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First, congratulation on your decision to get moving and get healthy! Water-based exercise can be very beneficial, especially if land-based exercise is difficult or could exacerbate other conditions. Water walking is great! And that's probably where you'll want to stay for a while. But there are actually a lot of water-based exercises. Like squatting against the wall, leg lifts. I've taken a "water aerobics" class in the past and found that the exercise felt more like playful fun instead of exercise. YouTube has a lot of great videos that will show you the exercises. I can't tell you when you'll "feel more limber". For me, the physical benefits of exercise has been a very gradual change. Aside from the soreness I sometimes have the day after my exercise routine, I really didn't notice the effects for months. After months of participating, I just kind of realized how much easier I walk. I'm still amazed sometimes with the new changes I'm noticing and I've been participating for 1.5 years.

Well, the recovery from band vs sleeve was a bit more difficult for me. BUT, I was 12 years older! Plus, I had a rough start in the hospital. #1-the scar tissue from the sleeve made my surgery more complicated and #2-they gave me too much pain medication in recovery and turned me into a zombie for more than 12 hours. So, I'm not sure I'm the best resource for immediate post-op recovery. I can tell you the difference between living with the sleeve vs the band. I have had much more effective restriction with the sleeve. I mean, I have pretty hard-stops when it comes to eating. Nothing painful, just "if I eat one more bite, I will regret it" kind of thing. Never really had that with the band. Not that I could eat full size portions or anything, it was just much more subtle.

I didn't tell anyone at work outside a couple of trusted friends. One of my friends sort of joked around at how successful my hernia repair was (she knew about the sleeve and it was our private/inside joke). Anyway, to answer your question, I suppose the amount of time off depends on what kind of work you do. I work in an office setting, very sedentary, and I also have the freedom to work from home occasionally. I took 1 week off entirely and worked from home the 2nd week, fully returning to the office after 2 weeks. I don't think I could have returned in that first week. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. My pain was manageable, but I was exhausted. I was functional the 2nd week but had to take frequent breaks because I was just exhausted. If you're telling folks you're having a hernia repair, it is totally normal to take a week or 2 off (more if your job is more manual labor). The bigger issue has to do with your eating. I'm a private luncher, often just eating in front of my computer in my office. If you're going out to lunch with your co-workers regularly, they WILL notice that you're eating differently. I had a business dinner and even though I was back at solid foods again, I just couldn't eat an entire meal and got a few sideways glances that felt very judgmental because I left most of my meal untouched. Just warning you that you'll want to be prepared to answer questions/concerns, etc.

I had my band removed in 2010. My doctor offered to revise me to another surgery at the time I had the band removed. I can't remember exactly what my weight was, but I recall that my BMI showed "overweight", not obese at the time. I didn't revise with the lap band removal and I'm wishing I had taken that doctors advice. My weight stayed steady for a year or 2, maybe slowly creeping up 20lbs. In 2014, I had a major life-changing event occur and I gained ALL of my weight back over the course of 2 years! If I had a tool to keep me a little more in-line, I doubt it would have been as catastrophic as it was. Now, I'm struggling hard to get back to that place where I was when I had the lap band out. I'm close, but not quite there yet. Absolutely not! You do what you feel you need to do. If you need a tool to help you maintain, then take advantage of it. I can't answer your inquiry about whether MGB is too invasive. I considered it when I was planning my revision but ultimately went with the sleeve.

I've always planned for 1 or 2 snacks during the day. For some reason, I've always gotten a little hungry in between breakfast and lunch. It doesn't matter what I ate for breakfast. So, at the very least I plan for a healthy mid-morning snack. You'll see a lot of variation in advice given by surgeons and nutritionists. I live very similar to looly above. If I don't find a happy medium of sustainable changes in my lifestyle, I will fail. I know this about myself as a result of battling this over a lifetime. So, for me, moderation is my motto. I allow myself occasional treats. If I find myself getting a little out of control with the treats, I go back to basics.

Here's my theory (not sure if it's founded in science, but here goes): As a society, we've become more tolerant of salt and sugar to the point where we're kind of "taste blind" to it. During the pre-op and immediate post-op period, you're on a very specific and restricted diet. You've essentially purged sugar and salt from your diet. So, when you start introducing these things again, you're more sensitive to it.

I was taking them whole, but recently had an EGD procedure that left my pipes feeling a bit raw. So, I chewed it, swished around with a mouthful of water and swallowed it down. Yes, it's a bit like sidewalk chalk, but you know what? It worked MUCH better doing it that way. I plan to keep doing it that way. The chalky taste/feeling is temporary while the benefits of taking it that way is much longer lasting. Totally worth it IMHO.

