katieroybal

4/5 here and down 36 lbs since surgery and almost 45 overall. I'm cleared to eat everything but grains. I'm also cleared to exercise as much as I want. Now that I'm much lighter, I can run a little and do some HIIT workouts. I'm increasing my strength training. I don't tolerate eggs very well which is fine because I never really liked them anyways. Water can be a challenge. I should be over 64 ounces since I live in the hot AZ desert but I struggle to remember. The first month was really tough for me and I had buyers regret for a while. I missed food, I missed crunchy things and I missed the family celebrations that came with food. Now, I don't really think about food in the same way. While I spend a lot of time planning food out, it's not with the same obsession as before. Most of the cravings are gone. Potato chips are my one hold out. I don't allow them in the house because I will seek them out.

Excellent! You must be feeling all sorts of wonderful. You look fantastic but I bet you physically feel great as well. Congratulations.

I'm also 2 months out and I can typically only eat 1/4 to 1/2 cup or 3 to 4 ounces. I can eat more of beans, cooked vegetables or mushy vegetables than meat proteins.

During my pre-op class the therapist assigned to our group said, "There are 3 things happening that you are all experiencing. 1. Each one of you has probably thought that you will surely be the one to fail. 2. A friend or family member has told you about someone who has failed. 3. You are worried that you will miss food." Everyone in class laughed because we all experienced that at some point in our pre-op journey. Yes, some people do fail but rather than focus on that, focus on your program and being successful. If you still to your pre and post op diets, exercise and follow your surgeon's advice, you will be successful. Remember, this is a tool. If you don't use it, it won't be as successful for you. Good luck !

Cigna was really fast for me. It might have to do with your individual plan. If you have bariatric surgery coverage, it shouldn't take 30 days and it's not "voluntary" if your BMI is over 40. Very odd. Sorry for your frustrations. I hope it gets approved a lot quicker than 30 days.

I flat out asked. They told me they give a 2lb allowance for clothes but that's it. Even that depends on the office's policy. It will measure you higher if you have lots of bulky clothing on.

I was sleeved 4/5 and have lost almost 30 lbs between the pre-op and surgery. Here are a list of things I notice: My lower legs don't hurt as much when I walk. I don't have to spread my legs out as much as before just to walk. If I pay attention, I don't waddle as much. I'm loosing in my upper waist, face and butt. I'm going to miss my butt. I still mentally crave large portions. I dream of food on occasion. I can bend down without too much trouble. I'm still tired in the afternoons but that is going away. Loosing fat hurts! I swear I can feel the fat transform because my thighs and back of my arms ache. Like soreness after working out but more painful. I'm not doing any weight lifting right now.

That's interesting. I stand on a scale and it calculates my BMR but I'm a little skeptical. I'm pretty sure a true testing of it includes more than a scale.

You might just be the first to admit it. I am in a stall right now. Stuck at 19 lbs post op and not moving for about 4 days now. I'm also right there in calorie intake. I have a one month educational class coming up and I'm going to ask about calorie and protein intake. I'm only managing between 350-400 calories a day. 60 grams of protein and hardly any carb. I feel like it's impossible to add more intake. My team restricts us to 3 meals a day and a protein drink (half in the morning, half in the afternoon). The protein drink is 160 of my calories.

Congratulations! You've done an incredible thing for yourself. Never forget how far you have come.

Oh yeah. I'm right there with you. This morning was my first movement downwards in 6 days. I was sleeved on 4/5, dropped 17 lbs in the first 2 weeks and then stalled out. I didn't do anything different during that time. Just pretended it wasn't happening.

Don't fret too much, @MLRUIZ. The stalls are common and if you do a search on this forum, you will see that almost everyone stalls out for a little while. I'm also in a stall, going on a week. The weight will start to come back off soon. It's really hard to eat less when you are probably only consuming about 400 calories on puree foods (I average between 350 and 450 with a protein drink). Try upping your water in the evening? My surgeon said that if we drink less than 64 ounces a day, the weight comes off slower.

Let me first say, I don't regret this. I got the sleeve for my health and wellbeing and I knew it was going to be hard. I just didn't realize the depth of my love for food. I'm 10 days post op, living on cottage cheese, re fried beans, protein drinks and water (along with some other puréed food). I had a relationship with food that is gone now. Tostino pizza rolls won't be there for my next Netflix binge. Chips and dips won't comfort me after a hard day at work. I can't sneak away to breakfast with my husband while the kids are still sleeping and I'm sad about it. I'm sad about losing food. And I'm tired. So very tired. And emotional. I get my walking in, I go to the gym when I can and I do stretches at home but dang it. I am tired. I know it's a process and it gets better and all that but I'm just being honest and open and transparent because that's what we do here.

