MrsSugarbabe

Congratulations!

I feel your pain and concur with what some of the others have suggested - return to your post-op plan and see if that helps you get back on track. Since you said you might not be able to find your papers from your pre-op/post-op days, I've attached mine. Every surgeon has their own recommendations, which there's nothing wrong with that. I found my surgeon's instructions reasonable and am myself trying to practice what I'm suggesting. November will be 4 years for me and I'm still not to goal. I have been maintaining, unintentionally, for about 2 years now; old habits die hard - the early days post-op were much easier for me than today. Good luck to you on moving forward. Just remember - it's more about living a healthy lifestyle than the actual number on the scale. Don't forget to celebrate the non-scale victories along the way. GASTRIC SLEEVE INFORMATION - Generic.doc

Today is the first time I've logged on in several months. Not sure what happened, probably just got too busy during the day (since I am usually online during my work day) and got away from it. November will be 4 years for me. My weight has been holding fairly steady for about 2 years now, but have yet to get to goal; still about 50 lbs. left to lose to get there. I have not given up on trying to get to goal. Having trouble getting kick started again though which is a bummer. Still exercising and am still healthy. Even made it through 2 surgeries last year without gain weight - gall bladder removal and shoulder surgery (not full rotator cuff, but close). Every day that I don't give up is a successful day.

That is great news!! Congratulations! Wishing having done it sooner seems to be a common thought post-VSG.

Same for me, plus 4,000 D3 supplement. My surgeon never said I had to take bariatric vitamins. Once I was back on solid foods, whatever I took prior to surgery in addition to these other supplements would be fine. Because my tummy gets full rather quickly, I do not take them all at once - spaced out over a few hours throughout the day.

Yes, I do like the Quest bars, some flavors better than others. Preferred flavors are Cookies & Cream, S'Mores, and chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. There are many flavors available via Amazon, and combo packs. Initially, I bought a 24 bar, 12 flavors/2 each just to try a large variety. There weren't any that I absolutely didn't like, but found I preferred the 3 aforementioned flavors the best and kept returning to them. The fruit flavors were okay, but not what my taste buds enjoyed as much. I don't mind that the bars are dense. Another BP member suggested heating in microwave just for a few seconds to soften up the bar. I did it once and decided it wasn't worth the effort. Aldi's has a Protein bar that I really like - Fit and Active Protein Meal Bars /Chocolate Peanut Butter. It's lower protein grams, but it's filling and sometimes I'll add a bit more peanut butter. My goal for protein each day is a minimum of 100 grams which I have trouble meeting eating just food so I do supplement with protein powders and the bars most days. For carbs, I aim to keep them between 60-75 per day; sometimes I eat up to 100 in a day, it just depends on the day. I use SparkPeople to track food and activity and to calculate nutrition of new recipes. I find it very user friendly. I hope this information helps!

I don't do the net carb calculation that the GNC guy was telling you about. I mainly look to see how many carbs a bar has in relation to Protein. Ex. Quest bars typically have about 20 grams of protein with 22 grams of carbs. For me, that is an acceptable ratio. The bar I'm looking at as I write this also has 13 grams of dietary Fiber. I order the Quest bars from Amazon because I've found them to be less expensive than in any store.

I'm a big fan of unjury..... I also love the fact that you can call and talk with their dietitians. Order directly from Unjury. I mostly use the vanilla Protein powder, and recently have been incorporating a half serving of unflavored in my morning coffee. The chocolate splendor is delicious, too, especially with an added tablespoon of PB2. I also like the chicken Soup with a pinch of chicken bouillon added, but be very careful with the Water temperature - no hotter than 140 deg. or the whey will clump. Get creative with the liquids you mix the powders with. Some of my favorites are vanilla PP w/sugar free orange sunrise; vanilla PP w/skim milk; half vanilla/half chocolate w/skim milk and a little brewed coffee. There's no reason for Protein shakes to get boring. I also like Quest Protein Bars and use them sometimes for Breakfast or a snack. These I order from Amazon.

Same thoughts as @JamieLogical. Wondering why your restriction didn't "kick in" at some point. How did you feel physically after eating the pizza? I had pizza last Sunday - homemade thin crust because no one does it better than my hubby; however, I can eat only one piece including the crust and maybe another bite or two of just toppings from a second piece. There's no way I could eat an entire 6" personal size pizza.

Thank you for sharing your life with us, @gowalking! You have been and are an inspiration to me and many others. This is exactly what WLS is all about - our health and improving our lives. I don't know anyone who had WLS purely for vanity reasons. Stay strong! Stay healthy!

I'm sorry to hear that you're having to deal with this new issue. I've had GERD since way before my VGS surgery and take the generic for Prevacid daily (prescription strength) so it's just been a fact of life for me. It is believed by a couple of my doctors that non-acidic GERD is what caused me to develop subglottic stenosis. After receiving that diagnosis, and the subsequent surgery to remove the stenosis, I was precribed Prevacid twice daily for a few years; now I only take it once daily unless I find myself having a period of breakthrough GERD then I'll revert back to twice daily for several days. Again, for me, it's just a fact of life that I've accepted.

