AmberFL

I'll start! I just bought jeans almost two weeks ago and they are already getting baggy....think I might need to sport the mom/ boyfriend jean look for awhile

12 hours ago, Vanessa Correal said:

HIII! I had my surgery on the 29th of january !!!!! I'm home since that day, still on soft food but honestly I don't really follow it because my body tolerate litteraly everything so I just track all my food for now. I don't really meal prep since i'm always No big changed for now. I'M sooooooo happy for you!!! Let's keep talking if you want, just to share each other's experiences !

yay!!!! I am so glad you went through with it!! I am able to tolerate it all too! we got lucky! just track track track and drink that Water is what I tell myself! Definitely lets keep talking would love to hear you experiences!

19 hours ago, Nepenthe44 said:

Like isn't the correct word. I curse the gods nearly every moment I'm doing workouts, but I'm addicted.

If you like high intensity activities and are disciplined enough not to injure yourself, then it's great and I highly recommend it, especially if you have a gym nearby with a well-trained coaching staff. (More than the level 1 certification, which is essentially nothing.)

I have a F45, I tried OT and it was okay just hate the rower. But i might have to try Crossfit

On 1/9/2024 at 10:44 AM, Vanessa Correal said:

Youre the main reason of my post, i was looking for people who have similar thoughts to mine and I wanted to know if I was overreacting since i'm sooooo anxious about everything. Reading you made my choice of the surgery a little easier and it helped me to believe that maybe it is actually what I need. The way I see it is that if I decide to change my lifestyle without the surgery, I'll have to make sacrifices but with the risks of falling back in my old habits. On the other hand, the surgery is my way to force myself to change my lifestyle because I know that my journey will make me not wanna go back to the past. Sometimes I need to put myself in situations to make me do things.. I don't know if that makes sense. But either way, i'll have to change my habits so I just have to decide if i want to do it with the surgery and have kind of a purpose of not making it worthless or without the surgery... Thank you so much for sharing your story..

Just wanted to come back after I had my surgery! I healed up well, I am walking everyday, already down 2 pants sizes, I have more energy, my kids are happy to have a mom that is happier, my husband is happy to have his confident wife back who slowly starting to love herself again. Is this hard? F*%$ yes!! The discipline to not eat junk food or overeat is a mental game. But I meal prep, I track and my dietician is probably annoyed with me I email her all the time LOL. But my life is much easier, I wake up with ease, not hurting as bad, and excited to get up get some cute clothes, do my hair and makeup. I know my experience isn't like everyone's but I am so happy I did this!

1 hour ago, Nepenthe44 said:

I was cleared to go back to CrossFit at my one month follow-up, which ended up being 5 weeks out. My team acted surprised that I had waited and told me that I could have started sooner, just not to do anything that hurt.

Now, I couldn't actually lift anything heavier than a 15 lb training barbell and my goal remains, almost a year out, simply not to pass out. But I was allowed to do it very soon after.

ahh okay, my discharge paperwork told me not to lift anything more than 20lbs for 2 weeks but I lasted only a week since I have a toddler and he's 30lbs. Of course I am careful, I would like to try get into a good work out routine. Do you like crossfit?

I am 26lbs since surgery and I can definitely tell! my double chin is almost gone hahah!

Hi all!

Me again! Wednesday I am 3 weeks post op! I think I have the food down and just trying to figure out when I can do more than just walk my dog lol

21 hours ago, ChunkCat said:

I would suggest maybe asking them why your fat target is so low? Is this a temporary target? Most studies now are showing we need 30 grams of fat for healthy brain function and more like 50-60 grams of fat for proper sex hormone function, regardless of our caloric intake. I asked my dietician about this and she said the ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) suggests a fat target of 60 grams daily by 1 year post op. I can't find a reference to this on their site because there it is behind a member wall, but your dietician should have access to this and it is the guidelines most good programs follow.

By all means, follow what your team says, I'm not saying to ignore their targets, I'm just pointing out with fat that low you may experience brain fatigue, dry skin, dry eyes, and your meals may not feel as satiating since getting enough fat is a component of satiety.

But other than that your numbers look amazing for how early out you are post op!! Your surgeon should be thrilled you are able to get that Protein in, it is soooo good for wound healing!

