une nouvelle vie

@@softballjunky20 are you hanging in there? That pre-op food is no fun, is it?

Dr Curry patient here. I traveled from central Ohio and had surgery in June at the JourneyLite facility. JourneyLite is outpatient only I believe, they had me up and walking within an hour of waking up and after 4 hours I left the facility to go to a nearby hotel so I could be close if there was a complication. I had very little pain and nausea. After the night in the hotel room I went straight home and didn't need to see the doctor again until my 2 week post op appointment. Since then I've had one more appointment at about 5 weeks and my next one is in 2 weeks. @SheriL1... there are support groups. I get emails for them but since they're 2 hours away for me I don't go although he did have one in central Ohio last month. It was about plastic surgery and since I'm only 2 months out, I skipped it. I have to say my experience with Dr Curry's office has been a very positive one. I think you're in good hands.

I didn't have one but another woman who had my surgeon did. I'm sure each patient is different.

Way to go! Keep on losing

Totally normal! I was TERRIFIED before mine. I was convinced I wouldn't wake up from surgery. I'd spent so long morbidly obese I couldn't imagine being anything but so I assumed I just wouldn't make it. That was two months ago and I woke up with no complications and feeling pretty good from the start. I wish all of you with upcoming dates an uneventful surgery and recovery. Have faith!

Honestly I'd be afraid to have surgery with a doctor who would agree to do major surgery on someone who had less than 40 pounds to lose. Of course there are probably doctors who will do it because cash talks, but an insurance company wouldn't pay for it I'd almost guarantee.

I was sleeved two months and three days ago. I'm feeling so frustrated and afraid that this just isn't going to work for me. I lost a significant amount of weight (85 pounds) in a fairly short period of time (4 months) prior to my surgery at the end of June. I used to eat massive amounts of food so my body responded well to high protein/low carb and I was pretty successful. Since surgery I have only lost an additional 30 pounds. I would think the first few months after surgery would be the best months as far as weight loss and I've only lost 30 pounds. I realize this still means I've lost 115 pounds in just 6 months, but I don't know why the weight isn't coming off now. I had a stall the first month and I'm on a stall now in the 2nd month. In fact, I lost 21 pounds the first month and only 9 pounds this entire month. On my surgeon's program I'm on the soft foods diet. Their paperwork says each meal should be between 4-6oz total for 5-6 meals/snacks a day. I'm trying to under-eat my sleeve so I usually eat between 3-4oz per meal. I am getting at least 60g Protein and 64oz Water daily. I am exercising (water jogging/swimming) for at least 30 min, 5 times per week. My nutritionist refused to let me pin her down to a calorie goal per day so I aim for less than 600 daily and I meet that almost every day. The days I have not met it I have still stayed under 700. I could understand this slowness if I was a lighter weight WLS patient. I'm not. I'm still 330 pounds! Honestly, at this point I feel like I spent $15,000 to lose 30 pounds and give myself an eating disorder. My next follow up appointment is in 2 weeks and I honestly just feel like giving up. I won't give up, but I feel like it. When I punch in my height, weight, sex, and age into one of the online calculators it says that my body burns around 2500 calories a day just existing. With those numbers and the amount I'm eating it doesn't seem scientifically POSSIBLE that I'm not losing a pound every couple of days. Anyone have any thoughts, ideas, words, or a pity party? I'm struggling

I check back in to find even MORE great advice. Thanks! As simple as it sounds, it's easy to forget that sleep really is very important and muscle does weigh more than fat. My head starts spinning with ... get your Protein in, get your Water in, don't eat within 3 hours of bedtime, don't drink 30 minutes before eating, don't drink 30 minutes after eating, take your supplements, take 1 minute between bites, don't eat for more than 30 minutes and then I start forgetting the basics: breathe, sleep, drink, eat. Thank you all.

