JamieLogical

My total cost back in August of 2011, including the 2 week stay in the recovery house with 24/7 nursing staff and all my meals was about $10,500. I would imagine the price would be at least a little higher now, since that was 3.5 years ago. By comparison, I met with a surgeon here in the US in January about my potential revision to my breast augmentation and a new breast lift, including hospital and anesthesia, he wanted $7400. That was without the cost of new implants themselves, because he was confident he could get Allergan (the manufacturer of my implants) to replace the actual implants for free.

My main problem with fruit, just like veggies, is that I have no room for it! I wouldn't object to the calories if I could fit it into my diet and still manage to get all my protein in. But I haven't been willing to sacrifice protein in order to make room for fruits and veggies.

If you aren't on a regular PPI, talk to your doctor or surgeon about getting on one. That will help with acid production. Gaviscon and Zantac and the like are more for neutralizing acid once it's already there. What you really want is to produce less acid in the first place, which a PPI will help with.

The main issue is that if you drink while eating, the Water mixes with the food and flushes through your stomach more quickly and therefor you won't feel full as long and will be able to eat much more. It's basically a way of bypassing your restriction, making it easier for you to eat more food. Drinking before eating can allegedly fill you up and make you eat less, and therefore not get ENOUGH food, but I find that theory to be pretty much BS, because I watched my post-op leak test and saw how fast liquid moved through my stomach. It was through in a matter of seconds, so the rule of not drinking for 20+ minutes before eating just seems like a surefire way to NOT get enough liquids in. I drink right up to the time I start eating. Drinking after eating will just make you overfull and uncomfortable. If your stomach is full of food, there's nowhere for the liquid to go and it'll just sit on top of the food and possibly get backed up into your esophagus, which is NOT good. But as I said, drinking WHILE eating is the most dangerous. Because when the food mixes with liquid to become a more apple-sauce like consistently, it passes through more quickly and makes it easier to eat more, defeating the whole purpose of the restriction.

Congratulations on your approval. The good news is that an arm lift is a much cheaper and less invasive procedure, so it's something you could always save up for and pursue on your own at a later date. The fact that you got approved for abdominoplasty is very impressive and you should be VERY grateful for that! The recovery time from a full TT is very rough. The muscle repair is pretty killer in terms of pain level and movement restriction. I would definitely aim for at least a full 4 weeks off of work and you will need to have someone around to help take care of you in the early days. You will NOT be able to fend for yourself. I found it INCREDIBLY frustrating to rely so heavily on other people in those early days. I always thought of myself as lazy, but once I couldn't do anything for myself, I actually HATED it.

@@Bluesea71 Stupid scale! How dare it ruin your mood! You were feeling strong and accomplished. Hang onto that and ignore the scale. It's just being a big meanie, as usual.

What's your calorie and protein intake like? Could be that you need to consume more calories to sustain your increased activity level.

I'm 5'6" and was 180 when I had my plastics 3.5 years ago. I had a tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, all over lipo, and fat grafting to the top of my butt all at one time. I was scheduled for 4 weeks off work, but ended up only working half days for a good while after I went back. That was because of swelling in my lower back. Had I not had that issue, I think 4 weeks would have been adequate time off for my desk job. I spent two full weeks in Mexico at a recovery house, before having my drains removed and returning home. I actually HIGHLY recommend going to Mexico for plastics. Not only is it cheaper, but the surgeons there are very experienced and you will receive round-the-clock care in a recovery house, versus being sent home 1-2 days post-op to fend for yourself like you would be in the US. My surgeon was Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas. At the time of my surgery, she was lesser known, but well respected and had excellent reviews. That was 3.5 years ago, though, so you may want to do current research. I am considering going back to her this summer for a revision to my breast augmentation (weight regain and re-loss has been unkind to my boobs), but I haven't done more than some preliminary emails back and forth with her office.

I think this is the crux of your problem. Increased exercise takes increased calories to sustain. If you are active and still only consuming 800 calories a day, you will run into problems with weight loss and energy levels. Try increasing your calories by introducing an extra high-Protein snack once a day. You may also want to introduce a few complex carbs (gasp!) shortly before your workouts. I started seriously exercising right around my 4 month mark as well and by adding a string cheese stick in the morning and then some granola or kashi Cereal to my afternoon yogurt (last thing I eat before I work out), I was able to have the energy I needed to get through my workouts, not feel hungry through the day, and continue losing weight.

My advice is to take it VERY slowly. Some people don't have any real issue or restriction with purees, but do when they start on soft foods (same phase for some people). Anything with a lot of liquid mixed into it is going to be easier than dry foods, even if the dry foods are very soft.

The main thing we are lacking here is a comparison of weight maintenance 5+ years out. That's the info that actually MATTERS. And I love how he lists the costs and risks of WLS as arguments against it and then advocates orthopedic surgery! The mortality rate for Gastric Sleeve is lower than the mortality rate for knee replacement. Still everyone can lose weight in a million different ways, so comparing weight loss between WLS and Biggest Loser's extreme exercise plan is completely meaningless. What we really need to know is what the maintenance stats are.

