JamieLogical

How do you know it's air?

I do wonder if, when I'm at goal, I'm going to become more obsessed with my appearance. I have never even worn make-up. I was always content to just throw on a t-shirt and jeans no matter where I was going. For work I have to "dress up", but that has entailed having two pairs of the exact same dress pants and dress shoes in black and dark brown and buying whatever shirts are on clearance the couple of times a year I go to a department store. Once I'm thin, I wonder if I'll feel obligated to dress better and even maybe start putting on make-up and doing more than just putting some leave-in conditioner in my hair.....

@@gobsmacked Omeprazole is an over-the-counter medicine, so I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to safely start taking the OTC dosage at least. I experienced what you are describing for the first few weeks post-op, but it subsided by week 5. I'm glad you are going to see your surgeon next week, whether you start taking omeprazole in the mean time or not, because if you are experiencing that much discomfort this far out, it's worth getting checked out.

Just so you know, there are many ways to bypass the DRM that's built into the Keurig 2.0 models. There's a company that makes a little plastic clip you can clip into a specific spot and then any k-cup will work, but the shipping time for that is very long. There are videos all over youtube showing quicker DIY techniques. But they do still have the K45 Elite model available at most retailers if you'd rather just not have to deal with the DRM at all. That's one of the "older" models, though they are still in production. They also have the advantage of coming in a bunch of different colors now.

Love it!

You should definitely ask your surgeon, but if I remember correctly, I was only restricted from bathing and swimming for 4 weeks post-op.

Wish I had known about these back when I was in my liquid stages post-op!

Welcome! Glad you are progressing well and I hope you continue to have a smooth recovery. And don't hesitate to comment in other threads from time to time, even if you aren't comfortable starting your own threads.

I never did chewables. I was allowed to start swallowing all my vitamins/supplements at 7 days post op and never had any trouble with that.

I just went back and looked at my calendar and at 4 weeks post-op, I was allowed ground meat and legumes for the first time, so the first thing I did was go out and get a cup of Wendy's chili. I was able to eat a little less than half a small chili, but it was the best thing ever! By that point I was already eating soft cheeses, scrambled eggs, shredded chicken, and tuna. So those were the things I was eating a lot of. I made Shelly's Ricotta Bake (google it) a lot and that usually made about 4 dinner's worth. I bought some turkey meatballs from Trader Joes and heated up two of those with a little pizza sauce in the microwave... that was another favorite. We bought Jack Daniels pulled chicken and I ate some of the chicken in a coffee cup while my husband made himself sandwiches out of it. I think I also tried some quinoa with tofu around that time, but I ended up not sticking with eating that regularly because of the low protein content compared to the other things I was eating.

You are asking the wrong question, because everyone's post-op diet plan is different. What you should ask is "what did you eat during the XXXXX stage?" Are you on purees? Soft foods? Solids? Until we know that, we can't help you.

I have this problem too! I will be flipping channels and come across some sort of weight loss infomercial and I'll watch it for a good 10-15 minutes before I realize that I couldn't even do it if I wanted to. There was this one where you were supposed to be able to eat pretty much everything you wanted, you just had to choose one item from each of three lists for each meal and I was all into it and then I realized I've been sleeved and there is no way I could eat that much food! Too funny that it managed to suck me in for a good long while before I came to my senses.

With your age and your relatively low BMI, sleeve seems like the better option. But, it really does have to be your decision. I am sure you can have success with either surgery.

I would say I was feeling pretty normal-ish most of the time around the time I was allowed solid food, 40 days post-op. I'm now 5 months out and feel normal 99% of the time.

I know how much it sucks. I wasn't allowed to move past that phase until day 18 post-op. The first time I was allowed cottage cheese and scrambled egg, it was like a miracle. Just tough it out. Make sure you are switching things up with your soup. I bought pretty much every single kind of creamy soup my grocery store sold so I would have some variety.

You should do whatever your surgeon suggests. Every surgeon has a different protocol for their patients to follow.

I would HIGHLY recommend not trying to do the pre-op diet too far in advance. I felt like complete crap the entire time I was on mine and I wouldn't have wanted to do a single extra day of it.

I lost 7 pounds the first week and only 0.4 the second week, so I was right where you are. I was frustrated and concerned the same way you are too. But, you know what? A couple months out, it finally sank in that it doesn't matter how fast I lose the weight. This isn't a race. This isn't a diet. When I'd been on diets in the past, I always wanted to lose weight as fast as possible so I would be "done" sooner. This is a whole new ballgame. I'll never be "done" with my sleeve. Whether it takes 6 months or 16 months for me to reach my goal, I will get there and I will stay there. I've now lost 42 pounds since surgery. I have about 40 pounds to go still, but I really am in no hurry. The scale is trending down and that's good enough for me. There are some advantages to losing weight more slowly, btw. You don't have to replace your clothes as often. You don't have to answer as many questions about how you are losing weight so fast. Your skin has more of a chance to recover and adapt. It's not all bad!

I've just decided that I'm not going to increase the intensity of my workouts until I can eat a little more. I added some granola to my afternoon greek yogurt (I work out after work), so hopefully that will be enough to let me keep up my current intensity level. I'd like to be able to add some carbs to dinner as well, maybe some veggies? But I don't have the room yet. I'm not willing to cut our any of my Protein to make room for carbs. So, until I can physically eat more food, I will just stick to 25 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of strength training about 5 days a week.

I'm five months out too and I had a similar situation last weekend. It turned out to just be a stomach bug and I was fine by Monday. Make sure you are drinking extra fluids (I stocked up on G2 to stay hydrated, though I don't usually drink beverages with calories). With it having been 3 days already, I would say if it goes on for another day or two, go to your doctor or urgent care, as most stomach bugs won't last that long.

I don't know if I will miss anything specifically about being fat, but I worry that I won't feel like "me" anymore. Does that make any sense? My size has always been a part of my identity. It's how I've seen myself and how others have seen me and I worry that I may feel like I've lost a piece of who I've identified as for my entire life.

It will get better. What types of things are you trying to eat right now? At 7 weeks I was just starting back on solid foods. It could be that the things you are trying to eat are still just too much for your sleeve. In all honesty, I am five months post-op now and I still don't enjoy food the way I used to, which is a GOOD thing. Because "enjoying" food for me used to mean eating portions that were a good 4-5 times as big as they should have been. I do, however, enjoy the taste of many foods and even the experience of eating them. I savor them in my mouth for much longer, chewing them very finely. It get's frustrating sometimes that I can only eat a few bites, when something is really good, and I wish I could eat more. But the few times I do eat more than I should, I regret it pretty quickly. So eating can be very un-fun for me still. But I am able to enjoy it much of the time.

Heh! You are not alone. Lot's of people have issues with this, especially immediately post-op, because pain meds are notorious for causing constipation. Not to mention the fact that you aren't eating any solids!

I posted this link earlier, but it's worth repeating. This is an excellent article with photos and videos that will really help you understand bougie size better. One note, the video links don't appear to work right now, if you copy/paste the address for the videos into your browser's address bar, you can properly view the videos. http://tinyurl.com/pu2fv2d

There's not much you can do to stop the loss at this point. That's due to the trauma and lack of protein at the time of your surgery. Mine started falling out around the 3.5 month mark. I'm at 5 months now and it's already growing back. I have tons of little baby hairs sprouting up now. If you are taking your vitamins and getting your protein in, it will start growing back soon, don't worry.