SteveT74

I am almost six weeks post-op, so it's early for me--but I couldn't imagine having a beer at this point. Particular a dark, heavy stout---ugh, it would feel like carbonated lead in my stomach. I am 100% postive that would come right back up. I do have to make a small confession---I did have a few drinks on New Year's Eve (which was exactly 2 weeks post-op): on glass of white wine and 2 vodka martinis. I did have a very good time that night and was no worse for the wear, but It was stupid of me to do that. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else (and it certainly wasn't part of my doctor's post-op guidelines of approved activities). I haven't had a drop of alcohol since that night, but I am sure by this summer I'll be in a position to have a drink on occasion. I am not a big drinker to begin with (more of a special occasion drinker or maybe one or two drinks when I am out to a nice dinner etc.). The one thing I do really miss is smoking weed. I have some great weed sitting in my safe that I brought back from Las Vegas and I haven't touched it since October or early November. I am totally afraid of smoking it because the last thing I need is the munchies at this point in my recovery (or ever again). If I could smoke without the munchies, that would be awesome (but weed isn't conducive to self-control when it comes to food).

Just to follow up, I think the 16 hour fast helped me break the stall. YAY!! I still at my 1,000 calories, but I consumed them between 2:30pm and 8:30pm. Maybe it's coincidence, but I weighed in at 207 this morning! So, I am back to three squares a day until the next stall. I may try to do a 16:8 fast once or twice a week once I get past this early phase of the post-op experience. If anyone gets stuck at a weight for a week or so, a 16 hour fast might be worth considering as long as you are able to eat at least 800 calories in an 8 hour period after the fast.

It seems like everyone else feels all of this restriction and has to work to eat at each stage. I don't feel that way at all. I can eat pretty much anything at this point 5 weeks post op (although I haven't tried). I ate roast beef this weekend--not the cold cuts, but the real thing out of the oven. I had zero problem with it. I ate roast chicken breast--again, no problem. I haven't tried steak yet, but that would be in the same category as the roast beef. Cold cuts are no problem either. Plus, I can eat pretty decent quantities of food. I ate 7.5 oz of rotisserie chicken breast last night for dinner, plus 8 almonds. I was satiated, but not stuffed, although the line between feeling satisfied and sick to my stomach is very fine. I don't know why my recovery and ability to eat is so different from everyone else's recovery. According to my surgeon and his post-op report, he made my sleeve as tight as he could without making it so tight as to risk stricture (40fr bougie with overstitch). I guess maybe men have longer stomachs than women, so some of us may have larger sleeve capacity???? Maybe it has to do with the fact that my post-op diet went straight to purees and soft-foods right after surgery--skipping over the clear liquid and full liquid phases entirely. I spoke to a PA from the office and they said this is normal and I am lucky it's going so well. I just worry that a few months down the road I will be able to eat like I did before surgery. In any case, I am losing weight like I am suppose to, so it is working. Anyway, I just releasing my insecurities.

I am not going to lie--going back to work sucked, particularly that first week. I would suggest taking it easy and asking for reduced hours for that week (assuming you're not paid by the hour and can afford the reduction in time). Your energy will improve though. I started to get back to full speed at around one month post-op. It helps if you can get more calories in, stay hydrated and meet your protein goals. Don't mess around with energy drinks--you'll screw up your weight loss with those and you should stay away from caffeine for the first month (or just consume it with lots of moderation if your doctor is ok with caffeine).

That sounds like a pretty good deal. I know there are some great surgeons in Mexico, but if there's a complication, I would rather deal with a surgeon in the US where there is real accountability. It might be worth the extra money over having it done in Mexico. I was lucky enough to get my procedure covered under insurance, but if I didn't I would probably consider something like this or Blossom in Las Vegas over Mexico.

Honestly, you're only 2 weeks out of a major surgery. It normal to feel discomfort and not be able to exercise at this point in the recovery. Some people get lucky and have no pain--but that's pretty uncommon. As for weight loss, right now your still bloated as all heck and your stomach is very swollen. It's way to early to judge how this procedure is going to benefit you. Tell me how you feel in 6 months when this discomfort is a distant memory and you're down 70 pounds....

It's pretty much what you see here on the forum, except its usually hosted by a PA, RN or Nutritionist. It's good to meet people that are in or have been where you are--especially in person.

