Introversion

I'm 2.5 years post-op and have never received a welfare check call from the bariatric practice, nor have I seen my surgeon since the day of surgery. Many bariatric practices conclude that we're all reasonably intelligent adults with the capability to telephone them for any issues. Placing calls to see if we're okay is time-consuming.

In general, naturally-occurring fats are good: nuts, avocados, coconut oil, butter, olive oil, etc. Industrial man-made fats (shortening, margarine, trans-fats, hydrogenated oils) are not so good.

Cream of Wheat is considered a pudding-thick consistency liquid, and since one bowl of it only has 2 grams of protein, you won't feel full after eating it. Only dense protein causes that feeling of fullness and satiety for most sleevers. Cream of Wheat lacks the consistency and protein to cause satiety.

I had BC/BS of Texas at the time I was sleeved more than 2 years ago. Keep in mind that each insurance policy has differing requirements even though they all may carry the BC/BS name. Thank goodness I didn't need to display 5 years of problematic weight history. I weighed 128 pounds the year before I qualified for the sleeve, which would have been a huge red flag. I qualified with a BMI of 37 and one comorbid condition (elevated cholesterol).

Liquids won't keep you full. Only dense protein (chicken, steak, pork chops, turkey) fills you up. Liquids rapidly enter the sleeve before sticking around for a few minutes to enter the small intestine via the pyloric valve at the bottom of our stomachs. The moral of the story is that, since liquids don't stay in the stomach for longer than a few minutes, they don't result in fullness or satiety for most sleevers. Pureed foods are blended to a pudding-thickened liquid consistency, so they might not get you full either. For most sleevers, only solid protein does the trick.

Only 2 grams of protein for three whopping cookies? These cookies would be an utter waste of space in your sleeve. When you look at the nutritional facts, they're just another empty calorie snack. Just stick to cookies 'n cream flavored protein bars. You'll satisfy your craving for a cookie while actually feeding some protein to your body. When I get a sweet tooth, I eat Halo Top ice cream (240 calories and 24 grams of protein per pint). The Enlightened brand ice cream is also good.

You've lost 16 pounds in the first 2 weeks. You're on target. Look up the 3-week stall or 'third week stall.' It's a real phenomenon that most sleevers experience during the 2nd and 4th week post-op, but usually it happens around week 3. In addition, when is the last time you lost 16 pounds in less than 3 weeks? I assume the answer is 'never.' Realistic expectations are important throughout the weight loss phase. The vast majority of my monthly losses were single digit (read: 1 to 7 pounds per month). What matters to me is the bigger picture: I lost 100+ pounds and have kept it off. Good luck to you, and try to stay off the scale for a few weeks.

You aren't going to find many sleevers who are 10+ years out because the gastric sleeve surgery was very uncommon 10+ years ago (circa 2007). Bariatric surgeons weren't really performing them back then. The gastric bypass was king. The lap band was also wildly popular in those days. A very small handful of people were sleeved in '08 and '09, but the first large wave of sleevers had their surgeries performed in 2010/2011.

You can't compare your weight loss to others.... For comparison, I'd lost 33.5 pounds at 3 months out, so you're actually losing at a faster rate than me if you've already lost 40 in 2.5 months. What matters is the final result: I reached my goal weight and have maintained the loss. Nobody gives a rat's ass how fast or slowly you lost it if you regain it all. Weight maintenance matters more than weight loss. Good luck to you.

The operating time for a typical gastric sleeve is less than 60 minutes, versus an average of 135 minutes for gastric bypass. The sleeve is definitely the simpler of the two procedures. My sleeve operation was 30 minutes. In addition, my surgeon spent an extra 1 minute to repair a hiatal hernia. Due to my uncomplicated recovery, I was ready to return to work in 1 week.

You might be prone to keloid scarring. Those who are prone to keloid scarring develop surgical scars that are raised, darkened and permanently hardened. It's been 3 weeks since surgery. The typical laporascopic surgical incision heals in 14 days or less, so you're beyond that timeframe. What you see is what you'll likely deal with long term. You can use Ambi fade cream to lighten the incisions. Nonetheless, scarring is a trade-off I happily accepted in exchange for being a normal-weight person who can maintain the weight loss. My scars, to me, are badges of honor. Good luck to you.

With a lowish BMI of 35 and less than 75 pounds to lose, I'd be reluctant to undergo gastric bypass unless I had PCOS or a confirmed diagnosis of diabetes. You're prediabetic, but not yet diabetic. While both surgeries offer amazing benefits, I'd lean toward a sleeve if I were you. It would be disastrous if you lost 100+ pounds with a bypass when you are a 'lightweight' who doesn't need to lose nearly that much. Good luck with the decision-making process.

My night snacks include string cheese, peanuts, beef jerky, turkey pepperoni, and turkey sausage sticks. You'll notice all of my snacks have a high protein count. I stay away from carb-laden sliders such as pretzels, chips, crackers and cookies.

I went through my insurance. However, as recently as a few years ago, Dr. Borland in New Iberia, Louisiana was charging a $9,800 cash price for the gastric sleeve. Dr. Maytorena of Long Term VSG in Mexico charges $2,999 all-inclusive.

