Betty1971

I had the sleeve done right before thanksgiving and in the beginning I was worried about never feeling full in the liquid and puréed and even soft stages. When you get to the regular stages you will know full! I know immediately when I am full, one more bite and I am beyond miserable. It’s not about should I stop, I STOP. I also have a strange little thing happen to me when I eat dense meat like steak or chicken, I get the hiccups. If I don’t chew my food incredibly well, I get crazy wild hiccups. At first I thought it was just my imagination, but nope it’s a thing. every stage is a little different and your body tells you what it needs and what it doesn’t need

I think everyone has regret the first week after surgery, it sucks in the beginning. It gets better fast. I wish I had done it sooner, best decision I ever made. It is not easy, it is a tool, its a journey, its hard ass work. In my situation, in my head, in my life it was and is worth it, you need to determine whats right for you

So here is a bit of knowledge that may or may not be helpful in your life. i have been struggling “big time” with constipation and tried everything I have been taught in nursing school and in life about how to help with constipation. It hasn’t really been helpful but it’s gotten me by. Well this week everything I thought I knew went right out the door and an Asian lady in Tacoma taught me a trick. I have spent the last week traveling with my hubby for a work thing, staying in hotels, with the covid their workout rooms were closed and I didn’t know the area so I wasn’t walking as much and with driving all the time I wasn’t getting in the massive amounts of liquids I was at home so I was stopped up right!!! I asked a friend there if she could give me a ride to Walmart to get an enema, well that was quite the conversation starter!! anyway she informed me that I could do whatever I had to do but: if I drank some hot ginger tea and took long hot bath and massaged my stomach froM right to left and then tried on the toilet with my feet on a stool or the garbage can turned upside down I would have a bowel movement. Haha right, I mean I haven’t pooped in four days and I think I may just pass a small elephant when it’s time what is tea and a stool going to do...... I pooped. I pooped a lot. It worked. I don’t know what part of the equation is the magic part but you can bet your bottom dollar that every other night I will be drinking ginger tea in the bathtub with the garbage can turned upside down in front of the throne because it works. maybe it’s the position of the knees up or maybe it’s the hot tea mixed with the knees or the abdominal massage but by golly it’s better than any alternative I have found!!! thanks to Dtan I am again a happy woman

Holy cow. I cannot even believe how slow this has gotten to be. My first 65 pounds basically melted off, I did what the dr told me to do and the pounds just came off. I am no longer in a stall, I mean its coming off, but good lord is it ever slow! I am following my program to the letter. Water, protein, macros, exercise, sleep and patience but that last one is tough........we went to Arizona the beginning of March and I did not have a scale with me. I was so flipping proud of myself. No alcohol at all, I didn't cheat on garbage food, we hiked ALOT, we swam a lot, I was so excited to get home and get on the scale and I only lost 3 pounds I don't know how or if its possible to speed anything up, I don't know if this is just how its going to be, at times I am thinking I am just destined to fight the fat the rest of my life! 3 POUNDS IN THREE WEEKS!

I appreciate you! Your words are not discouraging, its ENCOURAGING knowing somebody understands how frustrating this is. You give up your part of yourself (stomach) and FOOD for heavens sake, you take life style change and fitness to a whole new level and you almost get addicted to the results in the beginning so when it slows down reality really is a hard pill to swallow.

Thank you but good golly gosh lord god its hard!!!!! I am just beside myself, I feel like I am killing myself with no results!!!! I know the scale is going down so I do see some progress, just so slow. I am constantly afraid that I am stop losing at any given time and its the end of its my new normal.....the head games never stop.

I can only imagine your frustration. Try not to be so harsh on yourself, we all know how a good poop can be the difference of that last pound. How fluid retention can can push you up a few pounds.... You are there...you have come so far.....celebrate!!! crank your scale back a pound or two (old fashioned scales) or throw the scale out the front door and just celebrate your success!!!

here is to 2021!!! I live in a very small town and I am not much on social media. I have kept my WLS on the down low, not because I am ashamed but because I am not looking for support or BS from anyone. My husband we into town today to the local cafe (gossip central) to pick up eggs that I forgot to get on my regular grocery run and the old gal who runs the place announced to the whole joint, during the morning coffee run, how sorry she was to hear about my illness. My husband said "she is feeling good but I will tell her your thinking of her" she carried on to ask him how many rounds I would need. He replied " I believe this will do it". The word is I am going though chemo, LOL. I am not telling them any different......let them talk. Chemo or weight loss surgery regardless, I am getting thin!!!! LOL

