Melissa💖💜💙

I have a date!!! 😊 I'm ready to throw useless New Year's Resolutions out the window and actually DO something to better my life. Who will be joining me in starting the new year out right???

Two months?! No, my diet changes week to week. Second week after surgery, I started full liquids. Third week, pureed foods and things like soup, yogurt, pudding, applesauce. Later this week I can start with soft foods: eggs, white fish, mashed beans. The week after, I can try tuna, salmon, chicken, cooked veggies. The week after that, I can try beef and pork. Every doctor has different post-op directions.

Very true. My biggest obstacle is my own impatience. I want to hurry up and get to real food, being so sick of protein shakes. I just started my soft phase, so thankfully I can now have eggs, beans, white fish, cooked vegetables. I just keep looking ahead to everything I will be able to do once some more weight comes off. I have also just booked a Mexican Riviera cruise for January 2026 to celebrate the new me and my new life one year from my surgery. No more "rewarding" myself with unhealthy food choices, and instead I'll be rewarding myself with things that focus on my self-care. Like taking a cruise I'll be going by myself, but it's not the first time. I'm very excited. 😊

The diets will differ from doctor to doctor, even here in the States. While fairly similar, they're not all identical.

That's a very different pre-op diet than I had. I was on three protein shakes a day, pureed (non-starchy) vegetable soups, and as for fruit I could only have apple or berries. The berries I mixed with vanilla protein shake in my Magic Bullet for a smoothie. I never felt dizzy. Are you getting enough protein? Not sure how much is in one pint of skim milk...

My doctor has set a goal for me to have 60g of protein a day (two protein shakes) and 50oz of liquids. Today is my first full day at home, and I'm doing kinda okay so far. A tip I got from some YouTube videos was to buy 2oz cups with lids and portion out my protein shakes into 2oz servings. I drink one cup slowly, and then 15-30 minutes later I drink another. I was able to finish one protein shake this morning over the course of a couple hours.

Happy to see you're doing so well! I'm going home today. Ended up getting sleeved on Wednesday, which wasn't the initial plan. My surgery was scheduled for Thursday, Jan 30. When I arrived on Wed morning for my pre-ops (blood work, urine test, EKG, meeting with psychologist, etc) they asked if I'd like to have the procedure that same day as the schedule had unexpectedly opened up. I was like, sure let's just get this over with lol They gave me a bottle of water with 1000mg Tylenol, benadryl, and Clonopin to help me relax, and told me not to drink anything else from there on out. I had the VSG around 3:00p. I remember the anesthesiologist saying, "If you feel a little dizzy, that's normal." And then nothing. I woke up in recovery lol I was really groggy when I woke up and a little disoriented, like "Where am I? What's going on? It's over already? That's it?" Haha. I did feel pressure in my abdomen and I kept having to tell myself to breathe. I haven't felt much pain, only when getting up and sitting down, and I haven't felt nauseous at all, thank god. A young lady in the room next to mine had nausea SO bad. I felt for her cuz that's awful. I've been walking a lot to help relieve the gas pressure. It's a lot better than it was a couple days ago. They took out my IV yesterday and I have been able to take my medications by mouth without any problem. I'm able to tolerate liquids, and have been mixing water with gatorade. I got a B12 shot in the ass today, and that sucker hurt! Yowza. They have me on an antiobiotic and blood thinner for the next week. I also have pain medication that I can take every 6hrs, but I honestly haven't needed to take it that much. I'll just use Tylenol once I get home. Looking forward to going home today and seeing my three babies! (They're cats lol) But first I have to discharge and then go to the airport. Hopefully the flight home isn't too bad. 🤞

Good luck with your recovery!

I'm on day 3 of my pre-op liquid diet. My surgery date is the 30th. Three protein shakes a day, and I can blend fruit (apple and/or berries) with some protein powder for a smoothie and also non-starch veggies for pureed soup. No sugar, no carbs, no dairy. Thank goodness for my Magic Bullet and immersion blender! It's going okay so far. My cravings are all head hunger because the liquid diet is keeping me full. I'm also having doubts every day. I know I need to do this because whatever I lose, I will just gain back and then some. I've lost 60 lbs. over and over again for the last 15 years. I can never keep it off. So, this surgery isn't necessarily to help me lose as I know I can do that on my own, but to help me maintain loss and keep it off for good. There are so many things I love that I am looking forward to doing, things my weight has been preventing for most of my adult life. Shopping "normal" sizes, traveling, socializing, horseback riding. I just need to focus on my long-term goals.

How are you doing post-op?

Great to hear! I hope you have a smooth recovery.

Good luck with everything. Update whenever you can, but no rush. Take care of you! 🥰

It's going okay so far. I'm down 22 lbs. since my initial consult in late November, 5 lbs since I started pre-op diet on Jan 1st. They put me on a no-carb, protein-fruit-veggies-only diet to start with. I start my full liquid diet on the 13th, which I will be on for two weeks before I switch to clear liquids only. It'll be a challenge, but I think I'll do all right. Good luck with everything!

Yay! Happy to hear it went well for you and that you are feeling pretty good post-op. Congrats on the weight loss and the progress you've made so far! 🤗

I hope it gets better quickly for you. 💜

I'm starting to get nervous, too. But I'm also really excited to get on the other side of it.

Woo hoo! I start my pre-op diet on Jan 1st and my surgery date is Jan 30th. What kind of diet does your doctor have you on?

I can see why that would make you nervous, but that's good they want to see you in the office the next day. They should be able to catch any issues you're having right away. I totally get not wanting to wait until March. It's the reason I'm going to Mexico in January instead of jumping through a bunch of hoops and doing six months of dieting and appointments in the hopes insurance might actually approve the surgery. Nope. I've been waiting for most of my life to finally do something for ME that will better my emotional and physical health. I'm not waiting any longer.

That's cool you only have to spend one day in the hospital.

Yay! Will you be having your surgery locally or traveling for the procedure?

Yay! Where are you having your surgery? You doing self-pay or through insurance?

Great to hear! How has it been for you since your surgery?

Nice! My date isn't until Jan 30th, but it's going to take that long for me to get everything sorted at work before I can take a couple weeks off. Where are you having your surgery?