JamieLogical

I know that when you are in it, it is so hard to hear other people say things like "just hang in there" and "this happens to everyone", but you really need to HEAR it. There is nothing wrong with you. Your surgery hasn't failed. Everyone's body reacts differently to surgery and drastic changes in diet. This is your body's reaction for right now. You have to remove the word "only" from your vocabulary. It will drive you insane. I was in your shoes after my surgery. I "only" lost 14 pounds the first month when other people were losing 30-40 pounds. And then I "only" lost 8 pounds the second month. And then I "only" averaged about six pounds a month for many months after that. And then I was "only" losing 2-4 pounds a month. And you know what? Eventually all of those "only"s got me to my goal weight! I've been maintaining (and even losing a little more) for the past three months and life couldn't be better!

I've never had this happen but after a long discussion in another thread, we came to the unscientific conclusion that maybe probiotics help prevent it. My nutritionist had me on probiotics before I even had my surgery and many others in the thread reported that they never had this problem and took probiotics daily or they had this problem until they started taking probiotics daily. So, if you aren't on probiotics already, you might want to give then a try and see if that helps at all.

I had my surgery in Mexico, so I was out of town day 1! Of course, I was still in the clinic then and I was staying at a hotel that accommodates dozens of bariatric patients daily over the next couple of days. But on day 3 I stayed in a hotel on the US side of the border and day 4 I flew home. So travel was clearly possible. The trick will be preparation. You will need to have all the things with you that make the early days possible. Powdered Protein, meds, personal comfort items.... As long as you go prepared, I don't see any reason you can't make it happen.

Ooh, this sounds like a tough one. I've had to add a lot of fat back into my diet to try to slow down my loss now that I'm at goal. Like you I do full-fat cheeses and nuts to help increase my calorie intake without having to increase the volume of what I'm eating. I don't know what I'd do if I could rely on those higher fat options to get my calories up. I'd hate to resort to more carbs/sugar, but that might be your only option at this point. Trying to pack in more protein as a calorie-source will probably be pushing the limits of your restriction.

I'm actually intentionally eating a lot of peanuts now for this reason. I'm trying to STOP losing weight, as I'm now 5 pounds below goal, so now I eat at least one ounce of peanuts every day. They are good way to get in extra calories with healthy fats and protein instead of resorting to ingesting a lot of empty calories by drinking my calories or eating junk food.

You should consult with your surgeon or nutritionist, as every plan is different. I was allowed protein shakes and drinkable yogurt on day 3 post-op, as I recall, but all my other liquids still had to be clear until I was allowed strained cream soups around day 7.

The first time I tried to eat a scrambled egg, it took me about 45 minutes to finish maybe 2/3 of it and I was lying on the floor in agony afterward. All I can say is that it does get better and easier. You have to keep trying. I wish I had better advise, but the only thing I can tell you is that patience is the only thing that will get you through the next few weeks. Eat VERY slowly. Chew until there is nothing left in your mouth at all. Try different foods and different amounts. Try melting a little cheese and putting a little sauce of some sort (I liked taco sauce) on your eggs to make them a little less dry. Soft cheeses were one of the easier things for me to handle. I practically lived off of Shelly's Baked Ricotta (google the recipe).

I've had surgery in Mexico twice and both times I was very impressed with the level of care I received. The facilities I went to and surgeons I used were top-notch and they took amazing care of me. They were very thorough pre and post-op and I could not recommend them more strongly. Mexico gets a bad rap from the uneducated and ignorant. But the truth is that there are world class surgeons there. The competition really does drive up the quality as long as you aren't always just looking for the cheapest option. Think about it, these surgeons all rely on word-of-mouth and the reviews of their patients to attract new patients. It is in their best interest to provide extremely positive experiences. In the US, you maybe have one or two options for local surgeons? Where is the motivation for them to do their best when they are the only option available? As for follow-up care, I met with my PCP prior to leaving for Mexico. She ordered regular blood tests for me post-op to make sure I wasn't developing any deficiencies. Those were all covered by my insurance, because the orders were coming from my PCP. I had also contacted my insurance company prior to surgery to make sure that if I did develop a leak or infection once I was home, I would be covered if I went to the ER. They assured me that I would be. You should definitely talk to your insurance company to make sure that's the case for you. They basically explained that even though they wouldn't cover the surgery itself, any complications from the surgery would be just like complications from any other elective behavior. If I were a smoker, they would cover my lung cancer treatment, even though it was MY choice to smoke. If I fell off the roof while cleaning the gutters, they would cover my broken bones, even though it was MY choice to get up on the roof in the first place. As for how to convince your family, you may not be able to. I am well known to make VERY well-researched decisions, so most of my family trusted that I had done my due diligence and was making a smart choice. But some people are just opposed to surgery outside the US. They are convinced your organs will be harvested and you'll wake up in a bathtub full of ice or whatever. There's no changing those people's minds. They will refuse to acknowledge that THOUSANDS of people travel to Mexico and have successful surgeries every week. As long as you do your research, you can be confident that you will be safe and well cared for. Whether or not you can convince others of that is really up to THEM, not you.

