LittleLizzieLilliput

I'm just about at 6 months post op, I'm doing about 5-7 miles of walking a day, I do between 50 and 70 crunches and 50 half push-ups a day right now. I'm looking to increase this with a home workout in the mornings. I just did a 20 minute one on Amazon this AM but it requires so much more coordination than I have. lol! Kick, hop, punch, twist, fast fast fast! Well, it takes me like 4 pauses to figure out the routine then rewind and do the sets and then pause on the next one. lol! It was RIDICULOUS! And I don't want to waste my precious time rewinding, figuring out the routine, blah blah blah. SO! I'm looking for some suggestions to try out. I'm totally willing to do Yoga or something much more invigorating. I can't figure out if I should do something to burn more calories or use this 30 minutes at 5:30 AM every day for muscle toning since I'm then burning calories the rest of the day? I don't know, some suggestions would be lovely!! Thanks again guys!

OH!! I saw ads for that and thought it would be way more expensive!! Only problem is wifi is sketchy in my room. I'd have to do it in the livingroom. But that aint no thing. I just don't know what will work best for me. I'll try a bunch, thanky ou!

First, I swear by Vitagene. It's expensive each month but so worth it. I set reminders and then my roomie set a back up one because I suck so bad at remember even with an alarm.

Hi There! What I think you need to do is start logging in your food, your exercise, your water. I think that you probably need to revise your diet, remove lots of carbs and put back in lean proteins. Try to get all your steps in and keep the water up. For me I have bacon and cheese for breakfast, I have homemade low carb chili, butter chicken or teriyaki chicken then for lunch and dinner (and the mid meals). I get at least 64oz of water in and try to walk at least 8K steps. You need to restrict calories, remove carbs, increase water and walking. Good luck, I know this isn't easy and I hope this helps!!!

I know it's so scary!! This is where we look into the abyss of the unknown and just have to take a leap. I was scared too. It wasn't an easy process but the results are by far SOOO worth it. You are gonna do great, you are doing something amazing for your future. It's not always going to be easy but it will most likely change your life for the better.

Have you discussed this with your Surgeon's office? I feel like this is the kind of thing you should discuss with them. At 3 months out I was on full food and eating 4 oz of protein every 3-4 hours or so. No vomiting. And if you can only keep down fruits and veggies how are your Protein goals doing? I really think you should speak with your surgeons office about this. You could have a stricture or something else. Good luck!! I'm sorry you are going through this.

Yes, when I was cooking for my family at about 6 weeks post op I just nonchalantly tossed the grilled end tip of a tritip into my mouth and chewed, swallowed, and immediatly realized what I had done. lol! It happens. When I was on my liquid diet for a year I had many instances where I'd be making something and taste or snack and then realize what I'd done. lol! As a cook it's important to taste your food to know if it's going well. I've learned to not take bites but tastes only. Takes a while though. I spent 41 years doing it one way.

Don't beat yourself up!! That's an old pattern that needs to stop. It's not good for you or for your journey. It's OK to make some bad choices, realize it and try to find a way to avoid it next time. It's totally OK. I have found that if I eat crappy food I feel crappy. That's probably part of how you are feeling. We now need so much protein it's ridiculous! lol! Traveling and maintaining a good diet is SOOO hard. The choices aren't good, we are on the run and don't have time to source out the best things. So now that you've traveled and experienced how hard it is have you come up with any ideas? Packing protein drinks maybe? Regarding food choices I find a lot of places will have grilled chicken. I know it's not exciting but it's so good for us and will be filling and is something that can be found at a lot of places. I'll just order the grilled chicken sandwich and then eat just the chicken breast. When I met with my surgeon this last time he asked how I was doing. I said "I'm doing pretty well. I find the protocols to be simple to follow. I don't find it easy but it is simple." And that's what we have to remember. That while it may be simple, it's not always EASY. It's oK to fall, it gives us the opportunity to get back up, learn where we tripped and try to avoid it. It's OK to have made choices you aren't happy with, this is how we learn and grow. Don't be upset with yourself, give yourself a hug and realize just how hard that trip was and how well you did to lose weight.

I needed someone here. I had the VGS, Hiatal Hernia repair and gallbladder removal. I needed help for 2 weeks.

