Taoz

I'm so sorry you are feeling really stressed and have lost your job. As others have said, getting up and away from the computer at least a few times a day to walk a bit would probably do your mental health even more good than your physical health. You said you are eating less food, less calories and less times a day. Do you mean less than you used to pre-surgery? or less than you were earlier post op? If you are having more than a glass of wine a day it's likely that the wine is part of the problem (unless you happen to be in a long stall). I don't drink wine but google tells me there is about 125 calories in a glass of wine, 625 in a bottle. If you aren't already, I strongly recommend you start tracking all your food and fluids in something like MyFitnessPal, including any alcoholic drinks, so you can get a real picture of your current caloric intake. If you are only taking in about 1000 calories then expect the scale to eventually start shifting down again, even while not exercising. But if the wine and current food choices are pushing you up past 1200-1500 calories then that might account for your weight loss stalling.

you may be tired and lacking energy because you aren't getting enough calories, protein and vitamins in to keep your body chugging along happily while still using fat cells for energy. Eating solids with your vitamins may make them sit better and not trigger nausea. Can you try recording your food in detail for a week or more on something like the MyFitnessPal app? It makes it so much easier for me to see how I'm tracking with both calories and macros through the day, and to make good decisions regarding my protein intake etc. I was sleeved on May 2nd too, and am trying for about 900 calories a day at the moment. I want to be sitting at 1200 calories a day soon so that when my body eventually wakes up to the fact I'm on reduced intake, it doesn't cause the metabolism slow-down that would happen if I was still at starvation level 800 calories or less a day. 1200 calories is quite a reasonable daily amount to maintain a weight loss deficit given our much smaller meal portions long term. (see some posts from Creekimp16 about their 1200 calorie post-surgery program) I still have a coffee every morning, but I make it with decaf coffee beans, and high protein milk, and usually add a 15g protein scoop of peptipro collagen hydrolysate so that although I often don't eat anything until 3 hours+ after I get up, I at least get my first calcium&VitD chewable and a protein heavy drink down first thing (26.5g total protein). I've been sick a fair bit these past few weeks with non-sleeve related issues (winter here and hubby has kindly been bringing home some really nasty viruses to share around) but I'm making sure I get plenty of protein supplements in even when I'm not eating much. Most days when I'm well I'm eating 4 small meals of solids with a lot of liquids throughout the day.

I couldn't stand the protein perfection protein waters either. WAAAAY too sweet for me (had to dilute a single 7g protein scoop down with 500-600ml water to make it drinkable, but still didn't much like the fake flavours). I now make my own (and hubbies) protein water with lovely fresh-brewed fruit teas of our choice, chilled, and then mixed with bodie'z "unflavored" protein water powder. SOOOoo much better, and can add only the amount of sweetness I want to them (a little powdered stevia). On it's own the "unflavored" bodie'z has a slightly icky fruity flavour, and it doens't blend well with milk, but the odd taste disappears in the fruit teas. Hubby likes it with twinings "lemon and ginger" and "orange with cinnamon", I like it with twinings "strawberry, raspberry and loganberry", and red seal "peach and pineapple". The other great food I'm having is sous vide extra soft cooked chicken. The marylands/drumsticks cook for 4-6 hours in an airtight bag in a 165F circulating hot water bath. They wind up really soft, tasty and juicy and I haven't had any trouble tolerating the chicken meat from 2 weeks post op. Did I see that you live south of Adelaide too? (I'm in Hallett Cove). You're welcome to come over some time and try some stuff? (just expect my house to look trashed most of the time).

