FrankyG

I also waited to get rid of them as I lost weight and started having them look ridiculous or fell off me. I did have moments of regret just because some of those clothes cost a mint (had several fancy dress ballgowns due to black tie work functions) or I especially loved them, but once I drove off from the thrift store and got home the feeling passed. I don't think I could have done it before I'd lost the weight. But if you are literally sitting there with two giant closet's worth of clothing in a range of sizes, I'm sure doing a preemptive weeding out of clothes that you know for a fact you don't ever want to wear again (due to cut or pattern/color or other factors that just mean they're not favorites) might be a nice thing to get started on.

I am 18 months out and have noticed this as well, and what I've been doing to counter the anxiety-based need to eat is to go exercise and get a little sun (but wearing lots of sunblock). I figure if I'm still obsessing over a certain food after I've gone walking/jogging for a hour, at least I exercised, but most of the time, I'll feel a bit calmer and just better, and am able to skip the food. Yoga is a great exercise that isn't hard either - but you'll feel good after doing it. Exercise is supposed to be great for depression and anxiety issues, and I've found it does work for me. Who knew? I am constantly worrying about regaining, but I know that's not realistic because even if I fell off the wagon and ate some bad stuff and gained a few pounds, I can put the brakes on and get things back on track before it proceeds to be dozens of pounds. I have the skills and ability to police my food choices and I know what I need to be doing and how to do it. Nothing can take that away from me. So a small slip will not ever turn into a complete failure. You have to tell yourself this and keep telling yourself whenever those thoughts come up. You are still new to all of this and it's going to be harder for a while, but it will become second nature eventually. If you're really feeling depressed and anxious, please see a counselor and find ways of feeling better about yourself. Big hugs and hope things start looking up for you soon!

Are you supposed to be doing any kind of diet prep before surgery? If so, it isn't advisable to eat foods not on that diet. Most doctors want to have you on a liquid diet or very low carb diet before to shrink your liver since it partially sits across your stomach area and they need it as small as possible to make sure they can move it out of the way without injuring it. You do not want to risk a liver bleed (this is very serious) just because of a craving. Even if the doc didn't put you on a pre op diet, eat reasonably. If you really want pizza, have a slice, not a whole bunch of slices. It's all about moderation. Stay strong and just remember you can eat whatever you want after about 6 months, you just might not want that same stuff any more since you're going to relearn how to eat healthy foods.

Yes, they'd remove them from the same opening. No idea which they'd do first. Probably the gallbladder since it should be a quicker removal, but really just guessing here (maybe ask your nurse or surgeon?). Recovery should be exactly the same even tho they're working two things, since the worst part usually tends to be the gas that gets trapped in the abdomen from them inflating it for room to move the laparoscopic tools around in there. If you have a really good surgeon, they try to remove as much of that gas as possible and you'll not experience major gas pain. It felt like someone beat me up from the inside - deep aching pain when I had laparoscopic surgery about 15 years back (had my gallbladder out that time). For my VGS, I had NO pain because my surgeon was amazeballs about removing the gas. I didn't even have to take pain meds once I got home the next day because I just felt a little sore in the general abdomen area - like I'd done a whole lot of sit-up exercises. I was up and walking within an hour of getting taken to my hospital room. Moving slow, but not doing bad at all. You really want to get up and walk as soon as you can, because it helps prevent blood clots and also helps work out any gas that might be trapped

I'm down around 115 pounds and like 5 band sizes, but barely one cup size. The cup size didn't happen until about 3 months ago, and I was a bit upset as I was happy with my overall size there. I've got some skin wrinkling if I move or sit a certain angle, but they don't look that much different otherwise and I have hopes that the skin might tighten up naturally as long as I make sure to keep the breasts supported so I wear a sleep bra at night and a supportive regular bras during the waking hours to help minimize the stretching. It really depends on breast size and your breasts' composition mostly. Breasts are not composed of just fat; they contain ducts, breast tissue and fat. If when you first developed you had large breasts, then it's likely you won't deflate as significantly because you'll likely have dense breast tissue, but if they got larger as you got larger, then it's likely they are composed of mostly fat and will see much more sagging in the end. Age and length of time obese will play a factor in how good they'll look. How you lose weight is also an issue as well because some women lose and their breasts unfortunately sag significantly and some have denser breast tissue and don't see as much changes.

