Propo

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this! My bad [emoji847]. I’ve lost 98lbs so far. Weight loss has been much slower the last few months but I’m still plodding along. One thing I’ve learned about the vsg, it doesn’t stop you snacking if you want to. I find nuts, crisps (think you Americans call them chips?), chocolates etc easy to eat. They are slider foods for a reason. Be aware! However, if you stick to dense real food, the sleeve is a great tool. It keeps your portions small.

Morning sleevers. The day is finally here. I'm having my Gastric Sleeve this afternoon! I'm nervous, anxious, scared, excited, you name it. My first surgery so I'm nervous of what to expect and how I will react to the anaesthetic. My sister had a sleeve nearly 3 years ago and has lost over 100lbs. My turn. Im being treated privately under the care of Mr Hassn in South Wales, UK. Fingers crossed I have one of the easier journeys I've read about. Hoping to use this post as a kind of diary of my experience. Starting weight 22st 13 (321lbs). No pre op diet required by my surgeon so it's going to be in at the deep end. Been overweight my whole life with episodes of great weight loss but the weight creeps back on over time. I'm drawing a line under the yoyo dieting and want a thinner healthier me! Wish me luck!

Hi Cass. Me neither! I'm good thanks. How are you? I've lost 81lbs as of this morning. Coping with my tiny portions better. Still miss a big meal now and then. But looking at my smaller belly, bigger muscles and finally being able to feel my tubs when I lay down Is quite nice. Feel a whole lot better in myself. Much fitter. Exercising 3 times a week and that makes me feel stronger. So how are you doing?

Hi Sleevers. Hope you are all good out there. Quick little update. Been a while. so I'm 14 weeks post sleeve operation. I'm down a total of 62lbs from my surgery day. 63lbs to go till target.

Hi Sleevers. Updating as I've been a bit lax! Sorry Week 11. Another 2lb lost. Getting there slowly. I make that 54lb's lost (but I've lost another couple of lbs since my weigh day on Monday). Hope you are all good out there

I'm right with you on this! I'm 10 weeks post sleeve and I too miss a good meal. I don't miss aching knees and a huge belly but I miss sitting down to a good dinner. It's now all over in a few mouthfuls and I don't usually feel satisfied. More like a passing necessity than something to look forward to. But the health benefits are coming and I do feel much healthier already. As others are saying from further in the journey, I hope it's a passing thing and I'll look back on my prior indulgence as something never to be repeated.

Week 10. 4lbs lost.

Hi Cass. Good thanks. How are you keeping?

Thank you 👍

Hi Sleevers. Week 9 update. Another 3lbs lost. Kind of lost this weight early in the week and been the same for the last few days. I weigh every morning as part of a post sleeve routine. I know I shouldn't but it's become a habit. Food - Good. Enjoying sauce type dishes like chicken in a white sauce, minced beef in gravy, stewed steak in gravy, casserole, curry etc. Usually with a little mashed potato, pasta or rice (but rice is hard to eat still as it seems to get stuck, mash is better). My Brie on a thin slice of baguette has become a staple of each day. Usually just one slice but I sometimes have one slice for breakfast with a yoghurt and then one for supper. Lunch and dinner have kind of become interchangeable. I'm having a treat type meal on a Friday. Usually a small Chinese takeaway. Still a tiny portion and it lasts me 2 or 3 days as lunch or dinner to finish my full portion but it's nice for a change. Taking a multi vitamin every day and drinking a protein shake now and then (maybe every couple of days). Exercise - Good. Doing about 35-45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Mixture of cycling, elliptical cross trainer, light weights and playing table tennis. My wife and I enjoy a game of table tennis. Burning around 300 calories per session so all good to reduce my nett intake. Mental health - I'm still missing larger meals 9 weeks in. I'm never really hungry but the small portions don't really satisfy me (mentally I guess). I've tried eating from a side plate or a bowl but that doesn't really make any difference. I just miss a good chow down I guess. Chewing everything for ages and slowing down my meals feels unnatural somehow. Guess I'm changing the habits of a life time. Slowly, slowly. Hope you're all good out there and doing well with your sleeves.

