JamieLogical

It's not BS at all. The whole idea of WLS is to create restriction so you eat less and feel full longer. Eating and drinking at the same time is one of the easiest ways to bypass that restriction. I know for a fact, that pre-sleeve, I used drinking as a way to shovel in more food. I would go through 4 glasses of Water at a large meal, so I could wash that food through my stomach more quickly and fit more food in. That fact REALLY hit me the first time I experienced "fullness" post-op and my very first instinct was to reach for the water so I could keep eating. You do have to be responsible for what you put in your mouth, that includes foods and liquids at the same time. And while it all does come down to calories in versus calories out in terms of weight loss, if you want to take full advantage of this TOOL we have all been given, don't cheat yourself out of that restriction.

Here is what I looked like at my highest weight pre-TT at 265 pounds: I then had my tummy tuck done at 180 pounds, but regained most of the weight before being sleeved. Here is what I looked like pre-sleeve at about 240 pounds: So, you can see that even with the regained weight, my stomach remained very flat. I put most of my weight back on in my butt, thighs, hips, and back. Here is what I looked like at goal of 165 after re-losing the weight with my sleeve:

Sorry I'm late to this party! I had a tummy tuck, breast lift with augmentation, all over lipo, and fat grafting all done at the same time back in August 2011 after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". My recovery was a lot worse than most, unfortunately. I had swelling of the soft tissue in my lower back (lipoma) that lasted a good 6-9 months where it was impossible for me to sit up or lie on my back for any period of time without extreme discomfort. I spent the vast majority of my time lying on my side. It was particularly bad driving, because of the way car seats tend to lean back. When I came back to work, I could only work half days and had to use a kneeling chair. Aside from the back issues, the recover from TT with muscle repair is pretty brutal. The muscle repair part will be the source of a lot of your pain. The incision, though gruesome to look at, really doesn't hurt all that much. As someone else mentioned, if you have the breast work and TT done at the same time, the breast pain and recovery will seem almost non-existent compared to the TT pain and recovery. You won't be able to stand up straight for a good 2 weeks at least. The first day or two, it hurt just to breath and coughing, sneezing, or laughing were EXCRUCIATING. Like you felt like you were being torn in half all over again. DO NOT laugh! Stay away from funny people. Do not watch funny TV shows. Now, with all that negativity out of the way, I will say that I am happy and grateful EVERY SINGLE DAY for my plastics, even 5 years later. It's kind of like WLS itself. A lot of misery and suffering in the beginning, but SO WORTH IT in the long run. I regained 80 of the 90 pounds I had lost between the time I had my plastics and the time I was sleeved. But now that I am at goal and maintaining with the sleeve, the results of my tummy tuck still look amazing. My stomach is flat, I have defined abs, and my scar is low and minimal. I love love love it! I posted some pics of my TT scar in this thread: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/349852-tt-scar-pics/

A ticker is a graphic representing your weight loss in your signature. You can see mine in my forum signature. It's the little road with a runner (that's me!) on it.

Not all Protein Bars are high carb. You just have to do your research. Some people do seem to have trouble controlling their use of protein bars, but certainly not all. I have protein bars daily and don't have any issues managing my weight or my intake. I've been maintaining for over 5 months now and was losing to goal before that, eating protein bars every single day since the day I was cleared for solid foods.

Welcome! This site is great for support, getting answers to questions, getting back on track, and all sorts of other things. I hope you find what you are looking for here.

I was prescribed a PPI (omeprazole) for the first two months post-op. It is very common for sleeve patients to experience GERD. My suggestion would be to take a PPI before bed (like Prilosec OTC), and see if that helps.

There won't be any long-term consequences for doing this one time. Just don't make a habit of it!

@@smallbmi Are you taking anything for your acid issues? I am on a PPI twice a day and that keeps my acid in check. Though it's not ideal, it's better than carrying around 100 extra pounds, so a small price to pay.

You will feel normal again! I remember that was the question I asked myself most in those early days. I'm pretty sure I even posted it on here a few times. "Will I ever feel normal again!??!?!" But I eventually did and you will too! It's hard to believe right now, I know, but you really really will. As for the pureed stage, I never once ate any actual pureed food. I had my Protein shakes, yogurt, and recipes from this page: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html The Baked Ricotta saved me!

I assume that was the case, otherwise what is the point of it?

I read a lot of personal accounts of patient experiences along with research into surgeons' credentials, facilities, number of procedures, years of experience, and post-op support/resources provided. You really need to do your due diligence and pick a surgeon you can feel comfortable and confident with. As long as you pick someone reputable, with a proven track record, you really can't go wrong. There are many great surgeons in Mexico!

