Diana_in_Philly

I was off for less than a week. Had surgery Tuesday, was back to work on Monday - worked from home on Friday. Told my boss I was having surgery. Period. Told my co-workers nothing. I didn't tell my mother or my sister either - and I'm fine with that. My health is my health. When people asked about my diet, I said I was on a physician supervised weight loss plan. Absolutely everything I said was true. My experience has been that people are too judgmental.

I was taking pills the day after surgery - small ones, but still - taking my regular medications for my asthma. I take a PPI every day. I drink soda every once and a while, but I'm 18 months out. I also have a drink occasionally.Again, I'm 18 months out.

My bariatric surgeon set up the appointment with plastics after my one year visit, even though I wasn't at goal. I'm still not quite at goal, but did my first visit to document the skin and issues to trigger insurance coverage. He wants to see me back in May (I still may not be ready) but gave me estimates for both what it would cost with and without coverage, but he's a wizard at getting coverage. I may wait one more year because I'm working on lowering my body fat percentages. (Down to 31.6% as of today - I don't want to have surgery until my body fat is down to about 26 percent.) I'm down about 110 pounds, but look way lighter - I have a lot of muscle. I paid the $45 co pay for the visit and consult.

I was an H when I started on this journey. Now a DDD. I fence 5 hours a week and exercise another 3 - lifting, Pilates, Yoga, cardio. I swear by the Glamorize brand for big girls. I have two different styles the zip up and another that has a flap front that helps hold things nice and close. DO NOT BUY CHEAP SPORTS BRAS - you will not want to exercise because your boobs will hurt whenever you try to do something. Spend the money on a decent sports bra. https://www.amazon.com/Glamorise-Womens-Plus-Size-Magiclift-Zippered/dp/B00LXTLZEW https://www.amazon.com/Glamorise-Womens-Adjustable-Support-Sport/dp/B01KKAK73Y?ref=ast_p_ei

So, most days I do a shake for breakfast - 1 cup of fairlife skim milk, scoop of protein powder, handful of frozen fruit. Most days, that will hold me until noon when I have my chicken and salad - sometimes chicken salad on salad. Afternoon snack is usually cheese - I need the extra protein. Dinner is whatever I make for the family - protein and veg. As to pasta, I stayed away for 1 year. (For an Italian, it was hard) My go to now if I have pasta is the Barilla High Protein in the yellow box. I find it better than the other "substitute" pastas. Some days for breakfast I'll have scrambled eggs with cheese, but on days when I'm on the way into the office I do a shake and coffee. I did not give up my coffee. My team was OK with it. Lunch at the office is always a salad with 1 tablespoon of a vinaigrette dressing and about 3-4 ounces of protein - usually left over from dinner the night before. Snacks during the day are cheese or Oikos greek yogurt. Sometimes, a small apple. Dinner is 3-5 ounces of protein and a vegetable - sometimes 1/2 of a baked potato. I make all kinds of proteins at home - fish, beef, chicken, pork. I find the denser the protein, the less I can eat - I can eat 5-6 ounces of cod at this point, but only about 3-4 ounces of beef. Pinterest is your friend for meal planning. This week I have tons of leftovers - we had a sleepover for the 15 year old daughter so there were tacos - there's plenty of taco meat left which will be a taco salad for dinner tonight for me. I bought but didn't make chicken wings for the game yesterday and they will be dinner tomorrow. You've got this. My RD was clear - protein and water first. Get your 60/60 in - 60g protein, 64 ounces water - daily. I shoot for about 90 g protein most days. Using MyFitnessPal to track my foods has helped quite a bit.

Other than my husband, my two teen daughters who live with us and my two best friends, no one else knows I had surgery. My mother didn't know. My sister didn't know. My mother died not knowing. My sister still doesn't know and I've lost about 110 pounds. No one has asked if I had surgery. When asked how I have done it, I say I'm following a medicallly prescribed diet that is 60-100 grams of protein and 64 ounces of water a day, exercising 7-10 hours per week, logging every bite of food I eat and have cut most sugars and carbs from my diet. And lots of hard work. You don't have to tell anyone you don't want to and don't feed the negative trolls. Living well is the best revenge.

The only way you will know is to call the number on the back of your card - every policy is different - even within the same state policies differ. Make the call and ease your mind.

Does your program have a support group (in person) that meets? Maybe going to a meeting would help. You say the anxiety and pressure are internal - have you considered working with a therapist to help you develop some better coping methods so you don't drive yourself batty? I am very hard on myself - to the point where I was afraid to do my 1 year follow up with my team because I had convinced myself that I had failed. Guess what - they asked me to be a speaker for the newbies at support group. We are often our own harshest critics - consider finding someone to speak with you that will be your champion. You've got this.