It is so wonderful!! I celebrated big time twice so far, dropping below 300 and dropping below 200. Both were major and the third will be reaching my goal. I'm so happy for you!! It's so wonderful isn't it???

No, That stuff always makes me sad.

I'm 5 months post op and I don't eat rice. It takes up all the room for protein. I think you can have sushi once you've transitioned to full food. Just know that you might only be able to eat one or two pieces.

I'm of two minds on this one: #1 and most important, your journey. I understand wanting to be private about it but my concern is it becomes yet another secret we keep. And that can turn toxic. I thought long and hard about how I would deal with this aspect of my process and I personally decided on full disclosure because I didn't want any of this process to be something I hid. That was a choice I made to emotionally protect myself in the long run. I knew I'd want to hide and conceal and those are behaviors based in shame for me (I was a secret eater). What I am hoping is that you take this opportunity to just live as freely and happily as you can. #2, breaking your trust. That is the second issue. The first issue is about you and your best mindset for success and happiness. The second issue is about someone not respecting your wishes and breaking your trust. And yes, IMO, you should speak with her about this. I'd keep it as light as possible but I would express to her your feelings. (if she's a reasonable person. If she's one of those combative angry people that are just rude and aggressive regardless, then DON'T confront her, it won't ever matter what you feel or think. That's the lesson I've learned with people like that. Better to keep them as far away as possible.) Let her know that when you asked to keep it private that is what you meant and that you may be skipping the family event as a result. I've been very clear with people, this is my journey for my health and future, I get to decide how this journey goes, nobody else. Good luck!! I hope you can move past this. My mom told me a few months after the surgery "it's like you are peeling away all those bad layers on an onion". I had to explain to her that I am still that onion, the only thing that is changing about me is how OTHERS perceive me. I am still the same person I was before, just a smaller pant size and different eating habits. If you talk poorly about that old me, you are talking poorly about ME to ME. lol! Everyone else's perception of us change, we need to assert our on personal needs and rules. Part of how I got to this point is allowing people to hurt me or be mean so now I have to make sure assert myself to protect myself. Cause I don't have food to go to anymore when I can't deal with my feelings. So now I make the people who gave me bad feelings deal with them instead. lol!!!

5.5 oz's max. Usually 4. But if I'm super hungry or I'm on my period than I can eat a little more. Not sure why. I don't drink liquids before or after eating and I follow the guidelines pretty strictly. Though I am human and make choices sometimes to veer off and eat something purely decadent. lol! What happens is I end up being hungry pretty quickly afterwards. I find when I stick to the protein rich diet I'm hungry 4 times a day. If I eat stuff that isn't protein heavy I will be hungry again within an hour.

It's not recommended at all for the first 6 months. If you are asking for opinions? Mine is don't drink. It's not worth it. You can next year.

Shrimp was my first "real" food! I love it so much. I eat fish, crab and shrimp all the time! It will get better and you can have it again. Just in much smaller quantities. What I love about going out now is how many meals I can make out of one plate of food! hahah! On Monday I got teriyaki chicken and chicken w/green beans. That lasted me 9 meals. hahahah!! So awesome.

You will get used to it. It's very hard to imagine hitting your goals at your stage when the tummy is still healing but it will become much easier. I promise! Just keep at it. My surgeon told me the first 12 weeks were about trying to reach our goals, not about actually meeting them in most cases (some people have no problems getting in all their protein and liquids but most of us aren't that lucky). It's by 12 weeks that we should be able to hit the protein and water goals my Doc said.

Twice in my life I have woken up choking on acid. Once was years ago and then the second time was post surgery. It's no joke. I aspirated acid and was coughing up this sweet bitter bile for at least a day. I sleep on a mountain of pillows if I eat later now just to avoid it. That's good you were able to get back to sleep!!

How much water do you think you've been able to get in since coming home? You should start logging all of that now, just an FYI. I was in a great deal of pain the first week. Are you on any pain meds?

It's weird, when I looked online there was a TON of people who experienced it. I did tell my surgeon and he said "don't take it again". lol! I'd already made that decision. lol!

