Tex Slim 66

Hope4momof4, that's a really good catch on the snack calories! When I stalled the first time I was eating too many nuts in the evening before dinner. Back to drinking more water and/or Crystal light when I did this I wasn't "hungry" before dinner. Don't get frustrated, we're all still learning how to live a new healthy life. It's totally normal to have a couple of potholes on the road. Finding them and fixing them is the key. Maybe also check some other metrics like blood pressure, clothing size and blood work if you get some done. I saw major benefits in blood pressure (down ±20), down 4" inches in waist size and much lower total cholesterol and triglycerides. There are many other signs than weight that you are living so much more healthy. As you keep exercising you will grow muscle mass which add pounds (and adds metabolic activity !) so weight is not the whole story. Stay positive you are off to a great start! Have a great weekend! Tex

Yikes two kids and snow days, how do you spell C-A-B-I-N F-E-V-E-R!! Hang in there winter is the worst, at least the days are getting longer, hopefully you get some nicer weather and can get outside to walk around a bit. Take care! Tex

Hey Hope4momof4 great post, thanks for adding the calories. You are getting more than enough protein, couple minor suggestions. Here's how your diet compares to mine, I'm eating about 800-1000 calories per day: 2 eggs in morning, have less protein ( only 12G) but also less calories (125) than smoothy. Morning snack non-fat yogurt. 17 gram protein, 90 calories For lunch and dinner think about using a scale for protein and veggie portions. For lunch I eat 3 ounces protein (usually chicken) 23 g protein, 200 calories. Afternoon snack- sugar free pudding 60 calories For dinner I'm using 3-4 ounces of protein and 1/4 cup of brown rice or pasta and 1/4 cup of green veggies. Salmon 2x per week, Chicken 2x per week, steak once. Usually about 300 calories, 20 grams protein. One more thought if I look at weight loss by month, don't get too depressed with only first month, there's more weight loss to come. Stick to your plan, you can Here's my weight loss by month: First month 16 lbs 2nd month 13 lbs 3rd month 10 lbs Let me know what you think, Tex

Hope4momof4, thanks for the compliment!! Really like the ticker!! Your diet looks pretty good to me, very similar to mine. Your exercise routine is also really good. How long is the stall this time and what was the rate of weight loss before it? It's frustrating I know, I'm in another one now, I've been at 265 lbs for a week and hoping to drop some this weekend or next week. I would keep going with water and/or crystal light for fluids intake. Only thing I can suggest is to think about stopping the protein drinks. As I was at my 6 week appointment I was still doing the liquid diet and my Dr. really challenged me to get off liquid protein and go to all solid food. His thought process was that these liquid calories (140 - 200 per drink box) are very easily ingested and the stomach pocket doesn't fill when you eat, this doesn't help the feeling of satiety (being full). He was really adamant that liquid calories were to be avoided as much as possible, even if lean protein. One other observation about the protein drinks (this may be TMI for some) when I was drinking 2 or more them in a day my lower GI wasn't really processing them that well (kind of being constipated on a long term basis). As I stopped drinking protein drink about week 8 I noticed that I became more regular and the volume of waste increased. If you stopped the protein drinks you could consider going to 2 whole eggs to get more protein instead of the egg whites. "Food for thought" Haha! Let me know how it goes and what works, Tex

Hey Zaa, sorry to hear the post procedure experience hasn't been so smooth. I can't imagine the feeling of spitting up that way. How are you doing now, any better? Your attitude is so positive, keeping it that way is key to your success. Please let us know how things are progressing, we're here to share and learn from each other and to provide support during the difficult times of these major changes in our lives. It never goes perfectly smoothly for any of us and we're here to help and when it doesn't! Take care, Tex