Probably not. They want to see that you can stick to the diet, follow instructions and are serious about making this change. Because you are going to be living high protein, low carb from surgery forward.

Once a week. That's about all I do now. If you can't let go of the negatives, weigh once a week. Record it and let it go. So long as the overall progress is down, you're good. I can still fluctuate four or five pounds in two days depending on salt intake, carbs, etc. For me (I'm almost 18 months out), my goal now is to build muscle mass and decrease body fat. So i'm not getting crazy if the weight number isn't moving so long as the muscle mass goes up and the fat goes down. (We have a scale at my gym that does those calculations.)

Almost a year and a half out. I love food. I'm down about 110 pounds - depending on the day I fluctuate between loss of 106 and 110. Some days, I do want food. Others, not so much. I still love food. My hubby and I go out to eat, but I take most of it home in a take out box. I still love it, but I no longer let it abuse me, like I did before. Its about saying goodbye to a toxic relationship. You are developing a health relationship with food - before we lived to eat. Now, we eat to live. Yesterday, I had a bad day - on a number of levels, and didn't stay with the program and ate too many carbs. I'm paying for it today because I feel like crap. But those first few weeks (I couldn't wait for a bite of scrambled egg) are rough. But remember, this is only a tool. You still have work to do. And you can do it.

Told my husband and two teen girls (we all live in the same house.) Told two good friends. Did not tell mother or sister. Sister still doesn't know. Mom died without ever knowing. I knew my mother would be unsupportive and nasty about it. My sister wouldn't understand (she's never had a weight problem.) Told them at work I was having a procedure and would be out a few days. Whenever anyone asks, I say I track everything I eat, am following a physician led high protein diet, exercise 5-7 days a week and eliminated almost all sugar and flour from my diet. All of that is true. Do not let the negative Nellies get in your head.

I'm 56. I'm what they call a "super flasher" - there are people who never get rid of the hot flashes during and after menopause. I flashed before surgery and after. Often when I eat. To the point where I break out in the sweats. I'm almost 1.5 years out (nearing my goal, but working on building muscle and lowering my body fat numbers.) Talk with your PCP about doing some bloodwork to determine how far you may be into perimenopause.

Talk about all the weight you have lost and regained in your life and how nothing you do seems to let you keep the weight off. How any other health conditions you might have are affected by your weight. About how your joints feel and how your weight affects your plans for your life (e.g. having a family). How you are concerned about the long term consequences of your weight and the risks of diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac issues. Talk about how you sincerely are ready to make a change in your life and how you have thought long and hard about this and how this is probably one of the most difficult conversations you have ever had.

I don't golf, but I was back in the gym doing cardio on Saturday after a Tuesday surgery. (Slowly, on a recumbent bike, but doing cardio). I was back working with my personal trainer after 3 weeks (cleared by my surgeon to do so.) I work at a desk, so I was back in the office 6 days after surgery, but did work from home a couple of times a week for that first week or two after surgery. The biggest hit was the energy department for me - it took me a good 2 months to feel like I had most of my energy back, but anesthesia usually knocks me on my butt for a good 5 weeks after a surgery - just the way my body deals with it. Six weeks after surgery I was out of town for a week to handle my mother's funeral - no real problems related to the sleeve there. Best of luck.

Surgery was Tuesday, home Wednesday from the Hospital - drove Friday to do grocery shopping for the family. Didn't take any pain meds after discharge. My doc's rule was once I was off pain meds, I was clear to drive.

Hanne - FWIW, I was an athlete before I gained huge amounts of weight and had my sleeve 16 months ago. I've gone from 271.5 to 165. In the last four months, I've taken my body fat down 4 percentage points, which has been my goal. I recently started lifting to support my true calling - foil fencing. I'm nowhere near your records, but last week did deadlift more than my own bodyweight. (Lifted 175 - just started lifting with my trainer about a month ago.) I fence for 2.5 hours twice a week and am in the gym (lifting, cardio, pilates) another 3-5 hours a week. On days I work out, I up my calorie intake, but I'm very cautious. It does require more monitoring, but once you are beyond the initial weight loss phase it gets easier. I drink two liters of water on days I don't train - generally, always have a water bottle with me. Best of luck on making your decision.