I would truly worry about the long-term consequences of not getting enough Protein in. You're much more likely to lose muscle than fat without enough protein. Protein helps with the healing process. And how much hair are you going to lose without enough protein? My hair loss only lasted about a month and a half, but I think if I had gotten less protein, it would have been MUCH worse. I was just watching a show called Downsize Me yesterday while I was working out. There was a woman on there who was actually quite thin, only weighing about 155 pounds, but she had over 29% body fat, because she ate all the wrong things. The most important of which was her lack of protein. She had virtually NO protein in her diet, usually only having any sort of protein at dinner time. She and her husband were going through the new nutrition program together and the nutritionist had her eating half again as much protein as her husband to make up for her deficiency. The personal trainer was appalled at her lack of muscle and inability to even do any kind of moderate lifting. Protein is just so critical to the functioning of our bodies, whether we are WLS patients or not. The reason so much emphasis is put on protein for WLS patients specifically is because we are eating so little food in total. Our protein requirements don't go down just because we've had WLS, but our food intake drops dramatically. Therefore a higher percentage of the foods we eat need to be protein. 46 grams of protein is the minimum daily recommended allowance for a sedentary woman. Throw in the fact that we are rapidly losing weight and increasing out activity level and we really do need more than that.

@@Jaimianna79 Glad to hear everything went well! Focus on getting better and being patient. It'll be rough in the beginning, but it WILL get better, so remember that if/when you are struggling.

My whole family knows and all my in-laws know, but I haven't told many coworkers or friends (just two total). I've lost significant amounts of weight "on my own" in the past, so most people just assume I'm doing that again. By the time they realize I'm not regaining this time around, it'll be too late for them to comment.

Eat ice cream all day long... you could get over 4000 calories easy. Drink juice... eat cake..... eat cheese puffs.... eat and drink at the same time. Remember, bypass patients no longer have a functioning pyloric valve, so if they eat and drink at the same time, everything just flushes straight through their pouch into their intestines. I'm pretty sure I could get over 4000 calories a day just by eating slowly all day long, eating slider foods, and drinking at the same time.

Definitely doable post-sleeve. See above.

Yeah where are you getting this math that to maintain 600 pounds she has to eat 150,000? She's bed-bound, does zero activity. I imagine she could easily maintain her weight on less that 15,000 calories, which is certainly doable, even post sleeve if you drink your calories, eat and drink at the same time, and eat slider foods.

We need a LOT more information before we can offer any solid advice. When was your surgery? What was your starting weight? What is your current weight? How long has your current stall been? What are you eating? What are you doing for exercise? Are you getting in all your protein and water?

Hang in there. Focus on water and protein. I know you are anxious to get to more solid foods, but make sure you take it very very slowly when you do. The restriction of the sleeve really starts to kick in once you are on more "real" foods and it's easy to misjudge how much you can eat without causing yourself discomfort.

How far out are you? I was told not to eat anything with little shells or husks until at least 3 months post op.

I am right there with you. I recently went through my closet and made a big pile of the clothes I can't wear anymore and I STILL haven't actually thrown it away or taken it to Good Will. It's all still just sitting in a big pile in the corner. I lost 90 pounds "on my own" back in 2010/11 and I had given away all my clothes on the way down, determined to never need them again. Then as I regained all the weight, I regretting having to buy those bigger sizes all over again. Now, with my sleeve, I know I will never regain the weight this time around, but I can't get it out of my head how defeating it was to have to go out an shop for bigger clothes all over again.

If you find out the answer, let me know! For me the issue isn't calories. I honestly don't care how many calories I am getting so long as I get my protein in. For me, the issue is SPACE. By the time I put my protein first to get the required 100 grams (my nutritionist is BIG on protein), I just have no room for any veggies.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say, word-for-word! For the constriction in my esophagus when I sipped, I found it a little easier to sip while marching in place. Give that a try. I would say that lasted for a solid 2 weeks post-op, but got better and better.

That's what I do. I find that if I eat small amounts every 3 hours or so, I never feel hungry and it's easy to get all my Protein in eating 6 times a day.

At 6 weeks I was allowed solid foods, so I switched to Protein bars instead of shakes. I was SOOOOOOO over shakes by then. It took me a while to be able to eat a whole one, but I definitely prefer them to shakes. Just be careful about saturated fat, carbs, and sugar when choosing a Protein Bar. Some of them can be pretty terrible for you. My personal choice is Quest Bars (specifically chocolate Chip Cookie Dough). If you have a Vitamin Shoppe or GNC near you, you can buy individual bars to try out the different flavors. Even some grocery stores sell the individual bars. Here's what I eat in a typical day to get my 100 grams of protein in. Keep in mind, I'm 7 months out, so I can eat a lot more than you probably can right now: Breakfast: Quest Bar (21g) Morning Snack: Reduced Fat String cheese (8g) Lunch: 3-4 oz. of meat of some sort (14-20g) Afternoon Snack: Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt with Granola or Kashi Cereal mixed in (12-15g) Dinner: 3-4 oz. of meat of some sort (14-20g) Coffee: w/ 2 oz of Soy Milk (2g) Evening Snack: EAS AdventEDGE Carb Control shake or Quest Bar (17-21g) So that's 88 grams on the low end of everything and 107 grams on the high end of everything.