Starry*Night

I personally come here whenever I get nervous or stressed or, I suppose the right word is anxious about this journey. I read a few posts and it calms me. It would be nice having more people, but I like the tight-knit community as well! It's a pleasure getting to know everyone and instantly makes me feel more grounded seeing familiar faces 🤗

So, I FELT my first results during the pre-op liquid diet. The lack of carbs made a tremendous difference in the inflammation in my body - after losing 5 lbs, I felt better than when I'd lost 40 in the past. It was eye opening! From my HW of 280, I saw a difference when I recorded a video of me on surgery day at 259 - and I see a really big difference now that I'm at 239. Now I was in the 230s back in 2017 so I'm not totally ecstatic yet - but when I get into the 220s I might just die of happiness! 😊

I burp all-the-damn-time now. My BF is amused by my sudden lack of manners and congratulates me when I have a particularly good one.

I could totally do 800 calories for dessert 😝 I have a feeling some cookies and cake would go down just fineeee 😋🍴 Time to go drink some water and pretend it's a cookie!

My boyfriend has had a cornea transplant - the good news is you'll probably recover much faster from WLS than from the cornea transplant! The stomach has better blood flow Edit: I weigh myself daily usually, but I don't let stalls weigh me down. I just use it as motivation to keep up with my water, protein, and exercise. Just remember, unlike previous weight loss attempts, the weight WILL come off this time as long as you stick to your doctor's recommendations, so don't sweat the number on the scale - just make sure you're doing your part! ❤️

That's the part that surprised me too! I do know that some docs take the stance (Matthew Weiner and Due Vuong on YouTube, for example) that they don't want you working with heavy weights for a while after surgery (for Doctor Weiner, he focuses more on exercise in the second year and diet/establishing good eating habits in the first) because they are afraid you'll injure yourself and that setback is worse than not exercising at all. However, Weiner is totally okay with more PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, just not strenuous exercise, and if you do want to work with weights, he prefers working with your own body weight versus external weights because the chance of injury is less. I think his POV makes a tremendous amount of sense - but even he wants you building and maintaining muscle.

I have one of those very restrictive surgeons. He wants me to eat 2 oz of protein and up to 1 oz of veggies per meal - forever! Although he does recommend eating throughout the day vs a 3 meal plan. That doesn't add up to many calories in a day! And when I asked him about eating too few calories (I was just a few weeks post op, but eating maybe 150-300 calories a day. Now I'm probably around 500) he said don't worry about eating too little, it's not an issue and I have plenty of reserves to keep my body going. He said the only time eating too little is an issue is if I start feeling dizzy, and in that case it's most likely low blood sugar and I should have some diluted juice for the sugar. He's been spot on so far though. I've dieted and ate this little in the past before surgery (around 400 calories/day - obviously not healthy, I have issues becoming too obsessive when I calorie count), and definitely felt dizzy and felt the room spin. Now, if I eat 400 calories of healthy, whole foods I feel like I've been eating all day and I'm absolutely stuffed and my body is fine. The surgery does have lasting physiological changes that I believe affect the amount of food we need to eat for the rest of our lives, IMO. The jury still seems to be out on that one though - I see some people eating 1600 cals a day post op and I think I'll never be able to eat that much. I can't even imagine being able to eat 1000. I don't have a source on this, can't remember where I read it, but it seems like 1000-1200 a day for a woman post op for maintenance is the standard - whereas for people who've never had the surgery, that would be a strict diet.

