mylighthouse

Thank you for the ideas, Berry. I like to keep my protein high, and for me, I have found that when my protein is not 80-100 grams a day, then I don't drop the weight. While the protein shake helps me get my extra protein, it also adds some much-needed calories to my diet. For a period of 2 months, I was not losing any weight at all. Then I upped my protein and upped my calories by adding that second serving of high-calorie almonds along with the protein shake. If I don't follow the meal plan that I shared with you, then I drop way below 1000 calories and that results in no weight loss. My current meal plan really satisfies my hunger, to the point where I literally can't fit in anymore food. I am explaining all of this because I am honestly finding myself in a bit of a dilemma, as I have in the recent past mulled over the idea of adding a veggie like spinach to my daily food intake. But as you can see, I would have to cut a higher calorie food out to fit a lower calorie food in. Again, that would mean my calories would be way too low. I wonder how small my surgeon actually made my stomach. At 9 months out, sometimes I can't even get in 2 oz. Of dense protein at lunch and dinner. I don't mean to sound unappreciative of your advice. I am very appreciative. I am going to see what I can do with the spinach idea.

I don't change my diet up too much, so below is pretty much what I like to have each day: Breakfast- 6 oz. Premier chocolate protein shake and late morning is either an egg or cottage cheese with 1/4 cup pineapple Lunch- 3 oz. baked or grilled chicken breast or thigh with green peas or fresh asparagus or zucchini. Mid afternoon snack- Hard boiled egg and 1 oz. almonds or 2 T. peanut butter on a rice cake. Dinner- 3 oz. Ribeye steak, t-bone or top sirloin, occasionally pork chop or homemade low carb meatloaf recipe. After dinner snack- 1 oz. almonds Basically been sticking to this meal plan for the past 6 months.

Thanks for the suggestion. The gastro doc told me that it was safe and to take 2x a day, which I have been doing for weeks. Hasn,t helped yet, so I think I will increase it to 3x. But the stuff ain't cheap and i'm spending easily 80 bucks a month on Miralax and Linzess combined.

Thank you, Sue. Yes, I get plenty of fat in my diet, mainly through almonds, peanut butter, and red meat.

Thank you very much. I definitely agree with you and I'm looking forward to what the future brings. Appreciate your kind words and the best to you too.

Hello friends, Just wanted to share with you that tomorrow morning (6-6-17), I will be having an open hernia surgery. I am currently about 6-1/2 months post gastric sleeve. I have been in pain because of two incisional hernias for over two years. I hadn't been able to have the hernia surgery sooner because my weight was too high. Now that I've gone from 334 pounds to 228 pounds, my surgeon can safely do my surgery. I have mixed emotions. I am scared to go through the pain of the surgery/recovery. My surgeon will be cutting me below my breastbone, all the way down to my lower abdomen. He will be reconstructing my abdominal wall, repairing the hernias, and cutting out scar tissue and adhesions from my two previous open abdominal surgeries; the last one, in 2015, kept me in the hospital for 2 whole months. That is why I am scared about surgery tomorrow. By chance, is there anyone reading this that has had more than 1 open abdominal surgery, and how was your pain and recovery afterwards? So, the other emotion that I'm experiencing right now is excitement! Even though I am scared, I am excited because I have lost over 100 pounds. After I recover from this, I will no longer be confined to bed. I will be able to walk, to go out, to go grocery shopping, to be more active.... I will eventually be able to exercise, which is something I have not done at all since these abdominal surgeries (sleeve included). I will be able to drive again.... I will be able to go over to my parent's house and help them with things, including cooking... they are in their 70's. I just might be able to travel in early December by car, a 9-hour drive to Mississippi where my daughter lives.... to see my first grandbaby (due Dec 5th). So this hernia surgery tomorrow might be the beginning to a new life. The sleeve surgery was a new beginning for me too.... it got me to where I am now, able to have a very much needed surgery. Without the sleeve surgery, I definitely wouldn't be on the road to a happier more fulfilled life. p.s. My hernia surgery doctor was also my sleeve doctor.... he is awesome! I am in good hands. Just wanted to share this. Helps me feel better talking about it.

Thank you Sherrie

Oh my goodness, you really have had a lot of surgeries! Glad to hear that you made it through them and that as far as most of them, that they didn't give you any problems (except for the back). Yes, I have my husband to help me. He will probably take off work for 2 weeks if I need him to, and my parents live here in town and they can help me out too if I need it... so that's good. Yes, I will take my time and let myself heal. I am good about following the doctor's instructions! Thank you.

Thank you so much.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You were feeling woozy and needed a few bites of something. The bagel was not the best choice, but that's all you had and you can't really blame yourself for eating it. You needed something in your stomach. I definitely know what it's like to feel woozy when I go too long without eating since my surgery 6 months ago. I honestly do not think you did anything wrong at all and I don't think you were bad for eating it. Now that it's done and over with, just be prepared for the future, in case a situation comes up similar to that again. Maybe pack a bag that you can keep at your office. Some snacks that you will have plenty of in case you forget them when you leave home in the morning. Perhaps some almonds, some decent protein bars, maybe some parm crisps. That way if you are in a rush in the morning, the bag of snacks is already at the office. I am sorry you got sick and felt bad, but again, it's okay.

If your doctor told you to wait until goal weight, then that is what you need to do, regardless of what others have done.

Congratulations! Keep up the hard work!

You should be proud of yourself! Way to go for seeing things differently today. You've done awesome and are looking super! Keep up the hard work!

