LittleLizzieLilliput

I'd discuss with your surgeon. Drinking and eating will sabotage your efforts so I'd recommend working with your surgeons team to figure it out. Drinking while eating pushes the food through the stomach thus defeating the purpose of the procedure. That's why it's so important to not drink and eat. A few sips during your meal for lubrication? No problem! (I used to think that wasn't allowed and was usre I could not adjust to that.) Drinking water in tandem with eating? Big problem

I tried pork rinds and find them disgusting. lol! The flavor is weird and the smell is weird. I wanted to used them as a delivery system for dips when I threw a little party. Ended up throwing them all out. And as to why not use veggies instead? I can't eat raw veggies without getting bad indigestion. Also, I have to watch my sugars very closely (diabetic) so I try alternatives that don't provide me with carbs. I really wanted to like the pork rinds but that was a full-fledged NOPE.

Are you measuring yourself? The scale is not the whole story. I went from a size 14 to a size 10 with only losing 5 lbs. I'm working out like crazy, my hips are narrowing, my waist is shrinking, my thighs, are getting more firm, as are my arms. I keep dropping the width on my bras! But in that time I've fluctuated between 172 and 168. Sometimes up, sometimes down. I'm about to start trying on size 8's and haven't lost a single lbs in 3 weeks. Also make sure your sodium intake isn't too high causing retention, check to see when you will be getting your period as that can cause water weight gain as well. DON'T PANIC!!!!!!!!!!! You are committed to this, working hard. It will happen for you, don't give up and don't be discouraged!!!!! CHeck your measurments, enjoy the success you've had so far. You are doing AMAZING! You have recommitted and are on fire, this is exciting.

oh no! I hope it won't cause a delay for you, I would hope it wouldn't. I think it will make getting back to exercising more difficult but hopefully it won't delay the surgery for you!!

Yup, I went from everything fine and normal my whole life to not having a period for 4 months.

That's a lot of steps to be walking everyday one week post op. You might be over-doing it. As always, I'd recommend speaking with your surgeons office.

I guess you could up your gym time/run time to 5 times a week, make sure you are getting enough calories (too much calorie restriction can cause stalls), measure yourself to see if what you are really doing is redistributing your weight/muscle ratio, etc.

How wonderful!! Congratulations on the big win!! I remember the first time I left my first yoga class after the surgery, I felt like a freaking warrior!

I find myself becoming obsessive about working out. I also am fine if I miss a day of food. My friends are kind of calling me out on not eating enough and over exercising so I'm trying to find a healthy balance. I don't feel like I'm developing body dysmorphia or anything, I think what I see in the mirror is not distorted by my mind's perception of me. I feel like I'm just pouring all of my intense energy and focus into this process and going a little over board. But I'm getting a six-pack set of abs underneath all this extra skin that squishes around my midsection...and I love it! I love sitting down when I'm naked and seeing the muscles in my thighs and legs stand out while all the excess skin puddles around the seat. I know it sounds weird but it's so satisfying to me to see my muscles begin to outshine the fat and skin. *sigh* I'm loving this process and if I get a little too intense about it, as long as I'm healthy, I'm OK with it.

I'd skip the pureed meats... eggies are good, the ricotta bake is amazing (look up http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ and search her pureed recipes). The pureed meats were unimaginably horrific for me, texture was a nightmare.

I think it took me 3-4 months before I was up for resistance training.

sugar and spices, two things that don't work well with me post surgery. Good luck!

If it were me I'd contact my bariatric surgeon first.

The more you have the faster you lose and conversely, the less you have to lose the slower you lose. When I was 375 I lost about 10 lbs a week. Now that I'm 168 I lose about 2 lbs a week, if that. But my body keeps changing and reshaping itself. I'm gaining muscle and strength, flexibility and movement. Even when the scale doesn't change my body still does. Try to change your perspective and thinking if you can. You will sabotage yourself if you start to think of this as a failure.

This is a question that gets posted about 2 to 3 times a day. So it's very common to be confused on this. But think about what just happened to your body. It's gone through a trauma. When you hit your arm, what happens? Swelling, bruising and it takes days for it to go down. Well, this time you have 80% of your stomach removed and each laproscopic incision is like a knife wound. Give yourself and your body a break. You need to give it time to heal and get better so you can start working hard at losing more.

Your body is in shock still, it retains fluids in the healing process. Check to see what your sodium levels are in your protein drinks as well. Just know that this is your body healing, not betraying you. It's doing what it can to get to the point you can really start to lose. You will be OK!

Not me, but I totally understand why people do.

I buy the rotisserie chicken's at the grocery store for 5 to 7 dollars, that last me all week and tastes amazing. I just carve a chunk off of it and put it in the toaster oven wrapped in tinfoil with some of the juices to heat up for 10 minutes, whammo!! Fantastic!! I also by the Hormel black label pre-cooked bacon and a ripe avocado. I microwave the bacon for about 22 seconds, Press as much of that grease is possible with paper towels. And then snack on some bacon and half to a quarter of avocado. My cholesterol is fine. It tastes so good and all protein.

