iamOpalicious

Even early on in ur surgery you can go out to restaurants with friends. I was only 4 days post-op and went to Japanese Hibachi...of course all I could eat was the clear onion Soup and drink Water, but I got to socialize and be with friends. I asked the waiter to bring me a bowl with everyone elses appetizer and then i ordered another bowl during main course....I didnt finish either and just sipped on it, but at least I had something in front of me while everyone was eating. Last night (7 days post-op) I went to the local bar with my friends and drink very diluted cranberry juice...it looked like a mixed drink to everyone else. There are ways to still socialize and be with those you love in public eating places...u just have to b creative and the socialization may help to get ur mind off what ur dealing with emotionally.

I'm about 3 months out and my surgeon told me before the surgery that many people will experience "buyers remorse". Your hormones are going crazy still at 3 weeks out, so some of these negative feelings may be attributed to it. I was a hot mess (still kind of am). I recall sitting at the table and literally crying while I ate soft foods because I was miserable. My husband can eat what he pleases and it was distressing at the time to watch him.
Eventually, this will pass. It's kind of one of the many bumps in this long journey. I don't know how open you are to therapy, but I know I wouldn't have gotten passed this hurdle without my therapist. Sometimes talking without feeling judged helps. I also don't know your prior relationship with food, so I don't know how much of a comfort it was to you. I know for me, my life was food. I used it to cope with everything and after the surgery I had to find different things to use to cope (like exercise and art).
Try to keep in your mind that this is temporary.

You shouldve known beforehand it would change what and how much you can eat. If only three weeks you need to stick with the program and put off these kind of thoughts. Once you are healed and back to normal foods you will enjoy life more, but you wont be able to sit there and eat a giant cheeseburger like before. THats a reality you will need to accept. Until you are three months out i would focus on hydration and Protein and take it one day at a time. A couple months of following the plan will not affect you in the long run if you are playing the long game here.

How are you doing?

I use the Flintstones gummies even though they say their not "complete" I figure I'll get whatever else from food. I can't take the chalk either,

I take Wild berry Bariatric Fusion which is a chewable and doesn't really taste chalky to me. It goes down easy and tastes like candy.

I chew Celebrate. Yes they are big but they aren't unbearable. Flintstones etc are for kids and don't give us what we need. But I guess for those who can't tolerate the others it's better than nothing. I do the celebrate comp with Iron. I just bought the cal citrate plus D and I chew neocell Biotin chews

The multi is 2 per day, cal is about 6 per day.

You can also get the patch

Sent from my LGMS210 using BariatricPal mobile app

Are you able to swallow? If so, the Centrum complete Vitamins will suffice.
My nutritional lab work comes back with perfect results every time. The bariatric vitamins aren't really needed for sleeve patients since we don't have that malabsorptive component.
If you can't swallow, the Centrum complete chewables cost about $8 for a 3 month supply. There's also the Flintstone complete vitamins (not the gummies!).

I use the Flintstones gummies even though they say their not "complete" I figure I'll get whatever else from food. I can't take the chalk either,

Try gasex and old school pat the area.

I vowed I would do this alone without signing up to support groups - not for any other reason than a false sense of "I've got this!" Well , day 5 post op - "I ain't got a thing!" and I'm full of so many questions, uncertainties and mixed emotions. If someone could please give me some guidance I would be incredibly grateful...I don't want to do this alone...
- I don't know what hunger is anymore? Am I hungry or is my tummy just making weird sounds?
- Friends/associates said that couldn't eat/drink anymore than 100ml in one sitting..why can I? Will I be the first this has failed for?
- Still feel sore and weak.. is this normal?
- How do I know if I'm full?
- Did anyone else get the 'blues'?

And don't be embarrassed, getting fluids down is so much easier said than done.

