ButterflySeoul

I've been "shopping" in the back of my closet for things that had been too small lol.. and was lucky enough that a neighbor of mine brought over a huge tote of clothes in varying sizes that I'm starting to get into. Other than that- it's been ebay, because I can't seem to coordinate my schedule to getting to a consignment shop.. I don't want to spend a lot of money on things that I might only be wearing for a couple weeks.

I'm not looking for concrete estimates as I know everyone is different, but I'd love to know your experiences. At about 6 weeks post op, how much weight had you lost? I'm hoping I can kind of wow my doctor and (respectfully) tell him "I told you so". It really does vary so much-- from person to person.. but I was sleeved on April 26.. morning of surgery I weighed 251 and week 6 I was at 231... that was with the dreaded week 3 stall.. I'm losing again and now at 227. I would HIGHLY recommend measuring yourself before surgery (before you're pumped up with IV fluids and gas, and any swelling from surgery) so you'll have an accurate starting point.. then just tuck those measurements away. Then when you aren't seeing activity on the scale, or don't think you're losing, bring those numbers out and re-measure. It's a great thing to see those inches disappearing and Celebrate those non-scale victories. I have a fit-bit so I use that to track my weight loss and to keep myself motivated and challenged to keep moving. For my liquids and protein/food I track that in a journal. The first 6 weeks I used sheets that I had gotten from my bariatric team with the diet guidelines and tracked everything on those (just kept making more blank copies) so I could bring them with me to my first post-op follow up with the nutritionist. Best of luck!

wow you're doing fantastic! Way to go with the gym! Do you mean you are 3 months out since you started losing pre-surgery? That's the only part I was confused about- it says sleeved on 5/17/16 and that's only a month ago.. 66 lbs is awesome- keep doing what you're doing because it's working great!

After surgery (once they take out the iv).. and you see your blood sugar numbers going down and down.. it'll all be worth it! I'm so rooting for you! You've got this!

I'm definitely going to follow this one.. I need to find some lotion too. Anyone losing those extra chins and being left with a crapey waddle? I'm not so thrilled about this part of the weight loss lol.

My bariatric team doesn't require powdered or liquid Vitamins.. we can swallow regular Multivitamins. I got "petite" ones that are supposed to be easier to swallow.. they still seem pretty big-- I think that was just a sham selling point lol.. but no problems in swallowing them at all.

I went back to read in the diet guidelines that I got from my NUT (I know they all vary!) .. but mine says under "avoid fibrous foods at first -- For example, cream of wheat/rice or farina are fine from the beginning (thinned at the beginning) but oatmeal should wait until you are tolerating some solids." I haven't done oatmeal at all yet- and not sure I will. Just because I know that my body is reacting differently to foods now, post-surgery. The thinned cream of wheat was heavenly when I was having that-- I added a scoop of Protein powder to it (chocolate was my fav!) So maybe when you are ready for oatmeal, adding Protein Powder will be all the extra flavor/sweetness that you need. My sweetness tolerance has been way low since surgery.. I don't crave sweets at all, which is nice! And if I have anything that's too carby I can really feel it, because it makes my newly healthy reset blood sugar go up and puts me to sleep. A lot of this is going to be trial and error. That's also why my diet guidelines say not to add more than 1 new food per meal, so if you're not tolerating something you'll know what it is and what to avoid.

I agree, if you can't get in too much Protein at one sitting, you may need mini meals through out the day. Cottage cheese 1/4 cup is around 11-12 g of protein.. greek yogurt (dannon light & fit) I know is 12g of protein.. oscar meyer P3 protein packs deli Snacks are about 14g of protein (they're 2.3 oz) Find some things that you like, that are easy for you to get down.. you'll be able to increase your protein a bit more down the road. I know early on it was easier for me to drink no sugar added carnation instant Breakfast with a cup of skim milk-- it's lighter feeling going down than the usual protein powders... not as much protein, but I was able to work up to the ones like unjury when my stomach was ready for them. Or sprinkle unflavored or vanilla Protein Powder into yogurt, applesauce, etc to get more in that way maybe.

Can you up your Protein? Tried Biotin? I think it's pretty normal, but from what I've read on here and heard at my local support group, upping your protein really helps. I'm taking biotin as hopefully a prevention.

I was allowed applesauce and sf pudding in the liquid stage.. could you maybe disguise it in a spoon of something like that? I haaaaate the smell of Vitamins so I understand lol. Good luck!

228 today

Depends on your team's dietary guidelines but I know how you feel lol. For me it was full liquids for the first 3 weeks, then on to puree stage... which doesn't seem much different from liquid when you really want to chew something. Purees week 4-6, and then onto soft foods if you've been tolerating purees, for the 7th week.. though I started soft foods very limited in week 6 and had no issues. I'm still not ready for a nice slice of chicken, but I can do really moist crockpot pulled chicken..and after all those weeks of liquid that sure was good! Good luck to you!

Because if you truly are 5 weeks out, then it should probably be still pretty fresh in your mind that alcohol is not only just not a good idea, but genuinely a pretty bad idea.