It’s temporary the macros go up once I hit other stages, I can’t imagine myself eating this little the rest of my life. Lmao! And my sex hormone does not need to be played with if anything now my libido is like how I was when I was a teenager. My guy isn’t complaining 😂

I think I need to set up an appt to go over what I’m eating with my dietician because the whole point of this surgery for me was to be healthy not just thin. Thank you for your insight! 💜

So my targets are 60-80g of Protien Less than 40g carbs and less than 15g of fat. So I think I need to re-evaluate my food choices. It’s a learning curve lol

10 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

It was a while ago now but I remember I still wasn’t hitting my Protein goal. I wanted to do real food only too & plus I found the shakes disgusting & never touched one after liquids. For Breakfast I scrambled eggs with extra milk & took three days to eat them or ate rolled oats again made totally on milk & took three days to eat a serve. lunch & dinner were often just Protein (maybe 2 ozs) & nothing else or with just a green bean or two or a small cauliflower floret with dinner. And yes I’d take a while to eat that - 45 mins +/-. After a week or two on soft food I added a high protein yoghurt or yoghurt drink as an afternoon snack to burst my protein.

I wasn’t hungry or really interested in eating. I simply couldn’t eat more than I was but I was following my surgeon’s portion size recommendation of 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée slowly increasing to a cup by 6 months

If you are worried by getting your protein in try protein Water. You’ll get about 16oz liquid, 15g protein & about 70 calories. So fewer calories (if you count calories) than a shake (which is really a meal) but not as many nutrients. Just watch those with added sugar or sugar substitutes or artificial sweeteners.

This was my day today;

2 mini ham frittatas, I made a Protein Shake, had Isopure Protein Powder in my Water, 1/2 of a ricotta bake and dinner I had .5oz of pot roast meat, one baby carrot and a bite 1/4 of baby potato.

macros: 662 cal 40g carbs, 89g protein 16g fat

Am I doing this right? Lol I really don’t know. I’m terrified of gaining weight

23 minutes ago, Lily2024 said:

I'm 5 weeks post op RNY, I eat 3 meals of Protein, 2 oz per meal, and add 1 cup of fairlife milk and a Protein Shake. If I'm feeling hungry I'll add 2 oz of greek yogurt or Protein pudding for a fourth meal. I usually feel a bit hungrier on days that I swim. I exercise every day and I can tell when I got too into it, I feel tired and hungry.

So far the easiest to digest have been ground turkey, smoked salmon, chicken, tuna, and cottage cheese. I'm still drinking chicken broth when I feel like I need more salt and if I forget that, I crave chips.

I also pretty much eat my weight in sugar free popsicles.

Okay! It’s nice to know that I’m supposed to eat! Have you tried the Quest chips?

23 minutes ago, Lily2024 said:

I'm 5 weeks post op RNY, I eat 3 meals of Protein, 2 oz per meal, and add 1 cup of fairlife milk and a Protein Shake. If I'm feeling hungry I'll add 2 oz of greek yogurt or Protein pudding for a fourth meal. I usually feel a bit hungrier on days that I swim. I exercise every day and I can tell when I got too into it, I feel tired and hungry.

So far the easiest to digest have been ground turkey, smoked salmon, chicken, tuna, and cottage cheese. I'm still drinking chicken broth when I feel like I need more salt and if I forget that, I crave chips.

I also pretty much eat my weight in sugar free popsicles.

Okay! It’s nice to know that I’m supposed to eat! Have you tried the Quest chips?

23 minutes ago, Lily2024 said:

I'm 5 weeks post op RNY, I eat 3 meals of Protein, 2 oz per meal, and add 1 cup of fairlife milk and a Protein Shake. If I'm feeling hungry I'll add 2 oz of greek yogurt or Protein pudding for a fourth meal. I usually feel a bit hungrier on days that I swim. I exercise every day and I can tell when I got too into it, I feel tired and hungry.

So far the easiest to digest have been ground turkey, smoked salmon, chicken, tuna, and cottage cheese. I'm still drinking chicken broth when I feel like I need more salt and if I forget that, I crave chips.

I also pretty much eat my weight in sugar free popsicles.

Okay! It’s nice to know that I’m supposed to eat! Have you tried the Quest chips?

