JamieLogical

I had the most trouble with room-temp water. Really really cold ice water or hot beverages are much easier for me.

@@BXB26 It's so hard to believe when you are only a couple weeks out, but I really do promise you that you will feel normal again. It took me probably a solid 2-3 months to get to where I felt normal most of the time and now that I'm over seven months out, I feel normal ALL of the time. You will adjust and adapt. I go to family gatherings and meals out all of the time now. Just last week I was on vacation with my husband, parents, aunt, sister, brother-in-law, and four nieces and nephews and we prepared meals together and ate out and were out and about the whole week. The great thing is that once you are back on solids, there's always a protein option no matter where you go. When they all did make-your-own tacos for dinner, I made myself a little plate of meat, cheese, refried beans, and a little taco sauce. It was delicious! When we went out, I got some chili or pulled pork (without the bun). One day we did breakfast for dinner and I had scrambled egg and a little sausage. It really is so much easier once you are back on solid foods. Just hang in there!

I felt light-headed and headachy for the entirety of my pre-op diet. Ridiculous calorie restriction and ketosis will do that to you.

I'm coming up on seven and a half months post-op. Everything is awesome! I feel normal all of the time now and I'm still steadily losing weight (down 56 pounds since surgery) with 15-25 pounds left to lose. Hoping to get to goal right around my 1 year mark.

Have you experimented with different temperatures of Water?

Get a light greek yogurt. The kind I buy (Danon Light & Fit) is 9 carbs and 12 grams of Protein.

If it makes you feel any better, I found out the AVERAGE BMI for women in the US right now is 29. So *just* this side of obese. You're barely above average!

I really doubt you or anyone else can juice themselves to less than half their starting BMI. Honestly, the topic of this post really alarmed me. It sounded like the only two choices you are allowing yourself are some fad quick fix diet and a surgery that removes 80% of your stomach for the rest of your life. Talk about about opposite ends of the spectrum! It sounds like you've done your research and you know what you need to do. Don't let others in your life influence your decision. This is a choice you need to make for yourself and you need to be 100% confident in that choice.

Congratulations on your loss so far!

I'd say I was able to eat about 3-4 ounces. Sound perfect then!

The mental barriers are definitely just as strong as the mental barriers. When I got to the first long run (20 minutes straight) at the end of Week 5, I thought "NO WAY!" I had struggled with an eight minute run the workout before that, so 20 minutes seemed completely impossible. But then I did it!

Out of curiosity, why are you "worried" about losing weight slowly? When I first had the surgery, I too felt the urgency to lose the weight fast, but when I realized I was going to be a slow loser, I reexamined my thought process. I realized that sense of urgency came from my old diet mentality. In the past, on diets, I always wanted to lose weight quickly so I would be "done". But, I'll never be "done" with my sleeve. It's for life! So it doesn't matter how long it takes me to lose the weight as long as I am losing and not gaining. Ten years from now, when I am enjoying my happy, healthy, full life thanks to my sleeve, do you think I'm really going to care whether it took 6 months or 16 months to reach my goal weight?

Could just have been something funky about the egg salad and have nothing to do with your surgery. I mean, I'm sure there were times pre-op when you just ate something that disagreed with you, right?

Awesome news! How much would you say you were able to eat?

I think RNY is the more "standard" option for people with such a high starting BMI. RNY patients usually lose weight much more quickly and more weight overall than sleeve patients. I completely understand your concerns about the long-term consequences of having your plumbing rerouted with RNY. That was one of the main reasons I wanted sleeve as well. I guess the question to ask yourself is, are you willing to put in the extra work it's going to take to lose all the weight with the sleeve. Not saying that RNY is "easier" necessarily, but you will have to compensate for the slower loss by doing more work to exercise and stick to the nutrition plan. Another question might be whether you are concerned about losing ALL of your excess weight or would be content just losing a significant portion of it. Everyone's experience is different, but this calculator might give you a rough idea in the differences between RNY and sleeve in terms of what kind of weight loss you can expect and over what period of time: https://www.realize.com/do-i-qualify/potential-results/comparison Edit: I put in your current stats and it looks like with RNY you can expect to lose over 150 pounds in 18 months, whereas with the sleeve, you could expect just over 100 pounds. Again, though, these are just estimates.

Did you ask about using a cashier's check instead?

I got the original Popsicle brand sugar-free popsicles. They come in a yellow box. I'm not sure what your pre-op diet consists of, but I was allowed three Protein shakes and one green salad with calorie-free dressing per day, along with sugar-free popsicles and Jello for Snacks.

I was able to move onto soft foods at 18 days post-op, which was when I was scheduled to. That constriction of my esophagus eased up around the 2 week mark for me. Though, honestly, I don't think it would have been any better or worse had I moved onto soft foods earlier, every tiny little sip of anything caused that feeling, so I imagine it would have been the same had I eaten a little bite of something.

sugar-free Jello or popsicles can help kill the cravings some, but the truth is, you are going to be hungry pretty much the entire time on the pre-op diet. It's very low calorie so you will crave food for energy and you still have 100% of your stomach, so you will never feel full. Hang in there!

I hate that your surgeon is setting deadlines for weight loss. I think it's such a mistake to do that, since everyone loses at a different rate. What does it matter WHEN you reach your goal as long as the scale is trending downward? It makes me really mad that he would put that kind of pressure on you and cause you undue stress. You've lost 75 pounds! That's amazing! You've developed new healthy habits and changed your relationship with food! Keep up your good work and you will get results. Everyone has down days. I had a couple of my own early this week when I was sick and couldn't exercise. But I got past them. I got better. And I did my full workout last night and feel great about it today! So hang in there!

Is it actually pain or just discomfort? I had a lot of discomfort early on even when taking the tiniest of sips. My esophagus would constrict and I'd feel a lot of tightness in the center of my chest, followed by a lot of gurgling all the way back up into my throat, followed by burping. That lasted a good two weeks until all the swelling from my surgery had gone down.

It seems like a lot of surgeons are steering away from the band these days. It has been successful for a LOT of people, but there have been late complications and failures as well and apparently the numbers of those have caused many surgeons to stop doing the procedure altogether. If you have questions about the sleeve and what it entails, you've come to the right place, so ask away!

Sauces are definitely my friend. I would have a really hard time eating a dry chicken breast or plain hamburger patty. But if I have ground beef mixed into some chili or chicken in a nice curry sauce, it is MUCH easier for me.

I just want to throw in that you shouldn't judge your "success" by how quickly you lose post-op. Some people just lose faster than others. Some people stick to the plan strictly and keep up their exercise and lose really slowly. Some people don't track their food and don't work out and lose quickly. The key is that if you lay the right foundation for your long-term success, you WILL lose the weight eventually. This isn't a race. What does it matter if it takes you 6 months or 16 months to get to your goal as long as you get there? A decade from now, will a few months make any difference compared to the YEARS you've spent living a healthy lifestyle?

I'm in NY and my BCBC policy explicitly states that it does NOT cover skin removal surgery for loose skin caused by WLS. Hopefully your policy is a little better! You should call and talk to a representative to find out for sure.