Something may be wrong- if you are able to eat a 20 oz steak after surgery. You should look into that. Get a new swallow study, get a 2nd opinion and then see where that leads info wise.. because if you go in without actual information and proof that something is wrong on the surgical end, you probably wont get very far. Something IS wrong that you are eating a 20 oz steak after surgery, and you might want to look more into that too, instead of getting upset that people are focusing on that. Was a psych eval a mandatory part of your pre-surgical work up? You may want to make a follow up appointment, to deal with underlying issues that you may have.. causing you to need to push the limits, test your new stomach.. the sleeve is a tool, not a magic wand that takes away all of the food issues. What about your prep-- wouldn't it be a lot more reasonable that someone who's just gone through this surgery (which is no picnic) to cut and measure their food appropriate to what they should be eating? I think you're getting these reactions because that's what the majority of us are doing.. we're putting in the work of measuring our portions.. trying to do what we need to for our stomachs and bodies to heal, and to continue to lose weight. Also, beef isn't the easiest protein for most (not all) of us to digest, so I don't think many of us could or would just sit blindly at a table with a 20 oz steak and "plan" to eat just a few ounces, without cutting the small portion off and putting it on our plate. I'm not trying to be mean, just stating that by your own post, it sounds like you need to talk to more than just your surgeon... or your surgery maybe will be for naught. Good luck!

nope... just getting in plenty of Protein, taking my multi-Vitamin and regular ol' Biotin here.

I didn't tell anyone except my hubby and parents either.. I finally told my brothers and my sister-in-law and a very few friends, but not until I had already had my sleeve done. I was surprised (happily) how supportive they all were. And if anyone actually knew all the steps in the process that we have to go through, before qualifying for surgery, they'd never think of it as "cheating" or the easy way out-- ever! Best of luck to you This is a great place to find support, advice and info!

You can take a stool softener-- omg not going for 12 days, that's not good. The info they sent me home from the hospital with said that if I didn't have any "movement" within 3 days I think it was, that I should use a stool softener. I was in agony just not going for 2 days after surgery-- I can't imagine how uncomfortable and how much pain I would have been in waiting 12 days for it. I bet you're feeling better! Get something to keep on hand, you'll need it!

Potatoes (instant) seem to want to put me in a coma lol... they make me seriously sleepy..like fighting to keep my eyes open, but I don't usually win the battle. I wonder if they're making my blood sugar rise too high.. that's probably it. But they seemed like a good idea for the soft food stage! And beef so far.. I'm still eating puree and soft foods, so I haven't had a lot of it-- but the little bit I have had in really small amounts, has just sat in my stomach like a brick. I have no problems at all with chicken or turkey. Turkey has a lot more Protein anyway, so that's a plus. I have no interest in my previous loves-- sweets.. I'm hoping that lasts! And so far tuna has not been my friend. The couple times that I had it, I either threw it up, felt like crap and should have thrown it up, or ended up having to spit out "slime" .. I don't know how to describe it. But tuna used to be one of my favorite foods--- and it's very unappetizing now. I hope that changes in the future. I haven't had any problems with dairy thank goodness- because I still have at least 1 cup of skim per day, in a Protein shake...and greek yogurt (I like the dannon light & fit greek-- I have always hated yogurt..but some of the greek flavors I like, and they have 12g of protein). Cottage cheese and hummus are my friends-- I don't need a celery stick- I just use a spoon lol.

How did they not know she was pregnant before surgery? I had to do a pregnancy test not only the morning of my surgery at the hospital, but also the morning of my scope...and they knew from my medical records that I have an IUD and infertility but still had to run the pregnancy tests before they started anything.. that's just crazy. And very lucky that her pregnancy turned out ok. I would have been so freaked out.

is it a hibachi place? you can have them do the Proteins (beef, chicken or shrimp usually) and veggies, and tell them no rice.. I see people do that all the time.

I've been adding a scoop of vanilla or chocolate Protein powder (I use unjury) to a slightly cooled off large cup of Water with sugar free maxwell house mocha cafe (their version of general food's international coffee).. that's been getting me through the morning and helping to get in a lot more water!

There's 15g of protein in their small chili..I'm not sure how much a small Wendy's chili is-- as in how many ounces a serving is.. but 15g of protein sounds like a great option!

If not too late-- I would love to join this challenge.. my weight on 5/30 was 232.4 my goal is to get to 220 by the end of this challenge.

Do you have a magic bullet or some sort of food processor? Keep one handy and then you could chop that chicken up, add the sauce and ricotta to it and have the perfect little meal right along with your family! If you're genuinely concerned though, that you may sabotage your process, maybe you can make an appointment with your nutritionist, or a therapist that could help. I had my first follow up with the NUT since surgery yesterday, and I brought all of my food logs with me.. it was a good motivator to keep doing what I'm doing and slowly add more things in. Best of luck to you!

I was so out of it from the pain meds and I was so nauseous the first day- that I pretty much slept the entire day, and my swallow study was postponed to the next day. I ended up spending an extra night in the hospital mostly due to the nausea and not being able to keep anything down (including that nasty crap that I had to drink for the swallow study!) I had to tell the nurse or tech or whatever that she better run and get me a cup or something, because it wasn't going to stay down. I don't think I would have survived if I went home the same day as my surgery lol.