JamieLogical

Even without protein shakes, you should be well over 20 grams a day of protein. I try to get 20 grams from lunch and dinner each day, which would put me at 40 with nothing else! What are you eating now?

It doesn't feel like you are "sucking in" all the time. It doesn't hurt or anything. It just feels normal and awesome! I will say that even almost 4 years out, I still have some areas of numbness or reduced sensitivity. For the first full year or more you will get phantom itching, which will drive you INSANE. Just like an amputee who has lost a limb. That is much reduced now that all the nerves have repaired and rerouted themselves.

@@Gaelsmom This whole 200+ page thread is full of everyone's personal experiences from having surgery at OCC. I highly recommend you go through and try to read the whole thread. I know there is a LOT to get through, but I definitely found reading the full thread to be very helpful in my decision making process.

@@heynowkc Huge congrats! That is amazing! Sounds like you are in a groove and know exactly what you need to be doing to lose steadily.

There's a BIG difference between a container of yogurt (usually around 5 oz.) and canned chicken. Yogurt is pretty much a liquid. I was allowed it during my full liquids phase. Solid Proteins on the other hand are FAR more taxing for the stomach to process and pass. So you could potentially be putting a lot of undue stress on your healing stomach by eating too much solid Protein at once.

That seems like a LOT for 16 days post-op. I wasn't even allowed soft foods until 18 days post-op and when I was, it was a challenge for me to get in one ounce of tuna. Some people don't get a "full" feeling shortly after surgery due to nerve trauma. Perhaps that is your issue? You should definitely talk to your nutritionist or surgical team and ask them how much you should be eating at once. I was told to only eat 2 oz. at a time that soon out of surgery, so I weighed and measured everything so I wouldn't eat too much at once.

Here was my packing list from when I went in September: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11I51ulCBco9cimQj882eV1KfMWodyiIO6X4gNaLpDDc/edit?usp=sharing

The restriction is pretty serious in those first several weeks as the swelling goes down. It's perfectly normal to not be able to get much in at one sitting. I remember my first time trying to eat tuna when I was allowed soft foods. I was supposed to be allowed 2 oz. of food at a time, but I couldn't even manage one ounce of tuna.

My advice is to exercise extreme amounts of patience. Patience is what will get you through. You'll need patience as you are waiting for your surgery date to arrive. You will need patience post-op to just make it through day by day. Things DO get easier each day post-op, but it will feel like eternity. You WILL for "normal" again eventually. Just be patient. You'll also need patience with the scale. There will be times when it doesn't budge, even though you are doing everything "right". Again, be patient.

Welcome and congratulations on your decision to change your life!

That last question is the most significant one as far as I'm concerned. There are a million ways to lose weight and most of the people who resort to WLS or Biggest Loser-style extreme dieting have lost weight before. They've probably even lost *significant* amounts of weight before. I know I've seen MANY Biggest Loser contestants mention they had lost 100+ pounds in the past and regained it. So for me, the true test here is whether Biggest Loser contestants keep off more weight long term than WLS patients. That is the ONLY number that matters. How much weight you lose and how fast you lose it is completely irrelevant if it's only temporary. If a patient/contestant weighs 400 pounds now and will weigh 400 pounds again two years from now, how does it matter at all what happened in between? They are no better off than where they started. Potentially they are worse off, because it's clear that repeated weight loss and regain is more taxing on the body than just staying a consistent weight. Plus, if they did a Biggest Loser-style plan, they potentially would have bad knees or other orthopedic injuries.

You definitely need to work on your protein! Twenty grams isn't nearly enough to sustain you and you will have more problems than just slow loss if you stay that low. Insufficient Protein intake can lead to serious health issues. What are you eating now and what is preventing you from getting enough protein in?

This thread has made me so grateful that my surgeon and nutritionist didn't set any deadlines for my weigh loss and set a pretty realistic ultimate weight goal (with no target date). My nutritionist is much more focused on body fat percentage than weight as well, which is nice because I have been doing a lot of strength training and, while the inches keep dropping, the scale is going sooooo slow now.

Hope everything works out and you are able to make it to TJ today! Flying is so stressful!

There are definitely some "food police" on this forum, but I think that most of the harsh responses on this particular thread were out of genuine concern for the original poster's health. Does everyone slip up and eat off plan at some point in their journey? Probably. But eating solid foods immediately post-op can have real and serious consequences that put a patient's health at risk. The tone was probably harsher than it needed to be, but my gut reaction when I read this post was just to freak out that this poor person might be doing herself bodily injury. I wasn't being judgey. I was in a true panic for her well-being.

I have had surgery twice in TJ. I had cosmetic surgery almost 4 years ago and I had my VSG in September. My surgeon for VSG was Dr. Ariel Ortiz of Obesity Control Center. I had great experiences both times and I highly recommend surgery in Mexico so long as you do all your research and pick a reputable surgeon and facility. The quality of care I received for both of my surgeries was on par or better than what I would have expected to receive here in the US and was MUCH more affordable.

@@Lady VS Congrats on the new grandbaby!

You may get to the point where you can chug water again. I had a LOT of issues with drinking immediately post-op and struggled to get all my water in for the first couple of months. But now I have no trouble chugging water (almost 9 months post-op) as long as it is ICE cold and as long as I haven't eaten in the last 45 minutes to an hour.

I don't really see why you can't have any alcohol ever, unless you know you are prone to addiction or something. I do agree that drinking it daily would be stupid, since it's empty calories. Soda has carbonation, which some believe can stretch the sleeve and I'm not willing to take that chance, so I avoid it 100% of the time. But I have had alcohol several times in the last 9 months. Maybe once a month or so once I was allowed. Just at social occasions and I'm very careful about it, because I have noticed I get drunk much faster post-sleeve, so absolutely NO driving the entire night, just to be on the safe side. I'm generally opposed to drinking my calories, but I don't see the harm in drinking in moderation on occasion.

My biggest gripe is that I can never find pants that fit my huge butt and thighs. Every pair I try on is WAY too tight across my butt or is HUGE in the waist.

I let my family get a red velvet cake for my birthday and I even ate about a half a slice of it.

Definitely focus on getting in all your protein. What is your activity level like? I'd "only" lost 41.5 pounds at my 5 month mark, but I had a lower starting weight than you. Everyone loses at a different rate. Try not to compare yourself to others.

How do you expect to afford to eat post-op? This is exactly how you will be eating for the rest of your life post-op. You won't have room for starches and carbs when you need 100 grams of Protein a day and can only eat a few ounces of food at a time.

That chest pain while swallowing should go away within the first two weeks or so, once the swelling goes down. Mine definitely improved once I was a couple weeks out.

Can you order Protein powder online and have it shipped to you? I find it hard to believe you can get protein shakes anywhere in your town. If you have a Walmart, Target, RiteAid, CVS, Walgreens.... any of those will sell protein shakes, just maybe not the best selection. If you really just have NO WAY to get shakes, then the things @@Bufflehead are good sources of protein for the early stages. I was also allowed string cheese during my soft foods phase.