I had the VGS, hiatal hernia repair and gall bladder removal. I was unable to get in and out of bed on my own for 10 days. I needed 12 weeks recovery till I was able to move normally again and it took 6 months to fully heal. I had a lot of regret in the first 4 weeks post op and then I got over it. There were a lot of hard moments, dealing with trying to eat on a healing stomach, dealing with getting sick from over-doing the sugars, etc. Yet NONE of these things were ever worse or as close to as bad as the issues I had from being obese. I was FAR more miserable every moment of my life fat than I was post surgery. There is no guarantee for you, you know the complication possibilities. You are nervous and scared. I was too!! But now, 10 months in? I'm a whole new person that is happier, more active and more alive than I have been since I was about 16. I'm 42 now. Good luck with everything!! You are a warrior, this is no easy feat. I wish you all the joy and success!!

Hi, very important question, are you taking a proton pump inhibitor?? I thought I was constantly hungry too, but it ended up it was acid reflux. But because my body had no idea what was happening and the parts of the stomach that sends signals to the brain has been messed with, my body had no idea how to interpret the signals it was getting, so it told me I was hungry. I was not, I was in a form of pain. lol! The part of the stomach that send the hormones to the brain telling it it's hungry has been removed so this is most likely, not always but most likely, due to acid in your stomach. Get on a proton pump inhibitor, I had to double up on mine, one in the AM and one in the PM for a while.

Oh, and who cares if you have to take an antacid pill each morning?? That ain't no thang!! And you WILL be eating in restaurants again - Where are you being told you can't????? Yes, you are physically only able to ingest about 1/4 of a cup to 1/2 of a cup, but it's amazing how quickly each of us figures out our routines at the restaurants. It's not going to be easy, there are all sorts of accommodations that you will make, but then it will all just become routine and your new normal and it won't be hard or difficult at all. It's just going to be new at first. Yes, there will be weeks where life sucks right after the surgery, there will be tears and there will be fears. How old are you? I was on no medications, no "co-morbidities" up until I was 41. Then I woke-up in ICU. My gallbladder went bad due to my years of high fat diet. That then threw a gall stone into my pancreas duct which caused my pancreas to back up, start digesting itself, ruining the cells the produce insulin, putting me into a six month acute pancreatitis and now I'm diabetic, have no gall bladder and get to have tests every 6 months. There are horror stories from either side. I really hope that you are able to find peace today in whatever decision you make. This is your life and this is one means to take control over our weight, but there are other ways. You could do the liquid fasting for a year or two, you could spend the next couple of years restricting yourself and basically following the bariatric diet without the surgery and exercise. It's all possible. Whatever you decide is the path you were meant to take. I know it's terrifying, I'm sending you a massive hug!!

Girl, You are in full-blown panic mode. I get it, what we are doing is very scary, there can be complications and, if I'm perfectly honest, I tried to talk myself out of the surgery several times. I was scared and just like you - minus the throwing up. I was trying to make deals with god, I was trying to figure out how I could cancel without disappointing people, etc. But in the end I acknowledged that this is what I need to do to live past my 40's. I did regret it for the 1st 4 weeks, cause those were hard weeks. But then I healed and life opened up for me in a way I've never known. I've been obese since high-school. I've never been a size 10-12 as an adult, I've never been able to fly without worry, or ride a rollercoaster without fear of not fitting in the seat, I walk by windows and am proud of who I see rather than shamed. And let me just address the lack of shame issue. I no longer walk around feeling total shame and embarrassment over what I look like and what I've become. That has improved my overall happiness as a person. I respect myself more and I can't even quantify for you what that full impact on my life has been... There are going to be side-effects and complications. But, for 99% of us, the side effects of obesity are FAR worse than the side effects from the Gastric Sleeve. Your life is NOT over, I promise promise promise promise!!! It might feel like that now but in 6 months, if you allow yourself to follow through with this, you will most likely be happier than you have been in years, moving like you would not believe and experiencing joy and success in this process. But it's NOT easy, there IS pain and struggle and tears. But there is with being obese as well. Look, what we do here, with this surgery, altering our bodies, taking a step off into the abyss, it's terrifying. But that's what makes each of us such bad-asses!!! We are freaking WARRIORS!! Anyone who says this is the easy way out is just showing their stunning ignorance. This is, by far, the hardest, most rewarding, most amazing thing I've ever done. I weighed 375 lbs 5 years ago. I lost 100lbs on an all liquid diet over 16 months. That was SOOOOOO much worse and harder in the long run. Because I had to eat the same thing, chocolate protein shake, 5 times a day for 16 MONTHS. MONTHS. lol! This is so much easier. I take all that willpower and self-control and now apply it to my exercise and keeping my head right. You are gonna be OK no matter what you decide. It's OK to say I'm too scared and not ready for this. There can be complications, nothing is a guarantee. I wish you all the luck and success!!

Sounds like a sugar dump episode.

I eat popcorn, it's a low carb/cal/fat snack and I have no problem with it. But it's an occasional thing.

I just sipped water or the protein drink (unjury chicken broth actually) all day. It wasn't easy. It took a while to hit 64 oz. Like maybe 2 weeks? But just keep sipping. That was the key for me.