heynowkc

I would have watched the whole thing in a single video.

@@Brandalyn Oh thank you. I can't wait to try this.

@@kimmeesue The standard reply is "it's different for everyone." While this is absolutely true, I also feel like it's always helpful to know what people with a similar start weight/height were doing at your stage. I just had surgery on 12/17, but here are my stats for anyone who may find it informative: HW 9/29/14: 491 (height ~5'8) Surgery, Wed, 12/17/14: 422 1 Week, Wed, 12/24/14: 408 (-14) 2 Week, Wed, 12/31/14: (No weigh-in. Had to replace my scale.) (-??) 3 Week, Wed, 1/7/15: 395.2 (-12.8) 4 Week, Wed, 1/14/15: 389.5 (-5.7) Total loss since surgery: 32.5 Total loss since 9/29: 101.5 It looks like I've been losing ~6lbs per week if you don't count that first week. Funnily enough, that is about what I was losing prior to surgery, but then I was working out about 5-6 days per week at least an hour (sometimes two) each time. Right now, other than walking, I haven't been working out at all. (Have only had the chance to go back to the pool twice after getting clearance one week ago and only a very light workout each time. I will probably re-focus on exercise this coming week.)

@joatsaint That post is awesome. Thank you so much for linking to it! I will definitely try some of those out soon! @@roundisashape Oh great suggestions. Definitely worth a shot. I have some boneless skinless chicken thighs that might work with your foil method. (I feel like chicken breast would be too dry and hard to get down.) I'm excited about maybe trying some of these. Especially the lima Beans and "egg roll guts." Haha. You should write a recipe for that and definitely call it Egg Roll Guts. It'll be a huge hit. @@Cyr I was excited too but it definitely took a few days to get used to eating solid(er) foods again. Just a slow process overall. But I don't want to rush it! @@Brandalyn Oh those cabbage rolls sound good. Do you have a recipe? I would love that! (Also, yes, avocado was one of the first things I ate, mashed/pureed beyond recognition, but still awesome! I really want to try some with salsa but have been afraid to!

I had an afternoon surgery so stayed two nights in the hospital. I was back to work in 2 weeks and 5 days. Not sure I would have been ready to go back earlier but I work on a college campus library and campus was closed almost the entire time I was off and I went back the first day we reopened. I only had to use 3 days of leave total.

I read somewhere that Jillian Michaels recommends upping your caloric intake (can be hard with gastric sleeve!) and stopping exercise for a few days and then switching back to break out of a diet "plateau." Of course she wasn't talking about WLS... but I imagine the reasons for stalling are similar to what she deals with with her clients, so perhaps the solution could also be helpful.

Yeah I suspected this was the case. I am only 3.5 weeks (almost 4) out from surgery and definitely have experienced this feeling, especially transitioning from the full liquid diet to the puree/soft foods stage. Now that I have begun eating slower (could still probably eat a little slower, it's hard!) I don't feel this so much, only a little bit. When I was frequently feeling that sensation, I never let myself throw up, I just sit there unhappy for 30 minutes until I could drink Water again to help "wash it down."

I am only 3.5 (almost 4) weeks out and right now calories has no effect on my feeling full. I am barely able to stomach soft foods still (although am finally eating SOME soft foods.) With the baby food or purees I can eat 4 tablespoons no problem but STILL feel full. With more "bulky foods" for example I can't eat that much. I tried tuna fish with mayo last week as recommended by the dietitian, and I was only able to get down about 2-3 tablespoons before I was uncomfortably full. I am finally eating slow too. (Actually took up loom knitting and try and knit a row or two between bites!) I don't really experience hunger at all though. They say that is normal.

@@oatmealgirl Premier Protein is great. I like the chocolate best but vanilla is great too. I would say you're only 10 days out and you should not be worrying about any of this stuff at all. At 10 days out I wasn't even supposed to be moving from "full liquid" to purees yet. Nothing wrong with keeping with the Soups for a while. I am still having trouble at meal times and am 3 weeks out as of yesterday so I often just do soups still. My nutritionist says just go at your own pace!

@@babytech82 I have had a lot of luck with Beech Nut's new babyfood line. The meats are surprisingly good, especially the chicken. If you can bring some seasonings (salt, pepper, maybe mrs. dash?) with you to season it that is a good way to go in my opinion. (Without some kind of seasoning, they are completely unseasoned and bland.) I also like their peas, green Beans and asparagus mix if you want to get a little veg in too. Another thing you could do while out and about may be to bring a thermos with some hot broth/soup (maybe pea or lentil Soup?) Good luck to you!

