Jaguilar

Hello all, I am 3 1/2 months out from surgery and the weight loss has been going well- about 45 lbs so far and steady weight loss so I am totally satisfied with the progress weight loss wise. What is less satisfying is that, while I have been losing pounds on the scale and while my measurements have gone down some, I am still the same size I was SIXTY pounds ago! I was a size 22 at my heaviest at 296 lbs and, while those 22s have gotten looser, I still look like a sausage stuffed into a casing in the size 20s I am able to get into and I can't even get into some 20s yet. I see a lot of people comforting people who don't see movement on the scale by saying they are probably losing inches even if the scale isn't moving. Does anyone have the opposite problem? I see all these success stories about people losing 30-40 lbs and several dress sizes and here I am, sixty friggin' lbs later and barely down a single dress size. It's really discouraging.

Blondiee, I was probably straining the top end of a 22 at my heaviest. They weren't button popping, but they were pretty tight and I'm sure that being at the top of one size is partially the reason why it seems to be taking longer to go down a size. And things are finally loos enough that I think I am at least within 5-10 pounds of a new size so it's not like there's no end in sight. I think I just got down a little bit down seeing so many people talking about how drastic their body transformations have been when they have lost fewer pounds than I have. I'll get there though, I'm sure, and I'm grateful to everyone who replied with encouragement and support!

Luckily I have tested negative for diabetes and my blood sugar has been absolutely normal in the two rounds of blood tests I took pre-op.

Hi guys, Do any of you find that you do better with a more equal balance of Protein and carbs? Our diets seem to stress getting protein so much but does anyone find they actually feel better when they eat more carbs? I am 4 weeks post op and in the pureed/soft foods stage. For the first 3 weeks or so I followed my instructions religiously - I tried to get 64oz of Fluid and tried to get 60 grams of protein daily. I didn't usually make the entire goal but I would consistently get 3/4 to within a few grams/ounces of the goal. I was also walking 45 minutes a day. It worked fine for the first few weeks but then I noticed that I was starting to get light-headed and it was hard for me to complete my exercise because I felt weak or fatigued. Of course I was getting almost no carbs because I was trying to so hard to get my protein goals. Then I transitioned to pureed/soft foods and there were so many new options out there (many of them carb-heavy like fruit, mashed potatoes, spring peas, etc.) I started blowing off some of the protein requirement just to be able to eat some of the new options (and I was getting sick of the old options). Around the same time I starting incorporating more higher calorie drinks, nothing outrageous but more in the 50-80 cal/8 oz versus 10 cal/8 oz, obviously drinks that include more sugar/carbs (I was also getting sick of the watered down diet drinks). I still try to get 30-40g protein but I don't bother trying to make the full 60 grams anymore. The funny thing is that once I started blowing off getting all my protein and started eating more carbs the light-headedness went away, my energy went up and I feel strong again. And the weight loss has continued at a brisk pace.

Small clarification - I'm not going nuts on carb-laden food or going overboard on calories. Even with 1 small "carb" meal (1/2 mashed potatoes, 1/2 cup peas or something) and one "higher" calorie 8 oz beverage a day, I am still not breaking 500 calories.

I don't get my Protein requirements (60 grams) and I kind of don't really try anymore. I just get 30-40 and call it a day. When I tried really hard to do nothing but protein and the full 60 grams, I was light-headed and weak and I felt awful, now that I eat more carbs, I feel great and have more energy so I am thinking maybe I'm just one of those who needs more carbs and the weight loss hasn't suffered so no harm, no foul as far as I'm concerned.