23 minutes ago, ChunkCat said:

I have to eat every 2-3 hours and have since I was post op, so I eat 5-6 small meals a day. I prefer this because it keeps me from mindless snacking, provides a rhythm to my day, and allows me to get in a variety of flavors and textures. I'm only 3 months post op, there is no way I'd get my daily macros in with just 3 meals a day. My stomach doesn't have that capacity and if I go past 3 hours without eating my energy crashes, I feel light headed, nauseous, shaky, and irritable. Each person's body is different, but by necessity I ascribe to the "eat less more often" method and I'm not alone in that need. My target macros are 120 grams of Protein, 100 grams of fat, 40 grams of total carbs, calories don't matter because I malabsorb a good percentage of fat and a moderate percentage of Protein.

8:00 am Premier Protein vanilla shake

9:30 am 3 tablespoons hashbrowns, 4 cherry tomatoes, 1 1/2 scrambled eggs

12:00 Ratio Coconut Keto Yogurt and 2 tablespoons Diabetic Kitchen Granola

3:00 pm Espresso with 1/2 cup Fairlife Whole Milk, Quest Spicy Sweet Chili Protein chips

6:00 pm 1 grilled chicken thigh, no skin, 3 tablespoons green Beans

9:00 pm 14 Wasabi Soy Roasted Almonds, 1 Choxo Dark chocolate Coconut Cup

Total Macros: 116 grams of Protein, 40 total grams of carbs, 78 grams of fat, 1305 calories.

This is pretty typical for me. I don't always eat the protein chips, I was just in a hurry and they are one of my go-to Snacks when I can't have something perishable. Normally they'd be a protein and veggie.

This is great! I am up at 430 so I make sure to drink my first 32oz of Water but 7ish I know I need to eat because I can tell I get tired. This is great! Thank you. Just wanted to make sure that I was doing this right! I overthink all the things 😂

44 minutes ago, NickelChip said:

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.

Okay! That’s my booklet says too was 4-6hrs every meal. But this morning I two egg bites for 5g protein so a couple of later I made my protien shake. This makes me feel better I don’t wanna over eat but I don’t want under eat either. This is a science!

I am now on soft food, I meal prepped some lunches but getting my Protein seems way tougher than just drinking shakes. I have the Isopure lime mango mix in for 20g.

I want to be able to eat food since it’s going to be more sustainable but how did you guys get it all in?

23 hours ago, Arabesque said:

In most cases, your stomach growling is just your digestive system doing its job of digesting food and nothing to do with hunger (despite what we were always told). Your tummy is a muscle that contracts & expands as it digests what you are eating & moves that food through your digestive system. All that squishing & squelching is noisy. At the moment, it’s probably spasming to some degree too as a result of the surgery & the shock to your system. (All those cut nerves, cut tummy.)

I’m 4.75yrs out & mine still rumbles & growls like my own personal poltergeist. It will grumble, rumble, whine & groan while I’m eating & even just drinking Water for up to an hour or two after so certainly nothing to do with hunger. (It’s doing it now LOL!)

My nieces & nephew think it’s hilarious. Sometimes they put their heads on my lap just to see if they can hear my tummy. Can be embarrassing at times though.

Thank you! I feel reassured after posting!

On 1/30/2024 at 4:16 PM, ChunkCat said:

Also, contrary to popular belief, it is VERY hard to stretch out your stomach with the sleeve surgery!! This is because our sleeve is made out of stomach tissue that is less stretchy than the rest of the stomach. It takes months, sometimes years, for it to relax enough that you can eat your normal bariatric portions. And some people always have high restriction... But even when you can eat bigger portions, it is still rare to stretch out your sleeve. Most stories you hear of it are from people whose first sleeve surgery wasn't done properly. Or else they were overeating by a significant amount at every meal over a loooong period of time! My surgeon told me this is actually quite rare, because the less stretchy stomach material means you are much more likely to just vomit if you try to overeat than to actually be successful enough with it you stretch out your sleeve. I found that very reassuring!!

Very reassuring!! I haven’t been giving into the growls just did I thought after this surgery I would never want food again 🤪😂

5 minutes ago, Nan CC said:

OMG, I posted the same thing last night! I also had my sleeve done on 1/24 and I am shocked to find that I am actually having hunger pangs and growling. I'm at the same stage...full liquid, but I can have cream Soups, sugar free pudding, yogurt, Protein Shakes, etc. I have to thin the yogurt with some skim milk to tolerate it and even then it's not great. Today I am going to add some Isopure flavorless Protein Powder to pudding. I think if I can get more Protein in, I might feel less hungry. I'm drinking Protein 2 0 Water and protein shakes in addition to plain Water. I'm sorry you're feeling hungry but I'm relieved to find that it's somewhat normal. Good luck!

