise to follow the pre-op diet to the letter and to be very careful afterwards. What I find now is that there are tons of things I just don't bother with that I just don't miss. (Such as a banana; I've had one half since surgery, right after a hard workout.) Then again, I also reached a point after 9 weeks of liquids that I just don't really do Protein and fruit smoothies in a blender anymore. I was/am that sick of them. I'll occasionally drink a RTD version if I must. My point is, you don't know yet what you will be able to tolerate, especially after surgery. There are lots of options out there and my guess is you won't really miss the banana that much right now if you take the plunge and follow the instructions to a T.

Thinking of you.

I would have totally been able to do it, but so many others haven't that I wouldn't count on it.

I don't see why you couldn't eat pork tenderloin, if ground beef is included. My two cents only.

I was like the others. It's obvious NOW, but only to people who haven't seen me as much over the winter. It took from October until January or February before most people really noticed anything. And for the people I see regularly, I lose slowly enough that I don't think it's terribly noticeable now either. One of my good friends (also sleeved last year) said, "When I see you, I don't see that you have lost weight. I see that you look like yourself again." Whatever that means.

I'm hypothyroid and on a medium high dose I guess (112?)…the long and the short of it is that I was tested about 3-4 months post sleeve and my levels were good, so they have kept me on the 112. I didn't know if I would be able to go back down or not (I used to be in the 50-77 range for synthroid) but in the end it's no difference to me which dose I am taking. As far as whether it's hard for me to lose weight? I've done well. I seem to lose more slowly than some others, but I keep my calories around 1200, and I'm getting down to the last 20-30 pounds. I'm not really blaming it on the thyroid at this point.

My life has improved, and my outlook has improved. I don't feel honeymoonish about it, but it's more like I have consistent little jolts of "I couldn't do that/wear that before" and I feel a lot younger than my 45 years. There are other bizarre little changes that are hard to describe. I'm approaching my initial goals and everything is going very slowly; has gone a lot more slowly for the last few months. What I find with myself and others is that while I would have said a year ago that I would kill to be the weight I am now, now that I am at this weight it doesn't seem like I'm even close to goal. That's part of the many mind games that most of us go through.

I'm 6 months out and average about 1200 calories a day. I can eat about 4-5 ounces of lean Protein, plus a little bit. After a hard workout the other day I had about 7 oz of chili. I'm all over the place with what I eat but I'd say about 80% of the time I make pretty good choices. I'm not losing as quickly as some, but I'm also already at between 60 and 70% of excess weight loss (depending on how you look at it) so I think that's fine. It seems like I can eat more than most sleeve people I talk to. I don't know if that's because my restriction is different or because I'm just lucky. I'm not pleasant when I'm hungry, so this is working for me, if slowly.

I have no restrictions on coffee, use common sense on wine. I don't drink margaritas anymore; used to love them. Not worth the calories or acid. Soda is really the only thing that I have completely given up. I just can't handle the carbonation. Over the last 6-7 months I have had a couple of sips of beer and a couple of sips of soda only to realize that it just isn't in the cards for me anymore.