GummyTummy

Hi J, One of the main things for us in the 300lb + range that I would like to say about depression. food, at least for me was one of my greatest joys, and largest coping mechanism. For a long time, while being my worst enemy and trapping me in a prison of my own insecurities, it was also my best friend. Ever present, easy to relate to, and 100 percent in my control. When I decided to have the sleeve, I started mourning the loss of food like it was a relative. I still have days where I think about what I might not have again or what my new normal is but our loss is our greatest gain. In addition to the emotional side of things, your fat that your body is dialing in to burn has vast stores of estrogen, even for you men out there, and it is being released along with the toxins stored there. Some days will go great and others you might be subconsciously mourning your loss but in the end, you are not alone and when that first 100 pounds come off, those feelings will come less and less often. good luck and keep in touch if you need a friend.

Hi sharie, So the crummy thing about the first several weeks post op is that you typically won't know when you are full. All those nerves that once shot those "I'm hungry... feed me feed me Seymore" messages to your brain were cut during surgery. Several more that remain are in an area that is really swollen. Right now you have to try your best to adhere to your post op diet that your doc or nutritionist provided you. The sucky part for me was that I was able to feel hunger again before I was able to feel full. Until you get on somewhat solid foods, you likely will not feel restriction. Your stomach is like a funnel for anything you drink, shake and Soup wise, even puree foods sometimes don't make you feel "full" Our "Full" feeling is very different than it used to be as well. Mine sits in the upper to middle portion of my chest as opposed to that feeling low in my gut that I used to get when I enjoyed something ridiculously bad for me or two portions worth. Your gas is normal honey, mine lasted almost two weeks and I thought I had one of those chest burster aliens inside of me almost the entire time. Just keep walking, take gas-x chewables or strips, and drink as much Fluid as you can.

Juicy, I can't speak for your surgeon as far as why he is demanding those types of numbers other than he wants to be sure you shrink your liver for your safety during surgery. It isn't safe however for you to lose 25lbs in 3 weeks.. NOT AT ALL, I would have him recalculate or tell him he is nucking futs and that you are about to find another surgeon. Even with the sleeve I lost 21 ish in 4 weeks, and that was living off of about 500 calories a day and working out about an hour six days a week. In order to lose a lb of fat, you have to burn 3500 calories, at around your weight, you burn 2300 calories just being alive, you would literally have to work out 8 hours a day, every day until surgery to lose the amount he is asking. Additionally, you want to be hydrated for surgery because you will not be able to drink very much initially and it helps with your recovery. You can easily gain 3-5 lbs of Water weight by making sure you are adequately hydrated. Keep up the good work and if that man doesn't want to do your surgery after all the work you have put in and results you have gotten, find someone else.

Hi there. Make sure you are getting about 800 calories in daily, I was having the same problem and my doc advised 800-1000 calories as a norm

As long as you can control yourself and not swallow or chew on it, I sucked on beef Jerky to help me with feeling like normal. It won't be long before you are planning out some foods you actually enjoy for puree form. I miss food too, but I don't miss what I let it do to my body or how I let it control my life. You have to get out of the house if possible for those walks. You aren't alone in this either. If you want to get on here and talk about just what it is you miss about food, feel free. I was obsessed with talking about it for the first month and lamenting over things I would never be able to eat again, only that isn't the case at all. You will be able to enjoy all the things you love again once you are healed, just not as often and in moderation.

=) WALK! even though it might feel like some form of medieval torture, walk walk walk when you wake up. I am praying you don't have pain and have a swift recovery. =)

From your picture, even though it is tiny, you don't appear to have a very high BMI, that is another factor. You also have to get ready for your 3rd / 4th week weight loss stall that almost all of us experienced. That scale can even go up during that time because your body is rebuilding the glycogen stores it initially metabolized. Just be patient. Remember, in order to lose 1lb you have to burn 3500 calories. Take a look at something called your BMR which is your basal metabolic rate, this is how many calories you burn just being you, without exercise. For heavier people it takes more energy to keep us alive so we burn sometimes 2k or more a day just breathing, digesting food, and sleeping. A lighter person may only burn 1500. If you are eating about 800 calories a day and burning say 1500, you are creating an average deficit of 700 calories a day. (700 calories a day times 7 days in a week = 4900 calories burned off. That's only just over a lb which is what normal people lose on diets. ) We are all doing much better than that.