Cutting out carbs is hard. You will likely have headaches (I did) for a day or two. Use the SF Jello or Pudding if allowed under your plan. But, your new life will be mostly high protein and low carb. I found that carbs now make me feel sick. Eat the protein first. Use the shakes. Get creative. You can do this. Pinterest is your friend for shake ideas. Here are a couple of my faves: Premier Caramel pre-mixed shake, 1 cup cold coffee, 1 squirt Hershey's sugar-free syrup, Ice. Throw in a blender - you have a protein frappucino that has 130 calories, 30 grams of protein and tastes amazing. Buy sugar free coffee house syrups. I use Torani brand. So I'll take 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, 1 cup of Fairlife Skim Milk, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and a few squirts of sugar free coconut syrup and I have a pina colada that is about 30 grams of protein (depending on your protein powder) and about 175 calories. Chocolate protein powder, 1 tablespoon of PB2, Squirt of Caramel SF syrup - ice and Fairlife Skim - Snickers shake - again about 30 g protein and under 200 calories. You can do this. You got this. We got your back.

I don't know if it was a sedative, but they did give me something to help relax me in my IV prior to going into the OR. I didn't have a care in the world. It was wonderful.

I go out with my husband and family and friends frequently. I eat what I want. I take a lot of leftovers home. I have a drink now and then or a glass of wine, but only if I've allotted calories for it. I'm down 106 pounds. I'd like to lose another 15, but if I don't, that's ok. (I'm 16 months post op.) I'm 56 years old. I'm in better shape right now than my two teens. I work out (a lot and I love it now), I eat pretty much what I want, when I want. When I have a burger, I have it on lettuce not on a bun because the buns bother my stomach. I can have an occasional slice of pizza. I'm literally, half the woman I was in April 2016 when I looked at myself in a photo with my oldest as she was headed to her junior prom - I was barely stuffing myself into size 22 pants and now I wear a size 8. Hunger is real. A sleeve is a tool. To succeed your head has to be in the right place. Find a therapist and spend some time working through your issues with food and how you got to where you were. I don't eat my feelings any more. I feel much better.

My RD was a blessing. The best thing she did was give me The Bible at my first visit - it was a binder put together by the RNP, Surgeon and RD with everything I needed to know about having the sleeve done - my pre-op plan for the three months prior to surgery and all the testing necessary, sections about exercise and diet and nutrition, a section to be filled with the pre-surgery liver shrinking diet when I attended that three hour class two weeks before surgery, and sections for my post-op diet. There were areas for me to complete and record things (or I could use My Fitness Pal and show my logs at visits) and I had to bring the Bible to every visit. It was super helpful because I was able to share all the information with my husband and say - no I can't do that - here - see - it's in the book. My team recently launched an app with much of that information for patients in the program. (I haven't downloaded it because I'm 17 months pot op.) Making sure you understand the process of the surgery and understand that people who make the decision to finally investigate bariatric surgery know they are fat. They know the basics of nutrition, but being told eat less and exercise more doesn't work - if that had worked, then they wouldn't be in your office. Recipe ideas, suggested menus for that 1200 calorie a day diet, ideas for using protein shakes and powders, visual aids of portion sizes are all important.

Your body is spending all its energy on healing you from the inside out, so you will be tired. Also, for some folks, the anesthesia cocktail has a "tail" effect that leaves you feeling like crap for a couple of weeks. Be kind to yourself. You just had a major surgical procedure - think of it as if you had your appendix out or just had a c-section - you wouldn't expect to be 100% at 2 weeks. Give your body time and be kind to yourself. Rest when you can and really push the fluids - staying hydrated early on makes a big difference. Consider using some Powerade Zero which is like Gatorade, but no sugar. Best of luck.

I hate the slipper socks that the hospital makes you wear so I brought my own slippers and my bathrobe so I could be comfortable when I walked the halls after surgery and didn't have to worry about flashing the world.

I sat down with my husband and told him how miserable I was. How unhappy. How my knees hurt. How my orthopedic surgeon would not do the knee replacement until I lost at least 50 pounds. How I was tired of being fat. How I was tired of doing everything and it not working and how the doctor said I was a great candidate for this. And I told him how I went to the information seminar and I really thought this was the way to go. And I was scared because it was permanent, but I needed to do it and I wanted to be there for him and our kids. And I wanted him to come with me in two weeks to my meeting with the surgeon. And that's how it went. And we cried. And we hugged. And he said - I love you and I want you to be happy. That's what I did. To be fair, I did not tell my mother or my sister, since I knew they would not be supportive of my decision. They still don't know. You need to do this for your health. If he loves you and wants you around for the long term, then he will come around.

Protein reactions are hit or miss. Buy some samples of different ones for her to try. I couldn't tolerate the Isopure - it made me sick. So its really hit or miss. For some folks, it was a lifesaver. My program did not recommend or require an abdominal binder. She should check with her doctor on that.