Yes the pain meds and the anesthesia does make you feel foggy. That is the main reason I think I was so out of it for the first ~day.

@@JerseyJules It's probably a combination of things. First you do have a lot of meds in you and I think that effects you in many ways including making drinking unappealing etc, second you may be experiencing gas/nausea, third your stomach is now tiny compared to what it was AND it's swollen from the procedure, so you just don't have a lot of room in there. It didn't take me long at all to get four ounces down as fast as they wanted me to, but those first four just seemed to take forever.

@@DroppinLikeItsHot My recommendation is premier protein vanilla and chocolate flavors. They are 11oz. pre-made shakes with 160 calories, 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar each. They are available here at costco and sam's club. (Also at food lion but way more expensive and you can only get a 4-pack.) Costco currently has a sale for an 18-pack at 19.99 (instead of 24.99.) The thing with these is they are pre-made, and the consistency is as thin as milk. The flavor is very good (the vanilla was described as "melted ice cream" by a friend here.) There is an aftertaste depending on how long it takes you to drink it. Pre-surgery, I never ever would have noticed an aftertaste. But post-surgery I drink them a bit slower and I sometimes do notice it, but not if I sip water during or directly after drinking them. I would NOT recommend the strawberry at all. Google them and look at the reviews. Most people are baffled as to how a protein shake can taste so good. Definitely worth a shot!

@@jlcohio Maybe if you ask her about naturally caffeine free herbal teas? Black tea has caffeine in it and "decaffeinated" drinks STILL have caffeine in them. Rooibos, peppermint, chamomile, hibiscus, and fruit teas are naturally caffeine free (not decaffeinated). Green tea, black tea, white tea, and oolong tea all have caffeine of varying amounts. If you're more specific maybe you can find one she will allow you to count toward your fluids! I drink rooibos vanilla with some truvia, and it counts toward my fluids.

@@JerseyJules - There is definitely going to be pain right away. Some at your incision site, but also at your stomach inside where it is healing from surgery. Your muscles will be very sore. In recovery, if you need pain medicine just ask for it and our recovery nurse should dole it out liberally at first!! Mine wanted to get me to the point of comfort that I could fall asleep if left alone in a quiet room. Only then was I moved to my room. - The pain "inside" will last a while but will not be as painful as your incisions, especially at first. The incision pain is hard to describe. Sometimes I felt a bit of a "burning" especially at the largest incision above my bellybutton where the stomach was removed. But mostly it's not that kind of pain. Mostly I think you will feel like you did "abs of steel" all day for a week straight and your muscles will be very tender and protest at any type of "bending." (Sitting up from a laying position, reaching down to pull on your socks, etc.) - I was expected to walk from the door of my room to my bed and that was easy. - I experienced some hiccups and burping, but not too much nausea because they give you medicine for that as well. - The only time my nausea was severe was when they gave me pain meds through my IV. The dilauded made my stomach do painful flips about 60 seconds after administration, every time. This lasted maybe 10 minutes but my nurses would give me the nausea medicine right before or right after the dilauded so I am not sure how long it would have lasted without it. - Oddly enough I never vomited until almost 2 weeks after surgery while trying to get down my Vitamins. I think some people have a worse time with the nausea though. - I had my surgery in the afternoon and could not drink anything until the following day. I brushed my teeth and rinsed my mouth constantly! (So I would definitely recommend bringing in a toothrbrush and your favorite toothpaste -- in my experience hospital toothpaste doesn't taste great!) - Walking was a breeze and I did that a lot. Walking is easier than getting up and down. - I was so out of it the first 12-24 hours almost that I couldn't answer texts from friends or concentrate on much except for listening to my audiobook (Amy Poehler to the rescue). After that I was doing crosswords and puzzles and able to talk on the phone. - How not to lose your phone charging chord: Ask you nurse for a piece of medical tape and tape it to the rail of the bed near your head! - They will want you to pee within the first few hours of surgery. This is HARD because you haven't had anything to drink or eat in a LONG time. I struggled with this but eventually it was no problem. - I didn't have any gas pain to speak of. Many people complain of pain in the shoulders but I didn't experience that at all. - When they finally did give me Water to drink, I was shocked by how hard it was to get down even a quarter of an ounce. They gave me four, plastic, one-ounce cups. and a pitcher of water and wanted me to work up to being able to drink all 4 within a half hour. Just keep working at it and it will happen before you know it. Hope this helps!

