Barry W

I am only 6 weeks out, so I am still eating pretty cautiously, but I am not eating blandly. Salt, ground red & black pepper, herbs, sauteed garlic and onion in moderation all seem to be okay, and I have even had some mild chili pepper paste as a conditment (sambal manis) with some Indonesian chicken satay (shish kabob) I made, and that was okay. So far, no issues, but I am not looking for the limits, either, just trying to keep things a little bit interesting.

How are your Vitamins? Are you eating a variety of fruits and veggies?

I don't want to wag my finger at you, obviously you know this isn't good... hmm... if you can't keep a Protein shake down, drink half a shake, and then an hour later, drink the other half - 11oz of shake can be a lot in the early going. You can't put your whole family on a bariatric diet, obviously, but you could maybe shift what they are eating a little bit so as to be less tempting for you, and less bad if you strayed a little. Lastly, you can try to look for things that might be a little outside the prescribed diet, but won't be too - hard, fatty, starchy or sugary.. things like a little bit of soft scrambled eggs, some low sugar oatmeal with a little soft fruit....

There are numerous over-the-counter anti-gas medicines, for example with simethicone. Another tip I can give is don't shake your Protein shakes to mix them - that froth on the top will be gas in the tummy.

A paperback book or a few magazines to help pass the time. Basic personal care items of your own, though they can normally furnish something. Glasses case if you wear glasses, Some comfortable clothes to wear home, especially loose and/or elastic waist pants. In my hospital, they had me wearing a gown and little socks with rubber nubbies on the bottom to make them nonskid, on an IV, and controlled what I ate and drank, so there was only so much to really think of.

Spring water, protein shakes, lowfat/nonfat yogurt, sugar free jello, and I like these Del Monte jarred fruits in the fridge section of the grocery store, they keep well in the fridge, are soft and can be eaten as is or tossed into vanilla yogurt and are pretty tasty: https://www.delmonte.com/fruits/peaches/orchard-selectr-sliced-yellow-cling-peaches-no-sugar-added https://www.delmonte.com/fruits/mandarin-oranges/sunfreshr-mandarin-oranges-extra-light-syrup

@@proudgrammy - glad if I can be of help! :-)

I just wanted to put in a plug in for the Myotape body measuring tape. It's specialized to measure the circumference of things. The housing/handle has a spring-loaded reel with a ratchet for the tape and a thumb-press button to lock/unlock the ratchet. There is also a pin in the end of the tape that mates to a hole in the housing. To use it you just press the button to allow the tape to flow out of the handle as you wrap it around (for example) your waist, then put the pin into the housing and let go of the button At this point, the tape is locked at your measurement and you can read it, then press the button again and it rewinds neatly back into the housing. You can of course measure yourself with a sewing tape, but if you're buying something just for measuring your body, the extra features of this little tool are worth it. http://www.amazon.com/AccuFitness-MT05-MyoTape-Body-Measure/dp/B000G7YW7Y

I had egg beaters at about 10 days, made a small omelette, and enjoyed it. As with everything, you need to watch your portions closely to avoid discomfort/nausea of course, and chew-chew-chew, but for me the egg beaters were fine.

I would ask some things to check the surgeon out like: Roughly how many weight loss surgeries have you done? and how many sleeve gastrectomies? Have you ever lost any patients you have treated with WLS? Have you had any issues with infections following WLS? what about leaks? (any answer of "Yes", ask how many) What kind of followup care and support will I get? Other questions might just be about anything you are curious about regarding what would be expected of you in preparation, how long will the surgery take, how many scars and how big, what recovery will be like and what problems you are likely to have....

Yes, you are going to lose muscle, there is no avoiding it (completely anyway). Men normally lose more muscle than women, and from a study I saw following dieters, men were losing from 40-50% of the mass lost as muscle (fat free mass as they call it). I have seen it on myself. See Figure 2 in this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22257646 The thing you *can do* to reduce muscle loss at least, is to be faithful about getting your supplemental Protein, and to exercise safely - that will be somewhat limited during the first 6 weeks at least - the main risk as I understand it is a hernia, which you do not want. Protein and exercise have been shown to spare muscle in studies. See this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22516719

I agree with the advice to avoid salty foods if you don't want to retain water, definitely makes a difference.

Besides the walk-walk-walk, the other mantra to repeat is to consume small amounts, consume them slowly, stop at the first feeling of fullness, and for any foods, chew-chew-chew. You have had roughly 85% of your stomach removed, so it's not "just" that your portions should be cut in half, they should be cut by 3/4 or more...

*LOL* Yep, when I see people say "Don't worry, it was a breeze!" I think whaaaat? I mean, my experience wasn't traumatic, but it was still something to cope with and just to endure for the first two weeks, not something to take lightly by any means. For what it's worth, although there are a few who say "A piece of cake!", there are also a few who lament "What have I done???"... and it's everything in-between as well. There is a whole spectrum of experiences...

I went back after two weeks and worked shortened days at first - around 6 hours the first week back. Thought that was just about right with the way I felt I have a desk job and also commute at least an hour each way.

Hopefully you are not taking any laxatives or stool softeners. I used the Kaopectate liquid when I experienced diarrhea a few times and found that very helpful. It went away on it's own after the first couple of weeks.

I stocked the pantry with 6 quarts of broth and cream of this and that Soups. Then I found that (A) I got tired of them quickly and ( because my stomach was so small and they have bulk but almost no calories, they weren't necessarily the best choice anyway.

So first let me say that I have no moral objections to a drink and have the occasional beer or wine myself. The point I'd like to make though is that there were numerous articles about 5-10 years ago touting the health benefits of moderate drinking, mostly around reduced cardiovascular risk. There have been more studies and more analysis of the data since then, and the revised guidance is that for optimal overall health anyway, alcohol shouldn't be part of your program. You might drink because you like the taste of course, but it doesn't make sense to drink with the goal of improving your health.

I am only 6 weeks post-op and I am basically eating normal food, in the sense that I don't think there is much I can eat that will cause a big problem, so long as I watch portion sizes. However, given that I am less than 4 months into a big push to lose weight and get healthy, I am still emphasizing protein-containing foods, healthy fats, fruits and veggies. Carbs are taken in moderation and then only those with lots of Fiber. When I eat meats - they are mainly chicken, turkey or fish, and I take care to chew the heck out of them.

Hi Judy - yep, I have faith that we will break our stalls if we hang in there. Just wanted to vent a little bit as they are still frustrating

Started @ 295lb, lost 28lb in 8 weeks prior to surgery, then 16lb in first 2 weeks post-op, then first stall @ 251lb for about 2 weeks, now seemed to have stalled again at 243lb for the past week... grrrr... I am feeling much better than at 295lb and have no thoughts of giving up, but I wish these danged stalls would show up less frequently!

If you are ready, most treadmills allow you to increase difficulty while still walking - just use the incline feature - this makes a big difference in my experience, but doesn't expose you to the pounding of running.

If you have a little time, I can second the suggestion to take the ferry to the San Juan islands. In the city, the Pike Place Market down by the waterfront is a great place to visit, and they have myriad food choices, including tons of fresh and healthy seafood. http://pikeplacemarket.org/

Don't buy sweets - it's much easier to have willpower in the supermarket than it is in the pantry.

Obviously you have had a lot of success, so first want to congratulate you on that. What kind of exercise do you do now, and when and for how long do you do it?