SueperGal

I need to whine/vent for just a minute. I have been semi stalled/slow for the last 3 weeks (.8, 1.8, .4) . I have lost 20 lbs since surgery (the last 6 weeks/ Surgery 5/29). Yes, I know to look at the big picture. Yes, I know that stalls and slow downs are common and I need to be patient. Yes, I am getting 90 g of protein a day, just about 800 calories (low carb, low fat), and 64-100 oz of water. I am also exercising at least 30 min a day (2 days a week with a personal trainer). No, I am not a lightweight (272 on surgery day). It will happen soon, and I will wonder what I was complaining about and all that, but that isn't stopping me from being annoyed right now. My surgeon said I should expect to lose about .5 lbs a day. I suppose looking at the 20 lbs I lost over the last 41-42 days, this looks about right. I cannot help but feel like I am missing out on some of that sweet honeymoon period weight loss though. It hard not to compare myself to others on here and other sites and feel like I am a little broken lol. I am not necessarily looking for a fix, just understanding/sympathy. I think my family and friends are getting tired of hearing about it from me. I figured you all would understand more than anyone. Is anyone else on this struggle bus?

@cosbourne I like Protein 2O. I have only been able to find it on amazon. I tried the berry flavor (no thanks) and the coconut flavor. The coconut flavor is my go to. It is 15g of protein for the bottle, so not too bad. It is definitely a strong flavor, which is fine as long as you like it. I do not think it is sweet. I have not tried the clear premier protein. A lot of other clear protein drinks that I have tried taste like straight protein powder . With the Protein 2O, I do not taste the protein at all.

I have not lost too much just yet since I am just getting started, but people are noticing. The odd thing is that they do not say anything to me, they talk to my friends and husband and I get the message through them. My husband had a discussion with some acquaintances last week who said they were worried about saying anything to me because they did not want me to think that they did not like me how I was or that they would not like how I looked if I regained the weight. As many on here have already said, people are not sure how to react, especially the people who know you, so they do and say weird things. I am sure everyone means well, they just are not sure where the line is between complement and backwards complement.

Hi @Happy2lose13, no problem at all. I get so excited seeing other people in the same boat. I am 5'7" and according to my scale, I was 272 on surgery day. If your constipation is still manageable, meaning you can go on your own, my surgeon recommended Colace twice per day. Not sure why I wasn't taking these from day once since I already had constipation before surgery. Anyway, I got to the point where I was not able to go and had to go to the emergency room for help. I am on a prescription laxative right now for 10 days and then switching back to Colace after. So far, the issue has been resolved. I have seen a few people ask about this in other areas of the forum and everyone has different recommendations, so check those out too if you are interested :-).

I was sleeved May 29th, so officially 4 weeks out now. I have lost 18 lbs so far since surgery (only .8 last week). I think I hit a little minor stall here, so hopefully it picks back up this week. It would have taken me months of hard dieting to do this on my own before. I just hit the puree stage and have never been more thrilled about a few bites of fat free refried beans. My surgeon released me for exercise during my second week, so I have been hitting the gym with a personal trainer for the last two weeks. I was at around 350 calories until this week and just jumped to 450 with the purees. No major complications so far, except: terrible constipation (being treated), and acid reflux (asking surgeon about this on Thursday).

If you are at the point where you can still go, please start using colace twice a day (or your choice of softners) immediately. They take time to kick in. I am three weeks out and mine got progressively worse. I think mine is due to my extended full liquid diet. I had two weeks full liquids preop, then 1 week clear liquids, and 3 weeks full liquids (still on full liquids now). Too much protein and not enough of anything else aside from water. I waited too long and became impacted. I actually had to go to the hospital for help which was awful on so many levels and still did not resolve the issue. They gave me some sort of super laxative, which still took two days to work a bit, even though they said I would be lucky to make it home. I'm now on prescribed powdered miralax and doculax suppositories to get some relief. I expected some constipation, but did not keep up with the colace thinking that it would not get too bad. I was so very wrong.

Sending good vibes your way Sunshine! I am with you Kimbero and Kordie :-). They said I am 2nd on the roster for the day :-).

Is anyone else having food related nightmares/dreams? I have had these in the past while on strict diets, but this is crazy. I had a dream last week where I realized mid-bread stick that I had already eaten 3. Last night it was a bunch of different fried foods. I woke up sweating after realizing I was wolfing down fried shrimp . Such struggle!

I am now on day 7 of the liquid diet and the lbs. are definitely coming off. I am losing about a lb. a day right now. It is exciting to see such rapid results from this crazy diet. My body seems to be adjusting to the fact that I can only eat these 5 different items (3 Specific protein drinks, 1 light yogurt, 4c. romaine/2Tbsp. light dressing, 2 1/2 c. SF Jellos, and 2 c. unsalted broth). I am doing the 3 shakes as meals and randomly doing the rest throughout the day to spice things up. It is getting better, but next Tuesday still feels like it is a long way away right now!

I am also a May 29th Buddy!! I got my call on May 15th to start the diet right away, so I did not get my final meal, but all of my final meals over the last few weeks more than make up for it...I guess . I am soooooo happy. I was originally scheduled for 4/24 and then my surgeon's office was forced to switch providers so I had to wait 5 weeks before they got everything set up to do approvals again. That SUCKED, but I made it, and I am excited!!