Your back and abdomen muscles have been working hard holding up you as a fat person and your keeping your center of gravity stable. As you lose weight in a faster manner due to the surgery, your center of gravity is going to shift, and your back muscles and alternatively abdomen muscles may been stressed out from the adjusted weight differences and posture changes. This is also one of the reasons you might experience losing balance much more easily; you're used to carrying much heavier weight, so you can overestimate how much effort you need to stand up, sit, walk... basically your core muscles are going to likely be in serious misalignment due to the fact that they'd been used to one or the other set doing the heavy lifting while you moved.

I'm just over 18 months and I love this idea. I still do answer some of the newbie questions just because I sometimes feel like being helpful and it makes me happy to know the answers (or at least throw my opinion out there), but it would be nice to have a section where most everyone is father down the line and know all the basics already and are looking at more advanced stuff to discuss and work on.

You really shouldn't compare your weight loss rate with others. Your body will go at the rate that is best for you, others will definitely be very different - all over the place really. But just for informational discussion, I lost around 8 lbs. a week for the first month or two, then it dropped quickly to around 2-3 lbs. a week for the rest of the time. But there were many, many weeks of stalls - as in nada, zip, zero pounds - in there too. You sound like you're doing fantastic - losing 3.3 lbs a week is a great rate!

Did your doctor's dietary plan allow for eating pizza less than 2 weeks out? I am like 99% sure they didn't, because that is crazy. Most folks on here will tell you that was insane to try to do. Solid foods are usually not allowed until around 4 weeks, and eating something fatty and carby like pizza even before 6 months is VERY VERY bad. Your stomach is not going to be fully healed for months. You will not be able to feel real hunger pains and especially not be able to tell fullness feelings very well because it is still very traumatized and swollen. Introducing foods you should not be eating that early is dangerous and you could cause damage or get small particles (like seeds if you ate pizza with any spices on it) embedded in the staple line and cause major complications and even surgery to remove the invasive objects. Do not screw around and try to test your sleeve. You may be lucky and have no issues, but you are taking major risks with your health doing this. And you're throwing away all the months of work and planning by not sticking to your doctor's plans and sabotaging your ability to retrain yourself to eat good, healthy food from the start. You need to get your head straight and do this the right way.

Hormones. You can gain Water weight easily during your cycle times, and especially in the first couple of months the hormone dump is going to be crazy insane. Fat stores hormones and as you drop fat, it all gets flushed back into your system and will cause all sorts of fun side effects like random weight gain, mood swings and such. You'll see weight fluctuate often during this whole journey. Just keep doing what you're supposed to be doing and it will work out.

My doctor specifically said he makes an effort to remove as much of the gas from the abdomen as possible to avoid the possibility of trapped gas causing pain. Had no pain at all and was up and walking in about 2 hours after making it back to my room. When I had gallbladder surgery about 15 years ago, I had AWFUL pain from that - couldn't sleep flat for almost 2 weeks. I was really worried about that, but it looks like most surgeons do try to reduce the gas and pain now, so hopefully if you do experience anything, it will be mild and only for a day or two. Getting up and walking is one of the best ways to get the gas to resolve and reduce the pain.

There is no way I'd try to eat full sugar oatmeal packs for the first 6 months. I ate one small portion of regular fat/sugar Cereal about 2 months out and had the dumping thing and was shaking and hurting on the bathroom floor (between throwing up) for over half an hour. Never tested it again. Don't eat that stuff. Take it back if possible because you should not eat that crap again; it's one of those fake healthy foods - the carbs are insane for the size of the portion and you need to toss out all the crummy prepared foods that are full of artifical flavors and high salt/sugar/gunk like that. If you like oatmeal, it's really easy to just get a container of quick oats and portion it out into a baggie with some no calorie sweetener and some cinnamon or something and throw it in your lunch bag. I make most of my food now from scratch to avoid the crappy food stuff out there (I know exactly what is in my food that way). There are lots of easy quick recipes on this forum, and I'd suggest you check them out. I eat low carb (and sugar is carby so lower sugar is a given) but I eat high Protein and fat. Healthy fats like olive and coconut oil, avocadoes, real butter... all of that is super great and helps me stay full longer. As long as I keep the carbs down around 50-100 grams/daily, I'm happy. Otherwise my suggestion is to REALLY start reading the labels carefully and be very aware of the carbs and sugar for things you're considering eating. It's not just about whether you can eat it, it's whether you should eat it. You're supposed to be throwing out all the junk/bad foods and learning how to eat healthy foods - protein should be the main part of every meal and vegetables, and if there is room complex carbohydrates. Granted oatmeal is technically supposed to be a good carbohydrate, but not when you are eating that prepackaged junk food stuff with tons of sugar and freeze-dried almost fake fruit bits. Yuck! You owe it to yourself to find better foods now because you'll only be able to eat smaller portions so eat REAL food and you'll be much happier and healthier overall.