I honestly wouldn't worry about losing too much weight. You're around 9 months post-op and it sounds like you're getting close to bottoming out on the weight loss. I wouldn't lose sleep about it or try to do anything to really change any good habits you have developed. This happens to lots of people and they start to freak out about losing too much weight and looking too skinny. It will not stay that way for long. It's typical for bariatric patients to drop below their new set point on their way down the scale--just a little weight loss forward momentum at play. Most bariatric patients will bounce back to their new set point with a 10-15 pound gain after they bottom out. Some people start to freak out and and worry about this being a regain--but it's not a true regain, but a healthy rebound that will bring you to your new, stable set point. It's a normal part of this process. I wouldn't try to do anything to your diet to stop the loss, you're body will do that for you once it determines that you have dropped too low and it will increase your hunger (grehlin is not the only hunger hormone you have). In short, it sounds like you have a good problem right now. Even if you're at 130 or even 125, you're probably near your bottom and will bounce back up to 140-150 with a little time--which will be a comfortable, healthy weight for you to maintain.

I am sort of stalled between 208.4 and 208.8 for the past six days. I don't think it's a real stall, since I am still seeing improvements in other measurements for weight loss. For example, during this "stall", I dropped another 3/4 of an inch off my waist. That's pretty good for a six day period. Still, I am getting a little irritated by my scale, so I am going to experiment today with changing things by doing doing 16-17 hour fast (started after dinner last night and consumed zero calories so far). I'll break the fast around 2pm today and see how things go. I wouldn't make a regular habit out intermittent fasting of it at this stage in my post-op recovery, but for one day it won't hurt (I did get the ok from my nutritionist for a 16 hour fast). Tomorrow, I'll go back to 3 meals a day regardless of whether the fast breaks the stall or not. I'll report back on the results tomorrow.

Bariatric patients can get away with very low calorie diets because the surgery changes the way our body's metabolism reacts to significant calorie deficits. Nevertheless, there are limits to how low we can go with low calorie consumption and there are certain guidelines that you have to follow for this procedure to be successful--and you're likely below that limit. Consuming too few calories can be just as damaging to your weight loss effort as eating too many calories. You need to be in the happy zone. One of the main guidelines your surgeon likely preaches is that you must hit your daily protein and water goals. This isn't optional if you want to succeed. If you're eating 300 calories a day, you're likely no where near your protein goals. At that number, virtually every calorie you consume would need to be in the form of protein and, even then, you'd be barely hitting your minimum protein goal. Second, you need to also be eating something besides protein--like good, healthy fats that can easily be used for energy. I understand that you're not hungry and it doesn't feel great to eat right now, but you got treat it like you're taking your medicine. It's best to try to get your protein in the form of real food, like eggs, beans, tuna salad etc. If this isn't possible, a protein shake--like a Premier Shake is a good short term option. Obviously, you can't stay in the liquid or even soft stage for ever. You need to eventually progress to solids in order for this to work. Also, you mentioned that you're drinking a liter of water a day. That's only 33 ounces per day of water. That not nearly enough. You need try to consume at least 64 ounces a day (48 ounces being the bare minimum). Water is the key to so many metabolic processes involved in weight loss. If you don't have water in your system, it's trying to run your car's engine without oil---it's going to seize up. Try to get in 2oz every fifteen minutes. If you don't like the taste of water for some reason, try adding a sugar free flavored power like crystal light. You can also drink diet snapple ice tea, gatorade zero etc. Whatever it takes to get that water in!!!

I asked my surgeon about that and he said it's to be expected if you're active. It's normal to feel any hunger and grehlin is only one of many hormones that can trigger hunger (although it's a big one). Your hunger should be reduced by the surgery, not entirely eliminated. If you're working out and following the post-op diet, you should be ok. I think I am eating between 800-1100 calories a day, but I am burning between 3700 and 4000 a day. Even with such a huge deficit, I am not ravenously hungry. I just feel hungry if I haven't eaten in a while and I am able to resist temptation during the day until meal time. Then I have a 250-350 calorie meal (350 or so lately, since I have been eating more good fats in my diet). The hard part for me is in the evening. I still feel like snacking at night, but I think that's a behavioral pattern from my past that I really need to work on. I succumb to it on occasion--but keep it healthy. I need to stick to a firm rule about not eating after 7:30 or 8pm (I would make it earlier, but my work schedule would make that difficult). Rome wasn't built in a day I guess.