Hello, I lost 20 pounds a couple of months prior to my surgery, starting out at 334 pounds... my highest weight ever. Since my surgery, which was about 6-1/2 months ago, I have lost an additional 84 pounds. I still have about 65 pounds to go before I get to my "goal" weight. My weight loss pattern has been much like blizair's as he stated above. I usually lose about 3 pounds a week for a few weeks, then maybe a pound a week for a couple of weeks... then back to losing 3 or so pounds a week. That has pretty much been my pattern for the past few months. During the first two months, the weight came off a little faster. I am in no way discouraged or frustrated when I have those weeks where I only lose a pound. I also hit a couple of stalls a few months back, where I went a couple of weeks without losing any weight. I didn't let that bother me one bit. Stalls are going to happen. I am encouraged by all of the weight loss, and the way my clothes/sizes have changed. I've gone from a 4-5X shirt to an XL (14-16), I've gone from a size 30 pants to a size 18. I am thrilled. Blizair is right, follow your plan, work hard at it, and you will be successful! I have only one regret, that I didn't have the surgery sooner! p.s. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

I've had two UTI's after my sleeve surgery. One at about 3 months post op and the other just a few weeks after that. I had a few trips to the ER because of some pain... I was having trouble with constipation at the time and my hernias were giving me pain. Anyway, while I was in the ER they did the urine tests and found UTI's both times. They also said I was dehydrated, and I had to stay all day to get IV fluids. I remember thinking that I thought I had been getting in plenty of liquids. I guess I wasn't. So my suggestion is to get over your 64 ounces of fluids a day, and if you are drinking alcohol, remember that it will dry you out. Be sure to drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids. Hope the UTI's stop bothering you soon.

Wow, awesome! You look fantastic! Congratulations on your weight loss and hard work. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations! You're doing awesome and so glad to hear about those things that you can do now that you couldn't do before. I can totally relate... I couldn't tie my shoes before, among many other things. Keep up the awesome work!

I'm over 6 months post op and started noticing a few hairs coming out... so few that I'm not sure I'm really losing any at all. I have really long, thick hair and would notice if I had any significant hair loss. I take my Celebrate multi vitamin with Iron every day and also take Calcium with D-3. I've heard that some people take Biotin to strengthen their hair (I don't think it prevents loss), but if you do lose, it might help with the new hair growing in.

Now I'm at 231. I've lost 103 pounds from my highest weight back in September. Now that I've lost 100 pounds, my surgeon said he is able to do my open hernia surgery and I'm very happy about that! 71 more pounds to go! Hope everyone is doing well

Wow, 100 pounds! Way to go... cool pin! Congratulations and keep up the awesome work.

Good question. For me, I am just at 6 months and at lunch I can only eat 3 oz fish or chicken. For dinner I am hungrier and can actually eat 4 oz fish or chicken... but if it is beef or pork I can only fit in 3 oz. II can eat 2 eggs at a time. And the same as Diana said, protein first and about an ounce of veggies. I think what Diana said about the calories is spot on too. I wish I could get myself up to 1000 a day, but I am having trouble just getting close to 950. But I definitely think if you are still hungry after eating the 3 oz of protein... why not go up to 4 oz... nothing wrong with that. Sorry I don't have anything from my NUT in writing about the portion sizes at 6 months and later, or I would email it to you. Maybe someone further along than me can help you out.

Congratulations on your weight loss and being able to buy some clothes in the non-plus sizes! I am definitely one of those people that thinks that 50 grams of carbs a day is too much, but if it is working for you, then good. But if you stall for too long, you might want to change it up a bit and just see if dropping your carbs helps. Also, I know your NUT told you to stay at 30 grams or less on the fat. But just to share my story on that..... I have lost over 80 pounds since my surgery and am continuing to lose every week, and my fat grams are always up around 50 grams a day. In order to get in my calories, which I have now worked up to close to 950 a day, I have to eat higher calorie/higher fat foods... well, one food in particular.... in between my regular meals, I add whole roasted almonds to my diet. It has really helped me get in those extra calories that I needed to make sure the weight loss continues. And the fat, at no more than 50 grams total a day, has not mattered for me one bit. Also, I was where you are calorie wise until about 5 months. I just couldn't fit in anymore food and I was always coming in around 800 a day. I think at 3.5 months out, there is nothing wrong with 800 a day. So, maybe play with the carbs, the fat.... going up on calories won't hurt. Sometimes you just have to change things around a bit and play with these things. OH, and also, I get 100 grams or a little more of protein a day (have from the start). It really works for me, and I know it does for many people. Again, congratulations on your success... keep it up!

If you will just try using myfitnesspal.com it will help you a lot. Or there may be another app out there that you can use. Either way, myfitnesspal is very simple to use and doesn't take much effort. You really need to be doing this to make sure you are getting the right amount of protein a day. Of course it will also show you your daily carbs, fats, and calories total; just like Marinagirl said. You need to keep track of these things in order to help you in your weight loss journey. I am sure that you want to be successful. So, I encourage you to give it a try. And it is normal to get full fast... you are only 4 weeks post op. I am 6 months post op and it still doesn't take much food to satisfy my hunger.

Wow! Congratulations on your entire weight loss... prior to surgery and then afterwards as well. You persevered! Awesome and keep up the amazing work.

Hello, Sorry to hear that you are dealing with acid reflux, I hate it. I had some in the beginning, but after a few days of being on a prescription med for it, it completely went away. I haven't had any and have been on an acid reflux med for 6 months now. I ran out of my med a couple of days ago and didn't have a refill on it. I wanted to see how I would do without it, since I am now 6 months post op sleeve. Unfortunately, for me, the reflux is back with a vengeance. I am going to call my doctor and let him know, I guess it is going to be a continuing problem for me without medication for it. I have heard that after the sleeve, some people need an acid reflux med forever.