JamieLogical

I wouldn't recommend drinking at all. I was told no alcohol until 3 months post-op. You might want to consult with your doctor or nutritionist if you weren't already given specific guidelines. As for eating, if you are on solids by then, it shouldn't be too bad. Pick high Protein choices from the appetizer menu or share an entree with someone. When in doubt you could always go with something like chili.

Hope all goes well!

I had VSG and went back to work at my desk job at 15 days post-op. My main issue at that point was fatigue. The pain had long passed. But I was VERY VERY tired. When I returned to work I was literally going to bed the moment I got home from work for the first few days/week. My energy level improved significantly once I was allowed more substantial food and was able to get more calories in. Definitely factor your surgeon's food stages into your decision about when you will return to work.

Wow. You are the first person I've ever heard of revising from RNY to VSG. In fact, I think you are the first person I've ever heard of having their RNY reversed. I know they say that RNY is reversible and that's one of the reasons some people choose it over sleeve in the first place (since sleeve clearly isn't reversible), but I'd never heard of it actually being done! I am very curious to hear more about how your journey goes. I hope that you can be successful with your sleeve!

As I was losing, past the first couple of months anyway, I would say my calories were in the realm of 1200-1400 a day? I did Couch to 5K three days a week, rode a recumbent exercise bike for about 40 minutes two days a week, and rotated through strength training (arms, legs, core) 6 days a week. Now I'm "maintaining" and training for a half marathon. I have to eat about 2200-2400 calories a day not to keep losing weight!

Both offer long term weight loss. Bypass may allow you to lose weight more quickly, but unless you health is immediately threatened by the excess weight, then losing it more quickly isn't necessarily a blessing. My reasons for choosing sleeve over bypass: I was a relatively low BMI to start with. Right at 40 when I began pursuing surgery. Disliked the idea of my plumbing being rerouted. HATED the idea of my unused stomach being left inside my body where it might develop ulcers or cancer and not be accessibly through a normal endoscopy. Wanted to retain the use of my pyloric valve. I was also sort of weirded out by the idea of my pyloric valve still being over there attached to my old stomach and opening and closing randomly with signals from my pouch. Didn't want the malabsorption factor. While it's great for absorbing less calories, you also absorb less of all the good stuff as well. Once I was at goal, what good would the malabsorption do me? Meanwhile I might continue to develop Vitamin and mineral deficiencies. And while sleeve patients have to be on Vitamins for life too, at least we know we're absorbing all the vitamins we take. Dumping syndrome is both a blessing and a curse. It can serve as a deterrant from eating the wrong foods, but it also means I could never even have those foods in moderation again. With sleeve I knew I could at least have a little of anything I wanted without issue. Plus there's no guarantee you'll experience dumping syndrome in the first place. Many people who have RNY don't.

Is it near any of your incisions? All I can think is maybe an incisional hernia? Definitely talk to your doctor about it. If it gets any worse in the next two weeks, you might want to think about trying to move up your appointment.

I'm 18 months post-op and have done 5:2 in the past, but not since surgery. It was definitely one of my successful dieting strategies when I did it. I liked that I was able to eat more most days and didn't have to restrict my calories as much as I had on previous diets. If I remember correctly, I was usually eating about 1400 calories a day on normal calorie restriction/exercise diets. But with 5:2, I could eat more like 1700 calories a day. My strategies for fast days were to coordinate those with my cardio rest days and just eat one "large" meal for dinner. I sipped hot peppermint tea at various times throughout the rest of the day and ate all 500 of my calories for dinner, because I had found that eating smaller meals/snacks earlier in the day just made me hungrier. Of course, this was all pre-VSG, so I think things would be very different post-op. First off, I can't possibly eat 500 calories in one sitting now. Secondly, I have found that I get "hangry" now if I go more than 3-4 hours between meals/snacks. So I might have to come up with a better strategy for spreading my 500 calories throughout the day. I'd also want to make sure that close to 100% of my calories were coming from Protein on the fast days, because that's the only way I'd be able to get anywhere close to my 100 gram daily target. Certainly interested to hear from some sleevers who have done 5:2 post-op and how they approached it.

Me too, so our stats really are VERY similar, other than me being 10 years older than you.

You may be shocked to learn that Grey's Anatomy is not a realistic portrayal of the medical field.