I am not sure if the awkward feeling is related to your age or not, but I think its natural to feel a little uncomfortable dining out with other people, but you'll get used to it with a little time. It's an adjustment for you---particularly since you're still very restricted in what you can eat at this early point in your post-op recovery. I am sure it will get easier once you get approved to eat solid foods. If you're friends are good friends, they'll understand that you just had bariatric surgery and can't eat the same way anymore. As for you not being able to hold food/water down, that's also pretty normal this soon after surgery. You're new sleeve is still swollen and you don't know how to use it yet. I am a few weeks ahead of you in the recovery process and I probably throw up three or four times a week. I don't feel nauseous, but if I eat to much, too quickly or make the mistake of drinking too soon after eating--it's barf city!!! I feel like crap for a few seconds and it just has to come up. Again, totally normal and a sign that I (you) are still learning how to use your sleeve. It won't be like this forever--so no worries!!!!

You're doing fine with weight loss, but if you aren't hitting your water goals regularly, you're going to definitely stall out. You need lots of water to burn fat and to get it out of your system. If you get yourself up to 80-100oz a day, you'll see a big difference. If you can't stand water for some reason, add some lemon and/or lime to the water with a little salt (sea salt or Himalayan Pink, not ionized, processed table salt) and some stevia for flavor. In cruch, use some crystal light--it's processed chemical crap, but it won't trigger an insulin response in most cases so from a purely weight loss perspective it's generally ok (not from an overall health perspective though).

Pretty typical right after surgery--particularly before you're approved for solids. However, watch out for that between meal snacking as you advance in your post-op diet. Even with the sleeve you need to have a solid dietary lifestyle in place or one that you work on with your nutritionist. One or two planned snacks a day may work, but if you snack to often when you feel an urge or craving, you can easily lose track of how much you consumed and end up on the path to regain down the road. This is the time for us all to work on adopting healthy lifestyles.

I get full quickly, but I do get hungry. I am not sure about how long it takes for me to get hungry after a meal--but it's usually in the evening when I feel particularly hungry. I had my week 3 stall for 5 days, now I think I am in week 6--so, it's another little stall. No big deal. I think this is just par for the course. I lost 6.5 pounds last week, so I expected a stall around now. I am sure the losing will start up again in a day or two. If not all do something to change up my diet a bit to get things going again. Probably adding more fiber to my diet would help! Hey Lolo, I agree that weight is lost in the kitchen, not the gym (technically the gym helps with weight loss too, but only if you stick to a solid diet plan). I am at the gym for 2 hours a day (because I take a 20 minute warm up on the elliptical or treadmill (moderate intensity), take a 45min-1 hour spin class (high intensity), then probably 30 minutes of weight training (4-5x a week) (I do cardio everyday, but only 4-5 times a week of weight training). There is a few minutes of down time between each activity, so the total minutes adds up. This is my "ME" time (the only ME time I get in the day). I feel great and I am starting to get some muscle tone and definition. I am also definitely improving my strength and endurance, which is important to me and is definitely a health benefit. I have watched Dr. Vuong's videos, including his video on why WLS patients shouldn't exercise for at least 6 months. To be honest, I am not a big fan of Dr. V. He might be a great surgeon, but he's also a full of himself and a big self-promoter. He puts out videos with controversial topics just to get his YouTube views up (IMHO). A prime example is his video entitled "Real Talk: Why You Should Not Exercise After WLS". Seriously, tell me that title isn't begging for views when every other bariatric surgeon in the world encourages their patients to exercise, including Dr. Matthew Weiner (another YouTube surgeon that I respect). Frankly, Dr. V has some good advice on nutrition and post-op dieting (that I largely agree with), but he is also full of crap half the time and much of his advice is based on broad assumptions and generalizations about WLS patients and how he believes we think and feel. His primary reason why WLS patients should not exercise is because he believes that for us, exercise (particularly) is a form of punishment that we inflict on ourselves or something we feel we have to do because that's what society expects. For some weight loss patients, maybe this view is true, but it certainly does NOT apply to many of us (yourself included!!). He also assumes that we have no idea what we are doing in the gym and we should not start working out in a gym until we can afford to work with a personal trainer. I think this might be a good advise for any person (WLS patient or not) that has never worked out before and has no idea what they are going to do when they get to the gym besides walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes. However, to suggest this should be a rule that applies to WLS patients in general is total BS. Clearly, Dr. V incorrectly assumes that all we did as obese people was sit on a couch and eat all day. That may be true for some WLS patients, but many of us had active lives even when we were at our heaviest and even went to the gym (we just couldn't lose weight and keep it off effectively). We are not all people that could have been cast on "My 600 Pound Life". Anyway, I can keep going when it comes to Dr. V--but I won't.