Hey MominCanada, welcome and thanks for sharing. I had an ESG in November last year in Houston. I checked out Dr. Marvin and was confident in him, you should have a good experience. Stalls, great question, we all have them and there is usually more than one in my experience. It's a large change that our bodies are going though and each body reacts differently, it's not a linear process. I had a stall for 10 days where I didn't lose any weight, gained 1 pound and then afterwards in 2-3 days lost 3 pounds. Difficult for me as an engineer to explain. Water consumption and keeping it high seems to have something to do with it, see several recent posts in ESG forum. A number of us have had stalls, gone back and increased our water intake back >60-80 ounces per day and continued to lose weight. I have a goal >> than 20% weight loss and am about half way there. I would encourage you to discuss your goals clearly with Dr. Marvin and ask his opinion with your specific body size/shape and goal is ESG the best way to go. I had this same discussion with my Dr. and concluded VSG or ESG would work (I did not want something temporary like balloons) and eventually chose ESG due to the simpler procedure and quicker recovery time. My diet is very similar to a ketosis diet (only smaller portions) and when I have my blood checked I am deep into ketosis. Typically eating 2 eggs in AM, 3 ounces of protein at lunch and dinner with 1/4 cup green vegetables and 1/4 cup brown rice or pasta. I will do a yogurt for snack in AM and sugar free chocolate pudding for snack in PM. Total 800-1000 calories/day. When I spoke with the dietician we agreed this was very similar to a keto diet. I have the same approach with sharing, other than my wife not talking about procedure with others. I have told them I'm working with a doctor on a very strict diet, with blood monitoring, etc. Diet is focused on on lean proteins and similar to keto approach. So far so good on that front. Keep the questions coming, we're here to help! Please keep sharing it can help so many others! Tex

Hope4momof4, no worries, it took me a while to figure it out too! 1) Near the top band of the screen you will see your name with a click down arrow to the right of it, click on the drop down arrow 2) select "My tickers" (under settings) 3) you can select "Edit Tickers" lower left to choose the style of ticker you want, when done with this select "Add to my signature" on lower right 4) for the ticker to be up to date in your signature you need to add your weight info to your profile. You can do this be going back up to your name on the top of the page and clicking the drop down arrow to the right 5) select "My surgery" 6) Select "Progress" with the graph icon 7) on the Progress page update your current weight, goal weight, starting weight etc. You can choose to keep your weight private and just show excess weight loss if this is more appealing. I just did the full weight, it's mine, I own it and this has been part of my accountability process to share this information on the ESG forum. Hope this is helpful, really appreciate the continued sharing it is helping me to stay the course and keep moving towards my goal. Thanks to all, GREAT support from ESG forum!!

Hey justagrirl77, how is it going 2 weeks later? Feeling any better? Make sure to keep drinking lots of water, >80 oz per day. I went thru a stall recently for 7-10 days, even gained 1 pound. I was getting the same hunger feelings, just wasn't drinking enough water. Increased my Crystal Light intake the past week or so and I'm back to losing weight again. Give it a try! Tex

hope4momof4, hey you're not exposed, great idea to share this info, we're all in this together! Awesome start 12 lbs is a big deal! Male 52 years old, 6'2" tall HW - 330 lbs SW - 308 lbs CW - 268 lbs GW - 225 lbs - Call me crazy this is a goal to get back to my college weight --> You inspired me to add a ticker to my signature and share this info with each post. Thanks for that, I think our transparency and honesty about the process of changing our lives is one of the greatest gifts that we can give those people on the forum who haven't decided to do a procedure. Reading posts on this forum is what got me "over the hump" to have an ESG and I am so grateful for the information that enabled me to take that decision. I feel so much better physically and mentally about my body and my life going forward only 3 months after having the ESG! Keep in touch, Tex

patriciaholland, don't be nervous and please feel free to ask us any questions. We have all been there and shared the same worries. The procedure itself is not complex and the recovery is not long lasting. Take the anti-nausea meds, get plenty of liquids and in the first days after your procedure get up and walk around quite a bit. You can be gassy as your stomach adjusts post ESG and I found walking around to solve any gas pain in ~30 seconds. Also I slept "sitting up" (on pillows on my couch) the first 2-3 nights so that my stomach wasn't horizontal. My Dr. recommended this to minimize gas and I found that it worked well. Best thing you can do is mentally be ready and commit to changing your health and life for the better. This is your chance to make that change and as you have seen from us you can do it! You will find the procedure provides an incredible boost to your will power and the "desire" for eating will be fundamentally different post ESG. Keep chatting with us and we will help you get there too! Tex