For me, before surgery (I had the sleeve btw) all I heard were good things. I watched tons of youtube videos and even in my support groups, everyone talked about how easy the recovery was and how they were back to work in a few days. I really wish I had heard some stories of people having a harder recovery so I could have mentally prepared myself, because I'm one of those people who has not recovered easily. I'd say brace yourself - know that there's a possibility that for months after surgery you may not feel well. And that's okay! Just prepare yourself for it. A few months of discomfort/hardship is worth a lifetime of health. You will likely go through a period of regret, and wonder why you did this to yourself. That's okay! It will be worth it once you feel better, and you WILL feel better. Have a good support system - people you can cry to when you're struggling. For me, it's my mom. Be prepared for your relationships to change. If you have a significant other, you'll have a whole new set of challenges to deal with. Always do your best to drink your water! If you don't drink enough, you'll get dehydrated, and that will make you nauseous and it'll make it harder for you to get your water down, starting a vicious cycle. You'll likely stall in your weight loss anywhere from 1-3 weeks after your surgery. Don't sweat it! The weight WILL come off. You can't control the number on the scale, but you can control meeting your liquid, protein, and exercise goals - so focus on them instead! Most of all, be kind to yourself. You're giving yourself a wonderful gift of health. Enjoy the journey - it's like being given a second life 🤗

Hey guys, Who has gastric sleeve and then manages to catch a stomach virus? This girl! I was sleeved just over a month ago, and caught a stomach bug on Christmas. Think food poisoning - that's what I'm going through right now. The toilet is my new king and I am its loyal subject. I now know why it's the porcelain throne. I know saltines are a bad food to eat - they're a slider and they're empty carbs - BUT they're supposed to be good for settling the tummy. They're what I've aways had to settle my stomach. I could really use that right now. I'm leaning towards not getting them, but is getting them a bad idea? For perspective, I had to go to urgent care and get 1.5 liters of IV fluid today because anything I drink comes right back out the other end - I can't keep any fluids down and got dehydrated. They advised I stay away from dairy - there goes my yogurt and cheese, my easy sources of protein - and I don't really want to eat regular food right now.

Well in my case it wasn't food poisoning, but a relative had a stomach virus. They'd gotten over it, but I went to a Christmas gathering and I and 3 other people ended up catching it from them as well. For most people who caught it it only lasted a day... for me it lasted 10 days lol. Lucky me! I take a medication that suppresses my immune system though, so I'm sure that's why it was worse for me. I've only had food poisoning once in my life. If you're preparing your own food, I wouldn't worry about it too much - just make sure you use your food by the recommended dates, always keep your hands clean when preparing it, and throw it out before it goes bad. I feel you though, catching a stomach bug was my worst nightmare - and of course, I caught one! On the bright side, I lived to tell the tale, so even if you do somehow catch something you will eventually be okay 🤗

Yes, it's normal If liquid is the only thing you're consuming, it's the only thing that'll come out of you. If you're flavoring your drinks with sugar free flavors, keep an eye on that too. They can have a laxative effect.

I found sugar free hot chocolate or bariatric hot chocolate was a lifesaver when I couldn't drink water. Sugar free water flavorings help too, but beware the laxative effect!

I'm 6 weeks post op, not even 20 lbs down since surgery, and had a higher start weight than you. You are doing AMAZING! You are losing a tonnnn of weight very quickly - as long as you're sticking to your diet, getting your liquids and protein and exercise, your body WILL catch up! 🤗

Thanks so much for saying this. I thought I was going to die if I had saltines or something cause it was my first time deviating from my diet, but they were a lifesaver. They did trigger some carb cravings, but that's to be expected; I used willpower to fight those off. I'd 1000% do it again if I had to, it was the only thing that came close to helping settle my stomach. For anyone wondering, when I did end up seeing my bariatric surgeon, he OK'd the use of Immodium to settle my stomach and that eventually did the trick by allowing me to keep water down. The bug lasted a solid 8 days and I still have after effects from it, but I'm mostly better now.

The popcorner chips were available at my local Shoprite - woohoo! Best share ever, they are freaking delicious!