Please talk to your doctor, but alcohol in any shape would be a very bad idea that early. You are not even close to healed at that time, so drinking is a huge no as far as I'm concerned. I was told that drinking was off limits for minimum of 6 months, but highly discouraged for the rest of my life due to the effects. Like, have a glass of wine or a weak mixed drink on special occasions but steer clear of it as a regular thing. After you're a year or so out, it may still hit you VERY hard as you have less stomach to process it, so it filters right into your bloodstream and you'll feel very drunk super fast on a very small amount. I've heard stories of people going black out drunk from just a few glasses that used to not even get them buzzed. And besides that, alcohol is empty calories and super high carb. Very, very bad stuff to try that early. It most likely will make you feel pretty bad and minimum make you stupid drunk, and very likely could make you sick. But yeah, ask your doctor.

Nope, no grieving at all. I still have a stomach. It's the original, just streamlined and working correctly now. They fixed it by cutting it down as far as I'm concerned. I really didn't experience any sense of loss or even doubts that I'd made a bad decision. Mostly worried that it might not work for me for some reason, but it has been doing beautifully so far.

If you gained most all your weight back, then it's because you're eating around your sleeve and did not properly learn how to use it to change your lifestyle. So first thing is to realize that you have to change EVERYTHING you are doing right now. Start tracking every bite/sip that goes in your mouth. Get a digital scale and count out portions - no eyeballing or guessing - so you don't have portion creep. Lots of apps/websites to do this with (FitnessPal, Fat Secret are two that I know of) Consider doing a 5 day reset to remind yourself (and your sleeve) how your restriction feels and to try to detox from carby foods and junk. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/ Clear out any temptation foods in your house - if your weakness is sweets, then toss/give them away and avoid them in the grocery - if they don't come in your house, it's much easier to stay honest. Keep healthy alternatives on hand at work and home to avoid going to the breakroom vending machine or stopping at a store on the way home in a moment of weakness. Exercise is great, but it is a very small part of losing weight. But do get moving! Joining a gym is nice if you enjoy working out that way, but the best way is to find something you enjoy doing that doesn't feel like exercise so you'll want to do it. Riding a bike, swimming, playing a sport, rock climbing, going for walks through a park and sightseeing... try to find something fun that also means you're up and moving and it won't be such a pain to keep doing it! The main things to focus on are what and how much you eat. The guidelines for healthy eating after WLS is supposed to be good, dense Protein as the largest portion or every meal with healthy vegetables on the side, and if there is room add in a small portion of complex carbohydrates. Junk food, sweets and simple carbs should be a very rare occurrence in your life now. Learn to cook simple, healthy meals and make extras for your lunch if you have a habit of grabbing fast food every day. Lots of great recipes on here, but a place of awesome recipes targeted for WLS veterans is Eggface's site: http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ Finally, you're not a failure unless you give up completely. You just have to refocus and use that sleeve correctly. I've used this analogy before, but the whole losing weight thing is like trying to sit on a three-legged stool. Depending on the sleeve surgery only to lose weight is equivalent to trying to balance forever on one leg of a stool. Add in another leg for exercise, and you've got a bit more to work with, but getting that third leg firmly on the floor - changing your eating habits - is what you have to do if you want to be able to last long term. You need all three to be stable and successful. Good luck!

That actually sounds pretty scary to only have broths for 5 weeks. You're going to feel like crap and be weak as a kitten and the damage to your muscles, and oh my dog the hair loss.... I definitely would check in with a nutritionist familiar with the sleeve surgery ASAP because this doctor sounds a bit off. And for what its worth, my doc is a nationally recognized training surgeon for this procedure, and also a center of excellence, and I was on Protein drinks the very next day after my surgery. Clear fluids (including the protein ones) for 3 days, and then I was cleared for all liquids after that. He said it was vital to get both fluids and protein in and keep sipping every hour to promote healing, and also to support muscle and brain function, and to keep my metabolism up.

