JamieLogical

That would seem weird to me.

This may be the case, but in both instances, patients should be having regular blood work done to make sure they don't develop any deficiencies. I've had two done so far post-op and everything has come back in normal ranges, but I take supplements daily. My nutritionist requires a bariatric multivitam 3x per day, calcium +D3 2x per day, liquid b12 daily, and a probiotic daily. In addition, I take several supplements I was already on pre-op.

Glad I haven't had to give up yogurt! It's my go-to afternoon snack. On workout days, I mix in a little granola, since it's the last thing I eat before my workout. That way I'm getting Protein and a little carbs to fuel my workouts. I agree that it is silly to eliminate it entirely if you are fitting it into your daily ranges, since it's a very good source of protein with very view calories. The yogurt I eat has 12 grams of protein and only 80 calories. Seems like a good protein bargain so to speak.

Once you are allowed solid foods, you should be able to eat out. Theoretically you could do it sooner than that and order soup or chili (though a lot of restaurants only have chili seasonally and don't/won't serve it anymore soon). I think my first time out with friends I got some lobster bisque, because I still wasn't on solids or ground meats yet.

I didn't tip anyone at OCC (the clinic where I had my surgery), except the driver who picked me up from the airport and took me across the border. I tipped at the hotel and I tipped the hotel shuttle driver who took me back and forth between the hotel and the clinic.

Congratulations and good luck!

As a VERY general rule, bypass is the standard for people with a higher BMI, but there are so many other things to factor in. You are an individual with your own goals and issues and you need to make the best decision for YOU. My recommendation is to learn as much as you can about both procedures and then weigh the pros and cons against your own personal situation.

I don't track my food. I keep kind of a running tally of Protein in my head to make sure I get my required protein in, but that's it. You will have to think about food a lot and make good choices. I have a pretty regular routine I follow with Breakfast and Snacks, so that really doesn't require much thought at all. It's just the same stuff every day. lunch and dinner are my two meals that vary from day-to-day. I pretty much always just have some sort of meat for those meals. Occasionally I'll have egg instead of meat. When going out to eat, I just order meat or chili. Usually I just get an app of some sort or share with my husband. Every restaurant sells meat! A chicken or shrimp appetizer usually works well. When I go to a party or social gathering, same thing. I just look for whatever has the most protein and eat a little of that. It's way easier than diets in the past where I have tracked every single bite of food and just couldn't eat something if I didn't know exactly how much calories, fat, carbs, and protein it had. I would have to look up nutrition info on restaurant's web sites before I went. I would have to ask my mother-in-law all the ingredients she used to cook dinner before we could enjoy a meal at their house. It was absurd! Now it's much simpler. Protein first! Try to limit carbs somewhat. That's pretty much it.

Congrats! You seem to be progressing about the same rate as me. Your surgery weight was higher than mine, but your surgery was exactly 2 months before mine as well. You've lost 66 pounds in just over 8 months. I've lost 48 pounds in just over 6 months. I've been losing about 6 pounds a month, so in two more months I'll be around 60 pounds lost. Keep it up! As long as the scale keeps moving down down down, we will eventually make it to goal!

I'm losing a pound or less per week and I still have much further to go than you. At least the scale is still trending downward!

@ Good luck with your husband. I know exactly how you feel. My husband wasn't exactly unsupportive of my decision. He respected the fact that it was MY decision. But, I could tell it disappointed him. He really believed in me and my ability to do it "on my own" and my choice to have surgery diminished his perception of me as a strong person.

Who is the "you" you're referring to?

As of this morning I'm up 0.4 pounds from exactly two weeks ago today. Argh! The worst part is, I know that when this stall breaks, I'm only going to lose like 1 pound. Not nearly enough to "make up" for not having lost for 2+ weeks.

From us-immigration.com: "Any lawful permanent resident in good standing can come back into the United States by land or sea with nothing more than their permanent resident card, also known as the green card."

Hey, ribs and bacon are MEAT! You will definitely still be eating those in your future! It's all about the Protein post-sleeve.

