Proud2BMe

Yes. I too am going back to the pre-op diet. I lost 100lbs in three months and then all of a sudden I just stopped losing weight. So I'm hoping the pre-op diet will kick me back into gear.

A week is a long time. Mine was pulled on day 2 after surgery. However, it was painful. My entire abdomen cramped up something fierce.

i personally can't eat processed meats. Every time I try I end up throwing up. I think it's the salt and preservatives in them. However, the focus is on small balanced meals. My doctor told me I shouldn't be snacking at all, just 3 meals a day and focus on liquids in between means.

I had my gallbladder removed at the same time as my sleeve. No pain or other problems. However, any pain you may experience form the surgery is far better than the pain of a gallstone.

As Babbs said above, you don't have dumping syndrome. Your body is still healing and you are trying to rush food. You should follow the set diet given to you and only advance slowly to solid foods. When you have dumping syndrome you feel like you are going to die. You may have heart palpitations, begin to sweat, have a migraine, etc., not just the diarrhea. FYI: When you finally get on solid food you will experience the opposite of what you now experience. You will be constipated and may not go to the bathroom for a week or longer.

You really should have been on the pre-op diet for longer, at least 2 weeks. I lost 25lbs on my 2 week pre-op diet alone. It jump starts your weight loss. During the pre-op diet you should eat no more than 600-800 calories a day and it should be protein-based with little to no carbs. My doctor allowed me to have up to 50 grams of carbs a day, no more. The first week one may have one mean of lean meat with salad greens and then two meals with a Protein shake. The second week should be strictly Protein shakes, three times a day. That's what is needed to truly jumpstart weight loss. If after you surgery you are not losing weight then it's likely a combination of eating too many carbs and not exercising enough. Cut the carbs out of your diet and begin to exercise if you are not currently doing so.

My doctor told me only three meals a day. Many people believe they can eat every two hours but my doctors says they are fooling themselves into trying to consume as many calories as they want. I eat three small meals a day, no drink until about 30 minutes after I eat, and then focus on the time in between meals for drinking liquids.

The sleeve doesn't actually stretch. What happens is that your body will adapt by keeping the food in your stomach for less and less time. As a result, you will steadily begin to eat more and more. Within 5 years most people with sleeves can consume a normal dinner plate portion of food. The ideal is to get the majority of the weight you need to lose off before that happens. Therefore, when you reach that mark you will be on maintenance.

Congratulations! So proud of you!

Try it. Find out for yourself. The worst that will happen is that you will get sick and throw up. I experimented. I can't drink while eating. The liquid takes up too much space. Funny that I found out I could drink carbonated beverages. However, I have to make sure I burp after each swallow. Otherwise the pressure hurts.

I lost 100 lbs in the first 3 months. For the longest time I was averaging a pound a day. However, not any more! The fast weight loss stage seems to be over. I've had stalls that last over 2 weeks and if I'm lucky I'll lose 2 lbs a week now.

Unfortunately, requirements of weight loss are done to make sure that the person is actually in the right mind set and is truly sincere about losing weight. The sad truth is that many people who want the surgery should not get it because they have no intention of actually working to lose the weight. The surgery is not a miracle cure. If a person does not change their eating habits they will regain the weight, even if they have had the surgery. My best advice would be to consult your doctor and see if she can begin the pre-op diet now. I lost 25 lbs in two weeks just on the pre-op diet. Otherwise, a low carb diet with emphasis on lean meat and Protein might be best. If she is not losing weight then the only answer is that she is consuming far too many calories and is not exercising enough. Unfortunately, there are no excuses or ways around that. Make her keep a record of what she is eating and I'm sure you will find that she is consuming far more than 1200 calories a day.

The best thing to do is to confer with your doctor. Even if it's something bad then you should be happy they caught it in time.

Congratulations! Now, let me advise you that I would check with your doctor to see if the shakes you have at home are okay to drink. The reason being is that 300 calories a shake is high in calories and if you drink 2 of them a day that's 600 calories there, not including your meal. Most pre-op diets are about 600-800 calories a day. Also check on the meal you can eat. Most people on pre-op diets are required to eat low carb, such as lean meat and leafy greens. Otherwise, while on the pre-op diet expect that for the first 3 days or so that you will feel horrible. You likely will have a headache, be irritable, and may feel like you are going to faint. This is normal. It will soon pass. After about 3 days or so your body will begin to adapt to the new diet and you will feel fine again. On my pre-op I had 2 Protein shakes a day (about 160 calories a shake) and lean meat (usually chicken or tuna) on a bed of salad greens. This was followed by a week of strict liquid only. I lost 25 lbs just during the pre-op liquid diet alone. I've even heard of people losing over 30 lbs just from the pre-op diet. Good Luck! Pretty soon you will be on the other side!

