NickelChip

Is sleeve your only covered option, or do you have reasons you've eliminated RNY as a possibility?

Oh no, so sorry! Mine was postponed back in December so I know how frustrating it can be. Hope everything is good soon!

I don't know if this helps, but when I saw the nutritionist last week for my last pre-op appointment, she suggested choosing three regularly spaced meal times, 4 to 6 hours apart. I've decided on 8:30, 1:30, and 6:30 because it works best with my daily work schedule. She said to eat what I could of "real" food at the mealtimes, but not to let myself keep eating beyond 30-40 minutes. My goal is 20-25g protein at the meal, but let's say I managed to eat 10g for breakfast. In that case, I would want to supplement 10-15g of protein shake at 11am (halfway between breakfast and lunch). If I managed to eat 20g of protein at lunch, then I could skip the supplement between lunch and dinner. But if I only got 5g protein at dinner, I should supplement with 15-20g of protein shake a couple hours after dinner. That way you're trying real food first, but not letting yourself get behind as the day goes on. She said it would take quite some time to ween off protein supplements completely and that was fine. Eventually, she wants me to be at 3 meals and no snacks with 60-80g protein per day. If you don't want to rely on protein shakes but you find you can easily eat something like a Greek yogurt in between meals, you could do that instead. But basically it's just going to take time, and even after you are at a point that you can usually get all 20-25g of protein in a meal, there still may be some days where you can't and you need a supplement.

I've done both. When I first started going to a nutritionist 7 years ago, I tracked religiously for calories as well as daily steps and lost about 40lbs. The problem I found was when I stopped tracking, I didn't have enough of a routine to keep eating the right way. When I was tracking calories with a 1500 limit, I would eat whatever and then stop when I hit the limit. Sometimes I was still hungry, other times I would have a glass of wine because I had "extra" calories at the end of the day. So it was effective for losing but not for maintenance. I also got really anxious having to track it all online for some reason. This summer, I started changing the basics of how I ate and forming a routine of the same foods almost every day. I would do a smoothie for breakfast, a big salad at lunch, and then a reasonable dinner, while minimizing the snacks and eliminating processed foods, added sugars, etc. I lost about 15lbs without tracking by keeping to this routine about 28 days out of every 30. The consistency worked for me and I didn't worry about the couple of times per month when I broke the routine and went out to eat or had a treat because it wasn't enough to outweigh the good stuff I was doing. Today, I've started my pre-op liquid diet and I am tracking again, but this time I decided on a notebook instead of an online tracker. I plan to track for several months because I think it's information I will need for my doctor and nutritionist if I encounter anything unusual during my recovery. I bought a Legend Planner Food Journal (pocket edition). It's not too big and it doesn't give me the anxiety tracking apps do. It has 6 months worth of pages, so I plan to track until the book is full and then reevaluate. I feel like if I can establish good habits and continue to track my weight weekly, I can stop tracking food. But if my labs come back bad or my weight starts going up, I will reassess.

In preparation for post-surgery, I recently bought a set of vintage cocktail forks and demitasse spoons to help keep my bites the size my doctor wants. I happen to love vintage china and went through my collection to find suitably small salad plates and bowls to use, too. I took a photo with the new plates and utensils with my "standard size" items (dinner plate, dinner fork and teaspoon) for comparison. (The bowl is a fruit bowl and holds about 1/2 c)

I've been told my eventual goal will be 3 meals per day, 20-25g protein per meal, which is equal to 3-4 oz cooked meat (palm size/deck of cards). After protein, I should prioritize non-starchy vegetables, followed by fruit, followed by starchy veg and grains, which are limited to 1/2 c portion. My program avoids giving specific macros because everyone is different and also I think to get away from dieting mentality. I was told to space meals 4-6 hours apart and avoid snacking (this is for after the early stages when you need to eat more frequently). Basically, when your appetite starts to return, stick with the limits of 20-25g protein and 1/2 c starch/grain, and eat as much non-starchy veg and fruit as you like until you feel satisfied (instead of taking bigger meat and starch portions as we might be tempted to do). Oh, and choose low-fat or non-fat options when available and stay away from added sugar. They're okay with stevia and sucralose but frown on sugar alcohols.

Generally I've never seen peanut butter on the approved list, but I did check on powdered peanut butter and was told I could add it to my protein shakes in the full liquid phase. The difference is the powdered (PB2 or similar) is significantly lower in fat than real peanut butter.

There's also a calculator Dr. Weiner has developed to predict how much weight you will lose (within a range) with each procedure. It does require you to give an email to get the results (which they send to you within a couple minutes by email), but in my experience they don't abuse this or spam you with anything. https://www.poundofcureweightloss.com/bariatric-surgery-weight-loss-calculator/

One more day before I start my 2-week liquid diet! It's starting to feel real, but surreal, too. One last day of "regular life" before it all changes.