As I started this journey, I was in exact same position as 2shea. If the doctor hadn't insisted I have someone at the hospital, I wouldn't have told anyone. I was more than willing to Uber home. It's not that I was ashamed or anything, I just felt that this was private. I didn't feel the need to share with anyone. I didn't tell anyone in my family for much the same reasons as the original poster. They can be very judgemental and honestly, I don't think they'd understand that I had gotten to this point. I only told a couple of trusted friends who I had approached about being with me at the hospital. Since surgery, I've told others if the topic comes up. I still haven't told my family other than my kids who started asking questions about my health (seeing me not eat much, they thought I was ill). I don't plan to tell my family. I am not close with them and only see them once or twice a year. This is your journey. Travel it as you like.

Soft boiled eggs. I had never eaten one before surgery. Not sure how I even started eating them, but I think I was looking for egg alternatives because hard boiled and fried eggs (when they're REALLY cooked) can get a little too rubbery and don't go down so easily. I had a soft boiled egg and I am hooked. Love them!

Siggi's is my preferred brand and I don't get those 0% fat ones. I go for the full 4% and in a pinch will accept the 2%. Siggi's is Skyr, similar to greek yogurt, but not exactly the same. I find it thicker. The company uses all natural ingredients and they achieve a flavorful product with less sugar (not artificial sweeteners). The only downside for me is the limitation in flavors. I can only routinely find 3 flavors: mixed berry, strawberry rhubarb, and blueberry. I love these, don't get me wrong, but I would like a little more variety. *Around Halloween and before Thanksgiving, I can find pumpkin. (BTW: it's absolutely great and I wish they'd offer it year-round). I've tried a lot of yogurts in my weight loss journey (most of my adult life) and really refined my tastes in it with when I had the lapband. I can no longer eat "regular" yogurt. It's just too darn sweet. I went to greek years ago and have tried all the big brands. My fave in that category was Fage and if I can't find Siggi's, I will eat Fage. My "go to" breakfast is Siggi's. I add a few things to make it more filling: 1tbsp of unflavored protein, 1tbsp of no sugar granola (for crunch and texture), and 1tsp chia seed. I eat it almost every day, only changing it up on the weekends.

@BajanSleeve Our stories are eerily similar. Except for the fibroids, I'd say that you and I have the exact story. I was having the clots and everything else, too! I've had issues with constipation most of my life, so I didn't really relate them to any of this other craziness. My crying jag happened at home, but I just needed to get away. So, I got up, got in my car, and found a parking spot where I could blubber it out. The mall security guard kept casing me. I must have looked terribly suspicious sitting with my car running in the mall parking lot, so I left and sat in a restaurant parking lot.

I only add my protein to something warm AFTER I've warmed it and after I've made sure it's not over 140 degrees. As FluffyChix said above, all proteins will clump when it's put in something too hot. Happened to me last week. I had a day where I wasn't feeling so good, so I just wanted some broth. I keep Unjury Chicken Soup flavor in my pantry at all times and I was too impatient about checking the temp. My broth was undrinkable. Weird chewy clumps that were very unappetizing.

OMG! I had the EXACT same thing happen. That's why I saw my gyno at the end of the year. Totally ruined my Christmas by the way. She put me on a round of BC pills (with progesterone), but I honestly felt a little crazy on them. Very emotional. She said my uterus was enlarged and did a biopsy (I wouldn't recommend that BTW, VERY painful).

My personal trainer turned me off of artificial sweeteners years ago, citing multiple studies where they are astronomically sweeter than regular sugar, could cause other health issues, and contribute more to obesity than if you limit natural sugar. Not that the advice helped me much with my addiction to sugar, but it stuck with me and I have since resisted use of those artificial sweeteners with every fiber of my being. So, I mostly drink my tea without sugar. BUT, if I were to need a sweetener, I use stevia and have used agave syrup. stevia has a slightly unusual taste, but it's not off-putting and much better than splenda/nutrasweet/sweet-n-low type sweeteners. I actually liked agave syrup much better. It was good for lots of things, not just drinks. I remember using it in my oatmeal, yummy with some cinnamon added.

I never had to crush anything. I was able to take small pills even while in the hospital. Just for my own peace of mind, I took chewable tylenol for the first couple weeks. And, because vitamins tend to be large, I did chewables for those for quite a while. Only switched to regular vitamins at about 6 or 8 months out (mostly because I had a large supply of the chewables). For bigger pills, they probably need crushed if you can't get them in chewable form. Crushing is pretty easy. You can buy pill crushers pretty cheap, but they aren't absolutely necessary. Put the pills in a zip lock bag and hit them with a rolling pin/similar. Put them in pudding, whipped cream, applesauce. Slide right down. Disclaimer: You cannot crush time-released medications, so you'll need to talk with the prescribing doctor if you have any meds that are time-released.

This is really good information to have! You and I are very similar in size/weight and probably age. I knew my hormones have been all over the place since surgery, but didn't put 2+2 to consider that they're affecting my weight loss. I've been losing very slow and once in a while I'll go up a couple pounds. Fortunately, I've been able to lose them again and continue on a downward trend. I've also been blaming myself and have contented myself to just being a slow lower/glad it's going down even if it's going down very slowly. I saw my gyno at the end of the year. I don't think we did any bloodwork at the time. I think I'll be following up on this! Thanks!