AmyAlexis, wow thanks, awesome reminder! I was in a stall for ~7-10 days and hadn't lost a pound, even gained one back. Getting a bit frustrated and it's amazing how frustration can lead to meaningless evening grazing (confession- even if it was just nuts). After reading your post I realized I had started to ignore my water consumption being "too busy at work" and also not drinking any water in the evening. I was getting dehydrated (TMI - color of urine). Last couple of days I have been back to drinking 80+ ounces of water each day, including drinking 2-3 glasses of Crystal Light Red Rasberry ice tea in the evenings after dinner (don't "need" snacks, just liquids) and getting back to a better place (clear). I'm down 2 pounds this week and I made it to 40 pounds lost!!! Last time I was in the 260's was >15 years ago and I was in my 30's (very old man here!) I will hit the half way mark towards my goal in the next week! Feeling great about this since my surgery was Nov 21! Thanks agin for the reminder, worked for me!! Take care! Tex

PinkMints, great question. I was very worried about stitches loosening or breaking, this lasted until my 6 week appointment following ESG. Had a good discussion with my Dr and he helped me to know that at that point "everything was solid" and the only occasion to worry about something breaking was in the case of vomiting. His simple rule was if you eat a food once and have a difficult time digesting it then just remember that and don't go back to eat that food again. I've only had one real issue with some sautéed mushrooms that I tried one evening when eating out. Too much oil/butter/garlic for me to take, so strike those from the menu. Great to hear the experiences of others on this one. Tex

hope4momof4, wow great start, 7 pounds in 1st week! Congrats and so nice to see teenager's noticing the improvements (that is not easy recognition to get!). Awesome that your energy level is up and you hare having a similar experience of no cravings. Don't forget to enjoy that extra energy being active with your teens, that will surprise them even more. Ease back into the exercise and keep the faith on what you are eating. Keep sharing, again great job! Tex

PinkMints, good question, not a stupid one. I have had ESG last November and am enjoying the results, down >35 lbs since my procedure. ESG uses an endoscope, which goes down your throat, and cross stitches your stomach, with about 12 stitches to reduce it's volume and form a sleeve in the shape of a banana. Read thru some of my older posts if you're interested to understand what ESG is like. ESG is a less invasive form or procedure than a Vertical Sleeve Gastronomy which uses a laparoscope incision in your stomach and removes part of your stomach before forming the sleeve shape. My procedure took about 90 minutes and I was up and about later that day, feeling normal again within 3-4 days. This is a shorter recovery period than VSG. From what I read online Gastric plication sounds like a folding of your stomach and suturing with a laparoscope, so there is an incision similar to VSG. Here's some further info on ESG: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5719914/ https://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/endoscopic-sleeve-gastroplasty.html Take care, Tex

Melesg, great job, that a big step particularly after what you have already lost. Interesting to see you went back to protein shake for breakfast, I have been thinking about doing the same thing. I need to pick up my gym work and make fitness a larger part of my goals going forward. I'm down between 1-2 pounds per week the last month or so. I'm at a weight that I haven't seen since my early 40's, which is a really nice feeling, Getting ready to go down another waist size (will be 4" down so far) which is even better. Also great to hear you are thinking about what is the best target for you and judging by how you fell, not just a number, very positive thought process. Take care and keep in touch! Tex

Hope4momof4, I knew you could do it. So great to hear of your progress in day 4, nice that you were able to stop the pain pills on day 3, good move. Thanks for sharing your details so that other's can know the experience is not so traumatic and can make a huge improvement in their health and quality of life. Keep going you are in for a great next 3 months with your body finally feeling like it has come back under your control and not that of cravings. Have a great weekend! Tex

Wow!! Luv Life that is awesome! Such a change for the better in your health and quality of life! Congrats, thanks for sharing the positive news and keep going for the next 35! Keep in touch, Tex

great progress hope4momof4! keep drinking the liquids. So happy for you that you are feeling better!