Hi Sleevers. Think this is my week 8 update. Another 3lbs off! Wish it was more but 3lbs, is 3lbs. Kind of settling on 3lbs a week. I'm no longer in the class 3 obese category. Now class 2. No idea what that really means but sounds good. Evening meals are still a hassle. This was when I did most of my eating in front of the tv and now, I just can't eat quantity. Good job really but it does piss me off! We had steak last night with a potato salad. I managed two bites of steak and that was me done. I left it for an hour or do then ate the rest of my tiny steak cause it tasted so good. Breakfast, lunch are ok. I do get hung up feeling guilty on eating a snack. Even if it's a little ham or chicken. I know I shouldn't but I do. I've found a slice of bread from a baguette about 1/2" thick topped with some Brie or Camembert is a great little snack. Around 100 calories but so worth it lol Hope you've all had a good week x

Hi Cass. Awww wow! Little Stevie is gorgeous!! Big hug from me. France was a real tonic for me. We lived there for a few years before returning to the uk a few years back. I miss it and the friends we made a lot. Hopefully retire there one day. Great that you're doing well. I like the eating smaller and more often thing but I'm worried that I'm storing trouble for later. Will it just end up large meals more often?! 😧 I feel for your uncle. My knees ached like hell mist days before the op. Loosing just 40lbs has made such a difference. Knees no longer ache. It is hard to become the great advice giver. Heres a photo of my baby four legged girl and my better half in France.

Hi Sleevers. A bit of a late update as we've been on a little holiday to France to see friends. Managed to kind of stick to programme over the holiday. Lots of small snack type meals. The food there really does taste good [emoji4]. So I weighed this morning and I'm 5lbs down. Result! Total lost since op, 41lbs!!! In just over 6 weeks!!! Food - Finding eating smaller meals but a little more frequently much better for me. I'm finding I get kind of hungry a few hours after eating so I eat something small and I'm fine for another few hours. Still drinking plenty of tea and sugar free fruit drinks. Mental health - The holiday and seeing friends did me the world of good. It took my mind off the food pretty much for a whole week. I shared about my surgery with my friends in france and talking about it helped I'm sure. They were very supportive. Exercise - no dedicated exercise as I was doing before the holiday but I walked quite a lot and felt pretty tired. Speaking a little french and concentrating more was hard work! Back home and back to programme now. Hope you've all had a good week or two.

Hi Sleevers. Week 5 update. Weight loss thus week, 3lbs. Not as much as I'd hoped but it's still a loss. Food - this week has been much better food wise. I keep trying new foods and pretty much everything is fine. Portions still small (thank god) but I'm finding myself getting hungry quite often. So I eat more often. Calories probably up to 800-1000 per day. Exercise - doing 25 odd minutes a day on elliptical trainer and on stationary bicycle. Burning about 200-250 calories. Mental attitude - besides a few regretful episodes,I feel like I'm getting a handle on this. Less food sure but I feel so much better. Healthier, lighter, fitter! Hope you've all had a great week

I'm four and a half weeks post sleeve and I must admit to having lots of the same feelings as the original poster and others on this thread over this time. I too miss food. I've been thinking about this long and hard as there's no way back. Would I really want to go back?! I guess it all boils down to why I did this and took this extreme measure to change my weight. For me, I was literally heading for an early grave. I had a BMI of over 45 and I smoked around 30 cigarettes a day. I know, giving up smoking and my food addiction as well as surgery - crazy dude!! So fast forward a month and I've lost 35lbs and not had a single cigarette since surgery. That has got to be worth the loss of stuffing my face on a regular basis. I'm learning to live with this new stomach. Food and eating have kind of lost their appeal recently. Tiny portions and the full (more like pressure from the gut up) feeling kind of spoils most of my meals. So I eat cause I have to. Soup, soft stuff, yogurt. Not my first choice before the sleeve but it kind of works now. The trade off - I feel better, lighter, fitter already. Started exercising again which is a plus. Weight keeps dropping. No more cigarettes. Has to be worth it right?!

