JamieLogical

I have't had to SEE my nutritionist post-op, as she is in Mexico and I am in Western, NY, but I corresponded with her frequently immediately post-op as I progressed through the food stages and I had follow-up phone calls with her at 3 months and 6 months post-op.

You are likely in a stall due to not getting enough calories to sustain your level of activity. If you can't increase your calorie intake, because you still just physically can't eat enough, then try reducing your activity some. I wouldn't advocate that as a long-term solution though, since decreasing activity can lead to muscle loss. You need to find the right balance of calorie intake and activity to where you are in that sweet spot of losing steadily, but not sending your body into "starvation mode".

Are you eating enough? If you are working out every day, you need to be getting enough calories to sustain that, otherwise your metabolism will slow drastically as your body tries to preserve itself.

If you were sleeved on the 7th, then you have probably hit the dreaded week 3 stall. You'll be fine. Keep getting in your water and protein and walking. Your weight is going to fluctuate from day-to-day by a couple of pounds. That's just a fact, as you retain and release water weight. If it's taking a psychological toll on you, then stop weighing yourself as oftern. Just weigh once a week or once a month.

I don't track carbs, for better or worse. Some people may say that has contributed to my slow rate of loss. But on the days that I have spot-checked my nutrition, I've been around maybe 25-45 or so net carbs? I always just make sure I get my 100 grams of protein a day, which doesn't leave much room for carbs anyway.

@@deedadumble You look great! Congrats!

That's exactly how I felt when I got my sleeve. I had lost 90+ pounds before that "on my own" and regained after my plastics. I tried to re-lose the weight a few times again "on my own" losing 40+ pounds again, but again regained. When I was facing yet another attempt to lose the weight this past summer, I realized that I needed WLS to keep the weight off once I lost it again. For me, it's more like weight MAINTENANCE surgery than weight LOSS surgery. But I knew I should get it while at my high BMI, since surgeons don't usually want to do WLS on a patient with a healthy BMI.

Yay!

@@Bluesea71 I too am a little skeptical of posters who seem to ONLY post about plastics and specific surgeons, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I post a LOT more about my sleeve than my plastics, because I just had my sleeve in September and had my plastics 3.5 years ago. So the sleeve is obviously more "top-of-mind" for me. Maybe some of these posters who mostly post about their plastics do so because their WLS was a long time ago and with their plastics being more recent, that's what they think about more?

Really really focus on getting your protein in. You are less than a month out, so bread should NOT be an option right now. If you focus on your protein, you shouldn't have room for carbs at this stage.

Ugh! I would NOT want to be even the tiniest bit "awake" for plastics. Have you seen the videos of what they actually DO? Watch a video of a tummy tuck or breast augmentation and that'll make you pass out, even if the sedation doesn't! The best part of surgery, as far as I'm concerned, is being unconscious through the whole thing and having it just magically all done when you wake up.

Ha! I love that image. The recovery house I stayed in provided walkers, so I spent the first two weeks doing my little walks around the recovery house and back yard with a walker, all hunched over. By the time I was flying back home. I was walking upright like a human again.

Better to use the precious room in your sleeve for protein anyway.

It is perfectly normal to go through a period of stall or even a slight gain at this point. Keep following the plan. I assure you, you have not come CLOSE to eating enough calories to actually gain real weight. It's just your body adjusting. Stick to the plan. Get in your protein and water. Eat the things you are allowed to eat in your current food stage. And be patient.

I used Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas of Beauty Enhance. I had a great experience with her. She treated me exceptionally well, visited me every day in the recovery house for the two full weeks I was there, and provided great follow-up care via email and phone. Website: http://www.beauty-enhance.com/ Phone: (619) 399-7449 Address: Av. Diego Rivera 2550 Zona Rio Tijuana Baja California 22320