Congrats hope4momof4 big step to the positive for your life! Glad to hear you are home and recovering. Major change for your body, take it easy thru the weekend and let it adjust. When the amount of gas goes down and you feel less groggy that's a good sign and you can think about increasing activity from there. A few days in the scheme of life is not a big deal. Lots of water, chicken bouillon was key for me, I just kept going with the anti-nausea meds and tried to back down on the pain pills if I wasn't feeling strong pain (I didn't). Really want easy fluids for your stomach to settle down and get used to the new smaller you! Congrats again! Tex

Good luck hope4momof4!! We will be thinking of you! Lets us know how you feel when you get back .

hope4momof4, I had the same challenge with the pre-op liquid diet. I was still feeling my pm cravings, for me the worst hours were from 4-8 pm, seemed like I couldn't stop munching. I just don't have this physical or mental desire now post ESG, the procedure really helped my hormones in addition to reducing my stomach volume. I only did the Sunday and Monday on liquid only diet and my procedure was Tues AM. No impact to my procedure, last 2 days are what count. All turned out fine. Your anti-nausea meds are the same as what I took. Your in our thoughts and prayers, your doctor sounds great very reassuring. You're going to make a real difference in your life and the life of your family next week! We're with you all the way! Tex

Melesg, great to hear from you, really like the motivating thoughts you shared! Hope all is going well for you. Similar experience for me, the initial sedation had me fairly weak and I can't recall much from the initial discussion with the anesthetist. Since November procedure I'm the ultimate cheap drunk! Take care! Tex

LivingLife, welcome to the forum, glad to hear you're doing well. VSG should make a big difference as well. Keep sharing your experiences, there are many who would like to see these changes in their lives but hesitate due to the unknown. Those of us who have had procedures have a great gift to give in sharing how it went, what we felt and the results we see along the way. Look forward to hearing more from you. Tex

Hope4momof4, hey, no cold feet for you! You've got this and are 3 days away from beginning the phase of your life where you are in control of your weight and don't feel the "desire" to snack or "crave" for sweets. ESG and the right mindset have done this for me, down 36 pounds since November. I have 10 more pounds to go to reach my half-way target on weight loss. I have not been down to my current weight since my early 40's and I feel younger than this. Think going down in clothes one size and then they are still loose, sound good? My procedure went smoothly, did not have a sore throat from the endoscope, did not have nausea afterwards (thanks to the meds provided, just take them and relax). I slept a lot the day of my procedure and was up and around the day after. You know the diet, you have prepared with foods and all the tips we can provide, there's nothing more for you to do than stay strong and keep the courage of your convictions, it will turn out fine. Don't forget the positive impact you becoming more healthy will have on your family. My wife has lost 20 pounds as we try to live a more healthy lifestyle together now. One of our teen daughters has also lost 10 pounds since the holidays, parents are role models for their kids and our actions truly matter. Keep in touch, we'll keep you strong! Tex

Sheila, no problem, glad to help. I was in the same place last year and this forum was really helpful for me to hear the experience that ESGers had with their procedure and following weight loss. Same problem for me last 6 years after I turned 45, just couldn't keep from gaining weight no matter what diet/exercise I did. I get the sweet tooth thing, it sounds strange now I'm sure, but I just don't have those feelings in my stomach or head to desire to eat the really killer sweets/deserts. A lot of talk about the reduction in stomach size and change in hormone production related to hunger, I'm not an expert as to why I feel this way. I'm totally different now, pre ESG, chocolates, ice cream, way to rich cakes, bread pudding, bring it on!! Now not at all. This lack of "hunger/desire" for food has made it so much easier to cut my intake of calories and not be portion control challenged. Keep asking questions we're glad to help, you will make a huge difference in your quality of life with the ESG procedure.