Here's one other video I really found helpful (along with all of Dr. Pilcher's videos):

I am just over two weeks away from having surgery. I was diagnosed with PCOS in my 20s and have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and am prediabetic. Because I wanted the best shot at having those specific co-morbidities resolve, and because I have a family history of GERD, I decided to go with the RNY gastric bypass. But gastric sleeve is also a good surgery. Overwhelmingly, you will find that people who have these surgeries have no regrets other than wishing they had done them sooner. A small number will have complications, but even among those, most will have no major regrets. My brother had the sleeve 15 years ago and says without a doubt it saved his life. This is a risk calculator that will also help show you the chances of various conditions resolving within 1 year for the various surgeries: https://riskcalculator.facs.org/bariatric/ This is a video from a bariatric surgeon that looks at both surgeries and how to decide: I suggest watching all of Dr. Weiner's YouTube videos. He's very trustworthy and knowledgeable, and a much better source of information than TikTok videos! (Although I watch YouTube channels for several bariatric patients and do really love hearing the stories).

This reminded me of a friend who got a LAP band (many years ago now) and named it after the strictest nun in her school growing up. Until she explained, I was so confused when we went to lunch and she said "Sister Agnes is not happy with me right now."

My nutritionist recommended Benefiber once a day when I start the liquid diet. Fiber should help in regulating both extremes. But yeah, your GI system is protesting!

Do you have a health care portal? I've found sending a message to my doctor through the portal is a good way to go if I have a question. Usually the nurse will respond within 24 hours, and if needed the doctor will give me a call. It might be better to get your concerns addressed that way. I'm sorry you didn't get to meet with your surgeon.

@Jayallday28 the difference between those pics in just 2 months is astonishing!

5 more days of "regular" eating before my liquid diet starts. I'm going out to dinner tomorrow night and to a diner for breakfast over the weekend. I don't plan to go crazy with it, but I do want to have a couple nice meals to think back on over the next month of protein shakes and broth! I might split a dessert.

Met with my nutritionist to go over the pre-op diet today (starts next Wednesday) and I am pleased to say she has okayed PB2 peanut butter powder during both pre-op and post-op liquid phases to add to my protein shakes for extra flavor and protein. I really enjoy the chocolate flavor shakes so much more with some peanut butter!

If you really dislike sweet, you can get unflavored protein powder (Syntrax, Unjury, and Isopure are all ones that could work) and blend with broth instead of water.

Wow, I can sure see it in these photos. You're doing great!

Three weeks from today I should be checked into the hotel with my mom and trying to get a good night's sleep before surgery! Crossing my fingers there are no further delays. The hospital is only an hour away, which would normally not be a big deal, but rush hour traffic is bad and I'm not sure how early I'll need to be there in the morning, so we decided to go the night before. My mom wanted to be able to stay and visit into the evening but doesn't like night driving, so she felt better about being in a hotel the night I'm in the hospital. Luckily, there's a Courtyard Marriott about 5 minutes from the hospital. Sadly, no hot tub

I start my liquid diet a week from tomorrow, which is why I will be spending some time this weekend buying things my 15 and 12 year old daughters can cook for themselves, and prepping some stuff ahead for them to put in the freezer so I don't have to deal with food prep for the next 4 weeks or so. After that, I should be able to make some foods that we'll all be able to eat, hopefully. Luckily, my kids are self-sufficient for breakfasts and lunches, but they are still really limited on dinner skills. I guess I need to work on that with them (along with teaching them to do laundry).

I know how easy it is to avoid the scale when you know it's going to be bad news. I do it too. But I'm going to urge you to make yourself face it. If you face it, you can beat it. I think the good news is, no matter how much you've eaten, there is no way you could regain 130+ pounds in a month. Maybe you've gained 5lbs. Maybe 10. But you know what? You've still lost over 100lbs. So, go get on the scale, acknowledge the number, and then look at yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself, "Self, I love you, and you're f*ing awesome. You're doing a great job, and I know you're going to keep doing it." No negative talk, no guilt. After that, look into getting a therapist to help you with the emotional crap that's making this hard for you, because food addiction is real, and you deserve for it to be easier. The biggest thing I've learned about shame and guilt over the years is the way I talk to myself sometimes, I would punch someone in the face if they ever said those things to someone I love. Try to treat yourself the way you would treat the person you love the most.

Near the top menu bar there's a circle with your avatar, username, and a down arrow. Click the down arrow. Look down past the content area to the settings section. If you select "my surgery" from this list, you can update your dates, weight, goals, etc. If you select "my tickers" you can create a ticker to count down to your surgery date or to track your weight loss. To get the ticker you make to show up in your signature, you have to select that option (I think it's in the last step) as the default is for it not to show up. There is also html code if you want to add it to a blog or something similar.

This is a very informative research article from the NIH website that should help put your mind at ease. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3345131/ The TL/DR is you can have a safe pregnancy and can certainly have a natural delivery if there are no complications, just as you would without bariatric surgery. Most doctors suggest waiting a year or two before getting pregnant. You want to lose the weight first, and you want to be at a point where you can eat enough calories to sustain the pregnancy in a healthy way. By losing weight, you are likely to have increased fertility and a healthier pregnancy for you and the baby.

I start my 2 week liquid diet on Feb 7, but if I had to drink milk, I don't know what I would do . I can't stand the stuff! I haven't had a glass of milk since I was about 8. Thankfully, I can have protein shakes, yogurt, pudding, broth, and jello. If I start to feel grumpy about it, I'll remind myself I could be stuck drinking milk!