ShoppGirl

Congratulations. On the weight loss and your anniversary. Enjoy the cruise.

Congratulations. Great non scale victory.

I am working on my last ten as well and it is really tough. Can’t offer much advice. Just say I feel ya and that I was already worried about regain at my first post op appointment. I think it’s because I have lost weight before. More than once and I always put it back on. I have everything crossed that this is different for us.

For me the protein shakes were way too sweet post surgery. I found the clear protein drinks to be tolerable until I found premiere protein cafe latte. It has caffeine in it which some people can’t have and I’m not sure about lactose but it was not overly sweet tasting and I still drink one for breakfast daily.

On you and possibly your therapist can answer the question of whether you are ready. I struggle with anxiety and post sleeve it is the same but there are those people who struggle with it post surgery. I would ask the therapist if they feel like you are totally prepared mentally for the surgery and trust their advice as long as you have been 100% honest with them.

My pre op was mea and veggies mostly and it was surprising to me that it wasn’t horrible as well. I am glad to hear that yours isn’t too bad either. For me, that was the start of a few phases you will go through that are equally as doable. Good luck.

Everyone’s experience is different but i am 8 months post op hovering at 9 or 10 pounds from my goal weight and I would absolutely do this again. Many will tell you their only regret is not doing this sooner and I agree (although it is a major surgery with some big life changes so I think this is the time when I was ready). And I absolutely could have done a cruise at 6 weeks. You will have to bring shakes and things with you and you will have to enjoy all the many other parts of cruising other than indulging in ALL of the foods available but I’m sure you will find a couple delicacies that you can enjoy that are on plan. My plan does not exclude ANY food. I have had chocolate, pizza, pasta, etc. just in very small amounts but you will want to follow your doctors plan and some are more restrictive. I was on a diet on a cruise and I remember bringing those crystal light to go packages with me and mixing them with a glass of water at dinner which is one tip if you don’t like water a second would be if you don’t feel you can order and eat normal enough to eat in front of people you can just live it up on room service the whole time. My husband was excited to learn that you can have beer delivered to the room. Lol.

I went through insurance but I know someone who paid privately and she didn’t have to go through all the hurdles either. I am not sure if she had to do labs or not but she didn’t have to see the nutritionist or the psychiatrist. Which was all I had to do with insurance. The other medical stuff is as needed to determine you are fit for surgery or to prove comirbidites to insurance companies so it varies person to person. If you think you may have disordered eating (like boredom or emotional eating or binge eating) I would definitely see a bariatric therapist whether they require it or not. I learned after surgery about boredom and emotional eating and I struggle with both. I wish the psychiatrist I had to see had picked up on this so I could have dealt with it before surgery. I wanted the surgery asap but I feel the process has been harder for me dealing with my disordered eating while also doing weight loss phase.

If you are allowed caffeine the cafe latte by premiere protein is the only one that didn’t taste too sweet to me post surgery. Also the clear protein waters were less sweet. If you are having serious trouble with the meds you could consider having them compounded into liquid? It’s not cheap but it’s an option for many meds. They can combine some of them so you won’t have to take as many doses. I never thought to ask about the liquid they use though. It may have sugar?? I have to do it for my dog is the only time i have done it. Something to look into.

I do not but congratulations on your surgery date.

lol. I did a lot of searching food and recipes too. I think it’s cause our bodies are starving. I am jealous that you have Aldi’s nearby. My friend has one that lives about two and a half hours away and I think we are going to have to make a day of it someday. I will just bring a big cooler and meet her there. I imagine it will take me quite a while to shop the store the first time the way we have to reading every label but I am looking forward to picking up some of the products I have seen mentioned on here.

Ask the nurses if your pain is likely gas pain or otherwise. I did not have ANY gas pain post surgery and keep forgetting to ask the dr if they didn’t use the air on me or what but to the best of my knowledge walking only helps if it’s gas pain.

I use Baritastic as well. It doesn’t give you notes on the quality of food but I am not aware of any that do. I am interested to see what others have to contribute.

The only thing I can suggest is to be honest and don’t try to rush the process. I don’t think the therapist asked me the right questions and I didn’t know enough to volunteer info and I passed the psyc evaluation and only learned after surgery about boredom and emotional eating. These things have been a big struggle for me and I wish I had addressed them prior to surgery. It looks like I will still be able to reach goal but it hasn’t been easy at all. Not saying that you have any of these issues. But some of us do and racing the clock in therapy trying to do both parts at once has not been fun. As much as I couldn’t wait to have the surgery I can only hope I can finish the emotional work before the honeymoon phase wears off so I don’t gain it all back.

My stalls have lasted up to three weeks but I am close to goal. Early on they were 1-2 weeks. I think it varies quite a bit person to person.

I slowed my eating way down in the beginning but now it has picked back up. This doesn’t cause me any issues and I know how much my pouch can hold of the food I cook so I just portion out that amount. I’m sure that many people still eat slow but I just can’t do it. If I eat something new I do eat it slow though until I learn how much of it I can eat. The point of this is to give yourself the chance to feel satisfied and/or have restriction kick in. I just portion out less than it would take for restriction and that works for me.

Most of us have stalls. It’s not at all uncommon. Just keep sticking to your plan and the stall will break.

I’m so sorry that you are not feeling good. I never felt the big increase In energy that many others mentioned either. I just feel the same as I did before. I wonder if part of it is my bipolar medications keeping me “stable.”

Congratulations on your surgery date. Another thing to practice is slowing down your eating and taking smaller bites. This is a big challenge for many.

I didn’t have any issues pre surgery (I just went a lot less) but post surgery I found that taking the Walmart generic of benefiber daily keeps me completely regular.

Walmart sells cauliflower pizza crusts in the frozen section that are quite tasty and Hershey zero sugar tastes exactly the same as real chocolate to me. For some people the sugar substitute acts like a laxative so try just a small portion at home the first time of the zero sugar candy. I also just found cauliflower pasta at Walmart (frozen) and had that last night. It was almost like the real thing. Check out the thread favorite grocery products. You will be surprised the number of options there are out there.

On the top right there is a magnifying glass (using the website on my phone anyways). Click that and you can do a search.

Others on here have posted about it and yes they will do surgery. Some said they have special mesh underwear they give you with a pad.

Found this at Walmart. Just had it for dinner and my husband tried and didn’t even realize it was cauliflower. It’s in the freezer section

It is not at all uncommon immediately post op. Reach out to a therapist if needed. Typically it does not last long.