Ditto. I had read a book about, oh, 11 years ago that talked about how wonderful organic whole foods were. MSG was the devil, etc.
So I went to the grocery store and didn't know where to start. I was afraid of everything, and when I left the store I had 3 small bags of food and had spent $50 (which was a lot in those days). I get home, and there is nothing to eat! All those single ingredients, and I didn't know how to make a meal of them. Went to McDonalds for dinner.
Surgery has truly given me a reset. Since I'm not starving, I can take my time and think about what is a good thing to eat, look up a recipe, try things out. Before, I just needed to fill my belly as quickly as possible, the hunger overrode any other thought processes.

Wait... you're six weeks out? How do you know you can handle all the carbs and sugar? Why the heck did you try them?

Remember to take measurements often.. stalls are just your body reshuffling.. you are still shrinking

I was sleeved 8/3. I am down 17 pounds from 275 to 258 (I'm
5'7", age 39). I have no idea how that is in comparison, but I imagine everyone is vastly different. All of the sudden today after picking blackberries with my family, I feel crazy weak and tired. Almost weepy--like I just feel like crying. Sorry, went off on unrelated info there, I'm thrilled about 17 pounds, but feel very off today.

I just read that during first 6 months stomach can hold 1-2ounces, 6 months it can hold 4-6 and at 1 year and beyond it can hold 6-8 ounces. If we were to only eat a few bites of food long term it would be catastrophic to our health and we would be malnourished, the early restriction is great for rapid weight loss in he beginning.
Like commenter above me, size doesn't matter as much as what we put in our mouth. Hope this helps.

Nope. A sleeved stomach is expected to relax and stretch somewhat. For a more detailed explanation, watch some of Dr. Matthew Weiner's YouTube videos. That tight postsurgical restriction does not last forever.
He states that, by three to five years out, a typical sleever is able to eat two-thirds of a plate of food. Compare that to the three to five bites of food we were eating at a couple of months post-op.
At two years out I can eat volumes of food that had been impossible during the first couple of months. I can eat two slices of pizza, although I choose not to. I can eat an entire 6-inch sub sandwich, although I choose not to. I can eat two small fast food cheeseburgers, although I choose not to.
The further out you get from surgery, the more critical your food choices are. People regain weight from slider foods such as pizza and chips, not from dense Proteins such as chicken breast and turkey. Even if your stomach has stretched to a 16-ounce capacity, a resleeve will not help if you eat crap.
The size of the stomach does not matter nearly as much as what you put into it.

I am almost one month out from my sleeve procedure. I recognize the fact that as an older person (69), I will lose slower but....I am not losing anything. My total since surgery is 9 pounds and I struggle every day. One day, I gained a whole pound. I put myself back on liquids and tried keeping below 700 calories/day. I drink Water til I get nauseous and walk for exercise but nothing happens. If I had known that I wasn't going to lose weight and that I could not eat due to restriction, even when I am hungry, I would NEVER have opted to have this surgery. What a disappointment this has been. I hope others can be more positive. I think this is a better choice for young people who have tried everything else.

I am at 6 weeks also and just started to get about 800 cals a day. I was in a stall since week 3, and I exercise 5 days a week. So I finally upped the calories and started dropping weight again this past week, and I have much more energy .

Yep, that's about where I was....800-1000 calories mostly Protein, quite a bit of fat and very low carb (in the form of veggies). Better to get your calories up so you don't trash your metabolism. It makes maintenance easier. Unfortunately so many of us already have trashed metabolisms from decades of crash/yo-yo dieting.

So. I'm a month post op on 3/22. This weekend (Friday night), I ended up in the ER for dehydration and Constipation. They did an abdomen X-ray and a CAT scan with contrast. They said no leaks and that with the MOM and Miralax my doctor had me taking, and the fluids they gave me, I should go to the bathroom. Sure enough, I've been able to go so that's great.
This morning, I woke up with sharp pains on my left side, kinda under my rib cage. They radiate up, so almost like they're moving under my boob. And sometimes, along my lower belly. They've been persistent since 6am - it's almost noon now. Haven't eaten yet today.
Any insights? I really, really do not want to go back to the ER.

Those foods will stall your progress. It's about 2 months before regular food.