kaitlynm

My Doc allows drinks after 6 mos. I actually cheated and had a glass of wine at 6 weeks out at Thanksgiving. I only drink wine, but strangely enough it has no effect on me. I think I'm definitely in the minority with that. I don't really have the desire to drink, but I still want to be social. I've never had more than 2 glasses in a day since surgery which is one of my Docs rules as well. At my psych eval he told me hard liquor is actually best for sleeves. I just don't like the taste.

Nope, only had to do one session but it was about a 2 hour session. 4 sessions seems a bit excessive.

@@Shellwash have you talked with your surgeon? There is no way that you should be a month post op and not have lost anything. I would check with your surgeon for suggestions as to what is happening.

I love it as well. My favorites are the grapefruit and green apple. I also like the fuzzy navel and fruit punch. I just got the dragon fruit one and it is not so good. Reminds me of the old liquid penicillin that I used to have to take as a kid.

@@Breepad09 is it just the taste or consistency that you are having trouble with? I have switched to syntrax nector protein and I'm doing much better. I have never liked milk or anything that resembles it (ok maybe milkshakes). The nector tastes like crystal light, and I don't taste a protein taste to it. I get mine on Amazon but I think you can get it at some vitamin stores. I also hear that isopure is another choice but that it is really sweet and you have to drink a lot more to get the same amount of protein.

I can probably drink 5 to 7 ounces at a time now during a hard workout. It took a few months, but it does come back. I do want the water cold now, where before surgery I preferred it more like room temp.

The bypass only discourages sweets if you get dumping syndrome. Not everyone gets this. I initially wanted the bypass for that reason, and my surgeon left the decision to me, but I definitely felt he was pushing me towards the sleeve. Ultimately that is what I went with because of the malabsorption of Vitamins and minerals. I already have some issues with B-12 absorption. You lose weight slower with the sleeve, but my surgeon said at 2 years out the results were about the same. I guess it came down to risking that I could never have another piece of Birthday cake if I had the bypass and was I really willing to accept that. I wasn't. I'm happy with my sleeve so far at 6 mos out.

Your the only one that can really answer the questions because everyone's journey is so different. Based on my experience this is how I can answer your questions: If you have been having great success on Optifast that may be the answer for you. I tried a medically supervised liquid diet like that and only lost 6 pounds in 3 months. I went off of it and ate Chinese food that weekend and gained 8 pounds. Keeping the weight off is going to be a struggle no matter what option you choose. I'm a sweet lover and every day I have to fight off those urges even with the sleeve. It has nothing to do with hunger, it is pure cravings. If you don't make an effort you can eat around your sleeve and gain the weight back. If you are not that big you will probably not have that much excess skin. The skin comes from loosing lots of weight and it doesn't have the elasticity to shrink back up anymore. I was really worried about the social aspects and business dinners, but that is not a problem at all. I still go out to eat all of the time with friends and even have a glass of wine or two. (I don't do the wine very often however). I make better choices at restaurants these days, and generally only the wait staff notice that I don't eat that much. At 6 mos out I can eat about a cup of food, depending on what it is, so there is nothing to worry about socially. A lot of times I just share food with friends. It makes it cheaper that way. I have had no hair loss so far and hoping to keep it that way. I do take the Bariatric Advantage multi Vitamins with Iron. It has Biotin in it as well. I also take 2 Calcium chews per day as well as get a minimum of 100g of Protein daily. I'm at 1000 calories per day because I work out 2 hours every day. For me I couldn't wait to have the surgery and wish I had done it many years ago. I do realize it is a lifelong commitment and only if I stick to the diet and exercise will I be able to keep the weight off. Not sure how optifast works these days, but if it is still all liquid can, or do you want to, stay on it the rest of your life. I like having lots of choices and the sleeve allows you to do this. Plenty of healthy options out there. All you have to do is go on Pinterest and search bariatric recipes. Good Luck with your decision! Hope everything works out well for you.

That seems really low for your surgeons goal weight. I'm also 5'4, but 20 years older than you are. My surgeon gave me a goal of 150. I want to be at 145 because that is the highest weight to still be considered normal at 5'4. I'm 6 months out and the weight loss has really slowed down. I will be glad to hit the 150 at this point. I was 286, SW 268, and CW 192. I just used my Doc's BMI calculator and a 25 BMI for someone 5'4 is 145. Depending on how long you have been overweight, your bones will automatically put you at the high end. 115 is a 20 BMI which is getting close to the underweight limit.

I just tried the spokeo website on myself and found lots of errors. In one spot I'm 95 years old instead of 52, and it shows that I'm married and I have never been. They have all kinds of phone numbers listed for me that I've never had and my current cell phone number is one that I had 18 years ago. That can be a problem with some of those sites.