It doesn't sound like he's losing too fast to me. In fact, it sounds pretty reasonable for someone that is complying with their post-op diet and is hopefully getting exercise. However, the nausea is definitely not cool and not typical. The fact that he is not feeling well would concern me. No one wants to lose weight because they are nauseous all the time. If all the antacids aren't helping, I would be concerned at this point about a potential stricture or GERD. He might need an endoscopy just to check out what's going on in there.

I am not sure what's wrong with me, but I still have my appetite. Obviously, the amount I can eat is restricted, but I am able to get in 800-1100 calories a day at this point. I am working out for 2+ hours every morning before work, so that probably has something to do with it. Still, I expected not to have any appetite, yet I do. P.S. I have been stuck in a stall between 208 and 209 for the last five days. I kind expected this to happen, but it is still kind of annoying!!!

You might be right that you're not getting enough protein, but you if you're not keeping track of what you eat in an app like MyFitnessPal that will tell you how much protein, fat, carbs etc you have eaten, you're just guessing. Nothing wrong with having protein shakes, but the faster you can transition to getting your protein from real food--the better. Are you able to tolerate eggs???? Crab meat is also essentially pure protein (no carbs or fat).

Guys, the liquid phase is only intended for early on because your new baby sleeve is swollen. My surgeon doesn't do it all post op. I went straight to puree/soft foods. Don't stay in liquid phase because you're afraid you're going to gain weight. It doesn't work like that. I am losing at a faster rate now than I did after surgery and I am eating between 750-1000 calories a day. This is not about pure calorie restriction. Once you get to solid foods, that's when you see the real benefit of the sleeve. I had some chicken breast last night and I was stuffed after 4.5oz!!! I could eat much more in the puree/soft stage in terms of volume. Just follow your surgeon's guidelines and eat the prescribed diet. You will lose weight if you follow instructions. If you go off on your own because your now scared of eating real food, you are going to have nutritional problems and you're also going to find that your weight loss will stall more often.

Honestly, any complaints you read on here, with few exceptions are nitpicks. I am sooooooo glad I had the surgery!!! It was the best decision I ever made!!! Yeah, there are some sucky parts to the process, but the rewards outweigh the sucky parts by such a huge margin that it's really a no brainer. If you're at 360, you have more to fear remaining at your current weight than you do having the surgery. Just do it!!!! Honestly, the surgery was a piece of cake.

I was getting cramps in my calves, but it can happy to any skeletal muscle group when you're post-op. It's usually a sign that your electrolytes are out of balance. Try drinking some sugar free gatoraid or poweraid and maybe add potassium to your supplement list.

Great job for your too!!! You're almost in onederland!! That's awesome!!!

Hey guys, I am joining this Keto party. I just had my vsg done on 12/17 and I was just approved for solid foods this week. My surgeons starts his patients on purees/softs immediately upon discharge, so I was pretty much eating a low carb high protein diet from day 2 post surgery. The post-op diet was close enough to Keto or OG Atkins,that I decided to get on the Keto train (particularly after my first stall). Honestly, I think it's putting my weight loss into turbo boost. I am hitting all of my hydration and protein goals with ease, with the balance of my calories coming in the form of healthy fats like avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, fish oils, ghee etc. I have cut out all vegetable oils, canola oils and products made with these. I am not eating any processed foods. I don't technically have a true Keto macro because I can't possibly eat enough calories to get my protein in and have 70% of my calories come from fat. What I am able to do though is use the 800-100 calories I can consume in a day to get to 55% protein, 40% fat and 5% carbs. My net carbs are always under 20g at the end of the day. I did go through the keto flu, which lasted about 3 or so crappy days. It was worth it though--because the weight is pouring off at a prodigious pace. In fact, my surgeon thought my one month follow up was my two month follow up because he was looking at my numbers and lost track of the surgery date!!! So, I am going to credit a good half of my weight loss to following a keto style diet. It may be a little different you guys with bypasses, but keto and VSG go together like peanut butter and jelly. Although I needed to lose 80 pounds, I started on this WLS journey because I was diagnosed with T2DM last year. I am sure VSG is really helping me with the T2DM, but what I noticed is that once I started following a keto style diet, my blood sugar stopped spiking after meals. I used to get spikes into the 180's, now 40-60 minutes after eating, my blood sugar may go up to 115 or 120. I used to wake up with BG levels at 140-160. After surgery and following the standard diet, that dropped down into 115-125. Now adding in the keto-style diet, my waking BG levels are now between 72 and 95 every morning!!!! I am no longer taking any meds for my T2DM. In addition to the VSG and keto-style diet, I have significantly upped my exercise levels. I am at the gym 5am every morning for spin class, elliptical machine or treadmill. Now, I am adding in weight training. I get about 2 hours of serious exercise every day. I work out in a fasted state (no breakfast before my workout) and I feel great. Loads of energy. Studies have shown that doing cardio in the morning in a fasted state burns 20% more fat that doing the same cardio workout after a meal. The same may not hold true for weight training... so maybe a protein shake before or immediately after the weight training part of my workout??? I still need to fine tune this. As for keto sticks, I know some have poo pooed them. However, they are a good indicator to tell you if you're in ketosis in the very beginning of the diet. After you are fat adjusted to the keto way of life, you won't/shouldn't be seeing any ketosis by-products in your urine. If you're using the sticks, it doesn't matter how pink or purple they turn. If you're showing any ketones in your urine (well, it not really ketones, but a related compound), you're in ketosis. You're either in ketosis or your not (it's like you can't be a little bit pregnant). I personally wouldn't spend the $50 or $60 to buy a blood test--after a few weeks, you can just tell when you're in ketosis. I have knocked myself out a couple of times by eating too much protein to quickly (protein shake) or by making a dietary mistake (hummus), but once you have been in a consistent state of ketosis, it's not hard to get back in. You do it by dieting and, if you work out hard, you'll deplete your glycogen stores quickly and that will put you right back into to ketosis. Also, if the reason you're knocked out of ketosis is because you ate too much protein, that's not really the end of the world as far as I am concerned. Protein can be converted to glycogen through a process called gluconeogenesis; however, this is not an easy process for your body to do and requires a lot of energy. Even at rest, your body will burn at least 20% more energy to convert protein into glycogen than it would carbohydrates--so it's not an efficient process. It's easier to convert fat into ketones, once your body is fat adjusted. Either way, you're buring more calories and will be a net winner in terms of weight loss.