This is probably going to be a mess of a post. I tried to talk to a friend and just ended up crying and she didn't know what to say, and then when she tried to help it just made things worse. I know I am being a little nutty but I can't seem to find anyone that understands me right now. My husband and I are leaving tomorrow for Arizona for the month of March. This is the first of what will be many "winter" trips south. I turn 50 in May and we have planned to spend our winters down there for a very long time. We will be spending the month with a new group of people that will be our "new" neighbors, they have never really met us in person, we have emailed back and forth and spoke on the phone but that is about it. 5th wheel is packed, pickup is packed, everything is ready, BUT I can't find any summer clothes that fit me. Last summer I weighed 230 plus pounds and my clothes are still in the camper from when we were at the lake, I am about 157 now. I went to town and couldn't find anything that really fit me, everything I tried on I felt silly in, my husband kept saying everything looked fine. I feel like I have skin everywhere, I have no boobs anymore (good or bad I don't know how I feel about that) , NOTHING feels right. I was angry at him for really no reason but still angry because I felt like he couldn't see what I was seeing. I almost felt more comfortable in size 22. What the hell is wrong with me? I can't get past this feeling, I can see the numbers on the scale change, I see the clothes size changes but when I look in the mirror all I see is ick. I don't see a slender body, I see a chubby body with a crappy wrapping job. I have a freaking degree in psychology, I have spoke to kids about body dysmorphia in middle and high school, but I cannot seam to make my brain understand it has to work with my body on this......anyone else struggle with this?

I have a lot of work to do before I am at my goal, I am even considering moving my goal to a lower weight. That makes me happy, it also makes me realize that my body is actually changing. My brain is just last to get the memo I guess. I know I have a great deal of work to do before I even consider plastics. I think I will in time but there is work to do first, I am fine with putting in the work. My biggest struggles these days are looking at myself at 157 pounds and my neighbor at roughly the same weight and I see her as a normal looking gal, not big or small, I look at me and still see all the bumps and lumps. My midsection still has the big old roll around the hips ( in my opinion) its just my hips have shrunk but the roll is still there??? A persons brain is such a funny thing (funny not ha ha) , it can logically tell you one thing and then process what it sees in the mirror as something totally different. Absolutely nobody understands this unless they have gone through it and really gets it We are off to Arizona now, I am somewhere in South Dakota. I am praying to find a store that will have a magic mirror that shows me in a new way and I can accept all my summer body in the souther clothes so I can donate this closet full of size 22's that I couldn't bear to get rid of!! Yes I actually have most of last years clothes in the closet in the RV because I couldn't bear the idea of not having anything to wear!! LOL. If anyone sees a gal holding up her shorts in the desert its just me!!!

I see the size 11 jeans and the medium tops but all I can see is lumps and rolls and I want to hide them under larges and wear layers and layers of clothes. I can’t even bring myself to imagine what I’m going to do when I am supposed to go to swimming. We have a place with a pool in Arizona and I haven’t even had the courage to try on a swimming suit yet!! YIKES!

It does get a little better when you can start to eat some real food again. Those first couple months are the plain ass devil. I prayed a few times to just let me die, and came out of the bathroom looking like I ran a marathon. I also recommend looking into abdominal massage, hot tea and a heating pad on poop days!!! Happy pooping

So we got the Magic Spoons today and here is my honest opinion. I bought the four box set and almost choked when I paid 10 bucks a box for breakfast cereal, but everything protein is high and I am starting to get use to that. I also eat such small amounts this is enough cereal to last me two months or more, probably more than two months so it really isn't that bad in the big scheme of things. I have never been a super big fan of cold cereal but I am sick to death of eggs right now and needing to change things up a tad here and there, it isn't low calorie but I am not counting calories right now so thats not an issue. I tried the fake fruit loops in almond milk and they stayed pretty crunchy, they tasted pretty close to fruit loops, they do get a little gummy when you chew them really well, I am a texture freak and that is a little different but as far as a high protein food low carb fake fruit loop I give them a 7.5 out of 10. My hubby tried the frosted O's and gave them an 8 out of 10. I am not going to say everyone will love them and I will not eat them every day for every meal but they make a sweet crunchy breakfast when your sick of eggs and the protein is high, carbs are low and the taste is pretty good

I told my hubby I may regret it but some days I am just sick to death of looking at that egg in the morning.