It's normal to be anxious or to doubt one's self just prior to surgery. However, the thing that always amazes me is how people just assume they have to live with excess skin the rest of their life. People who were extremely obese and then lost a lot of weight most likely will need plastic surgery to remove the excess skin. I will be having a tummy tuck and my chest done. So you might want to go ahead and start researching your plastic surgery options now and then start saving up now as well. It will take you time to lose weight and during this process you can form your game plan and save up for your plastics. You most likely will have to pay out of pocket for plastics as most insurance will not pay for it.

The pre-op diet is actually easy to follow if you stick with it for the first 2-3 days. For those first few days you will have carb withdrawal. Your brain prefers carbs for fuel. So when you go without it you experience headaches, moodiness, and feelings of faint. However, these pass within about 2-3 days as your body switches over into burning fat and Protein for fuel. Yes, some doctors do not make their patients do the pre-op diet but I can assure you that those patients who do the diet end up losing far more than patients who do not. For example, I lost 25lbs just in the 2 week pre-op diet.

You can have chicken broth almost immediately because you are on an all liquid diet right after surgery. However, the addition of the eggs may be too much for your stomach right after surgery. You may have to wait until the soft food stage. You can try a small, and I do mean a small amount, to see if your stomach can tolerate it.

Please consult your doctor as to which surgery is best for you. I can tell you that doctors are moving away from the lap band due to the higher rate of complications. In the beginning you will not be able to "treat" yourself. If you try you will throw up and it won't feel good. However, if you don't get your eating habits under control you are at risk for regaining any weight loss back. The surgery is just a tool. It's up to you whether or not you want to use it correctly or incorrectly.

Go ahead and start the pre-op diet. My doctor allowed me to have for the first week a protein shake for breakfast and lunch and then a dinner of green leafy vegetables and lean meat, which translated for me as a bowl of salad greens with grilled chicken or tuna. The second week was all liquid, 3 protein shakes a day plus as much chicken broth and sugar free jello as I wanted. I lost 25lbs those 2 weeks. A bit of a warning, for the first 2-3 days you will feel like hell. You will have a headache, be moody and may feel like you are going to pass out. Just stick with it and after the first 2-3 days your headache will go away and you will feel normal again.

If you are already on a low carb diet and have found that you are no longer losing weight then it means that the diet itself has already helped you as much as it can alone. You will need to increase your exercise level in order to begin losing again. My opinion would be that the sleeve may not work for you if you are not or have no plans to increase your exercise and activity level. However, please check with your doctor.

Yes. Egg drop soup is fine for the liquid diet stage. The pre-op liquid diet is mainly to shrink the liver and to do that you need to be on a very-low carb diet as well as decrease your overall calories. Egg drop soup is primarily chicken broth, which is fine by itself on the pre-op diet, with one or more eggs dropped into it, which are all Protein. However, just keep sure you consume it in a normal serving size.

As someone stated above, nothing will stop it. However, you can try to limit it by making sure you consume enough Protein and vitamens. Basically, when you lose weight you are actually putting stress on the body which causes hormonal changes which in turn leads to hair loss. This form of hair loss is temporary. Once your weight stabilizes hair shedding will stop. One trick you can do is to cut your hair short, if possible. This lessons the psychological freak-out of finding a bunch of long hairs in your hands after washing your hair. Men have it better with this and many men may not even tell they are even shedding hair due to men normally having short hairstyles to begin with. Be careful of using Rogaine for women or similar products. Many people may not realize that these products cause temporary hair shedding as well before any results are seen. Besides, these products are really only good for a specific condition unrelated to the hair shedding associated with a large amount of weight loss.

Every one's experience will differ. However, expect to lose a good deal of weight at first and then you will likely see the weight loss decrease or slow down. Also, stalls do happen. Stalls are periods where you don't lose any weight at all. Stalls can last from days to weeks to months, depending on the person. In my case, I quickly lost 100lbs in about 3 months. I'm now in a stall of over a week where I haven't lost anything.

The last time I posted here I flipped out over something trivial and swore I would never post again. I think my hormones were out of whack from the surgery and diet. So please forgive me. In the past couple of months my entire life has changed due to the surgery. So I thought I would return to help others and receive more tips and help myself. I have lost 103 pounds since surgery 3 months ago. I'm currently stalled and it's really getting to me. It seems that now I only lose weight if I take laxatives to remain regular. Otherwise, the scale is stuck. Any tips on how to break this stall would be much appreciated.

I've been stalled with no weight loss for over a week. In fact, for the past month the only weight loss I have had is when I take laxatives in order to be regular. Usually I will lose 2 pounds by the next morning. I was so used to loosing 1 lb a day that I guess I got spoiled and took it for granted. I'm very concerned that I may have hit the limit of the weight loss for the surgery. Does anyone have an tips on how to break a stall?