JamieLogical

For me, I always thought of weight LOSS surgery as more of weight MAINTENANCE surgery. I had managed to lose a lot of weight MANY times over the years, but always gained it back. So even though I lost weight pretty quickly and easily during my pre-op stuff, I knew I would still need the surgery to keep it off.

My plan called for no more than 2 oz. of food at a time. I bought these little 2 oz. baby food containers and pre-portioned everything out into them: http://a.co/fb4qgLN

Yeah, definitely frustrating it wasn't communicated to you sooner. It's such a long, tedious process in the first place. Sucks to have it drag on even longer than necessary.

I know it's very frustrating, but it really is going to set you up for greater success post-op. A month seems like a SUPER long time right now, but it's worth the trade off if it buys you years and years of health and happiness down the road, right? Carbs are a HUGE problem for nearly all of us post-op. It's so so so critical to get your Protein in and in the very early months post-op, you will simply not have room to waste on carbs. Kicking that carb habit is critical for long-term success. While I've never subscribed to the whole "carbs are the enemy" mentality that a lot of WLS patients end up living by, it's a simple issue of space in those early months. When you can only eat a couple of ounces of food a few times a day, they HAVE to be protein in order for you to meet your protein requirements. There's simply no room for carbs. So you really will be doing yourself a favor to start adapting to that mentality pre-op. It's tough for sure!

It's been 2 days that i am eating creamy soup and egg white i get burpy for both of them specially egg white! I get burpy even for water! Sometimes it bothers me Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Literally even the teeniest, tiniest sip of Water made me burp for the first couple of weeks post op. It was actually this whole weird process that would happen where I'd have this gurgling in the back of my throat, then my esophagus would constrict and spasm painfully, then I would eventually have to burp. But that did all go away after a couple of weeks. It was from the internal swelling and once I was more healed up inside, it got better. Do make sure you are taking tine sips/bites and eating/drinking very very slowly. But in my case, it didn't really help much. Just had to tough it out.

Please please please please please DO NOT compare your rate of loss to others. It is a recipe for misery and disaster. You will only spend all of your days hating yourself and questioning all of your actions, wondering "what am I doing wrong?!?!?" It's miserable and completely pointless. There is no reason you have to lose your weight *quickly* post-op. Your sleeve is forever. You will have PLENTY of time to lose the weight. And once you have lost the weight and reached your goal, how long it took you to get there will be completely meaningless. I was a "slow" loser by everyone's definition. I "only" lost 15 pounds the first month. I "only" lost 8 pounds the second month. I "only" lost about 6 pounds per month the next five months. I "only" lost 2-3 pounds per month for a while after that. You know where all of those "onlys" got me? To goal! Where I have been happily maintaining for well over a year. In the end, how fast you reach goal is completely insignificant.

I had a lot of burping the first couple of weeks post-op. Usually when I drank anything (which was pretty much everything I ingested for the first two weeks). It got better as my internal swelling went down. I still get burpy if I eat raw vegetables now (over two years post-op), but I haven't heard of many other sleevers with that problem.

At three weeks out, I was only on soft foods. My routine looked something like this: Breakfast: Protein shake Morning snack: string cheese Lunch: Protein Shake Afternoon snack: Greek yogurt Dinner: Shelly's Baked Ricotta (recipe here)

Walk, walk, walk. You may not want to, but it works wonders for the gas!

None of your questions seem dumb to me. It sounds like you are thinking ahead to what your life really might be post-op. It's not all sunshine and roses and easy. It's good to recognize that ahead of time. Change is scary from nearly everyone. I wanted to talk about the concept of "missing" food. This was a really tough one for me because I was a binge eater and I had some very strong and powerful cravings and emotions built up around certain foods. It was VERY hard for me the first four months or so. My instinct was still to emotionally eat, to binge, and to crave those comfort foods. Even though my stomach was no longer physically capable of any of that, the instinct was still there and powerful. It was frustrating. And it took a long time for my brain to catch up to the limitations of my body. But I *did* eventually get there. I learned to love quality over quantity as well. I can still enjoy the foods I loved now. I just have very very little of them when I do. And often, I find it's really not worth it. I do occasionally still miss being able to go out for a huge dinner at a nice restaurant or eat a whole pizza while watching a favorite movie. But that feeling of nostalgia is fleeting and doesn't make even a tiny dent in all the amazing benefits of having had the surgery. The trade off was WELL worth it!

Usually all liquid. PS: There are no stupid questions.

Since you don't know what I'm talking about, I will explain. "Centers of excellence" adhere to a specific set of guidelines including a fairly specific post op diet. I think that Babbs posted it. Interestingly, when I looked up "bariatric center of excellence KC, I noticed that many WLS doctors and clinics SEEM to squeeze the word "excellence" into the first line of their websites, I did find ONE that claimed to be accredited. However, on further investigation, there aren't any actual ACCREDITED hospitals in Kansas City, KA or MO. http://www.surgicalreview.org/locate/ice/locate-bariatric-center-of-excellence/?list=ice In my opinion, based on your stated "food plan", you received substandard care. You are satisfied with that care so that is not really my issue. My issue was that you claimed you got this substandard care at a "bariatric center of excellence". Over the past five years I have spent a considerable amount of time and energy establishing the framework for the "center of excellence" designation, which is why I was concerned. And since I now know that you did not get your diet instructions from a "center of excellence" as you previously claimed my interest in this has ended. However, pre op patients need to be aware that any surgery center can claim to be a "center of excellence" so do your homework and choose your surgeon and hospital carefully. I left a link. Oh wow. That was a scary thought. I guess I was pretty naive to just trust my surgical center's claim of being a Center of Excellence. But I checked the link you posted and mine really is on there. So that's a relief! Wonder how many patients *think* they are having their surgery at a Center of Excellence but really aren't!