I can see my ribs above my boobs when not wearing a bra and the other day I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror while getting into the shower and I could see ribs in my BACK! Yet somehow I'm still wearing size 12 jeans.

Depending on what you are eating, 6 oz. of a protein source per day may not be enough. Some protein sources are richer in protein than others, so measuring by the ounce is uselss. You need to be measuring GRAMS of protein and making sure you are meeting your minimum each day (my minimum is 100 grams). You can space that out throughout the day in any manor that works for you. It can be tough if you aren't eating foods that are protein-rich enough. Always put your protein first at EVERY meal/snack.

There are multiple reasons to not drink around eating. Drinking immediately BEFORE eating can make you feel full and you might not eat enough. This one is really only an issue very early on. Even in my earliest days I was allowed to drink right up until 5 minutes before eating. Now I will drink right up until my first bite. Liquids pass through the stomach so quickly, the chances of anything sitting in there long enough to deter you from eating are slim. Drinking WHILE eating allows food to wash through your stomach more easily and quickly, essentially bypassing the restriction, which was the whole reason you got sleeved in the first place right? You should notice pretty early on that soft, liquidy foods like Soup and chili go down WAY easier than dryer, tougher foods. Basically, by drinking and eating at the same time, you are turning ALL of your foods into those soft, liquidy foods, making it easier to eat much more than you should. Drinkng AFTER eating will cause you to feel unpleasantly full. Once your stomach is already full of food, putting in liquid on top of that will just make you painfully uncomfortable for a while. I find that if I eat until full, I usually have to wait a good 40 minutes or so to be able to drink comfortably afterward. If I just have a small snack that doesn't actually fill me up, I can usually drink a little sooner.

I had a tummy tuck in August 2011 and was sleeved in September 2014. My tummy tuck held up AMAZINGLY well. I had regained 80 pounds between when I had my tummy tuck and when I finally got sleeved. You can see pics in my gallery. No loose skin at all on my stomach after the re-loss. My arms and thighs are a different story..... Edit: PM me if you want pics of my scars.

So I've mainly been sticking to Combat Crunch bars as a replacement for Quest Bars since the whole soluble corn fiber switch. The issue is they are VERY pricey. However, for Cyber Monday, GNC is having a crazy sale where they are 40% off AND buy 2, get 1 free. So I bought 27 boxes! I think this ends today though.

So, a few weeks ago, I received my latest shipment of chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bars. I noticed they had a slightly different taste and texture, but didn't think much of it, because I've noticed some variation in batches of Quest Bars before. But then I started getting really gassy in the past two weeks or so. Like really gross smelling gas and loose stool. After talking to a coworker who also eats Quest Bars, I realized that Quest Nutrition has been phasing out Isomalto-Oligosaccharide in all of their bars and replacing it with Soluble Corn Fiber. Now both of these are "fake" fiber and have their various issues, but at least the former didn't make me horribly gassy. I've now been soluble corn fiber free for a day and a half and the gas has stopped, so I know that was the issue. I managed to find one more box of the old version of Quest Bars, but I'm very sad to have to be switching away from them. I loved them SO much. Now I'm trying Muscle Pharm's Combat Crunch bars and they are tasty, but very candy bar like, which can be cloyingly sweet. The also have slightly more calories and more net carbs than the Quest Bars. I guess I will have to keep searching for something that tastes good, has plenty of Protein, has few carbs, and doesn't make me sick.