Each surgeon has different guidelines. Some allow you to resume caffeinated beverages after 1 month, others allow them after 2 months, and a few demand you abstain from caffeine for life. Caffeine is an important ingredient in my maintenance (100+ pounds lost), so I'd seriously question any doctor or dietitian who wants me to abstain forever... And I'd disobey their orders.

Caffeine doesn't slow the rate of weight loss. In fact, caffeinated products promote a reduction in appetite and stimulate the metabolism. Since most obese/formerly obese people are carb-sensitive, sugar-sweetened beverages cause stalls and/or cause the rate of weight loss to come to a screeching halt, but not caffeine. FYI, I drink a minimum of 3 cups of strong caffeinated coffee daily in addition to a quart of caffeinated iced tea. Since caffeine stimulates gastric acid secretions, most surgeons and dietitians prefer we avoid it during the immediate post-op period.

I also had a hernia repair at the same time I was sleeved. I had no pain after the 4th postoperative day. I returned to work (post-acute stroke floor) 2 weeks later with lots of heavy patients.

According to the profile, (s)he plans to have a gastric sleeve.

Please...3 months is rabid overkill, especially for a sleeve, band, or bypass. These are simple, minimally-invasive laporascopic surgeries. My sleeve was a same-day procedure: I was operated on in the morning and sent home that night. Those with no complications and sedentary jobs often return to work in 1 week. Those with complications, slower healing, and/or laborious jobs usually return to work in 2 to 4 weeks. But 3 months (12 whopping weeks)? The bariatric coordinator who said that is living in La La Land among the ivory towers and unicorns who fart rainbows.

I was an RN house supervisor at a small specialty hospital when I was sleeved 2.5 years ago. I was fine enough to return to work after 1 week, but ended up taking 2 weeks off to utilize excess PTO hours that I had accrued.

You can have the juice... Nonetheless, just because you can have it doesn't mean you should. While juice is perceived as healthy, most juices have just as much sugar as soda. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fruit-juice-is-just-as-bad-as-soda If you want orange juice, it's better to enjoy an orange. If you want grapefruit juice, enjoy an actual grapefruit instead. Due to the fiber in fruit, the body's reaction to the fruit sugar is mitigated. In addition, it's a horrible idea to drink your calories so early in the game. Fruit juice is empty calories: devoid of protein, fiber, and healthy fat. It's a waste of time and space in your sleeve.

Without knowing you, I'd say you're falling into a delusional trap. Here's the deal. The vast majority of us can lose weight just fine without the help of surgery. However, most of us cannot keep the weight off without bariatric surgery. After losing the weight on your own without surgery, there's a 5% chance of maintaining a massive weight loss. There's a 95% probability you'll regain it all plus more. When we lose weight on our own, a few months pass before the body fights like hell to regain. You become tired, hungry, and develop cravings that overwhelm your capacity for willpower. With the neurohormal changes prompted by surgery, you'll actually have a fighting chance of keeping the weight off for life. Bariatric surgery is the only proven method that helps formerly obese people maintain whatever weight they lose. Without surgery, you'll climb an uphill battle for life. Good luck to you.

I'm 5'1. My original goal weight was 110 lbs (BMI of 20), but I revised it upward to 130 because I was losing so slowly and thought I'd never make it to goal. 17 months post-op I reached 118 pounds (BMI of 22). My body's decided to settle here for now. I like how I look at 118 lbs and have been in maintenance a little more than a year.

Your sleeve isn't stretching. The extreme stomach tightness most of us feel during the first few months post-op is due to healing and the inflammation process. Therefore, most people feel full after a few bites of food in those first few months. It takes 3 to 6 months for a typical sleeve to fully heal and reach its normal size. Once it heals, your capacity usually doubles from 2 to 4 ounces up to 4 to 8 ounces. This is normal. The profound fullness you feel in the immediate post-op period doesn't last forever, and it really shouldn't. Surgeon Dr. Matthew Weiner explains it in his YouTube videos. He says that by the 3rd to 5th year, a typical sleever can eat two-thirds to a full plate of food (8 to 12 ounces). It's not about how much you can eat. Rather, it's about what you eat. In other words, expect your sleeve's total capacity to continually increase from this point forward. As long as it doesn't exceed 8 to 12 ounces, there's little to worry about. Good luck to you.

Soup is a liquid. Yogurt is a liquid (pudding thick consistency). Liquid-consistency foods don't promote fullness or satiety in many sleevers simply because they don't remain in our sleeved stomachs for longer than a few minutes. Liquids exit our sleeves rapidly via the pyloric valve and into the small intestine. You could probably eat a gallon of potato corn chowder soup (3070 calories) over the course of a few hours and still be somewhat hungry. I assure you'll feel stuffed with 4 ounces of chicken breast, pork chops, turkey, or steak. Rigid protein and fibrous veggies trigger satiety. Everything else is a 'slider,' a.k.a. food that slides into our stomachs without triggering satiety.