Thank you for commenting! I thought I was doing something wrong or stretched out my stomach already! lol! guess its part of the process! Water has always been a struggle for me even pre-op so I am trying to just focus on water and protein and make sure I hit those goals. We got this!!

Just now, BigZ said:

Yes, I felt that way until I was onto the puree stage and could suffice the hunger/growling with a little bit of food with consistency. I am assuming you are still on liquid only at this point? You are used to eating food, and your stomach is looking for it, liquids pass through pretty quick, it is essentially a funnel, it comes in and out pretty quick (~5 minutes). Once you get puree foods they last a bit longer in the stomach so the growling etc will go away.

AHHHH!!! okay! I needed the science behind it lol! Yes I am on modified liquids so I can have strained cream Soups, yogurts ect....Sweet! thank you, I thought I was going bananas

3 minutes ago, BigZ said:

Your stomach is still healing (6-8 weeks PO), and it still hasn't adjusted to your smaller stomach size. It will get better over time.

so its normal? Is the key to just continue on the plan and eventually it goes away?

HI all,

I got sleeved last Wednesday 1/24. I have been very blessed that my recovery has been great! Even thought I am slow I am getting my Protein and Water in. However yesterday I noticed that my stomach is growling...likes I am hungry? It does not go away even after I drink water or have protein. This is odd, I am trying to not give in because I cannot imagine that I am hungry when my stomach was cut into 1/4 of its size. I am getting my walks in already, and being able to move pretty well.

Is this possible? It feels as though I did not even has surgery!

1 hour ago, BigZ said:

Don't worry about calories for a while. Once you are on the last phase for maintenance etc you will monitor more. I want to say by the time you are around 6 months you should have up to 1000 calories a day, and then with maintenance it is 1100-1500 calories a day. You aren't going to be able to eat enough (if you follow their guidelines) for the next while to worry about it. I am 5.5 months PO and I am between 600-800 calories a day. I only have my 3 meals, plus a snack if I am low on Protein.

This makes me feel better. I don’t want to restrict myself so much that I don’t have enough energy but I also don’t want to mess this is. The Protein Shakes help me get over my goal in protien. Just need to work on my water!

thanks for commenting!

7 hours ago, ChunkCat said:

Yeah, I got a pack of these freezer safe glass 4 oz baby food jars on Amazon and they've been really helpful with portioning!! At first I could only eat about half of one, so about 1/4 cup total. A bit less if it was solid Protein in meat form other than fish (beef, chicken, and pork sit heavier). That was it for about two months. In this third month my portion size suddenly increased to about 1/2 cup in total now! As far as meat and veggies are concerned at least. I have always been able to eat a little more of soft things like yogurt and pudding... But my PA told me that increase at 3 months is perfectly normal, and I could expect it to increase in stages throughout the first year or two, to not panic over it, hunger is natural and mine never went away from surgery, so I've really had to cultivate a healthy relationship with it.

Because those stomach nerves are still healing, I watched my portion size carefully and really paid attention to discovering new fullness cues. For me those are a runny nose, hiccups, burping, and aggressive sneezing fits! Plus this building pressure or weight in the center of my stomach. These are all normal signals for bariatric patients, but we all get our own unique combination so be on the lookout for discovering yours!

I think 2-3 shakes a day paired with things like yogurt and soft cereals seems really normal. It is great you are progressing so well! The problem with forums and support groups is we get used to seeing people post with problems and then we expect to have a slew of problems ourselves! And sometimes we do. But often times we don't... The majority of bariatric patients have no complications, progress their diets easily, and worry about eating too much and if their surgeon even did their surgery. 🤣

Your metabolism has been reset, it will handle calories a bit differently now. Just stay on the conservative end with simple carbs, as they can slow weight loss sometimes. Focus on that hydration and Protein, and later on when cleared for all foods, on adding complex carbs like veggies, Beans, and some fruit. Protein will help with the hunger, as does healthy fat and the fiber once it is safe for you to digest. My dietician told us to think more about macros than calories. So, to make sure things had less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, more than 20 grams of protein per shake, less than 10 grams of fat per serving, and keeping our total carbohydrates for the day under 50 grams in the early months...and that was their advice for all surgeries, with varying protein goals for each different one. Baritastic app has been really helpful with the tracking!

