SnohoGal98296

It is only too late after the surgery, call your Doctor and talk to him about it.

So I am confused, why is the high fiber a bad thing? I need that to stay regular(LOL) can only eat the quest bars at about 1/3 of a bar at a time, but they are delicious and they were life savers on a recent business trip and boat outing. ..

So from the beginning of this path towards and following VSG, one of things on my list that made me make the decision to invest in WLS was when I travelled by air that the meal tray no longer lay flat because my belly would get in the way. Travel is a big part of my job, so this was a constant embarassment for me. There is nothing more embarassing than a flight attendant handing you a meal to a tray that won't lay flat, and at first they just think it isn't fully deployed, then they realize oh no, the tray is stuck on her and the look on their face changes. Total humiliation, right? Not to mention always having to ask for an extension for the seat belt, but at least the flight attendants don't seem phased by that request. Well I am happy to share that today I flew for the first time since my surgery (it was exactly four weeks since surgery and 5 weeks since pre-op diet start - I have lost 31lbs since June 1st) when I boarded that flight I dread two things, fastening the seat belt and using the meal tray; NSV #1 - the seat belt fastened without an extension! it was tight but I was able to fasten it! NSV #2 - the below attached picture is a shot of the fulley deployed meal tray and my belly - it is a little blurry but the white solid mass is the tray and the black and white flowered area is my t-shirt - there was 2-3 inches between my belly and the tray which lay perfectly flat!! You know I have been saying that this first month and 30 lbs was just a drop in the bucket, that I would not start to see benefits for another 30-40 lbs( I have 145 lbs excess weight) - but I was wrong - even 30lbs makes a difference!

It is just like clothes, different seat manufacturers have different models with varying seat pan widths, and the airline can pick the seat belt separately, so each class on a single airplane can have different seats, even the rows can be different, usually front rows are different.

Yes definitely - thanks everyone for your replies! It is funny how different airlines, different seats even, have different lengths - I work in the Commercial Aircraft Interiors industry and know that all seats start equally - but dependant upon the seat and the individual LOPA (Layout of Passenger Arrangement) for each aircraft the seat belts can vary. For instance, at my heaviest on a Japanese Airline on a 787 my seat belt fastened, but on an US Major Airline on a 777 it didn't. The bitter fat person in my head (the one who keeps screaming Why aren't you eating more of that? It is delicious! Eat More!) thinks is just might be a conspiracy... :-DDDD

I came to the realization this morning while driving to work that if I was on a typical diet that I would have 1,000 times by now. From the night on my pre-op diet when I came home to my husband who had made Spaghetti and Meatballs for the himself and the kids to the 4th of July BBQ this weekend where there was homemade macaroni salad and every grilled/bbq'd meat known to mankind and lots of icy boozy drinks available. I would have quit - I would reached for that plate and loded it up and eaten myself into a comfort food coma each and every time. My sleeve is doing it's job and I must give myself some kudos to sticking to the recommended foods list - but my sleeve is training me on portion sizes (post VSG sizes too - tabelspoons instead of cups) and keeping me honest. I am so glad that I made the decision to get my sleeve. The first few days were tough and I have had dreams about eating food (my subconscious just doesn't understand why I am not eating like I used too!), but as I sit here wearing a new pair of pants that I bought in October and got home only to figure that I had gone up another size and was too regretful to return them (they were the largest size Lee makes in that style 24W), I am pleased with both myself and the outcome of my sleeve. This is what I thought I was buying when I selfpaid for my sleeve and it is working as expected - sometimes slower then I want - but it is working and I will take slow and steady any day over "I will just start again on Monday!"

Agree with the sugar free Popsicles, my plan was 10 days pre-op (Protein shakes plus on 300 Cal meal), 3 days Clear liquids, 1.5 weeks Full Liquids, 2 weeks Soft/Pureed foods, Day 28 Regular Foods. I would have gone crazy with one more day of clear liquids, I tried to have savory liquids for lunch and dinner, and the popsicles were life savers

Yay! Madame Revs is back! definitely missed your wit and charm! I am post op now - so excited to share in the experiences that so often make your posts so gosh darn funny!

I do think she will notice - just this past weekend at a 4th of July BBQ, someone hollered out, "That better not be your plate!" as I exited the buffet line, I had my packet steamed fish (which I brought with me) and some well cooked broccoli. The guy who said it is a nice guy who doesn't know I had surgery, I just replied "this is my first round", and he didn't say anything the rest of the night. Don't know if he just stopped noticing or if someone told him about my situation. It was a friendly jest, nothing more, and that is how I took it. If you don't feel comfortable explaining your small portions to your friend, just say that you are not feeling it or it's too hot eat or something and put the rest of your meal in a doggy bag. I have found that as I tell more people I get more questions but no negative remarks. It is funny the skinny ones are more positive than the heavy ones though! I have only had one person say "I know 5 people who died from that!!" and that is my overly dramatic sister! She came around though whne she realized that I wan't going to change my mind.