That's my short-term goal too. However, I have been dropping pretty quickly the last ten days, so I am kind of expecting to hit a stall sometime soon.

Coexister, Sophia and everyone else feeling down and crappy, I know VSG doesn't solve all your problems, but it is at least helping to resolve some of the really important ones. If you have been dealing with obesity for a while, it's not going to cure everything overnight. It's not a magic pill or anything like that. If you had depression before surgery, you'll continue to have it afterwards. That's another issue to deal with. You're not alone!! We all have our crosses to bare. I just celebrated my one month surgiversary yesterday and I am thrilled with my results. I feel and look much better today than I did a month ago--and much better than when I started this process last March (night and day). However, a life of obesity still leaves a toll. I am also facing more surgery down the road. At the end of May, I fell on some of my toddler's toys and had a grade three sprain of my left ankle. I can't say for certain, but I am sure the fact that I was around 90 pounds overweight probably made would would have been just a mild sprain into something more serious--but that's life. The fact is, I tore the damn thing to shreds--totally rupturing multiple ligaments and partially tearing my Achilles tendon . Of course, lucky me, the NSAID's that I was taking for the ankle gave me some lovely ulcers. I am going to need to have surgery to repair my ankle and will then have to go through a fun filled 6 months of physical therapy. My ortho wanted to do the surgery in September, but I put off because I wanted to do the VSG. I thought my recovery would be a lot easier and more successful if I wasn't 80-90 pounds overweight. Maybe I won't need a much time in PT??? I was also in a car accident a year ago and tore ligaments in my neck and shoulder. I still have pain and numbness from that injury along with some pretty horrendous headaches. I may need surgery on that at some point, but I am just going to live with it for now since the doctor can't guaranty that surgery would actually improve things much. I also have issues in my homelife--dealing with my wife's depression and other fun issues, like a high stress job (all of which helped to contribute to my obesity). The bottom line is that no one who suffers with obesity to point that they are willing to have 80% of their stomach removed is walking into the operating room without a long list of issues and ailments. Whether it's physical issues or mental issues, we all ended up on the operating table because we have a variety of different problems we are working to resolve. We're all in that same boat with you, I am just choosing to look at the glass half full. Your problems whether they are physical or psychological are problems that can be fixed or improved with some more time. That's a good thing---but you need to be patient. In terms of paying the bills for all of this "goodness", well--join the club as well. I am sure half the people on this forum have plenty of bills that have to get paid---I just saw my credit card bill and nearly threw up. In the end, it's only money though. Health is way more important and I'll figure out how to pay the bills somehow. Staying up all night worrying about isn't going to make my checking account grow--so, it's just another thing to add to the pile of sh!t that I have limited control over.