Same as far as nutrition - there really isn't enough... especially not for the tradeoff in taste. =/ is all I have to say about poor babies that have to eat that stuff.

carbonation of any kind, especially this early into your journey is going to be no bueno. A lot of people will let things go flat, you might try that though I doubt the taste will be very pleasing. A good alternative is a nice dose of B12 and or more Vitamin C. Just remember, we have all the energy we need and more stored in our designer selves (sort of why we had sleeve in the first place) force your body to burn its stores by not putting foreign sources of energy in it.

Hai ladies! First off, something fantastic and not so great about those pleasantly plump fat cells in our body - they store our excess hormones, lots of them. One of the main ones being Estrogen. As you burn fat after WLS a couple of things happen. All of those stored hormones are released and confuse the body, cysts that you once had inside you start to shrink and release small amounts of blood, and the last factor would be the blood thinner you were given / anesthesia. Your body wants to purge those drugs however it can because they are essentially poisons. Keep drinking that Water and see a gyno if things don't straighten up in the next cycle.

Lori, You won't really feel much restriction with anything liquid. Your stomach is basically a funnel right now for Soups, and shakes. The same holds true for yogurt. The reason you feel full with the egg is it is slightly more dense. =) You are doing fine, just keep in mind as you move to soft foods to keep that slow pace you are using on the yogurt

My situation was almost just like yours with the fluid loss. A lot of this is reduced sodium intake as well. You are hydrating your body normally now so it doesn't feel the need to cling to everything you put in it. Pee on sister.

I think you are at your 3-5 week stall which is incredibly normal and there are tons of posts on here about it. When you initially lose weight you lose the glycogen that is stored in muscles and used for energy, ( about 8-10 lbs, it is 2lbs of glycogen plus 8 lbs of Water to store it.) When you lose those first lbs, it is mostly water weight, then your body goes into rebuild mode where it stores that glycogen again and all that water. A lot of people gain weight during this time. The stall usually takes about two weeks. Some are lucky and it lasts a week. You will be fine. Make sure you are drinking your required amount of water and walking and the weight will start coming off again. Also, you aren't super obese. People with higher BMI than you will seem to have weight melting off because of their different body set points.

Tim, Any liquids you have will basically move through you, within reason, like they are going through a funnel. You will start to feel restriction when you eat some puree or soft foods. =)

I had a gas bubble moving around in there for about 9 days.. it was unpleasant but I got daily massages to get it worked out. Literally have someone karate chop your back if your back is sore, it busts up the bubbles.

Kitten, Did they do a leak test? If not, I would demand one. It really sounds like you are just having some swelling due to the incision and that is likely where they removed the stomach that was cut. This is typically the largest last to heal. I am one month post op and still have a large mass there and some scar tissue that I can really feel. As long as you don't have fever I would calm down and assume the best. Check your temperature often and sip those fluids. You do not want a trip back to the hospital because you dehydrated.

You are also likely on blood thinners which makes continued bleeding very easy and relatively normal.

It really seems like your hormones are a touch... touched. Can you imagine what kind of friend she would be if she didn't ask you to second guess such a huge decision. It is likely because she has watched you misbehave with food for six years that she doubts your commitment and aside from that, surgery is a huge deal. If someone came to you, no matter the reason and said hey, we are coming to take your friend away and we are going to cut her intestines apart and reroute things, you wouldn't be a very good friend if you didn't ask her to have some pause and make sure she had a clear understanding of the massive life changes that were about to be underway. You have to remember, that while there is a strong side effect of losing weight for most people with WLS, there are also huge negative side effects (mal absorption, cross addictions, possible death) I am sure they made her aware of. Try and have a bit of patience, it sounds like you are on a hunt for a fight that really isn't there.