I had the same problem the first 1-2 weeks. I'm 3 weeks out and it's much better now. But didn't the doctor prescribe any liquid pain meds? I just took that before bed and was able to sleep in whatever position I wanted! Haha.

@@kymmiej11 I had mine on 12/17 and work at a library and went back to work the same day as you. I am doing great with getting my fluids in but "soft foods" are not working for me even though my nutritionist said it's okay to eat them now. The closest I can really get is anything "very" pureed or baby food. I can't seem to stomach the powdered shakes. I will wait a couple of months before trying them again because I had such a bad reaction the first time, but I wanted to suggest (pre-made) premier Protein shakes. They are the consistency of milk so not thick like a powdered protein shake, only have 160 calories for 11 ounces of Fluid and 30 grams of protein and only 1 gram of sugar. (I only need to drink 2 of these a day.) Around here you can get these in an 18-pack at costco, a 12-pack at sam's club, and a 4 pack at Food Lion. (It's very expensive to get the 4-pack!) Costco has a deal right now where you can get the 18 pack for 19.99 instead of 24.99. It goes until the 28th I think. I highly recommend the vanilla (tastes like sweet milk) and the chocolate. (The strawberry was terrible for me!) They are so thin and pleasant tasting that they're very easy to get down. You don't get too much of the protein taste like you do with powders. I hope this helps!

@@downsizingdiva Did you try them yet? I feel like they're surprisingly good for baby food meats (after being seasoned) but it's not like I have experience with them. If you haven't tried it yet I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how "real food" they seem.

@B Autumn You're absolutely right. I never gained weight in huge amounts and have "always" been big. I started gaining weight in maybe the 2nd or 3rd grade and have just slowly but surely kept gaining weight throughout childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, my twenties, etc.

I have been very open at work and with family/friends about my surgery. There are very few who don't know so I won't have to explain much when it does start to show. Right now my instinct is that I will just tell people... but who knows I may get to a point where I am sick of explaining the surgery eventually!

@@sophie'sChoice Thanks! I'm excited for the year to come!

Definitely glad to be under 400 and also to be 4lbs away from 100 lb loss. I am just glad I have already gotten that first 100 (almost) out of the way. If I hadn't kicked it into high gear in the 2.5 months prior to surgery I would still be in the high 400s and still have so much more to lose. I feel like I got a jump start. But then again it IS easier to lose more when you have more to lose. Percentage wise, I am very close to hitting 20% total weight lost. I am willing to bet that if you did the math you'd be right along side me! Perhaps even more-so. So YOU should also be proud. I think it's hard when people see you every day to notice a difference. Even being out of work for 2.5 weeks and coming back over 20 lbs lighter is not really enough of a difference for people to notice. (For me anyway.) I bet if you ran into someone who last saw you at your highest (or close to it) they would notice!

Just want to throw my hat in here and wave to you all. I hope to be an "over 400 lb success" some day. I was 491 when I started, lost around 70 lbs prior to surgery (all in Oct, Nov, and Dec), and am almost 3 weeks post op (surgery date Dec 17) and have now lost 96 lbs total. Over the weekend I was able to buy a 400 lb capacity scale (15 dollars at costco) and consider that a victory in and of itself! I am no longer in the 400s for the first time in several years! Just 240 lbs more to go!

My starting weight was 491. Am down almost 100 pounds (about 70 prior to surgery, almost 3 weeks ago) and the only people who "notice" are people who already knew I was losing and they can only really see it in my face. I have a close friend who is also losing who says she can see it elsewhere, but I think she really has to look for it! I think if I lose 25-50 more lbs maybe it will be noticeable in other places. I haven't really gone down in clothing sizes either. I figure I am good with most of my wardrobe for the next 50 lbs. At that point I'll have to replace some things, but I am sure I can "stretch" (no pun intended!) my ponte pants for a little longer than that!

I have to agree that the Beech Nut baby food line is very good. They also recently re-did their entire line. The veggies are great and the meat is really good as well. It just tastes exactly like chicken would. On my plan it's allowed in the soft/puree stage and we're also allowed any seasonings and spices we want so that helps with the blandness of the baby food. Their peas, green Beans and asparagus combo is also really good. I haven't tried many of the combinations but will in the coming days.