Welcome new May sleevers, and I'm glad to read you are all recovering well. Don't be worried if you are hungry in the early stages because you really aren't getting many calories in yet, and fluids don't feel filling. I mostly stuck between 600 and 800 calories and am now trying to push it up to about 900. I still need to see a dietitian here, but hope to move towards a sensible 1000-1200 calories a day as soon as I'm able to eat more solids, as I want to incorporate more healthy veggie and wholegrain complex carbs in my long term diet. Doing well over here, though I think I might have lost a few kilos in the bathroom today (TMI but hadn't gone for a few days while I was stuck taking a lot of codeine for headaches then a full migraine yesterday, then got an upset tummy tonight which I think was some follow through from the crappy cold virus that had me running a temp and headachy the past 5 days - fingers crossed that means it's all been flushed away! hehe). I do need to get busy doing more exercise as soon as I have kicked this virus, but it's winter over here in Oz so just walking outdoors is out. I think I'll have to commit to joining a gym at least for the winter. I tried some of the ALDI very low carb bread the other day but didn't really like it. Still trying a few other types of protein bars and supplements and I'm keeping up my vitamins. I even got to enjoy a decent sized salad today had been missing those. Best wishes to all!

I was sleeved early, 2nd May. I didn't panic when I stalled as I had already seen so many posts by new sleevers being reassured that the 3 week stall (and many others) were normal and that they'll end when they end, I didn't need to do anything different to "fix" them, I just needed to wait it out and stick to my plan. I stalled at 104kg for almost a week from 2.5 to 3.5 weeks post op, and stalled a little last week (am now 6 weeks post op) when I had my period, which I also pretty much expected. As long as I know I'm doing the right thing and following my plan, I know the overall trend will be continued weight loss. I figure the less I can concern myself about stalls, the less power they have to derail or frustrate me.

The capacity of the stomach will increase a little after the first year, but not by much unless you are constantly intentionally overstuffing it. Someone above said they increased to about 1.5 cups. Many people who regained were convinced their stomach had stretched out, but those who had it checked were still as restricted as expected. Most people who I've seen report that they regained and are seeking support to get back on track say that over time they fell into bad habits and started grazing/emotional eating/eating poor/junk/slider foods. At 6 weeks post op I reckon I could easily consume 3000 calories or more a day if I was eating poor quality/slider foods frequently and drinking alcohol and other liquid calories. People who start drinking with their meals will find they can eat a lot more (even though it may cause some indigestion or toileting issues). Get advice and support from a nutritionist. Develop good eating habits in your post sleeve honeymoon period and work to build a strong metabolism with a workable long term diet that will remain suitable and sustainable and keep you maintaining your weight loss beyond 2 years post sleeve. Creekimp63 has posted in a couple of recent replies that her support team recommend increasing to a maintainable 1200 calories (incorporating healthy carbohydrates while still meeting protein targets) as soon as possible post sleeve, to avoid damaging your metabolism (when it wakes up post honeymoon period) with very low calorie diet and triggering diet fatigue and the metabolic/hormonal push to regain weight that so many of us already suffered after years of failed dieting and regain. And get help now for any psychological issues that were contributing to your previous weight gain and any bad eating habits, as you need to deal with stress and mental issues without resorting to food, or progressing to other damaging behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse (some people with unresolved issues move on to other dangerous addictions once surgery prevents using food to manage/avoid stressors) We are all here to support each other, and we all want everyone to succeed! Too many of us have suffered too many years from obesity.

Good luck! I hope you are approved for surgery soon. A solid evidence-backed chance at getting to normal (or even "overweight") BMI is such a massive thing for those of us in the Obese category!