Reading all of these responses, I'm overwhelmed. I was in a real panic yesterday, feeling so bad. You guys have made all the difference in how I feel now. I know you're all right, the big picture is the important one. I sure didn't take a short time to get to be over 400 pounds. It's not going to *poof* go away instantly. Slow and steady wins the race. I will increase my calories because that makes sense. I just kept thinking I had to keep it as low as possible. My metabolism is yelling "Hey, you used to never move and gave me lots of pizza. I'm on strike!" so I'm going to increase to closer to 1000 calories and see how that does it. Really though, that so many of you responded with support is touching for me. I don't have a lot of support on the outside, just here. I'm going to do some in person support groups locally when I work up my nerve, but for now this place is it for me. My family is supportive, but they don't really get it. So I will be reading and rereading your responses here when I need to remind myself to breathe and relax and just keep on moving forward. I will continue to be happy for those who have lost large amounts each month after surgery, but no more comparing myself because we're all different. I found a good quote to remember:

Thank you guys for reading that big long mess of a post! I've had a few people tell me that I might need to increase my calories on the days I work out. It seems so counter-intuitive to losing weight I've been afraid to try. Maybe I'll try it for a week or two and see what happens. @@Lizbiz, the doctor and I did talk about RNY instead. He felt that since the sleeve removes the portion of the stomach that sends the most hunger signals that the sleeve might be better for me. We looked at the data and it seemed to suggest that after 3 years most sleeve and bypass patients end up about the same place so I thought I'd go with the least amount of rerouting my insides From time to time I wonder if the RNY would have been better, but most days I think chose right. Thank you again for reading and responding. I'm just a mess today but I'm sticking with this. Maybe in a year I'll be able to resurrect this post with triumph!

Well said, @@Roostertail2

You may not be able to conceive it, but it happens. Also, with self pay there is no approval except the surgeon taking the money. I believe that most are reputable, but I think surgeons are people and there are just as many of them who just want money as any other profession. As for being incredulous that someone would blow their surgery for a cocktail or a hamburger, I hear what you're saying but I think it's more complicated than that. I mean, didn't we ALL blow our lives for food to get to the point where we needed WLS? Couldn't someone with more self control than I had/have look at me and say "God, look how fat she is. She's putting her life at risk to be so heavy. Why would she risk her life for a hamburger?" They'd be right about me and probably about you and all of us because we DID eat too much and the wrong foods when we knew better. It's easy to say what you would or wouldn't do. It's harder to keep on track and change your life and as the saying goes... the surgeon operates on your stomach, not your head. My head is the same one that decided to eat too many french fries before. It could do the same thing later and foul up what I've worked for. Why do you think there is such a large number of weight loss surgery patients who lose a ton of weight and gain it alllll back? I'm not usually a superstitious person but I'm afraid of giving myself bad juju by judging someone for their choices lest I be that person who thought I'd be a gastric sleeve superstar but ended up gaining most of my weight back. I don't plan to be that person, but I doubt anyone does.

It seems like everyone is different, so you'll have to find that right balance for you. I am 2 months out as of yesterday and I've only had that FULL feeling people talk about just one time. I was hoping I'd feel a lot of restriction with the surgery, but I just don't. Don't get me wrong, I'm not having that ravenous feeling of hunger like it I did before the surgery but I just don't feel that one-bite-too-far restriction I've read so much about. Hopefully you will start feeling it no matter what you eat, puree or liquid! Just keep measuring and getting in what your program calls for. Good luck!

I was told that our bodies aren't usually able to absorb all of that at once so we have to spread it out. I set alarms on my phone to take them so I don't forget.

Thank you for posting this, it's a good reminder. I'm so sorry about your friend.

@@Forsythia I agree with you. More recent studies are indicating that fat (especially saturated fat) has been demonized over the last few decades leading us to a low-fat craze that has helped increase obesity and diabetes. To make a food lower in fat usually they have added salts, sugars and preservatives to make them taste better. Now that I have little room in my stomach and watch every bite I am thinking more of ditching low fat items. It just seems to make more sense to me to eat foods with less chemical manipulation. I will admit though that my surgeon and nutritionists data all indicates low calorie/low fat choices. For now, because of their advice and being less than 2 months out from surgery, I am mostly following their advice but I'm still reading studies and researching what I will do on the long term.