Sounds like you are doing great! Don't stress about losing too fast just yet. A rapid loss in the first week or two is common and then there is typically a stall around week 3, and then a more gradual loss after that. This 14 pounds in 9 days thing is only temporary. It won't continue on that trajectory, I promise! Definitely drink and eat on a timer for now. You aren't going to be feeling thirst and hunger in any normal, reliable way right now. Try to get in an ounce of Water every 15 minutes. How are you doing on walking? Are you getting up and moving around a little every hour or two?

It's very common to worry about complications, especially if this is your first surgery. What you need to understand is that the complication rate for WLS is VERY VERY low. The mortality rate for VSG is much lower than knee replacement. Would you hesitate to have a knee replacement if you needed it?

You look amazing! Congrats on your progress and for makign this choice for yourself and you children and not letting other people's opinions deter you.

It's an intermittent fasting diet. You eat normally five days a week, but two days a week, you limit your calorie intake to under 500 calories.

I am going to get some free consults to find out how much I might have to pay for laser hair removal in my area. Did a little research last night and it definitely seems like a great option!

What about Breakfast? Is trail mix your only snack? About how much of it do you eat? Do you drink any Protein shakes/bars or anything? If your only protein is coming from chili and grilled chicken, then I can't imagine you are getting nearly enough. Optimistically, that's maybe 40-50 grams a day from just those two sources? If you are working out six days a week and ONLY eating some chili, some chicken, and some trail mix each day, you aren't getting nearly enough calories or protein.

You don't really say why you need it. You said your calories have been good. Are you trying to lose more weight?

Be sure to check in with us on the losers' bench!

The pain won't last more than a week or two and it should get better and better each day. As tired as you might be and as counter-intuitive as it might seem, getting up and moving will make you feel better and give you more energy. So get up and walk for a couple of minutes (even just marching in place) every hour or two. Also, if you are having any trouble sipping and getting your Water in, try marching in place as you sip. That helped me some. For these next several days, focus on sipping your water, getting in as much Protein as you can, and getting up and moving regularly.

Well, I don't think that nurse practitioner handled it the way she should have AT ALL, but I know that when I go for my annual well woman exams, they always at least mention my BMI and talk a little about weight loss, because for a lot of women, that is the ONLY time they go to the doctor every year. So that's their one opportunity to address a patient's weight. Clearly not the case in your situation, but that might have been why she brought up weight at all. I am sorry you had such a traumatic experience. Pap smears are the WORST anyway. Having to deal with all of that on top of your first pap smear. Not fun! I wish you much success with your upcoming surgery. I don't know your height, but our weight stats are very similar. My highest was 270. My weight when I began pursuing surgery was 260. My weight the day of surgery was 236. I'm a little over 18 months out and my current weight is 159. My goal was 165, which I reached right around the one year mark.

It's as strenuous as you want to make it. You can "run" at whatever speed you are comfortable. Also, you can repeat workouts and weeks as needed if you feel you aren't yet ready to progress.

@@mBig If you do try Genepro, I would just caution that you should still only count it as 15 grams of protein. It's not physically possibly to fit 30 grams of protein into 15 grams of powder. Their argument is that your body absorbs their protein better, so it's the "equivalent" of 30 grams of protein. Since they aren't regulated by the FDA and there have been no third party studies to prove or discredit their claims, you should take them with a grain of salt. If they are right and your body doe utilize and absorb more of their protein, then all the better. But if they are wrong and you are actually coming up 15 grams short every day, that could add up to a large deficiency over time.

Physical hunger, yes. Head hunger, no. When you see a commercial for delicious-looking food and it triggers a craving for that food, that has NOTHING to do with physical hunger. That's all in your brain. Surgery does nothing to change that.

As they say, they perform surgery on your stomach, not your brain. It's crazy that even though eating a slice of pizza would have literally put me in the hospital, every single time I saw a commercial for pizza in those early days, I DESPERATELY wanted one! It takes a while for your brain to catch onto your physical limitations, but it does happen eventually.

I am so so sorry. My insurance wouldn't cover WLS at all and I ended up being self-pay. Fortunately, I was in a position that I could borrow money against my retirement account and basically just pay myself back with a very low interest rate. And I traveled to Mexico for my surgery, where it was considerably cheaper. I would have been devastated if I didn't have any options at all to be able to afford it. My heart goes out to you.