I like the Baritastic App but it doesn’t allow me to do it on my computer at work. I like being able to on my PC, since I am not allowed to have my phone in our office for security reasons. So I am using MyNetDiary and I really like it and it has a scanner.

I literally am that person where I’m wondering if the surgeon did the surgery right or at all 😂 I’ve been on the forums for months so reading everyone’s story I was sure I would have terrible issues but I guess J should just appreciate that I am progressing fine and doing well. I am following the guidelines to a T on the workbook and not skewing off the types of foods so that is helping. BUT I am dreaming of having a layered dip FF refried Beans, light sour cream, cheese and guac with whole wheat chips. I know I’ll only be able to eat 2 chips and a tiny dip but it sounds delish!!

I do have the glass jars I kept my sons when I was making his baby food. I used them for dressing for our salads when I packed for lunches lol so I’ve been utilizing them and only eating 2oz of any Soups.

I am getting that heavy feeling in the middle of stomach so that much be my que. I figured it was gas telling me to slow but idk how much slower I can eat! It takes me 1hr to drink a protein shake!

thank you for your wealth of knowledge it really helps!

7 hours ago, ChunkCat said:

Yeah, I got a pack of these freezer safe glass 4 oz baby food jars on Amazon and they've been really helpful with portioning!! At first I could only eat about half of one, so about 1/4 cup total. A bit less if it was solid Protein in meat form other than fish (beef, chicken, and pork sit heavier). That was it for about two months. In this third month my portion size suddenly increased to about 1/2 cup in total now! As far as meat and veggies are concerned at least. I have always been able to eat a little more of soft things like yogurt and pudding... But my PA told me that increase at 3 months is perfectly normal, and I could expect it to increase in stages throughout the first year or two, to not panic over it, hunger is natural and mine never went away from surgery, so I've really had to cultivate a healthy relationship with it.

Because those stomach nerves are still healing, I watched my portion size carefully and really paid attention to discovering new fullness cues. For me those are a runny nose, hiccups, burping, and aggressive sneezing fits! Plus this building pressure or weight in the center of my stomach. These are all normal signals for bariatric patients, but we all get our own unique combination so be on the lookout for discovering yours!

I think 2-3 shakes a day paired with things like yogurt and soft cereals seems really normal. It is great you are progressing so well! The problem with forums and support groups is we get used to seeing people post with problems and then we expect to have a slew of problems ourselves! And sometimes we do. But often times we don't... The majority of bariatric patients have no complications, progress their diets easily, and worry about eating too much and if their surgeon even did their surgery. 🤣

Your metabolism has been reset, it will handle calories a bit differently now. Just stay on the conservative end with simple carbs, as they can slow weight loss sometimes. Focus on that hydration and Protein, and later on when cleared for all foods, on adding complex carbs like veggies, Beans, and some fruit. Protein will help with the hunger, as does healthy fat and the fiber once it is safe for you to digest. My dietician told us to think more about macros than calories. So, to make sure things had less than 10 grams of sugar per serving, more than 20 grams of protein per shake, less than 10 grams of fat per serving, and keeping our total carbohydrates for the day under 50 grams in the early months...and that was their advice for all surgeries, with varying protein goals for each different one. Baritastic app has been really helpful with the tracking!

I like the Baritastic App but it doesn’t allow me to do it on my computer at work. I like being able to on my PC, since I am not allowed to have my phone in our office for security reasons. So I am using MyNetDiary and I really like it and it has a scanner.

I literally am that person where I’m wondering if the surgeon did the surgery right or at all 😂 I’ve been on the forums for months so reading everyone’s story I was sure I would have terrible issues but I guess J should just appreciate that I am progressing fine and doing well. I am following the guidelines to a T on the workbook and not skewing off the types of foods so that is helping. BUT I am dreaming of having a layered dip FF refried Beans, light sour cream, cheese and guac with whole wheat chips. I know I’ll only be able to eat 2 chips and a tiny dip but it sounds delish!!

I do have the glass jars I kept my sons when I was making his baby food. I used them for dressing for our salads when I packed for lunches lol so I’ve been utilizing them and only eating 2oz of any Soups.

I am getting that heavy feeling in the middle of stomach so that much be my que. I figured it was gas telling me to slow but idk how much slower I can eat! It takes me 1hr to drink a protein shake!

thank you for your wealth of knowledge it really helps!