I live in Charlotte and connected with Dr. Timothy Kuwada at Carolinas Weight and Wellness Center. I liked working with him, his PA, and the entire team at the Center. There are other surgeons in the group who I believe would be equally as good, however, each has their own bedside manner "style." The team was great about scheduling the various appointments in combinations to help cut down on a patient's time away from work or the number of trips to the Center, etc. They were very conscientious about helping to manage all of my appointment times, including any tests done elsewhere away from the Center.

For me, carbonated beverages of any variety causes enough discomfort to dissuade me from drinking them. Once is a blue, blue moon I MIGHT have a sip or 2 of my husband's diet Orange. We drink Water or our SF version of strawberry lemonade more than anything.

Because I experienced some serious complications 5 days out of surgery and had to return to the hospital, my recovery was slowed considerably. My hubby had to drive me to all appointments and I went with him whenever he had to run an errand for us (I wasn't cleared for driving for a few weeks following 2nd discharge), so I considered every trip to the store a physical activity; each trip was exhausting for me, but every step I took in a store (using a buggy for support) and, every PT appointment to build-up my strength counted. Give yourself time to heal completely before returning to your pre-surgery normal workout. Everybody's recovery is a little different. As another BP member suggested - check in with your Dr. for his recommendation, esp. about the hot yoga.

Today is the first time in at least a week since I've logged on. I always go to the "Notifications" icon to check the newest items. Today, the icon indicated there were 30 notifications, however, when I clicked on the icon, a popup said there weren't any notifications. Since it's been several days since I last logged on, I know that is not the case. Do I need to change something in my settings to make this icon functional again? Thanks!

@Queen_Bee and her nutritionist are correct. I've been told the same thing by my nutritionist as well as over the years in all the reading I've done. You may want to check out the website/calculator below for calculating your caloric needs at any given weight. It's a good starting point, IMO. There are many sites that offer caloric calculators; choose one that works for you. http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/calories/ The best to you, @Momcat.

I miss the "Back To Top" button Or else I'm blind.......

Thanks, @_Kate_. I was hoping to easily see a lot of the posts I've missed over the past week. Guess I'll have to search for them another way.

For me it depends on the food and how dense it is. At just over 2 years post-op, the ideal MEAL size for me is 1/2 - 3/4 cup or 2 to 3 ounces of dense Protein and a couple bites of veggies. If I take 1 or 2 bites too many, then I'm miserable for about the next hour. I don't like how I feel physically or psychologically when I've eaten more than what my tummy can handle at a meal, so I try not to go there.

@@orionburn Everything that @@JamieLogical said. In the very early days, for me, it was all about MEASURING out 1/2 cup or about 2 oz. of whatever I was going to eat with the first item always being Protein. Sometimes the 1/2 c. or 1-2 oz. was more than enough. The times that I ate 1 or 2 BITES too many, I was very uncomfortable for about a hour. And anytime I added a new food (according to PLAN), I started with 1 or 2 small bites to make sure my new tummy didn't reject it. I consider myself very fortunate in that my taste for everything I liked pre-op did not change post-op (that can be unfortunate, too, because of the bad choices I could make). Also, I never threw up and only had food send me to the bathroom a couple of times, and usually only because of those 1-2 bites too many. Even now, that 1-2 bites extra can make me miserable so I have to stop eating before I get to that point. My typical MEAL VOLUME now is 1/2-3/4 cup or about 2-3 oz. of dense protein and a couple bites of veggies. I still have great restriction; however, I have to be very cautious about what they call SLIDER foods, and I don't need to be eating those anyway. It will take TIME for you to figure out what works, and doesn't work, for you; so take your time and don't push yourself. And do follow the guideline about not drinking with your meals or 30 mins. before and 30 mins. after eating (at least those are my guidelines). It does make a difference. Best wishes and good thoughts to you!

@@dmelch - I hope you are able to get things squared away soon! That sounds like a horrible experience! You said your doctor is away this week, does he have a PA you could talk to, or maybe another physician in the practice if he's not a solo practitioner? There's bound to be someone who covers for him when he's out of the office for a long period of time. Just something to consider.

Very well stated. Thank you for staying, @@gowalking!! You are an inspiration and I appreciate your honesty and wisdom based on your experience. Happy "anniversary!"

When I first started taking Vitamin D3, it was because I was diagnosed as D deficient, which a lot of diabetics are. I take an over the counter D3 as recommended by my primary care doc. He said the most important thing to look for in a vitamin D supplement is to make sure it is cholecalciferol (D3). My dose is 4,000 mg./day, anything less than that and I easily become deficient again. I concur with @@JamieLogical in that you need to make taking your supplements part of your daily routine. The supplements recommended by your surgeon are essential to your life for a reason.

I take a store brand multi (Walmart's version of Centrum for Seniors) along with other supplements, spacing them out over the morning because I get full taking all my morning meds w/water. I've been on target with all of them from the get go. Multi, Calcium w/D3, D3, B12, Iron, coq10, Biotin, plus some meds is my daily routine. My surgeon did not require me to take bariatric-specific vitamins or supplements. The only supplements he added to my daily routine are CoQ10, biotin, and calcium.