also, which fake sugars are sending you to the toilet? Sugar alcohols can have a laxative effect (bad for anyone having more than a few diet lollies or chewing gum), so you may be becoming more sensitive to those. I think I read somewhere that people suffering with irritable bowel couldn't tolerate sugar alcohols. Aspartame always caused headaches for me, and 10-15 years ago was about the only sweetener used in diet anything. Most protein powders and drinks still seem to be sweetened with aspartame. I am more sensitive to the taste of sweet things already as have avoided more sweet things since starting sleeve planning in February. I've adapted to using some powdered stevia+xylitol sweetener in my coffee and iced fruit tea with my protein water. I seem to tolerate splenda sweetened stuff so far too. Could the sweet TASTE be triggering a form of dumping for you? Or dairy or other ingredients in the artificially sweetened stuff? It's crazy how things can suddenly change 3 months out! My husband got the runs last week from drinking a small amount of aspartame-sweetened diet schweppes lemonade and never usually has any artificially sweetened stuff. He has the runs again today.. guess what he went and drank again last night even after knowing it likely caused the runs last week? I made him tip the rest out today lol. I'm making him protein water to take to work now, with bodie'z unflavored protein water powder, a brewed non-caffeinated fruit tea (his favorite is ginger and lemon) sweetened with sugar or honey and chilled before mixing. If you are adapting to prefer things not being sweet at all that could be a really good thing for long term maintenance at least?

I'm doing ok with my BNMulti Australian bariatric multivitamin capsules (can't stand the taste of the chewables) but I do make sure to have them with solids at breakfast and dinner. I also use their chewable (much nicer tasting) calcium and vitamin D tablets 2-3 times a day, plus biotin and iron supplements.

To those experiencing stalls at 3/4 weeks, don't panic. You are not doing anything wrong, your body just sometimes needs to rest a little and adapt to your changing dietary stages. You are likely still loosing size even while the scale stays the same (losing fat but holding water while processing/digesting foods and metabolising fat etc). I'm almost 6 weeks post op, and had my first stall from 2.5-3.5 weeks, then dropped 2 kilos (4.4lb) in about 3 days. I retain extra water during my period, and lose weight slower while fighting illness despite no changes in diet (just hitting winter here and already had hubby bring home and share a couple of really nasty cold viruses). I'm inclined to look towards Creekimp's diet plan (based on Mayo clinic diet), which says to work towards 1200 calories a day ASAP post surgery to get your metabolism reset to a reasonable long term post-sleeve calorie level and prevent metabolism damage from ultra low calories long term. I've still only been making it to about 800 calories a day and protein target 75g but I am getting a little better with my solids portion sizes (was able to eat a whole scambled egg and a half serving of cooked sliced mushrooms this morning) so should be able to eat a little more solids volume soon. Although I want to avoid many processed nutrient deficient carbs like white bread and pasta, I want to be including a range of healthy complex carbs like wholemeal breads, porridge, many veggies and some fruit. I've just hit 101kg so I've ALMOST made it to the next milestone of being both below 100kg and below BMI 40. A long way already from my starting 121kg (highest 124kg) and BMI 49

Also, lots of grumbling and gurgling goes on for a while post op as you heal and as your new tummy gets used to processing liquids and food again, but it isn't regular "hungry tummy" type grumbling. You may also sometimes mistake excess stomach acid for hunger, which often happens an hour or so after you eat/drink something. That said, some people do get genuine hunger very soon after their surgery, which will reduce as you start getting more calories in and progress to more substantial foods.

I actually had some issues like that last year, well before my surgery. I never found a cause, though perhaps it was from my hormones being out of whack because I was on medication for depression and anxiety. When I was moving around I was ok, but sitting staring at a screen, sitting in a meeting or even sitting on the loo it was a massive struggle to keep my eyes open. I hope you find the cause soon.

doh, sorry it didn't agree with you. Regular scrambled egg at home didn't agree with me the first time, thankfully nothing so far has made me puke (touch wood), but they just didn't sit right and made me uncomfortable for a while. I waited a few weeks and they sit better now, but I still don't really enjoy them like I used to I just got a few low carb / high protein products delivered today, special blends to make high protein pancakes, seeded bread and a banana bread (generally <5g carbs per serving, and 15-20g protein) so I'll try some of those and if they also don't sit well, I will try again a few weeks later.

