HealthArtLove

Post - op life is a challenge to adjust to. It does get easier. The way your eat and drink will soon become second nature. I have zero regrets about my surgery. Each day it becomes easier and easier.

I agree with everyone else. The first several weeks are pretty much about surviving. Not necessarily because of pain, but just adjusting to everything, and you stomach is still very swollen, and I remember feeling so very discouraged at how much of a chore it even was just to drink Water. I promise that life will return to normal.....well, a NEW normal. You will eat again and it won't be painful or be a chore. And if you do the work, all of it will be so worth it in the end!
One of my favorite mantras.... "Change is hard at the beginning, messy in the middle, gorgeous at the end."

Hello! I'm new to the forum. Had gastric sleeve at the end of December. I'm losing weight fast, but I am having regrets. It's hard not being able to drink enough to quench my thirst. It tough remembering when I can eat or drink (due to the 30 minute rule). I'm getting in 40 grams of Protein, thanks to my shakes. But I can't seem to get much food down. I'm really questioning if I made the right decision...not that I can take it back. Would love to hear from other who had doubts after surgery. Thanks!

After finishing Breaking Bad and Madmen I decided to bing watch Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Scandal. The shows took the place of food!

@@CowgirlJane I love the documentaries too! Any standouts you would recommend?
A few I enjoyed were Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, 20 Feet from Stardom, and Wh0re's Glory.

Just like a pro football player thanking god for a touchdown. It's silly and illogical, and if there were such a god, would he have nothing better to do than deliver touchdowns (or Oscars, etc.)?

If you have never been to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, let me use this analogy to explain how these intermittant stalls work. In the arch there is an elevator that can take you from the ground waaaaaaaay up to the top. It is the tallest monument in the United States, at 63 stories tall. Now, if the elevator followed the shape of the arch, you would end up on your back by the time you got up to the top!
What the elevator does is make little adjustments as it goes. It goes up a bit, then levels and moves over a little bit, then goes up some and levels again and goes up and levels and up and level until it gets to the top and you can get out and walk into the observatory at the top while on your feet. Now, when you need to come down the elevator does the reverse process. It goes down a little, levels and adjusts, go down then level and down then level until you get to the bottom.
Post-op, or bodies do the same. Our weight goes down some, then levels off for a minute while our hormones and organs and body systems catch up. Then it goes down, levels off, down then level, until we reach our goal.
I hope this helps in some way. And if you ever get a chance to go to Saint Louis, the Arch is an experience you should not pass up. The view of the Mississippi River, Busch Stadium, Cahokia Indian Mounds and the city from 630 feet up is a sight to see.

i too was in december, dec 16th to be exact and yes its a big pain in the butt, but so far its already worth it. This is a tough thing. I osted something earlier that is actually sticking with me, and I like it, and this is :
Weight Loss Surgery May be a one time thing, but this lifestyle change is a lifetime thing.
It will get better. weight loss and being healthy is something we can all do.
I know you can do it. youve come this far.

I agree the first 4-6 weeks were hard, but hang in there it does get better I'm 11 months post op and can eat just about anything, but small amounts. I have no regrets.I no longer need insulin or my high blood pressure meds I love my Water aerobics class ( I always hated exercise) and although I'm losing slower than many people on here, I feel healthier and happy with the changes.

I made soft boiled eggs, mashed avocados and ate organic puréed baby fruits. And a lot of Jello? ???

Ditto to what everyone is posting....IT WILL GET BETTER! LOTS BETTER! I am 9 weeks out and felt exactly like you....regret! Drinking gets easier, you start feeling better. Just hang in there!! I am sooo happy and 8 weeks ago I thought I would never say that!

When I was about 2-3 weeks out, I wouldn't say regretted it (that's not in my nature) but I really did wonder if I made a mistake sometimes. I was worn out and just felt lack-luster for about 6-7 weeks. I remember a time when eating was such a chore, it wasn't worth the effort. The longer time went on, the better it got. Now at 2 years out, I have no regrets at all. It a lot to adjust to, and we all have to figure out how to do that in order to succeed.
You should do a search on this topic. It comes up more often than you'd think, and people get pretty passionate about it for some reason. There are a few people who never make peace with it, but I think most do. I hope you can! For me, the outcome was well worth the difficult early days....and even the difficult days you have when you are further out and can eat more than you want to be able to.

Hello! I'm new to the forum. Had gastric sleeve at the end of December. I'm losing weight fast, but I am having regrets. It's hard not being able to drink enough to quench my thirst. It tough remembering when I can eat or drink (due to the 30 minute rule). I'm getting in 40 grams of Protein, thanks to my shakes. But I can't seem to get much food down. I'm really questioning if I made the right decision...not that I can take it back. Would love to hear from other who had doubts after surgery. Thanks!