So I've hit an interesting place in my weight loss journey. I am now exactly one pound below what I weighed when I had plastic surgery back in August 2011 after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". When I had my plastics done, I'd been maintaining around 180 for about 8 months and I was very content at that weight. I had hoped to maybe lose a bit more, but my body seemed happy and once I had my plastics, I was very happy with the way I looked. Now that I am back down to this weight again post-sleeve, I'm finding it challenging to motivate myself to loose the 25 more pounds to reach the goal I'd set for myself. I chose a goal weight of 155 because that would put me right in the upper end of a "healthy" BMI. My nutritionist set a goal weight of 165 for me prior to my VSG. So even going with the more lenient goal of 165, I still need to lose 15 more pounds. I'm just having a hard time convincing myself that I really need to lose 15 or 25 more pounds! I am once again pretty happy with the way I look and feel comfortable in my skin. I am working out 5-6 days a week, finishing up Couch to 5k with the intention of running a 5k in the second half of may, doing strength training.... I feel fit and strong and like I am continuing to get fitter and stronger. But to lose these last 15-25 pounds, I will have to remain very diligent about my eating and that has been slipping some in recent weeks. I'm still getting in all of my Protein, but I have splurged on some chips and ice cream recently. Not a ton and nothing unreasonable really for 8 months post-op, but enough to where it might have a detrimental effect on my weight loss. My loss has already been "slow" by most people's standards being very strict about my food, so I know it will slow even more if I become too lax. It's definitely just a philosophical/psychological issue right now. If I am happy with my body and it is working well, should I be so focused on the scale? I want to say "no", but then there is part of me that just thinks I'm using that as an excuse to be more lax about my eating. "I don't NEED to lose anymore weight so a little ice cream can't hurt, right?" Those are the sorts of thoughts I'm struggling with right now.

My "running" is only 5 mph right now, so if/when I run a full 5k, my time will be over 36 minutes. But I have plans for ways to work on my speed once I finish the traditional C25k program.

Huge congratulations! That is a major milestone for all of us. For those of us who already got there, we all remember that as the BEST feeling. And for those of us who aren't there yet, we all look forward to how great it will feel. Cherish it!

The key is, it doesn't really matter how fast or slow you lose the weight, so long as you eventually lose it. In the grand scheme of your life is it going to matter that it took you 6 months or 12 months to reach your goal when you've been living a happy, healthy life for 10+ years? We are all in this horrible mentality from past diets where we feel like we're in a race to goal so we can be "done". News flash: we'll never be "done" with weight loss surgery!

Oh, forgot to mention.... one thing that made drinking a *little* bit easier for me was marching in place while sipping.

There are a couple of possibilities here: You just have a sore throat, because you're coming down with something and it's nothing to do with surgery. You have acid reflux irritating your throat. Are you on a PPI? You may have oral thrush. I developed it post-op due to the liquid antibiotic I was on. If you look in the back of your throat, do you see a white coating on the back of your tongue or the sides of your throat?

That's because statistically speaking, based on the data they used to build the calculator, sleeve patients had experienced some re-gain between months 12 and 18.

There are lots of pills on the market called "Water pills" that act a a diuretic and help reduce water weight. But you need to be careful not to dehydrate yourself. Usually your body is retaining water for a reason (like to heal muscles after a workout). As for vitamins: I take Vitaleph Bariatric Multivitamin (bought direct from their website). A generic of Citrical Maximum +D3 (from my grocery store). A B12 spray (from Amazon). Insync probiotic (grocery store). Those are the supplements my nutritionist recommended. In addition I take: Vitamin C, coq10, Omega3, Vitamin E, and Beef Gelatin. The C, E, and Gelatin are all supposed to help improve skin elasticity so I don't have as much loose skin as I lose weight. The CoQ10 is for my carpel tunnel (recommended by my PCP). And the Omega 3 is just because I don't eat fish and don't get much Omega 3 any other way.

I am well below "average" on rate of loss, but I have been losing steadily, so not complaining. I will be 8 months post-op in a little less than two weeks (May 1) and so far I am down 57 pounds post op. Since the second month, I have been averaging about 6 pounds per month. Here's a calculator that can help you estimate how much you will lose, but remember, everyone is different: https://www.realize.com/do-i-qualify/potential-results/comparison

The great thing about surgery is that you are unconscious the whole time. They put you under and by the time you wake up, it's all over! No reason to be afraid! The anesthesia is really the BEST part. Now, the recovery is a whole other story... Take it one day at a time and little by little you will get better.