Well, since writing this post, it got better for a couple of days and then it got bad again. Keep talking with your therapist. I had one for a while, different problem, and it really helped me. In fact, I'm now realizing I probably need to go back.

Thank you all for your replies. It's nice having a group of people who are going or have gone through the same emotions and realizations that I am right now. The odd thing is that I thought I would miss my wine or coffee but I couldn't care less right now. Just being able to share my emotions helped. Getting it out releases some pent up negativity that was just getting me down yesterday.

I'm about 9 days out and still in some pain. I'm extremely exhausted all the time. Dizzy when I don't get enough water and a little emotional. I can walk about a mile without getting tired but that's it. Before surgery I could walk 2-3 miles no problem. I'm actually kinda disappointed in my energy levels but oh well.

I have a stretchy resistance band that I use instead of weights. I'm a week out and still in the "no lifting 15lbs" zone per my doctor. I like the light resistance the band gives me. I get a great workout in my arms.

My husband picked up my favorite savory soba noodle Japanese soup that has a veggie broth. It's amazing. He strained all the noodles out. It's heaven!

My instructions say caffeine free tea or decaffeinated coffee with no sugar, artificial sweeteners or creams while on the liquid stage for sure. They recommended not introducing caffeine for 6 months.

I'm up 4 pounds from all the fluids. At 3 days post-op, you can really see the extra fluid in my face. Don't despair.

In 2 days I start the first day of the rest of my life- God that sounds cheesy, doesn’t it? Hahahah. Seriously though, in 2 days I get sleeved and I’m sitting here kinda freaked out. At this very moment in time, I’m sitting at a makeshift desk in a command center in AZ starting my 12 hour shift. We are monitoring NCAA events. Mind you, it’s mostly a bore in my section with hours of downtime and only spurts of activities when reports come in for triage. So, lots of time for boredom. Boredom is when I eat. Right now I have my go bag loaded with healthy fruits and Protein drinks (my doc doesn’t require a liquid diet). Next to me is a guy with bags of delicious salty chips, pretzels and the most delicious smelling coffee. I cut out all caffeine in prep. I swear I can smell coffee from a mile away. All I can think about is how I want to be separated from this food addiction, from this big ole body, from this constant thinking about food. I know half the battle is in my head but I also know I will do really well with this procedure. The few times I tried diet pills, I did great while on them. My hunger was gone and I had no problem eating low carb and healthy. I lost tons of weight before I stopped and it came back on. My point is, I’m going to make it through this boring/stressful day without stealing my neighbor’s chips and in 2 days I’m going to get a new chance with a new tool and I’m so very excited.

Hahahahaha. This is hilarious! Set the expectations right from the start!

I'm bringing a crochet project just in case I get bored. Fitbit fully charged, iphone and charger, Pre-op book, the lung tool, change of clothes, shoes, I can't think of anything else.

Pain. Pain was my straw. I could deal with the fat, with the poor body image, with the constant obsession with food, with the all consuming diet, binge, diet, binge cycle. But when I turned 36, it was like my body had enough. Now: My ankles hurt My hips hurt My feet are in extreme pain My legs cramp if I walk too fast I can't sleep without hurting I hurt when I sit too long I can't stand being in pain all the time. I look forward to waking up in the morning, standing up out of bed and not wincing from the weight of my own body.

I'm still in the pre-op phase so I don't have first hand experience but I'm reminded of something my psychologist said. As we loose weight, we will change and our relationships with family and friends may become strained. They are going to need some time to adjust to the new person you are becoming and they may put up barriers to stop you because they are uncomfortable. I do remember the one time I lost a large amount of weight. I went from 200 to 170 and I was fitting into size 14 jeans for the first time in a decade. It was awesome but I too felt like something was wrong. I still saw myself as fat. I couldn't believe the clothes fit. I actually became really uncomfortable with myself and it wasn't much longer before I started eating and putting the weight back on plus an additional 30 just for the extra comfort. I'm a huge advocate of talking to a therapist. Maybe you can bring your husband into the conversation. Maybe they are having real concerns about your weight loss or maybe they are just feeling the change and are putting up boundaries. But it sounds like you might be struggling with your new body image as well. You don't have to worry alone.