There's a difference between physical and head hunger. If you haven't already, I'd suggest googling up head hunger and seeing if you find something helpful there. As far as real hunger, I've been feeling it since about 2 weeks post op. It doesn't help that I'm always instructed to under-eat my sleeve, so I never feel full - in my case, my surgeon specifically told me he never wants me to feel that full feeling. Say what? lol! That said, the hunger is nowhere near as intense as it was before surgery and while I find eating doesn't fill me, if I wait half an hour and then drink, that water fills me up the rest of the way. I don't feel like I'm suffering from being hungry at all, and I love the freedom I have to be able to go long periods of time without food if I need to. To those struggling with liquid - I'm now 6 weeks out today and can finally get down my 64 oz of liquid a day fairly easily. By easily, I mean I can get it down without bad swelling pain or feeling extremely nauseous - I still have to force it. MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR LIQUIDS - you don't want to end up dehydrated like I have, which will make you feel even more nauseous and get you in a cycle where you can't keep your liquids down!

Have you been going to therapy to address the underlying issues? As a food addict myself, some of the techniques I've discussed in therapy are... I'm an obsessive person; redirect my obsessive thoughts Reducing my environmental triggers Grounding and meditation Using exercise or other activity to replace the high I seek from food Of course, therapy is only a start - it takes forever to really figure out what the underlying issues are and to fix them, but it's the only way to truly move forward

These look amazing! Has anyone else tried them? Gonna head to walmart.com rn to see if they carry them lol

I just wear stretchy-ish clothes lol. Yoga pants, spandexy shirts and dresses. Jersey fabric skater dresses are awesome. I've worn the same dress at 280 and 230, and they look just as good at both weights! Jeans are the most annoying to replace so I steer clear when I can.

Don't think I've minimized anything - it's obvious the OP has a problem. That's why she posted, after all. Your post makes it clear you have personal issues with drug users. Perhaps it is best to resolve those rather than taking it out on unrelated people on a forum. I'm sorry to hear what you went through, and I'm saying this with kindness, not as an attack. I simply don't think attacking unrelated people with addiction issues is the answer. The attacks could very well be directed toward you instead, and I don't think you would appreciate it any more than the rest of us would. Why not redirect that negative energy into another post where you can build someone up instead of tearing them down?

Frankly I'm not sure what's worse for your body, overeating consistently as many of us have done for YEARS or having an occasional line of coke. What I'm trying to say is: as someone who's abused a substance (food) yourself, who are you to judge? Just because the government, which varies from country to country on this international forum, decides something is illegal doesn't mean it's any less/more harmful. Alcohol was illegal once in the US too, and aspirin would be illegal today for being too powerful if it weren't grandfathered in.

I have no experience with drugs, but I have plenty with research... so just a few words of advice 😆 If you have an addictive personality, it is very easy to transfer your addiction from food to alcohol (most common), but drugs, shopping, and other addictions as well. This is an incredibly difficult journey you're about to go through. Give yourself your best chances and stay away from the other vices - as you've discovered, it is MUCH easier to get drunk quicker, forget your precautions, and end up like you have now in a place that isn't fun. Plus alcohol dehydrates you. Have some water on the rocks instead 🥂

I take the same dosage of Cymbalta as well. No problems post op - I took it as normal with liquid. Took it the morning of surgery with a sip of water, and every day thereafter. You can't crush the capsules because they are extended release, but both the nurse and my surgeon said it's absolutely no problem swallowing them whole. If you think it will be a problem, you may consider looking into 2x 30mg pills instead.

It does make a lot of sense. It's also nice because you get to have more variety of food, so you don't get as bored easily, and since you're adding new foods at different times you can tell what food upsets your tummy if you run into an issue. The only negative is if you don't get down enough water, it's hard to fit it in with all the breaks for mealtime - at 5 weeks out now though, I'm just now getting to the point where I can drink a lot easily.

But I love to overthink! 🤪I'm a loner dottie, a rebel! .....(I'll def follow his instructions). The size just was way smaller than what I expected from reading my guide to the surgery. My food bill is gonna be so cheap lol