Sorry you've been so stuck and can't lose those last few pounds you need to get your surgery scheduled. You know what you have to do, time to execute!

I don't think it's too early for a consult. Especially if you go into it knowing that you might have to wait a bit for the actual surgery. There are general rules of thumb about how long to maintain before plastics, but everybody is different. Things like your age, gender, how long you were at your high weight, and how many times you gained and lost weight can all play a role. It is worthwhile to have a surgeon examine your skin, your history, and give you a realistic estimate of when you will be ready for surgery and what your results will be.

It's a lot of trial and error in the early stages. You should stick to your planned food stages, but within those stages you have to figure out what can and can't work for you. It's also super important to eat on a schedule and weigh/measure your food. With the trauma to your stomach and nerves, you can't rely on your body to tell you when it is "hungry" or "full".

Glad you had a great experience. I've been to Mexico for surgery twice and had excellent experiences both times. If you do your research and talk to past patients, there are many great surgeons and facilities in Mexico. I feel like I received better care there than I might have in the US!

Sounds like you are doing fantastically well and are living your best life, which is all any of us really want when we have WLS. Huge congrats to you! By FAR my biggest NSV was completing a full marathon in September. Me! An obese person who never even ran a mile straight in her whole life until into her 30's! I ran 26.2 miles! You guys, can you even wrap your brains around that?

"Buyer's remorse" is incredibly common in the early days post-op. You are starving. You are in pain. You are hormonal (remember your system gets flooded with hormones as you break down stored fat). You are wondering if you will ever feel "normal" again. I promise you, it gets a little better and a little easier every single day. The pain only lasts a week or two. The fatigue only lasts a few weeks. You will eventually work your way through the food stages and get into a new routine with your eating. You WILL feel "normal" again. Maybe not the same "normal" as before. But a new "normal". It will probably take a few months to get there, but you will be SO SO glad you made this decision by then.

I was a VERY "slow" loser and you know what? It didn't matter at all! I still got to my goal and have been happily maintaining ever since. You will have the rest of your life to enjoy being at your goal weight. What does it matter if it takes you a couple months longer to get there than someone else? I promise you, at over two years out, I never ever look back and say to myself "if only I'd reached goal a month earlier."

I didn't have any incisions inside my belly button, so I am not sure how it would/could be related to your surgery. You could call your surgeon's office and ask, just to be safe.

People have this very misguided notion that "cheating" on their post-op food stages is like "cheating" on a diet. IT IS NOT! You have a staple line all along your stomach that needs to heal. Food particles can become trapped in those staples which can cause abscesses, which can cause leaks, which can cause death! Trying to eat solid foods days after WLS is like trying to run a marathon days after having a knee replacement. You need to allow time to heal!

For me, the fatigue was a big issue until I was advanced to soft foods and could start getting in more calories. As much as you don't want to be "eating" right now, you should try to get in more calories if you can. Suppliment your protein with strained cream soups if you can handle them. They have a decent amount of calories and could help boost your energy a bit. You have to fuel your body. It is using a lot of energy to heal right now. If you are only meeting your protein goals and not getting in any other "food", you are definitely going to be tired all the time.

I don't count calories. The only times I have tracked calories post-op were when I was trying to make sure I was eating ENOUGH. Shortly post-op, when I was first on solid foods, I wanted to make sure I was getting up over 800 calories a day so I could start running. And then when I was training for my first half marathon, about an year-and-a-half post-op, I had to start tracking calories because I was losing weight and I didn't want to be. So I started tracking calories to figure out how I could get more in and stop losing anymore weight. Once I figured out a routine that worked for me, I stopped tracking.

Can you tell me how much weight you did lose after your surgery? Sent from my 0PM92 using the BariatricPal App It depends on what you consider my starting weight. I was 260 when I began pre-op diet/exercise and I got down as low as 153 at one point post-op while I was training for my marathon. I am now comfortably hovering around my goal weight of 165, which is right where i like to be. However, I am starting training for a half marathon later this month and suspect I might lose a little during that. It's hard to eat enough calories to NOT lose weight when I'm doing serious training schedules.

@@MelissaRose24 Definitely read up as much as you can about the procedure, the pre and post-op food stages, the potential complications and everything else. One thing that maybe hasn't been stressed enough yet in this thread is that the RATE of weight loss doesn't matter. We are so used to the "diet" mentality of setting and reaching a goal so we can be "done" with it. You will never ever be "done" with your sleeve. It is for life. So if it takes you 6 months or 16 months to lose the weight, it won't matter in the long term. I am over two years post-op now. I live my life at my goal weight every single day now. It took me almost exactly one year to reach goal. Some reach it sooner, some reach it later. But once you are there, it doesn't matter how long it took, because you are there and you can STAY there with the help of your sleeve.