I usually go everyday. I got stopped-up twice and each time taking a laxative has been brutal. The first time actually injured my incisions and I was set back weeks in my recovery. Couldn't walk for a week - the muscle spasms were intense and I took the lowest dose of the OTC. Then I took Colace a few weeks ago upon some recommendations. HOLY *%#@, I actually passed out. Guess it's a possible side effect. I was woken up in the middle of the night, though - OK! I'm ready! I go to the bathroom and the spasms start. And don't stop. FInally I start getting super hot, like I'm gonna melt hot. I strip and now I REALLY don't feel well. Pretty sure I'm dying. Suddenly wake-up, still on the toilet thank god. I don't know how long I was out but I was out long enough for the sweat to dry and for me to be freezing. So now I put Miralax in all my water. Cause I don't want to die on the toilet if I'm being perfectly honest.

So I feel like it's perfectly natural to have a period of regret for many of us post surgery. Look, we had our stomachs removed. lol! It's not a small thing. I didn't do the 6 months pre-surgical therapies and sessions and classes. No, I was dying instead and had this done along with the removal of my gallbladder in order to save my life. I'm not even kidding, I was in and out of the hospital from February through August of last year. Once they determined it was my gallbladder that was destroying my pancreas, which was destroying my kidneys, liver and life, they asked if I would also like to have the VGS. I was unsure but my doc said this to me: Do you want me to make it easy for you? Get the surgery, recover and live. Don't get the surgery and die within 18 months. Well, can't argue with that. So I didn't get all that time for my Come To Jesus moment and acceptance. Not all of us do, and even those of us who DO go through all that might STILL feel a sense of regret. For me it was between week 5 and 6 I think. I'd been sick for almost a year at that point, I depressed and ready to be feeling whole again. I was emotional and realized that the ONE thing I'd always had as my last resort, food, was gone for me now. The last hold of control I had on my fears and regret snapped and I started crying. Actually, it was nurse that started it. I had a specialist appointment and they were checking my blood sugars. I had explained to her that it takes me hours to finish a protein shake and so my numbers would be off. She came back at me and held the meter in front of my face and asked me why the numbers were elevated. I tried to respond and all I could do was start crying. I'd been sick for a year, I'd struggled with almost dying, keeping work up and running, keeping my house/family up and running, I'd been doing everything I could to meet all the post surgical protocols, I was still so sore from having so many organs removed at once. I was a mess and I couldn't handle it. So I snapped. I started crying and couldn't stop. For 7 days. When I met with the doctor that day I apologized to her and explained I was pretty sure I couldn't control it and she was quite kind. It took me that week to mourn my old life. And not just that, mourn that I would never be a "normal" person. I'd always hoped one day I could be and with having my stomach removed I realized I never could be "normal", not ever, not now. Well, flash forward 4 months...I'm the happiest I've been since maybe childhood. I don't regret a single moment of the surgery or my decisions, I don't even feel bad that I regretted it. I had to go through those emotions and many of us do I believe. I feel like my experiencing the regret helped me tremendously. It allowed me to be honest with myself about my fears, my hopes, my needs, my expectations - not about my weight but about my LIFE. Why did I regret it and how do I come to accept what's been done? I was able to explore those things. Sure, would have been easier to do ahead of time but I'm not sure it would have been truly authentic for me. I don't think I could have conceived of life, what it's REALLY like, without 80% of my stomach until I was on the other side. So, yeah, you might have some regret, and that's ok. This is, by far, the best thing I've done for myself regardless of any sense of regret I experienced. I hope you don't hold back your own future in order to avoid a sense of regret. Because the regret I'd be living with right now is that I'd be dying and I'd regret not doing everything I could to live longer.

you need to call your surgeon and let them know. I was very sensitive to protein shakes. Have you tried the Un jury chicken broth protein mix? I couldn't get any of the sweet protein shakes down, only the savory.

I'm at about 850 - 1000 a day and 5 months Post Op.

Hi there, So I just use a food tracking app. I stick to 5 meals a day of 4 oz of protein. I get between 800 and 1050 calories a day (800 is more the norm right now but as I was rudely reminded recently I am only 5 months out so please don't actually take my advice if you feel I'm not qualified to provide it). I take Vitagene vitamins so I don't even focus on veggies at all right now. Just protein and as low carb as possible. Hopefully my recommendation is innocuous enough not to have someone be rude to me. lol! There are some really aggressive folks on this site...