While it is true I bet this can be annoying. Think of the alternative and it might give you a bit more patience with them. I bet prior to surgery they were a wealth of insight, inspiration, and information for you. When you do find something that works for you that maybe didn't work for them, invite them to try your way ( I bet they will be just as annoyed) Anyone that has had surgery who tried something and got ill etc is always advised to try a week later, maybe they are the ones that needed more time to adjust than you. You can be just as authoritative with your own reverse advice and suggestions =P

Hi Tabitha. I went to their site and looked up some nutrition info. Their shakes are processed where eggs, soy, gluten, shellfish, peanuts, wheat, and other random known allergens are. I also noticed that they contain both milk and soy products. A lot of people become lactose intolerant at first and milk products make them very gassy. I would switch to a whey Protein and see if you have the same issues. Also, if you are mixing with milk, back off and try some lactaid. Good luck. OOOF and I just noticed that some of their juices contain 45mg of caffeine which will irritate the heck out of your new tummy. Check the ingredients list on that badboy and see if you cant figure out what is making it so rough on you.

1 oz every 20 minutes or so really seems quite low. Make sure you aren't drinking through a straw or gulping the entire ounce. When I first started drinking I had to just wet the inside of my mouth and swallow, not actually poor the liquid down. If you never slept and drank 1 oz of Water every 20 minutes for 24 hours you would only be getting 8oz more than the recommended 64oz of Fluid. Your body needs that water to heal, badly. BURP BURP BURP - WALK WALK WALK - Also, if you have someone around, gentle massage in the front or back or even a light pounding between your shoulder blades ( think karate style) will help break that gas bubble up. It sounds like your new tummy is being smushed by your gas bubble and inflammation.

I am in the middle of the slump with you, I actually lost four pounds after a week of not losing anything and gained it right back that same night in Water weight. SO COMMON. I was freaking out like you, tormenting myself by weighing every day and just assume this - My body isn't going to manufacture its own calories so what I put in the tank is what I put in the tank. That unfortunately includes water and the statements above about glycogen storage and gain / loss are spot on. Hold my hand while we get through this time, but know that we will.

First of all, if that is you in your picture, you are gorgeous. Second off, it is the insurance company's job to avoid shelling out money for people. I suggest going out and finding yourself a couple of co-morbidity issues for the insurance company. Do they want to pay for high risk pregnancy,( not suggesting you get pregnant to scare them, but the thought of it should) would they like to pay for diabetes medication for the rest of your life or high blood pressure etc? Use these items to argue your point. Check your blood tests and make sure there is no underlying thyroid disease etc. NO ONE WILL FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE LIKE YOU CAN AND WILL! You cannot give up. I had no insurance, no job, and am a full time college student at 32 and got care credit to finance the surgery for the sake of my life. Don't let some asshat behind a desk decide how worthy you are of this live saving and giving procedure. Make sure you are documenting everything. Make sure they know the entire point of having weight loss surgery is because NOTHING else has worked before and you NEED this tool to aid you. I am sorry about your husband but as I am sure you took care of him during his heart condition, this is your heart condition and he needs to get supportive or else! There are plenty of people out there just like you fighting. You aren't alone. Keep us posted.

Fez, I know what you mean. I've always liked salads and I was chatting with my boyfriend last night about food. I told him If someone put a meaty cheesy pizza in front of me and a salad I would punch them out for the salad. It is strange to be craving something so healthy. I read a couple things that say to make sure and cut up some boiled egg, very tiny lean lunch meat or lean chicken if you can tolerate it, and of course cheese for Protein. Enjoy.

I would look at it from this standpoint. It could actually be more harmful to your relationship and life if you do not have the surgery. You want children, you would have an insanely high risk pregnancy if you got pregnant now or even anywhere near 200lbs. You are the perfect age to do this, I am just a bit older than you and apart from me wanting to live life, my primary motivation to lose the weight are the children I haven't even attempted to have. I want to give my babies the best healthiest chance at life and to do that, I need to lose this weight. Being heavy can cause you to be infertile and most doctors want you to be a year or more (18) months postop before you get pregnant. Now is the perfect time for you. He's supportive and if he needs to lose some weight to, you going through the process will help him with that as well. Good luck girly.