I don't understand why employers or insurance companies would exclude WLS. My insurance company did require me to go to a less than desirable hospital, however their negotiated rate for the surgery and one night's stay was only $1300. They paid the surgeon another $1200. So for a $2500 investment, they are saving over $3000 in costs for the prescription drugs I no longer need. It doesn't take much to see that everyone saves money. I think the real problem lies with the cost to people who do not have the coverage. The bill submitted from the hospital was over $30000, and the surgeon was over 5000. If they are willing to accept so much less from the insurance companies, then why do they charge so much more to people without it. To me, that is the real problem with healthcare.

Wow, you are doing great, and especially in such a short time after surgery! Keep up the great work.

I think everyone has those feelings to some extent. You just have to make up your mind that you are going to do this and make it work. I was 286 and am down to 192 after 7 mos. The weight is much slower coming off now and I still want to lose another 50 pounds. It sounds like you have a good start on eating right, except you might be challenged on the protein side. I have thyroid problems, PCOS, and did the whole anorexia thing when I was younger so my metabolism is pretty jacked up. I work out about 2 hours every day and probably in the best condition I have ever been in. I'm off all weight related prescriptions as well. The biggest thing is that you have to commit for life if you want this to work. I've lost and gained so many pounds over the years, and that is my biggest worry now. I still crave the sweets so I fight that battle as well. Like others say, this is not a battle, it is a journey. I think keeping the weight off will be the biggest challenge. You just have to be determined to do it, and stay committed.

I found a recipe on Pinterest for grilled scallops and orange kebabs with a honey ginger glaze. They were wonderful! I'm always a little nervous about over cooking them because they are so expensive, but I got it just right on the grill.

Exactly what @@Bufflehead said. Almost everyone stalls at three weeks out. It is the time your body is adjusting to the weight loss. Take measurements during this time and you will probably see that you are still losing inches. Also be very careful to watch your meds during this time. As you start loosing weight so quickly you may find that you don't need as many meds or as high a dose very quickly. Be sure to check with your PCP often as you loose the weight. I had a bad experience with BP meds that I was taking where my BP hot down to 80 / 40. I ended up passing out a couple of times and broke my nose when I crashed into the bathroom floor.

It gets much easier. I work out a lot and I'm surprised how fast and how much water I can drink while doing that. I can gulp water now at 6 mos out just like I could before the surgery.

It doesn't get much better as you lose weight either. I wished I hadn't told as many people as I did about the surgery and I only told close friends and family. No one was very supportive and I had a 50 BMI. Now I'm starting to get the "you're loosing too much weight" and I still have 50 lbs to loose. Maybe I'm just too sensitive but I wish people would just not talk about it at all.

Can you ask your Dr for an iron shot? I was really low before and that perked me right up. They would give me the shot and then tell me to take the supplements.

I'm with @shortstuff4ever78. I take the bariatric advantage multi vitamin with iron capsule. I also take 2 calcium chews every day. The bottle lasts a long time and has everything including the B-12 and Biotin in it. I have been lucky and have had no hair loss and my blood ork is coming back perfect. I have had pernicious anemia in the past and had to get B-12 shots, but so far I'm doing fine without the shots right now. That was one reason my Dr recommended the sleeve for me. I'm about 6 mos out.

Mine was pretty fast, but not quite as quick as yours. I just had to have one visit with the Nut, a psyche eval, and some kind of blood test to see if I had any infection in my stomach. Then a final prep appt with the surgeon. No real pre op diet, just nothing after midnight the night before. It took about 6 weeks to get the apps scheduled. Good Luck!

How did the New Whey brand taste? Is it really heavy? I bought something in a small bottle at CVS and it was awful. I really like the syntrax nector so if they taste like that I would be interested. Also do you split it up into 2 drinks? I thought you could only absorb 30 g of protein in an hour.

I'm 6 mos out and unfortunately I still crave the sweets. I did feel an accomplishment last week however. I have always loved peeps that you get at Easter, and I bought one small package on clearance and I couldn't stand how sweet they were. I ended up throwing the package in the garbage. Wish I could say that about cake!

@@Miss Mac, I was wondering if anyone was ever asked to count back from 100 like they do on TV. I have had 4 surgeries under a general and never once did they ask me to do that. Mine have all been about the same. They put a little "margarita" in the IV on the way to the operating room, ask you to scoot onto the table, and pretty soon you wake up in recovery. It was the only sleep I got while in the hospital for the sleeve.

I get a fair amount in my breakfast "ball". I found the recipe on Pinterest. It is called a cranberry almond energy ball. It has dried cranberry, almonds, flax seed, chia seed, shredded coconut, and it is held together with peanut butter and honey. I eat one every morning before I work out. They have a high calorie count and are pretty small, but they give me enough energy to get through my 2 hour workout. I also eat a lot of veggies at lunch and dinner.

I'm in the process of trying to add protein powder to much of my normal food. My favorite right now is 1 cup of frozen fruit, 1/2 c Greek yogurt, stevia to taste, and 2-3 scoops protein powder. Put it all in a food processor and blend away. I divide it into 5 individual serving dishes with lids and then freeze. You get fiber from the fruit and the protein. I also drink 2 syntrax nector drinks per day giving me 46 g of protein. I aim for 100 - 120 g per day.