I tend to try to keep my carbs below 100 grams/daily, but I have noticed that the times I do a cheat meal (not over eating, just eating something rich or heavy like Pasta that I'd normally not eat) I end up losing weight within a day or two. I do think there is something to going "off script" with your diet every once in a while. I have no idea why, but it seems like your body can get into a rut eating the same amounts of everything daily for weeks/months. I'd agree your metabolism can get stuck if you're not eating enough calories and that could cause a definite stall if you're not sure how many calories you are eating daily compared to how much you are burning. I've stayed away from fruit for most of the year. I have been in a stall for about a month. I started eating fruit in the last three days (bing cherries and cantaloupe with some amazing Irish porter cheese) and boom - dropped 2 pounds and out of the stall and feeling more energetic. So who knows what exactly that means, but it couldn't hurt to up your calories a bit, try eating something richer or slightly more carby than your usual for a few meals, and maybe that will do something. ETA: I track in the program Fatsecret, and I try to keep my calorie deficit between 600-1000 or so between what I consume and what I burn. I know I have a much more sluggish metabolism than what the doc says (he told me around 500 cal difference), but I see results when it is closer to 1000 than 500. But I do try to eat more calories and carbs (even up to 1700-1800 calories) on days where I'm really pushing my exercise up (swimming for 2+ hours and biking there and back).

I use a low carb tortilla and make bar pizza in a cast Iron skillet. LOVE this recipe (below) and once you get the technique down, it tastes like a lovely crisp thin crust pizza and I can usually eat two pieces, so I get two meals out of it - which is super as I loved cold leftover pizza just as much as fresh! I use a low carb spaghetti sauce, but only about one tablespoon because I don't like lots of sauce anyway and they tend to have lots of hidden sugar in them. I tend to either make my own, or get something like Aldi's organic line marinara as it is much lower carb than most. We top them with things like roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, turkey pepperoni, black olives, fresh basil and spinach and lots of mozzarella. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/10/cast-iron-skillet-tortilla-pizza-bar-pie-food-lab.html

That's wonderful! Hope it was fun too, because swimming is fantastic exercise!

Anything that is high calorie/fat/carb and easily breaks down in your stomach allowing you to eat way more than you should. Like ice cream, bread, crackers, Cookies, cake, chips... My doc told me anything that turns to mush or liquid with minimal chewing or when dropped into a glass of Water is something to steer clear of.

It likely isn't hunger since your stomach is not going to be sending the right signals for some time (it's really really swollen and sore and trying to heal - true hunger signals and especially feeling full is going to be completely off for months). It is either thirst, misinterpreted pain, acid/GERD (should be taking some form of PPI for the next few months) or head hunger. And I think everyone comes out of this surgery saying "I made a huge mistake!!" within the first week or two. Things will improve and the weight will start coming off and you'll feel much better about it soon.

Sooooo many threads on this subject (just a few recent ones to get you started): http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/369537-beer http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/369245-alcohol http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/367526-alcohol-post-opits-possible-when-how-much http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/365478-alcohol

Oh yes - cucumber rocks, but really love red pepper strips with tuna or chicken salad now. Crackers suck!

There is nothing you can apply to your skin that will show any real difference in the looseness of your skin if you have hanging folds after losing a large amount of weight. You're pretty much going to have to go to a cosmetic surgeon for surgery - either cutting off and/or reshaping - if you want real, lasting results. Most lotions will help with the appearance of dry/distressed skin. Moisture and certain additives makes skin plump up and look less wrinkly, but it won't fix or tighten anything that is really hanging, so don't waste your money if you have serious issues with skin folds after losing weight. But do stay hydrated, use something that provides deep moisturizing properties (I use olive or coconut oil or just regular lotions depending) and work on building muscle as it helps fill out your skin better.

I did lose hair, but no one noticed but me. It was just lots more hair in my brush for a few months. My hairdresser didn't even see any changes (or at least she was being nice about it). You really can't tell who will lose and who will REALLY lose hair. It is caused by the shock of surgery and the starvation diet for the first few weeks where you aren't getting much nutrition from food. If you can keep your Protein levels up then it minimizes the effects, but you'll honestly be lucky to get in even half your fluid/protein minimums for the first week or two so just make sure to take your Vitamins and don't go crazy buying hair serums and stuff since it probably will be a waste of money. I've heard if you can get geletin capsules or just eat lots of sugar free Jello as soon as you are cleared for that, it can help keep the hair you have healthy. Same goes for Biotin, but double check that it's not already in the vitamins you're taking as excess biotin just gets flushed out when you pee. So no sense buying extra if it's already in there. It is temporary. Everyone gets their hair growing back in within a few months of the hair loss. So I wouldn't panic over it.