As others have said, a vegan post-sleeve diet is certainly possible, but needs to be well considered and supported by a dietition who knows there stuff to make sure you aren't missing out on things like key amino acids your body may need to maintain your muscle mass while on low calories and losing a lot of fat. Also ensure your vitamin supplements are complete and suitable for post bariatric surgery If your concern is more not wanting to directly eat meat/dairy, would it also stop you wanting to have any processed protein supplements derived from dairy? (since whey protein seems to be about the most common complete protein used in supplements, and you can get things like "whey protein isolate" based protein waters that don't taste milky at all - I don't really like any milky supplements and make myself yummy protein waters with an unflavored whey protein isolate powder in lovely iced fruity teas sweetened with stevia powder... really refreshing). Once you are 3 months+ post op and eating larger portions of food you may find you can get at least most of your required protein from plant-based foods.

some people have no hunger, some people have a lot of hunger, and most others are somewhere in between after sleeve surgery. You're body is currently only getting a small amount of calories in liquid form, and trying to repair after major surgery, so you could very well be someone who experiences more genuine hunger post surgery (and this should reduce once you start eating more substantial purees/soft solids). Also look to see if any of your hunger is being triggered/re-enforced by things like others eating around you, by it being "regular meal time" or when you see one of the gazillion ads on TV for junk foods, as these all contribute to head hunger and mental cravings which can feel very much like the real thing. Lastly, if you are not taking any Protein Pump Inhibitor medications post op to reduce gastric acid and aid in both stomach healing and prevent reflux, your sensation of hunger (especially if it resumes within an hour or so of "eating/drinking protein") could actually be a feeling of excess stomach acid which mimics hunger.

I can't help with the roids, but certainly stool softeners and increased fibre (such as benefibre which is unnoticeable in your coffee etc) can help with preventing hard poops and letting them heal better. I start taking a combination laxative and stool softener after any day I don't go #2.

I had never missed a period either, and mine was due just over a week before surgery.. but never appeared until a week AFTER surgery. I think just the shock of the VLCD was enough to delay it. The first post surgery one was more horrific than usual (I had to have some of my remaining endone tablets along with my prescribed codeine the first 2 days and still spent a long time curled in bed feeling miserable) but my second has appeared on schedule. Expect the low calories and the change in hormones from both stomach removal and destruction of fat cells to cause some interference with your cycle.

I'm really sorry it came to violence but am glad you are now free of this a**hole. Much love to you and I hope you now go from strength to strength.

I'm having unflavored clear protein water with fruit tea. So much more palatable! And some collagen hydrolysate in my morning decaf

*hugz* It's hard to adapt to such a major change. You often gain weight initially with the surgery because of IV fluids and swelling, so sometimes you weight much the same as surgery day a week or two later. Are you finding you don't have much restriction when eating solids so are eating too much? or are you eating too frequently so that you are eating too much overall? Or eating the wrong kind of foods rather than focusing on lean proteins? Are you drinking calories? Tracking what you are eating and how much with something like MyFitnessPal is really good for keeping track of your calories, protein targets etc. You have your sleeve tool now, a physical restrictive tool to help manage food quantity, but the rest of the key to success and weight loss post op is winning the mental game. It's resisting the call of mental cravings and emotional eating, and stopping eating when your body has had enough to feed it, not when you feel stuffed full, or continuing to eat past full because you are enjoying or wanting the taste of more food. Seek counselling and other supports to deal with stressors which were previously driving you to eat excessively. And accept that sometimes we will still mess up because we are human. Still love yourself. Pick yourself up and try to do better next time. Wishing you the best of luck going forward hun.

maybe you can take a step back from solids for a bit while you try to get your fluid volume back up, if they are preventing you from drinking enough? Stick with some quality gelatin rich blended soups and water and protein water for a couple of days and see if the increased hydration decreases the nausea? It looks like you had a much better day right after making your water target the previous day? I really hope this improves for you soon. I recently experienced 2 days of nausea myself at the 4 weeks post op mark, and it made me struggle to get many calories or fluids in. Only afterwards did I figure it was likely caused by a lot of post nasal drip overnight messing with my tummy, as I'd only just stopped using an otrivin sinus spray at night that I'd needed for whole the previous week while I had a nasty cold (thanks for bringing that one home to me and the kids hubby )