Surgery on June 9th weighed 289, July 7th weight is 269, waiting for July 11th to see my total weight lost since surgery :-D

Try the unflavored Protein mixes, unjury and Syntrax both have good ones - you can mix them in anything you want, yogurt, chicken broth (watch for temperature instructions to avoid clumping). Also look for a recipe book on Amazon called The Bariatric Foodie Guide to Perfect Protein shakes - she has tons of ideas and i think you can find her blog online by Googling Bariatric Foodie. Also - Google "The World According to Eggface" she is also a blogger with tons of recipes and tips for post surgery. Good Luck - I consider myself lucky that I have found several shakes that I love and can drink everyday... Premier Protein Chocloate (Try Costco) Ready to drinks are my M-F go to Breakfast drink ;-D

I have been careful about who I share with - a very good friend let me know that eventually everyone would figure it out since the weight would come off - I am very luck that where I work we are all very supportive of each other, as I began to share, some before and some after, I have received excellent positive support from my co-workers. Outside of my department I haven't talked about it much, but I know I will get questions eventually as I am usually involved with other departments. And my customers - they will notice too - especially since we only see each other about once every two months or so... I have a friend that brags about self-control (She lost about 30 lbs while going through a divorce) and about how she is now a hot cougar, I can't imagine telling her - she would immediately say why can't you do it like I did? I don't have the balls to say "you mean get divorced?"

June 11th - I was 3 days Clear liquids and currently on full liquids through day 14, currently I am on day 11. Weird thing is that my Center's definition of full liquids includes SF pudding, SF smooth yogurt, plain greek yogurt, all things that seem to belong to Pureed/Smooth Foods for other programs, but classifies refried Beans and mashed potatoes as pureed foods... I am soooo ready to try smooth / soft foods - on Day 14 my program jumps to both pureed/smooth foods and soft foods for two weeks and then regular foods (with caution of course)... What are you eating today?

It seems that to some "normal" equals french fries, fast foods, breads and sweets. Why these trigger/unhealthy foods are considered normal should be the question! When I think of what I consider normal eating habits, I think of the majority of my friends and family who tend to eat pretty darn healthy. It was me who was eating the most indulgent foods at a restaurant, it was me that had the largest pile of food on my plate, it was me who never refused dessert, it was me who everybody always said "made enough for an army" (think dinner parties or potluck scenario). I was the abnormal one. I agree about being careful what we consider "normal", that is why I consider it a "New Normal", I fully intend to follow the Protein first rule, and to stay away from simple carbs, etc. But I do not plan on being on a diet, because that has negative connotations for me. I guess I prefer the term eating healthy, staying away from processed foods ( as soon as I can, all these Protein shakes and SF foods are the epitomy of processed food, :-D), using my sleeve to help me keep portions within my surgeons guidelines and work on my head hunger issues. That will be my New Normal.

I guess that depends on your definition of "normal", I totally respect that you are referring to your previous normal that led to morbid obesity, I view the behaviors that got me to morbid obesity as abnormal. You see, I was on what I will jokingly call the Hobbit Diet: breakfast, 2nd breakfast, eleven's, lunch, supper, dinner, etc. I knew what I was doing - digging my own grave! But I could never stick to eating like what I thought a "normal person" ate, I wished everyday that I could be normal! I found I could lose weight on prescription drugs only, I knew that wasn't sustainable for the rest of my life, this is how I made the leap to surgery... so it could do what the drugs do physically and I can work on my head hunger too. So when I read the post title, I was all for eating "normally" :-D Here is to a new normal for all of us!

My Doc told me that being on liquids and full liquids only that a BM every 3 days or so is totally normal, she also said that simply a few days past is not considered constipated, they consider constipated when you have the need/pressure/pain to move your bowels and you strain strain strain to only produce a small hard ball, not "geez, I haven't pooped in 4 days, but I don't even feel like I need to" She did suggest adding benefber to your Protein shakes or liquids to assist in moving that matter through. I did that and when I also had more clear broth (instead of cream) based Soups I was able to yell Eureeka! in less than two days... Just saying.

Smooth/Soft Foods is Day 14 for me, so Wednesday I am so trying refried beans!

So I am on Day 6, my tummy is covered in tape residue and the majority of the tape is still on my incision sites. I am sticky mess and it itches like heck! I am ok with incision site steristrips not having fallen off yet, but what about the nasty residue everywhere else? You see I am a redhead and they told me several times that redheaded equals bleeder, so they had to over wrap three of my sites that kept bleeding through in recovery. So I have lots of excess tape marks. My arms too as they had a hard time finding a good vein, so they had me taped up both sides, I just want to get rid of this nasty black gross tape residue everywhere, it reminds me a dirty bandaid marks when I was a kid! Just so you know, I have been showering and not scrubbing my belly per the recovery instructions... Any suggestions?

I finally got all of the residue off! I sprayed my stomach with an all natural no perfume, body oil several times in one afternoon and then showered and used a facial scrub towel wrapped around one finger to go at the lines without scrubbing my incisions. It worked!

Linda - you are so right! As a former pre-op newbie I loved using BariatricPal as a research source where I knew that I had to take into account the nature of the site and it's participants. I learned to add a bit of salt to some posts that seemed overly negative or overly positive, I tempered that judgement with the post count and mutual respect from other posters. I am still a newbie - only on Day 10 post-op, but I have been on BariatricPal since before it was consolidated, I lurked for quite some time before joining. I do miss the snarky posts that were more than your usual operation related question or diet issues. I always enjoy those - sometimes just a view on life or the changes we experience...I have always found value here - but I do wish that the newbie's and the old timers could get along, so we can have some more original posts again. I recognize the value of keeping a "friendly" site but it seems that the ones who go away are the old timers and we are losing some tribal knowledge with those departures. If those old timers who always penned great posts are lurking now - please come back! Alex please consider reinviting those old timers back, we need that experience and life knowledge!

Staples? Did you have an open procedure? I just had steri-strips and superglue - which itches...