Hi Cass. I think of this thread as my weekly therapy lol 😂 Good to jot down what I've been doing and feeling in the last week. thanks for the keto idea. I've read a lot of people seem to be following this kind of eating plan on here. High protein and fat, low or no carb. Reminds me of Atkins. I'm mostly happy to follow something like this but I'm a carb kinda guy as well. Probably what sent me down this journey in the first place. Don't think pasta will do you any harm. Done most of its swelling in the pan. Glad you're doing well. Sounds like a fun time. Cheesecake! I need to get on some of that!! 😂

Pleasure. I think as long as you listen to your body (stomach) and the weight keeps going in the right direction, you should be ok. As I say, the only food I've struggled with so far is rice. Soup seems to be my new friend. Not tried bread yet, I'm saving that treat for another day

Thank you. I saw my surgeon last week and I was cleared for pretty much any food. The exceptions initially are tough meat and hard or crusty breads. I think my surgeons philosophy is that you are very much restricted by the quantity you eat not the type of food. If your stomach has healed well, it can take pretty much any kind of food.

Hi Sleevers. Week 4 post sleeve update. I'm down another 4lbs. Total lost since sleeve op, 32lbs. Seems to be settling to 4lbs a week weight loss which is fine by me. Food - I know I keep bitching about this but I'm still head hungry and missing my larger portions. I'm hoping this will ease as I get used to smaller portions as time goes by. I've been trying most regular foods this week without any real problems. Pasta check, fish check, soups with a little veg check. Tried a little rice but that was tough as it just kinda got stuck going down. I'm mainly sticking with mashed potato with everything. Drinking lots each day and about 800 calories. Hope you're all doing good out there.

Glad you're doing okay. It is hard to look through all the other stuff in life and focus on ourselves for a few weeks. Think it's super important though. Especially at the beginning. Hope you find some time. Got cleared for moderate exercise and pretty much all foods yesterday with the exception of hard foods (like tough steak) so I'm feeling much better about the whole thing. Had some fish pie yesterday after my surgeon visit. The kind topped with mashed potatoes and cheese. I felt my first real restriction eating that and even though it was a tiny portion (maybe 5oz), I had to leave some on my plate. A first! Thank the lord. Thought I was going to be the first bariatric patient that didn't feel full! 😂 Still smoking free! Loving that 👍 Take care and try to find some "look after yourself" time x

Thanks Cass. We are awesome!! 😂 How are you doing?

Thank you 😘

Week 3 post sleeve update. Weight lost 28lbs! Think I'm in a stall as weight loss has slowed to a crawl but that's ok. It's still heading in the right direction. Been eating one soft meal a day and then soup and my protein shake for breakfast. Settling into this routine. Have an appointment with my surgeon this afternoon so I have lots of questions prepared. Still missing "normal food" but the inclusion of one soft mini meal a day is helping - a lot!

Hi Sleevers. I'm 2 weeks and 3 days post sleeve op. Still on a mainly liquid diet but with a couple of soft meals in the last couple of days. My questions. Is it normal to miss the way you ate before? The types of food, the portion sizes the satisfaction of a large meal? Im finding myself missing these things and thinking what have I done! ive lost 27lbs since my surgery date and I know I should be ecstatic about that and I am really happy about the weight loss but I get down sometimes missing my old food buddies. Does this pass? When do you feel full with a small portion? I've not felt hungry since the surgery but just feel I'm going through the motions.

Little mid week post/question. I spoke to my surgeon earlier this week and he has okayed soft foods from today. Thank the lord. Soup, yogurt and jelly was driving me crazy. I miss real food! Question. Any recipe ideas for soft foods that taste good? The thought of just scrambled eggs or mashed potato just doesn't do it for me!