Yay! That's a huge achievement! If you've been doing most things right up until now, it shouldn't be too hard to keep it off. My problem has been not losing more after hitting goal! I'm down 5 more pounds over the last three months and that's with really trying hard NOT to lose anymore.

I reached my goal weight of 165 just before my 1 year surgiversary. I am now almost 15 months out and I'm still losing weight. I really want to stop! This morning as I was getting into the shower, I noticed I could see the ribs in my BACK in the mirror! I haven't been doing any structured exercise for a while now. We just moved to a new house on Nov. 6. The weeks before that were filled with packing and planning. The weeks since then have been NON-STOP physical and manual labor to get our new house to our liking. Painting every room, installing new light fixtures, installing new faucets, installing new door hardware, hanging curtain rods, installing new cabinet hardware, building furniture.... I took the first full week after the move off of work and every day was solid physical work. Since I came back to work at the beginning of last week, it's been a little less intense. I actually look forward to coming to work, because it means I get to sit down! But as soon as I get home, it's non-stop physical and manual labor again until around 1:00 in the morning. Anyway, the point in all of that is that I am definitely burning a lot of calories right now, even if I'm not exercising on a schedule. Once all the house stuff is done and we are finally unpacked and settled in, I want to get back to a normal schedule of running and biking 4-5 days a week. I don'd know how to get enough calories in to stop losing weight right now, short of just drinking them or eating terribly. I've been trying VERY hard to still eat on a schedule and get all my Protein in, even through all the craziness. Sometimes I'm going 4-5 hours without eating instead of my normal 2-3, but I am still eating at least four times a day, usually at least five. I'm eating lots of cheese and nuts in an effort to get more calories, since those have more fat and thus more calories by volume. But I just can't keep up and the pounds keep coming off. Any ideas on how to get more calories in without resorting to unhealthy habits?

I bought a size 12 pair of jeans at Old Navy years ago when I was trying to lose weight "on my own" pre-sleeve. Well, I still have the jeans and I am 5 pounds below my goal weight now and they still don't fit. The zip up and everything, but they just aren't the right shape for my butt. It's like the butt part is too short so the waist band dips down and shows crack. Guess I'll never actually be wearing those jeans.

Interesting that your "first" goal is to fit into size 10 jeans. I'm 5 pounds below my goal weight now and still wear size 12. But you can see my ribs above my boobs when I'm not wearing a bra and this morning I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror when getting into the shower and I could see my ribs in my back! I carry all my weight in my hips and legs. Good luck to you on your new journey! I hope you will have a much more positive experience with your sleeve than you did with your band.

I think a lot of people have that worry in the early weeks. You are on liquids and as long as you aren't having problems swallowing, they pass straight through so you feel like you have no restriction. Plus you still feel a lot of head hunger, because you haven't learned that you can't eat like you used to. You see a pizza commercial on TV and you want pizza RIGHT NOW. Even though there is no physical way you could actually eat it. As for stalls, it is VERY common to have a stall around week 3. It's even called the "Week 3 Stall". There are lots of posts about it. Stalls happen. The key is, stick to the plan. As long as you stick to the plan, eventually the scale will start moving again. Sometimes it just takes the body a little time to adjust and adapt. Through this whole process, patience is vital. There will be MANY times when you are frustrated and anxious and the only "cure" for whatever is bothering you is time. The scale never moves as fast as you want it to, but eventually you will get where you are going if you stick to the plan.

I thought of peanut butter too, but overdid it last night. Ended up feeling pretty sick, like all the peanut butter was stuck in my esophagus. My fault for eating too much too fast! But I do agree that peanut butter might be a really good way of getting some extra calories packed in. So long as I can manage my eating and not make myself feel sick again.

I just wish the Combat Crunch weren't so expensive! And it seems like every time I go to any of my local GNCs, they are out of one flavor or the other or both of the flavors I like. I even ordered online and was informed the Peanut Butter cup flavor was on backorder.

I haven't tracked carbs at all. I found that just getting all my protein in tended to keep carbs low due to the limited space. I am already at 3 protein bars a day right now though! Since my time is so limited and I've been so insanely busy. I do protein bars for Breakfast, afternoon snack, and evening snack. My only "real food" is lunch and dinner.