After finishing Breaking Bad and Madmen I decided to bing watch Orange is the New Black, House of Cards and Scandal. The shows took the place of food!

Terri, you have to make 100 posts before you can post in Vets forum.
This is a very individual subject and I would like to share my perspective of someone who lost significant weight and been at goal for nearly 2 years
(3 years post op)
My lifetime highest recorded weight was 332 - but I think I was in the 350s at some point - my start weight for the sleeve was 308. I am 5'5".
when I got under 200# I had all my family telling me I was "skinny" etc. My friends thought i looked wonderful and I felt comfortable. I was physically able to enjoy things in life, but frankly still had a comfortable layer of fat. I would say I looked like a fairly typical middle aged woman. My weight loss had crawled to a near halt and I spent some time thinking about what I really wanted.
Conclusion I came to is that i wanted to be trim/fit...or HAWT as is often said here. I made a big push and got to my goal of 158. My shoulders and chest looked bony, but that is because that is what happens after massvie weight loss. I looked less bony at 140 (which I dropped down to later) because weight redistributed.
So, people who didn't know me as obese, think I look good/great at my current weight. My sisters still think I am WAY too thin and they thought I weighed more like 125 versus 140-150, until I set them straight. My point is that you will always have people uncomfortable with what you choose.Flip side, I would have been absolutely fine and healthy settling on the 180-190 range. I think losing the last 30-50 pounds is more vanity than health related. I LIKE being in single digit clothing, being able to wear junior sizes readily etc. (When I got to 140 I had trouble finding pants small enough at my discount store Ross cuz I have a skinny butt).
Then there is maintenance.
I personally think that a healthy goal weight is first priority.
After that, it is a trade off between vanity and maintainability. I would LOVE to weigh 125-130 range but that isn't going to happen because it is quite some work for me to stay in the 140s...in fact I bounced up into the 150s over the last few months.
So, don't let other people's ideas control your thinking on this. Be healthy, don't get obsessed with the scale or thinness, but do what pleases you and what you can live with over the long haul.
BTW, you have had amazing results - I hope you feel so proud of our accomplishments!!!!!!!!

I suppose I am a vet now (yay). I am almost 16 months out from surgery and I am currently 132 pounds. I had an original goal weight of 129 although I have always had the magic number of 119 in my head- I just have never been this close to it as an adult. I am very number oriented, so I feel like when I hit 129, it will be awesome, but when I'm at 119 I will absolutely be done. Outside of that though, it is also about how I feel. I can now go into a store and almost all of the small sizes (and some extra small) fit me in tops and dresses and in bottoms I am anywhere from a 4-8 depending on the brand. I had plastic surgery (breast augment and lift, abdominoplasty, Lipo to a few areas, brachioplasty, and thigh lift) so the top half of me I am very good with but the bottom half of me I'm a little less happy with. As such, I am now at a point where I can be comfortable with my size and maintaining, but not at my goal number, and being goal oriented, I feel I will stop when I finally hit that point on the scale.
Really though, when I was no longer classified as overweight, which for my height was at 137, I figured I was now at a point where medically I was no longer a risk and I had eliminated nearly all of the risk factors associated with being fat. Ultimately the goal should be to be healthy...although I'll admit, my goal is to be hot..hahaha.

Yes, it gets better. The first 3 to 6 weeks pretty much suck. Do what you're supposed to do, and you will soon find your normal. It just takes time. I compare the first month to going through labor. It's terrible as you're going through it, but soon you will forget all about it and see the end result is worth it

In the beginning I was weighing once a week, at the same time. But at my 2 1/2 week check up my doc wanted me to weigh daily and record it. So that is what I started doing, and I have kept doing. When I went for my 2 month check up I asked if I should keep doing this and my NP said only if I didn't let it rule me or dictate how I felt.
I have continued to weigh daily and log it. I know this is not for everyone but it keeps me on track. I also take measurements monthly so I can tell that way too. I have been losing pretty consistently so far so I am happy with that. We also take monthly pics in the same outfit every month so I can visual see my progression. My daughter bought me a nice book for Christmas so I can start putting them together.
I weigh first thing in the morning upon waking up, after going to the bathroom. That is the weight I record. I do not get back on the scale at a later time in the day. Monday mornings I record my weekly weight since that was the day of the week I had my surgery on.
You have to do what is right for you. But one thing I will say is not to get on throughout the day, DO NOT!! Your weight will fluctuate so much during the course of a day. Make sure you are using other ways to see your progress, there is more to life than a number on a scale!!

It WILL get better - trust me
Your new tummy is still swollen. The first month or so was the toughest for me. Then shortly after, things started getting more normal (a new normal ).
You'll get the hang of not drinking with your meal and afterward for x-amount of time.
You're going through the worst of it - hang in there...it's totally worth it.