I may regret it but I just ordered Magic spoon. I tried it at a friends house and it was pretty good. I am not a cereal eater, I normally eat an egg in the morning with a little goat cheese on it but this was pretty tasty. I thought it may be good for a treat or something to change things up or even for a sweet treat. It was spendy in my opinion but all protein stuff is and I don't have kids in the house that go through a box a day so I thought I would try it. https://magicspoon.com/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=1349101223422145&utm_term=magic spoon&utm_campaign=MSN|Search|Brand|Core|Exact&msclkid=4a961cc634971aa8ef4c7cfdfd4cbb06

I believe the significant information in his post was he has been on clear liquids since his surgery. When you are on a true liquid diet (when you can actually see thru the fluid) it does not produce waste (BM). That is the point of going from clear liquids to full liquids, full liquids (unable to see thru) will produce waste. Everyones system is different as far as how long to go with out a poop but if you have bowl sounds and actively passing gas your system is good to go. Constipation is a bugger!!!! Happy pooping

I like to call myself the poop queen. I wear my crown proudly, after a decade of diverticulitis and multiple bowel resections and now WLS. After a liquid diet of truly clear liquids it is not uncommon to not have a bowel movement in that long. That being said, do you feel uncomfortable or is your stomach super hard or distended? Are you able to pass gas? Once you start drinking full liquids and eating soft foods you will find yourself making stool. True clear liquids are like a vacation for your bowels, once you can no longer see through the stuff you are drinking you will have waste. Hope that answers your question, if not ask, my brain holds much knowledge of all things related to poop.

Yes, I was told by the surgeon this would happen and it did. Its from the breathing tub and it goes away in a few days. Warm tea helps

My hubby was home with me but he was more of a pain in my butt than anything. My surgeon said it was a good thing to get up and get my own water, broth ect the more moving around the better it was for getting the gas out. I just wanted to rest the first two days. My days were sipping on my fluids and going to the bathroom. I think you will be find. Make sure you have what you need at home so you don't have to drive anywhere in case you need pain meds ( I didn't take any when I got home) . and keep your phone next to you in case of emergency. Congrats and good luck

I am from North Dakota and its winter time, and we are obviously in a pandemic but holy cow, this has really changed my social life. I have really realized how much my life revolved around going out to eat, having people over to eat, going out for appetizers and having drinks and so forth. I am excited for spring so we can start with some outside activities but in the mean time I am starting to get cabin fever

I am even looking forward to mowing my lawn! I feel all caged its supposed to get above zero this weekend so thats a plus. We live quite a ways out in the country and bought home gym equipment so I cannot even use "going to the gym" as an excuse to get out and socialize. When the neighbors call and want to get tougher and have drinks or supper I am super stand offish? I guess eventually I will have to get used to socializing and drinking ice water and watching people eat?? It just seams so odd?

I am about three months post VSG and the last three weeks I have been really trying hard to get to 600 to 800 calories. I was stalling out at 500 and 600 calories at two months after I started working out regularly so I bumped up my caloric intake (per dietitian) and it worked so I stuck with it. I too was type 2 diabetic and no longer on any medication and my A1C just came back at 6.2, my TSH is a little chaotic right now but we are working on it !

I do not sell oils and I am a nurse/social worker. I think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one. I have learned one thing in my 50 years of living, Herbalists know their business, Pharmacists know their business, Native American Elders know their business and I respect all of them. If an two drops of an oil I purchase homeopathic office takes away the gas that nothing else seams to help, I accept that and move on. If clove oil takes away a toothache, I use it. My daughter is a pharmacist, my nephew is a physician I was an ortho/neuro nurse for years before I went into social work, I have learned that we may not understand or agree with someones ideas but if they work for them and improve their life and not illegal, it is a win. Thank you for your input, I appreciate it.

I am almost three months out and have had my shares of stalls BUT I have kept up the the loss average through all three months so far. I am at close to a 60 pound loss as of this morning, and currently in a bit of a stall but that is how it has been for the last couple weeks. The scale doesn't budge for a few days and then it will slowly creep up a few ounces and then one day it will be down a couple of pounds......strange but its working! I am praying that if I stay the course it will continue on as well.......I will be following this thread to see if some of the veterans can shed more long term light.

I am three months post VSG and the pain I encountered was from the gas. I was able to walk and use some peppermint oil in tea but mostly I would say, the more you are able to walk the less you will be hindered by the gas pain. Pain from the actual surgery wan not bad at all for me. I used regular Tylenol that was in the powdered form straight from Walmart for a couple of days on and off but nothing major at all..... Constipation was a bugger! I had issues with that until I was able to eat some solid foods. I learned that fluids, walking and prayers ( and a few cuss words) got me by! I really don't have many answers for the constipation because I think that really varies from person to person, some people have the opposite problem. After I got to solids I was able to get my bowels moving a little better and got into a routine and for the past 5 or 6 weeks I haven't had any issues. I really think if a person goes into this with a good solid state of mind and keeps moving, remembers that pain medication is a tool but causes constipation and a few other nasty side affects (try to limit them if you can), keep the fluids rolling, stay to the diet your surgeon gives you, I believe you will soar right through recovery!! Good luck and congrats!