My nutritionist requires 3 bariatric multivitamins per day, calcium + D3 twice a day (can't be taken at the same time as the vitamins), a probiotic, and liquid b12. In addition to those, I also take omeprazole twice daily (was prescribed first two months, now I buy over-the-counter), Vitamin C, coq10, Omega 3, vitamin E, extra Vitamin D, and beef Gelatin. I just take mine on a schedule that's become part of my normal routine, but you can get apps for your phot that will remind you when to take what if you need to.

That's been my experience with alcohol post-op as well. I get buzzed/drunk from way less alcohol now than I did pre-sleeve, but I also sober up super quick.

Take photos! It really helps you get a better sense of what you look like. It's so hard to judge just by seeing yourself in the mirror every day. Or better yet, take some video!

One of the reasons I chose sleeve over bypass was that there would be no physical limitation to what types of food I could eat post-op. Most people don't experience any sort of dumping with sleeve, so you can technically eat anything you want eventually. That helped put my mind at ease a bit, and I didn't have as many sad thoughts and food funerals, thinking "this is the last time I'll ever eat this." However, the reality is that my relationship with food has changed DRASTICALLY post-sleeve. While I technically CAN eat all the foods I used to love, I don't derive pleasure from them the way I did before. I was always a binge eater and since I can't binge on food anymore, I don't find it as satisfying. Eating once piece of pizza doesn't satisfy me the way eating an entire pizza used to. So, I have steered away from food as my source of comfort. It has been a difficult transition, as all my instincts tell me to reach for food to cope with my emotions. I've really had to rewire those instincts over the past few months and, while it's still not completely out of my system, it is a LOT better than it used to be. And at 6 months out, there are a lot of foods I used to love that I haven't attempted to eat post-op and I really have no intention or desire to try them. Knowing I *could* if I really wanted to is still a source of comfort to me though.

I was told it's fine to drink occasionally, but to be careful about drinking too much or too often. You say you've been socializing "a lot". How frequently is that?

I thought I would have a much harder time with the no drinking while eating than I really did. I was a bit lucky in that my surgeon only requires I stop 5 minutes before eating and wait 20 minutes after eating. I've heard of some surgeons saying an hour before and an hour after! How could you possibly get all your Water in if you can't drink for like 80% of the day??!?! Anyway, when I first started eating solid foods post-op, it was a little challenging, because I was used to being able to "wash down" dry foods. So, that took a little getting used to. I found it was best just to not have water within reach while I was eating, otherwise I would drink without even thinking about it. I had to re-train my brain. One fascinating thing I learned was that I had CLEARLY been using drinking while eating as a means of eating more food pre-op, without even realizing it. The first time I got a "full" sensation while eating solids post-op, my instinct was to reach for the water to wash down the food so I could eat more! I never realized that about myself until I was post-op. I will say that, while I am cleared by my surgeon to drink 20 minutes after eating, I often find that after a full meal, I need to wait about 40-45 minutes anyway. Otherwise I feel overfull and uncomfortable. If I am just having a small snack, like a cheese stick or some yogurt, then it is easier for me to drink sooner after eating.

Heh. If you hang around these forums (which I HIGHLY recommend) you will see this topic crop up pretty much every single day. So it's amusing and sort of a running joke to us "vets". These forums are great though for getting answers to common questions, sharing your unique story, and just generally hanging out. You will learn a lot here and find a lot of support and make some good friends.

Eat them over the course of a year.

I don't think a shorter cut would slow down the loss, though a case could be made that with less weight on the roots and less combing/brushing, the hair might be able to hang on a bit longer. The thing is, the "switch" that turns on and off hair growth was flipped long ago, so the hair that's going to fall out is going to fall out and there's not really anything you can do about it at this point. Any efforts you make now will just contribute to new growth, not retaining the hair that's already "scheduled" to fall out. A shorter cute may make the thinning less noticeable though. I cut off all my hair at two months post-op as a "preemptive strike" so that my loss would be less noticeable. I started losing hair at 3.5 months post op and it really tapered off around the 5 month mark. Now I just have a lot of new growth coming in, which looks a little messy, but oh well. My baby hairs are about an inch long now and are sticking up all over the place.

So, that first link... I discovered that one a while ago around the time I took my 5 month progress pics. I just went in there and put in my height and weight and the first picture that came up I was like "wait, that's me!" I had completely forgotten I uploaded my photos to that site.