I am on day 4 of mine now. Based on everything I have seen and heard, I expected it to be hell. Maybe going in expecting the worst helped me, but I feel pretty okay. The first two days were challenging because I felt like I was getting the flu. I slept about 10 hours the second night and that really helped. I feel fairly normal now, just weak. I started incorporating shakes before the pre op diet to get used to them as meal replacements so the physical hunger is not really getting to me. The mental struggle is SUPER real though. I feel like all I do is think about food and how I can't have it right now. I have found myself almost heading towards grabbing a snack or a bite of something and freak out. I am realizing how much of a habit food has become. Hopefully my new normal sinks in soon, because this is frustrating.

I am scheduled for VSG on April 24th. Just waiting on insurance clearance :-D.

Welcome! We are happy to have you on our journey with us. My biggest piece of advice is to be ready to wait and be patient. This is a great opportunity to learn about nutrition, exercise, and a whole new lifestyle. If I had to guess, your surgeon will probably recommend a vertical sleeve gastrectomy. That seems to be the default unless you are experiencing some specific issues which may lead to Bypass. You will have some pre-op requirements which depend on your insurance and your program. Keep up with those and ask as many questions as you can along the way. In all cases, we are all preparing by attempting to lose weight and figure out how to make it to and through the liquid diet! We are here for you, so please feel free to ask any and all questions!

I am April 24th, just waiting on insurance approval. Congrats!!

I have BCBS of FL and it just says BMI 35 with co-morbiditys (sp?) or BMI 40. My surgeon gave me the following requirements: 6 months monitored diet. He gave me very loose instructions (ex. exercise 30 min per day, track your food, eat smaller portions). I pretty much just show up at the first of each month to be weighed and ask any questions I may have. I have lost weight each month, so they have not said anything more about it. Endoscopy (After month 4 visit) Dietitian (After month 4 visit) Psychiatric Eval (After month 4 visit) Suggested that I attend the twice per month support groups they offer before and after surgery. I attempted to call my insurance company, but they would not give me the requirements directly. They said I would need to request them through the surgeon's office. The office coordinator explained that this is what BCBS has required for their patients in the past to be approved. From other stuff I have read, you have to make a case to the insurance company and these are sort of undocumented requirements. I asked questions along the way that I saw on here about weight loss requirements and the surgeon told me just not to gain weight or they may deny me and have me restart. My requirements did not really kick in until after month four. I asked about that and apparently most people drop out before then. These requirements seem pretty standard from what I have seen here and on other sites. I have not questioned them much because they make sense to me. The 6 months have provided me a lot of time to research and really think this through completely. I have been able to slowly introduce changes that I will need for post op (ex. no caffeine, no carbonation, low carb, etc.). The endoscopy found a small Hiatal Hernia, which will be repaired during surgery. I do wish the dietician had been earlier in the process, but I think it is more focused on the 2 week pre-op and Post op diet than the lead up in my case. I have that appointment Thursday. The Psyche eval makes sense to me to be sure I know what I am getting myself in to. I have that this afternoon. Now that I made it to Month 5, the surgeon went ahead and scheduled me for April 24th. I just have these last 2 appointments this week before the wait for insurance approval. I know 6 months seems like a very long time at the start, but as everyone says, it really does fly by! Hang in there and you will make it. We are with you!

It definitely comes down to your personal tastes, but...I ordered Tropical Coconut and Mixed Berry from Amazon last week and I think they are pretty good. They definitely have a unique flavor, but I do not feel like they are too sweet. They are a good change up from the thick shakes. I really want to find a small pack of premier protein water to try and compare. I have heard those are pretty tasty too.

I am coming at it from two different angles, nutrition and research. I set food goals for myself each month. Over the last three months I have weened myself off of alcohol, carbonation, and caffeine and started having fresh fruit and veggie smoothies each morning instead of dunkin donuts. I am a little over two months out from surgery. Over the next two months I am going to begin replacing a meal with a protein shake and focusing on protein and portion sizes. The food stuff sucks, but I was very worried about coming out of surgery having to tackle so many vices at once. I know it will still be challenging, but I am doing what I can now to try and make it less challenging. On the research front, I have read a few books and spending a lot of time on youtube, on this site, and really any other online resource that I can find with information. I find that organization helps me to feel a little more in control, so I have a onenote notebook where I am tracking information and suggestions from all over. I do not know if we can ever be prepared enough for this, but pretending that I am makes me less stressed and makes it easier to answer questions when people I have told ask.

I just started reading the book The Sleeved Life by Pennie Nicola this week. It is from 2012, so the sleeve was just starting to gain popularity. She goes over the different surgeries and gives specific reasons why she chose the sleeve over the others, which I find helpful. I was going either lapband or sleeve. My surgeon does not perform lap band and actually is transitioning many of his patients from lap band to sleeve. Between that, the information received at the first session, and my other research, I felt sleeve was the best option for me. P.S. If you have a kindle, the book is free with the Kindle Lending Library :-). There are some Bariatric recipe books with good reviews that are also free with the lending library on there!!

Hi All! I am in the same timeframe. My third appointment with the doctor is today. I am expecting to have surgery in mid to late April. My other required appointments do not begin until next month. For now, it is just me trying not to gain lbs. and doing as much research as possible (Youtube, this site, reading anything I can find!). I look forward to the next several months and years of this journey with you all.