Isn't the newest data in medicine indicating that the lowfat craze is part of what gave rise to such a marked increase in obesity and now diabetes? In June Time Magazine did a story spurred by new studies by Annals of Internal Medicine (and many others) indicating that fat, and specifically saturated fat, isn't the dreaded enemy it's been made out to be for so many years. To make foods lower in fat they usually have to add salts, sugars and preservatives. Considering that we now have to watch every bite we put in our mouths, wouldn't it make sense to go with more natural foods with less chemical additions and subtractions? Also, it appears the link to the website you gave to look up nutritional data is incorrect. As it stands it links you to a blank site with only information how to buy the domain name.

I hope you continue to work hard with your therapist to find out why because wow. Good luck.

@RJ'S/beginning, I love reading your responses. You're always so caring and positive yet truthful and direct. That's a wonderful and rare thing. @@HMJ, you mention homecooked meals and how they're probably not fitting into the preset items on MyFitnessPal. I've never used that program but SparkPeople has a recipe calculator where you can enter in precisely the items you used in your recipe and the nutritional content of each serving. I use my surgeon's site for tracking but when I make something homemade I use the recipe calculator on Sparkpeople and then transfer the data to my regular tracking place. Maybe that might help?

At the point where I am (soft foods) my program has a suggested 4-6oz per meal portion size but I'm trying hard to undereat my sleeve (especially since I've yet to feel the big restriction so many people mention feeling) so I shoot for 3-4oz of food at each meal. Keep in mind, I keep it BORING because variety is going to set me off track at this point. Meal 1: 2oz of center cut pork chop 12g protein 1/3 of a banana for the carbs Meal 2: 2oz of chicken breast 13g protein 1/3 of a banana for the carbs Meal 3: 2oz of chicken breast 13g protein last 1/3 of the banana for the carbs Meal 4: 2oz of chicken breast 13g protein (told you I was boring) 1oz of beechnut honeycrisp apples baby food (it's good!) Meal 5: 2oz of tilapia 11g protein 2 tablespoons of greek yogurt 3g protein Soon I will eat: Meal 6: 1 stick of Frigo string cheese 7g protein A lot of people would be bored out of their mind eating the same stuff all day I like do, but I know myself and need to keep it simple at this point. I used to just eat 3oz of meat each meal but backed down to 2oz most meals so I would have room for carbs. I took the PROTEIN ALWAYS thing too far at first.

I eat over 60g of Protein a day without grazing all day and most days I eat less than 500 calories a day. We're all different though and as long as we fit our protein in, it's all good as far as I can tell @Unhappysleever... at the point you are now, how many times a day are you eating and how much food are you eating during those times? Are your meals 2oz? 3oz? 4oz? 6oz? Are you opposed to protein shakes/powders? Some people use them while others don't, but if you need them to meet your goal I say drink away!

I hit mine but I'm also horribly boring with my eating and tend to eat the same things every day. I don't use shakes or Protein powder anymore, just by food. In fact, my nutritionist and surgeon told me to back off my protein daily (I was up to 90g a day) to make room for carbs.

I looked around a bit and I've seen apps mentioned in individual threads, but I didn't find a thread where people came in to specifically sing the praises of (or warn against) apps we can use to help us with our new relationship with food. I'm a big believer in using any help available and I see my sleeve as the greatest tool I have so far but far from my only tool. So since many of us use our phones and tablets for a multitude of things, what are the apps you use that help you with your journey? If you don't mind, please link to the app online if there is a page for it. That way others can check it out and see if it may help them as well. Two that are helping me so far: Fluid you're drinking. I love my surgeon's food and exercise tracking feature on his website, but his Water tracker could be better so I love this app. lunch break for so long where I used to work, but I knew I needed to slow down once I was sleeved. Even though I tried, I still found myself eating too quickly and I was afraid I'd start eating too much if I wasn't careful. With this app you can set the interval of time you want to have between bites and it alerts you (sound and/or vibrate) when it's time to take another bite. So those are my two for now. Anyone want to share?

Edited: Deleted it all. Not worth it.

What do I think? I think that I don't wonder why other people choose to decide what they want to weigh. The very idea that I should take another person's emotional inventory is preposterous to me. I'm hoping you don't mean it the way it sounds, but it sound pretty judgmental to be honest.