(sorry, accidentally double posted)

it just keeps getting better and better from here Glad you are doing well with your fluids. I found protein waters easier than protein or meal replacement shakes for liquid proteins post op. Soups made with real home made gelatinous chicken stocks are really satisfying while on liquids/purees too (and contain some protein from the gelatin)

Hi All. I had my gastric sleeve back on the 2nd May, so I'm just over 4 weeks post op. I had a pretty good recovery post op. I was so sleepy from the medications I pretty much slept the rest of the operation day. I got sick of being woken constantly overnight be either buzzers from other rooms or staff coming in to check my vitals or give me medications. I was roaming the halls a lot from day 2 to help shift remaining gas, and made a few friends around the ward in my travels, including a lovely lady who had been sleeved 18 months prior and was recovering from her tummy tuck. I had the unpleasant experience of vomiting up my endone tablets twice in the second day, until I realised it was because of all the gas bubbles coming up when I went from laying down in bed for a while to sitting up and immediately taking the endone tablets (being a controlled substance the staff have to watch you swallow them). Once I had that figured out I made the staff come back 10 minutes later after I'd been up for a while any time they wanted me to swallow something when I was laying down. By the second day I was able to drink about 400ml total. By day 3 it was close to a litre over the day (including a fair bit of diluted protein water) and by the 4th day I was getting close to a 1.5L (57oz). I couldn't have any optifast that the hospital supplies (intolerant to aspartame and MSG/hidden MSG) and though I mixed up a bit of my aspartame-free formulite shake I found I couldn't stand it. I made the mistake of eating some of the soups they sent me on the third day, and was hit with a nasty MSG headache-bordering-on-migraine from the next morning. I was also in a lot of pain on day 3 because my IV slipped out of my vein overnight and pumped a tonne of fluid into my arm, making it very swollen and painful for the rest of the day. Because I'd vomited on day 2 my surgeon wanted me to stay in 5 days/4 nights, but by day 4 with the MSG headache I just wanted to be home where I could sleep without constant buzzers and eat/drink my REAL soups made with REAL gelatinous home chicken stock which wouldn't give me headaches. After initially asking staff mid-morning to request permission from my surgeon to release me that afternoon, I then elected to self-discharge "against surgeons advice" at 4pm when my husband was able to collect me. Best decision ever (sometimes you just have to rebel!) I've been doing really well at home until the past few days. I was getting at least 60g protein within a few days, had full liquids for the first 2 weeks post op, then both purees and soft solids in weeks 3-4. I am now onto the period of "integrating regular foods" however I've been feeling really nauseous the past few days (despite not changing anything I'm eating yet) so only made it to about 500 calories yesterday, slept really bad overnight waking with a crappy headache today, and then slept much of today while the kids were in school. It's now 5pm and I've only had 150 calories and 500ml (16oz) liquids. I've skipped my multivitamins yesterday and today to avoid worsening the nausea but will try hard to at least get some protein water and other fluids in this evening. The nausea could even be a lead up to my next impending "period from hell". I've been taking my reflux PPI medication from day dot so I don't think it's a reflux issue. I might even be dealing with fallout from post-nasal drip having only just gotten over a particularly bad cold my husband brought home and gave to the kids and I. Fingers crossed that I sleep well tonight (will be taking an over-the-counter sleep aid) and tomorrow I get back to my regular cruisy post-op experience. I was 121kg (about 265lb) when I decided in February to pursue the sleeve operation, 111kg on day of surgery after 3 weeks of pre-op VLCD and currently at 102.3kg after spending my 3 week stall at 104kg.

because the protein drinks are full liquid you shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes before and after. I was instructed to wait 30 minutes before and after eating once I reach the puree stage. Maybe double check with your support team?