WOW! 😲 You look great! Congrats!

Intertrigo is that red, burning rash that happens from moisture and friction. Something I call "chub rub". Aside from good hygiene, the goal here would be to keep the area dry and reduce the friction. When my son had it, the doc had him sit exposed under a lamp. Me, I just used Gold Bond powder. That always seemed to do the trick. They do make something called "monkey butt powder", same principle. If I really needed to dry it out, I just used a hair dryer on low setting (you do not want high heat in tender areas). If you think it's truly a fungal infection, you may need your doctor to diagnose. There are also anti-fungal powders out there. I would not recommend a cream/ointment because the causative factor here is moisture. Why would you want to introduce more moisture?

I agree with elcee. No point in trying to second guess yourself now. Sounds like you're having a bit of buyer's remorse. I think that's normal. I remember asking myself "what I have I done to myself". It will pass. I also second the statement about thanking your lucky stars you didn't choose lapband and I'm not sure I'd agree that the restriction on the band lasts longer. While early stats on the band were promising, they've shown to do a lot of damage. I had mine out because it slipped. It must have been slipped a long time because I had problems for years before I finally had it out. Then, when I had the sleeve done, the surgeon said it took him an extra half hour to do my sleeve because of the scar tissue left by the band.

I did not puree either of these. Ate them as they are, straight from the container. Oh, and if you're tired of the sweet things and dying for something savory, there are savory protein drinks out there. My go-to was Unjury Chicken Soup. It's high in sodium, but it's a welcome change from the sweet milkshakes. Unjury just came out with a Santa Fe Chili. I got a sample packet in my last order, but haven't tried it.

Pureed meat kind of sucks. So, I'm not sure I'd dwell on the meat thing until you're finished with your stages. You have a lot of choices to get your protein in and there's nothing wrong with continuing a protein shake or 2 a day. I know I did until I was able to transition to a regular diet. I started every day with one. I didn't have any actual meat until the soft stage, at which point I had some tuna. Think of the pureed stage as whatever a baby could eat. No chunks. I ate cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, yogurt, lightly scrambled eggs (overcooked gets rubbery), refried beans, and SF applesauce during my pureed stage. That's in addition to all the stages that came before it: clear liquids and full liquids. By the time I was done with pureed, I was kind of "done" with the dairy and was glad to be starting on the soft food phase where I could have a wider variety.

For me, I don't think I had a true "a-ha" moment. As my weight creeped up, I kept developing more health issues and had to accommodate my growing size for nearly everything in my life. It's funny how we just seem to sort of accept these things as a new reality. Then, one day my husband and I had tickets to a concert at a local arena. We were walking from the parking area to the entrance, which was a block or so away and required us to cross a couple of intersections. The group I was with walked passed a man standing near the corner under some trees. The man yelled out some remark about people needing to lose weight. Whether the remark was meant for me or not, I don't know for sure. BUT, it FELT like he was talking about me. His remarks made me feel ashamed and really bad about myself. This was an entirely new experience for me. I had never had a stranger say ANYTHING to me about my size. I can't say that I went into action right away or anything, but it sure got me thinking about how far I had let myself go and that I had to do something about it. A few months later, I started seriously contemplating surgery. So, I'd say that jerk on the corner of the street was my catalyst. I still think about him today, but not in the same way as before where he made me feel bad. I sort of look back on that memory and use it as a kind of motivational factor.

It depends on what type of work you do and the physical requirements of your job. I work at a desk. I have no lifting. I took 1 week off and was able to work from home the 2nd week. If my work didn't pile up so much, I probably would have taken that 2nd week off. I was able to work, but I had fatigue and needed frequent breaks. I even fell asleep on my lunch break! If your job is anything more than sedentary, you're going to need time to recover so you can safely lift or bend. I'd say I was 100% within 4 weeks.

I have GERD. I had it with the Lap Band and periodically after I had the band removed. When it came time to consider another surgery, doc thought my GERD was largely related to my obesity and poor diet. I also didn't want RNY, so we went with sleeve. After about 6 weeks I started getting heartburn. Heartburn is gone with Nexium, but I have nighttime reflux. It's just enough to make me wake with a sore throat, no choking or anything. I'm in the process of having this investigated as to severity and my options. Since I'm sleeved, my options are a little limited. I'm working with my gastroenterologist and considering Linx or Stretta procedure.

2 years?! That just seems like forever. I suppose I should be glad that there's a possible end in sight? I was cold before surgery and now I'm freezing, ALL THE TIME! I walk around my house in layers, with socks and slippers. I am never without a blanket, like a toddler with a woobie. I work in my home office with a space heater and a lap blanket. I even ordered a heated mouse because my hand got so cold that I couldn't type.