Jamie, that is an awesome way of looking at it!! That seriously made a world of sense to me and brought it in perspective to me.. I have my 2 week pre-op coming up and surgery on 29th.. Good timing for me to see ur post. Thanks That's why they tell us to always eat protein first. If we fill up on the protein we need, we won't eat the carbs we don't need.

I was never given a guideline for carbs or calories, just protein. I thin the idea is that, by getting my 100 grams of protein a day, there isn't much room left for carbs.

I was so done with the shakes by the time I was back to solid foods too. You just have to tough it out, as it really is your only way of getting Protein in until you are cleared for solids. Once you are back on solids, you can find ways of getting more protein through real food and switch to Protein Bars (just be SUPER careful to get low car/low sugar bars and watch out for the saturated fat). Meeting your protein goals is imperative forever, especially in this beginning stretch. Even if you hate it, you have to put on your big girl panties and suck it up. As for your head hunger and craving all those old foods, this time, more than any, should prove to you that those cravings are all in your head and have nothing to do with physical hunger. There is NO WAY your stomach could handle those things right now and yet you still want them. This is a really good time time evaluate those feelings and think about how you might ultimately change your relationship with food. Though, I will admit, that during some of those moments for me immediately post-op I did just straight up lie to myself to quiet those thoughts sometimes. I would tell myself, "you'll have that in a few months" knowing that I probably really wouldn't. Breaking that emotional connection to food was a major challenge for me in the early weeks and months, but I did eventually manage it, and I am sure you will be able to as well.

Definitely a lot more door holding. I work at a college so there are always a lot of people around and a lot of foot traffic. Now both men and women hold the door for me more. I also seem to get mistaken for a student a lot more, maybe because I'm dressing "younger" now?

Huge milestone. Congratulations!

For me, it's "out of sight, out of mind". Even when we have things like cookies or candy in the house, as long as it's not sitting out on the counter or the table, I forget it exists. So we keep that stuff in the pantry, where we can get at if we really want to, but we have to me mentally aware and acknowledging it, instead of just mindlessly eating it.

Congratulations!

It's incredibly common. Hormones get stored in fat and as fat breaks down, they are released back into your blood stream.

I was allowed to swallow whole pills at 7 days post-op and didn't have any problems doing so. As for the OP, I take Vitamins three times a day. You aren't supposed to take Calcium and Iron (usually in your mulit-vitamin) at the same time, because they compete for absorption. So make sure you are taking those at least two hours apart. Here's my schedule: Morning: birth control, omeprazole, multi-vitamin, probiotic, B12 After Work: multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, Omega 3, coq10, vitamin D3 Before Bed: omeprazole, calcium +D3

You can drink as much as your restriction will allow. Early on, due to swelling, you might feel some restriction with water. Once the swelling goes down and you are all healed up, there is no reason you can't take big gulps of water. Just be careful not to swallow air while gulping.

@@Kaila312 I am so sad for you. Yes improper choices and eating too much lead to weight gain and we still have to be responsible for our calories in and calories out, but the restriction of the sleeve is supposed to help us with that. Without the restriction, you are no better off than any non-WLS patient trying to lose/maintain weight through diet and exercise. The sleeve is meant to be a tool to help our efforts be more effective and make it harder to go off track. Your tool is now broken and I am genuinely sad for you. I admire your resolve to get back on plan and re-lose the weight. You aren't letting yourself feel defeated and that is amazing to me.

In my first few weeks, even the teeniest, tiniest sip was a huge ordeal. I struggled to get in the recommended 1 oz. per 15 minutes. Now, at 17 months post-op, I can drink Water like a normal person, taking several large gulps at a time. What you need to understand is, liquid moves through your stomach immediately. It doesn't sit there for any period of time. So once the swelling goes down from the surgery (what made it so hard to sip in the beginning) and your stomach is fully healed, there is no restriction for fluids at all. Some people seem to have some sensitivity to different temperatures of water or be able to get flavored water down easier even months post-op, but that's not to do with restriction. The only time drinking liquids will bump up against your restriction is if you are eating and drinking at the same time or drinking immediately after eating. You are doing what you should be. This thread is not about immediately post-op when you are still swollen and healing. This is about months and months post-op, once you are fully healed and learning how to eat long term.

@@RoscoColetrain Awesome post. Too funny! I think it should be illegal to give any post-op patient a cell phone until 24 hours post-op. I have heard some great stories about people making some hysterical calls and texts in their drug-induced haze!