JamieLogical

A note for those of you who are pre-op or a few weeks post-op... I've lost my desire for pizza altogether now. My entire life, pizza was BY FAR my favorite food. I would literally eat it every day if I could (and for some periods of my life, I did!). It was the thing I was most desperate to have again once I was back on solid foods. Well, I tried it a few times and it does NOTHING for me now. I think a big part of it is that I can't eat much at all and pizza was definitely a binge food for me before. It's not as satisfying when you can only eat one piece or the toppings off two pieces. Plus, I know it doesn't give me the protein I need and I'm all about protein first these days!

OMG... I would have murdered my husband if he had pizza in the house on my pre-op. I couldn't even stand seeing commercials for pizza on TV, much less the smell of the real thing.

Good luck! I want to applaud your self-assessment and your decision to reschedule. I wish you much success!

I can't offer any wisdom or advice, but please do let us know what happens with your ultrasound.

Congratulations on such a successful first year. I wish you much success in the coming years as well!

Well, I would think if it were the bariatric vitamins, you'd run into the same issue with just about any multivitamin, since they have pretty much the same things in them, just in different quantities. I wish you the best of luck in figuring out what the issue is!

I agree that the audience of the Biggest Loser likely has a huge segment that could benefit from WLS and it is a shame that they are being told WLS is "distasteful" by a "trusted" doctor. It seems medically unethical to disparage a surgery that could save thousands of lives and is widely medically accepted as the most viable treatment for obesity.

Why would I be unable to take bariatric vitamins?

It'll keep getting easier week by week. Hang in there! I didn't really fully get over the fatigue until after I was back on solids, about a month and a half post-op. But it does get better!

I mixed psyllium husk into my Protein shakes.

I wasn't even allowed any solids until 40 days post-op and it was slow going once I was. Trying to get in 4 oz. seems overly ambitious with how far out you are right now. Hell, I can only manage 2-4 oz. of meat and I'm almost 6 months out at this point. I can do better with more liquidy things, but straight up meat is still hard to get down in any significant quantity. I think my only "meal" right now that is over 4 ounces is greek yogurt, so that hardly counts.

So far, all my clothing "rewards" have just been fitting back into clothes I was wearing 3.5 years ago after losing 90 pounds "on my own". I did have a pair of size 12 jeans I bought back then as some goal jeans, but never managed to fit into them before my weight started going back up. So I do hope to be able to fit into those when I'm at goal. I have also seriously been considering buying myself a bathing suit, but I worry I may be setting myself up for disappointment if my loose skin looks horrible once I'm at goal.

The pre-op diet is tough! Hang in there, though, it is for your own safety and well-being. You have some tough months ahead, no two ways about it. Between the pre-op diet, the post-op diet, and recovery, it is struggle for sure. But when you start feeling down or discouraged, remember that it gets SO MUCH BETTER. I swear it does. Be strong and persevere and you will come through the other side with no regrets.

Kindle wasn't casting stones. She was suggesting that OP get help for her obvious emotional issues that have led to her non-compliance.... How does the suggestion to seek help come off as an attack in your eyes?

Well said! It is a reality that having WLS is a lifelong commitment. In order to be successful, you have to follow the rules and stick to the plan. The sleeve only prevents you from overeating in a single sitting. It does NOTHING to dictate what foods you eat, stop you from grazing, or stop you from drinking your calories. It still requires a huge amount of discipline and self control. The psychological component needs to be addressed or the OP will run into similar issues post-op as she has with the pre-op diet. And before anyone asks me "if you're so perfect, why did you need WLS", the truth is that I was able to be perfect for LONG stretches of time in the past. I've lost hundreds of pounds on my own over the years. But it always eventually ended. I had this mentality that I could be "done" with my past diets. I can never be "done" with the sleeve. It's this simple fact that has allowed me to change my mentality this time around. My sleeve is for life. If I don't prioritize Protein, I can get sick, lose my hair, etc. There are very real and believable consequences if I mess up. It's not about weight anymore, it truly is about my health. When I was heavy before, I had a nebulous "this could be bad for my health" idea, but nothing that was an immediate threat. Now my immediate health is dependent upon my making the right decisions every day.

I have seen a LOT of posts on here from vets talking about the "honeymoon" phase and how much harder it is to lose weight and keep it off after the first year post-op. My weight loss has been pretty slow compared to a lot of (most?) people on this site. I was frustrated by that in the beginning, but I've embraced and accepted it for the most part these last 3 months or so. Post-op I lost just shy of 15 pounds the first month, less than 9 pounds the second month, and I've been right around 6 pounds per month since then (looking to be about the same for February). I still have 37 pounds to lose to get to goal and I'm almost to 6 months out. If I continue to lose about 6 pounds a month, I should reach my goal right at the 1 year mark. But it's probably unrealistic to believe my weight loss will continue at the same pace as I get closer to my goal, right? It's probably going to slow down in those final months. So, my question is, should I be worried? If I don't get to goal by the time I'm a year out, is it going to be incredibly hard to get there ever? My body seems just completely determined that I should only be losing 1.2-1.6 pounds per week. No matter what I do food and activity-wise, that is the range I lose in. Before Christmas I was a complete bum, not excising at all, not super careful about my food (had some Cookies and ice cream in there, still good on Protein though) and I was losing right at that pace. In mid January, I really stepped it up and got more diligent about my food and started working out 5 times a week and I've still kept losing at this exact same pace. I'm honestly fine with the pace, as there are many advantages to losing slowly. I just don't want to run out of time with my "honeymoon" period and get to the point where I can't lose anymore before I get to my goal.

During my "full liquids" stage I was allowed any strained cream soup. Juts had to strain out all the solid bits. My favorites were cream of shrimp and Progresso Chicken Cheese Enchilada. I bought pretty much every soup my grocery store sold and tried them all!

Congratulations on your decision and good luck! I am glad you made this decision for yourself and not for others. I think a lot of people get held back by worrying about what everyone else will thing, but this is a very personal choice and only you know what's best for YOU.

I want to believe that too, which is why I haven't been sweating the slow loss. It's just when I did the math in my head this morning and realized I'd be close to a year out for hitting goal that I started to worry, because I've seen SO MANY posts from vets talking about the honeymoon period and how you have to take advantage of it and lose all the weight then, because it gets so much harder after that.

I didn't puree a single thing in my "pureed" stage. I was allowed scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, and other soft cheeses during that stage. I continued to have some strained cream soups. And I lived on Shelly's Ricotta Bake too! Recipe here: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2007/08/pureed-foods.html

Only a 3 day pre-op diet? Lucky! Let us know how everything goes.

It does seem a little odd that you don't have "full liquids" stage if you are going straight from clears to mushies. I think *most* of us had a full liquids stage when we were allowed to have strained cream soups, drinkable yogurt, etc. But definitely just do what your surgeon has instructed. Don't get ahead of schedule. Once you do progress to another stage, make sure you take things slowly and be prepared to "roll back" to the previous stage if necessary.

Wow. I can't imaging having gone back to work that fast. I went back 15 days post-op and it was still pretty tough. My main issues was fatigue. I was just SO exhausted by the end of the day.

Welcome! Feel free to post any questions or join in on any of the active threads. But, if you are more comfortable "lurking" and just soaking up all the info other people post, that's okay too!

Very few people know about my surgery. My family and my husband's family know, but only two of my coworkers do.