Hey folks, I am a little over two weeks out and am transitioning to puréed foods - mostly just mashed potatoes and refried Beans right now once a day then liquids for the rest. The first couple weeks after surgery I never really felt full (or empty) so I just ate what was required and stopped. Now I am starting to have feelings of fullness but often it's before I finish my food or drink the amount of Fluid I had hoped to within a given period. Sometimes it takes hours to stop feeling any fullness. And its happens even with fluids, though in theory fluids should mostly just go straight through. If I start feeling full I usually try to give it like 1/2 an hour or so and then resume, usually even though I still feel full. I will usually eat or drink past full, not a lot, but I will try to finish my Protein meal or maybe get that last ounce or two of fluid. I worry about overfilling and causing a leak or bursting my staple line but at the same time there aren't enough hours in the day to get my fluid and protein requirements if I have to wait hours for the full feeling to go away. Does anyone else have any experience with this? What do you do - keep going to make at least most of your fluid and protein requirements (I've never made it all the way yet, usually I settle for at least 2/3 of them and anything better than that is a bonus) or stop when full and maybe make 1/2 your requirements or less? Also, how easy is it to create a leak? Will an extra ounce or two of fluid or a couple small bites more of mashed potatoes hurt?

My last straw was in November when my bf and I were taking a plane ride and a desk agent comes over and tells us we can have priority boarding with the frequent travelers and families with kids because we're so big we might need more time to board. Apparently, according to him, we are considered disabled so we qualify for more boarding time. That was a real wake up call. I had a rough patch over the last 7 years or so and gained a TON of weight but most of my adult life I've never really been obese. Sure, I've been overweight, maybe 15-20 lbs but never anything like I am now. And it was just so shocking and humiliating to me that there are people/institutions out there thinking I'm disabled. Now, I might have gained a lot of weight but I am strong and mobile, I can still work out, run, all that stuff - I am not some friggin' invalid, barely able to heave my ponderous mass down a plane aisle. But yeah, that's what got me thinking that I don't want people looking at me like some pity case or like I'm somehow less capable than other people.

Hey all, I just had my surgery let week and this is my first post. It sounds awful, but I'm a little disconcerted by how well eating and drinking are going. I use a shot glass to measure my fluids and I can pretty much drink one of those continuously, or at least every 30 seconds/minute or so, seemingly indefinitely. The "food" part for Protein is also going the same way. Being full liquid, I drink most of my food right now, but I generally have 1 cup of skim milk at a time, later maybe a Protein shake (8-11 oz) for a second meal, which I can drink at one sitting using the same shot glass every 30 seconds/minute or so method I do with the drinks (although sometimes I break it into two sittings), and then a 5 oz greek yogurt, which I nurse for about 25-40 minutes. Nausea is non-existent and I never feel hungry. I push for the recommended 64 oz of Fluid and 60 grams protein a day and generally come close, though never over (no hunger means I don't see the need to exceed the recommended). Part of the problem is that I never feel full either. All my information from the Dr. says eat until you feel full or satisfied, but I don't ever really feel "fullness", I just eat and drink the recommended and stop. My concern is that I'm actually eating too much or maybe splitting my staples or stretching my stomach without knowing it. All the stuff I read says you should be able to "eat" 2oz of food or a 1/2 cup at a time but I can do the 5oz yogurt or a cup of milk with no problems at all and no fullness. It's like the restriction isn't there at all doing what I'm doing now and considering the risks and possible complications with such a new sleeve I'm not about to go beyond my current regimen to see how far I could go. I guess I'm just new and nervous, but I really would like to hear from anybody about their experiences, whether it happens that people can eat so easily and so "much" (in comparison to what I've read) this early in.

Thanks for replying, guys! It's good to know there are others out there like me. I'm a still a little concerned about the lack of fullness though. It seems like the fullness feeling is the way you're supposed to know when to stop so you don't burst your staples and cause leaks and a bunch of other nightmare stuff I've read about. If you don't feel full, how do you know when to stop? Even right now, I'm technically "over stuffing" my pouch at 5 oz for the yogurt, when most sources say 2 oz should be the max. Should I just cut it back to 2 oz or 1/2 a protein shake to be on the safe side or just continue on with what I'm doing since there don't seem to be any adverse effects so far?