Tiffykins

I honestly think my body wasn't happy at 150lbs. I'm only 5'2" tall so even at 125-130, I'm riding the mid to high range on the BMI scale, at my goal weight of 150lbs, I was still overweight. I fought hard to get into maintenance, I had to add foods that I had previously avoided in my strict losing phase. I also went through gallbladder surgery right in the middle of getting into maintenance which in turn forced me to cut out full fat foods such as avocados, Peanut Butter, nuts, full fat salad dressings etc etc. So, I honestly believe that led to me dropping pounds. BUT, the biggest change was my body composition and inches lost. At 150lbs, I was wearing a size 8/9(some 7s, or 6s), boobs were a solid 34/36C , at 125lbs I wear a size 2 and wear a tiny 32B bra. So, fat redistributed, skin rebounded, I even can wear a size 0 from the Gap so things change in maintenance, skin rebounds, skin changes, fat redistributes, and body composition continued to change for me. And, I was not working out. So, I was not doing anything to encourage losing. I also want to add that I was perfectly 100% content at my goal weight. I did struggle at first with bouncing on the scale, but I had to accept it is what it is, and stop beating myself over it. The changes I saw brought a lot of realization that I'm really happy that I waited on plastic surgery. Not only that, I knew that I would be getting pregnant so I kind of wanted the extra fat store and skin to get me through the pregnancy, and then worry about fixing the physical stuff I hate after delivery. There's a few other maintainers on OH that struggled with maintenance, and then there are others that experiences mirror Mini's so it's very individualized. Not to scare anyone either, but gaining weight is not all that hard with the sleeve. I had a gain over the holidays, was instructed to gain for conception purposes, and others have reported a gain(usually 10-15% of their total loss) at 2-4 years out. I kind of like having this "cushion" of being below goal so in the event I have a gain, I can fall back to losing regimen and get below goal again.

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin FEELS"

LOL I'm sorry, this was a weird food combination that an ex-boyfriend turned me onto and he paired it with a fancy Moscato wine ! ! ! I thought he was crazy, and wouldn't try it together. But, low and behold, it's one of the best wine/food combinations I've ever had in my life. Of course, right now, I can not have the Moscato so it's nothing for me to scoop the cream cheese right out of the container onto a half of a celery stalk and then dip the celery into my container of crushed walnuts HA. My husband thinks I'm slightly insane when this craving hits ! ! !

I was told to avoid it for 6 months due to the cellulose factor since it's difficult for us to digest it normally. Couple the cellulose factor with altered stomachs apparently those 2 things don't go well together. I waited a long time to eat celery raw. Probably close to a year before I tried it, and I was fine. Raw veggies and fruits were completely discouraged until I was 3 months out. After reading the couple of bezoar cases on here and obesityhelp, I decided to avoid those foods unless they were cooked. http://www.raw-food-health.net/listofvegetables.html#axzz1RVweZSLn'>http://www.raw-food-health.net/listofvegetables.html#axzz1RVweZSLn I did eat cooked celery in stew and Soups without issue. I occasionally get a hankering for celery with pineapple cream cheese with crushed walnuts sprinkled on top, and I indulge.

I never named mine. I should have after all she went through, but I think I was just grateful to not lose more of her during the revision. I let her keep her name of just "stomach". Boring, I know HA

It took me getting to goal to really feel thin. I still reached for larger sizes for months because I couldn't believe I was a size 8,6, 4 etc. It just takes time. One thing that helped put things into perspective was to take a pre-op shirt, and lay it on the bed, then take a current shirt and lay it on top of my pre-op shirt. OR, an even bigger eye opener was doing this with pre-op panties. . . Holy crap, there is a huge difference between a size 10 panty and size 7 and it might not seem that way when you're wearing them, but lay them next to each other, and you'll be shocked. It'll happen, but you'll have to get a to a mental place of acceptance, and that takes work and time.

Since I only have 4 chewables, I find it easiest to take them after my meals. I rotate between taking 1 calcium in the morning after Breakfast, and then another one 2-3 hours later after lunch, and then after my late "lunch" I take one multi, and then after dinner I take another multi. Sometimes, I switch it up because I carry my multi in my purse, and some days I eat breakfast and lunch out so I pop my multi after those meals, and then take my calcium at home. It just kind of depends on my mood I guess is the best way to explain my regimen. For me, it's the easiest regimen I've found in 2 years post-op. Early out, I had a different regimen and it was just way too many pills, I even tried a couple of different liquid calcium citrate, and those were just a hassle, and super thick. I did try citracal petites, but that had me taking 5-6 pills per day, 2 hours apart, and my cell phone alarm was going off all the time with a reminder to take some pill or chewable, and it was just too frustrating. There's other stuff out for people to try. I know Bariatric Advantage makes a lozenge of sorts, and then there's the crystal UpCalD calcium citrate that can be dissolved in fluids. I'm honestly just lazy when it comes to supplements, and if it's an inconvenience, I know myself well enough to know that I'll slack on taking them. I know that sounds horrible, but for me, I chose VSG because of the lack of malabsorption and need to take hoards of vitamins. It's my one true weak spot post-op so I had to find something that worked for me and my lifestyle.

You'll do great chickee ! ! ! My husband is ANTI-VITAMIN or supplement of any sorts. . . Then at the ripe age of 29(in May), he had a sketchy eKg results come back with his yearly Air Force physical. Grant it, they've determined it was all due to a high stress job situation that has since been resolved, and a very demanding schedule that had him working about 65-70 hours a week on top of physical training 3 days a week. His PCM on base ordered a cholesterol test (all was good there), and he had a stress test done yesterday, and that all came back clear, along with a perfect eKg. BUT, before these tests, I convinced him he needed some additional vitamins. He now takes Vitacrave adult gummies, it's the only ones I can get him to take, and while they aren't the best, he's a normie with the metabolism of a fricken gnat and he's built like brick poophouse so, I'm grateful that he's willing to take in anything additional. I sneak ground flax seed into his baked goods, salad dressing, and other meals without his knowledge. He can thank me later for nice clean bowels and arteries HA.

I'm 2 years out, and honestly I eat everything and anything I want. For specifics, it kind of varies on what I'm eating, the consistency of the food, and the time I take to eat my meal. I can give you an example of what I eat for a lot of my meals, but I eat really random stuff. I can eat 3-5oz of dense Protein (like steak, chicken, rib meat, venison) 3oz if I want to eat other stuff with it, about 5oz if all I eat is the meat, and I can get in 6oz if I add some sort of steak sauce or gravy to make it more mushy. As for pizza, I can eat 1-1.5 slices of medium thin crust pizza. Fajita- I can eat 1 fajita with about 3 strips of either steak or chicken a couple of teaspoons of refried Beans and rice with salsa. I tear off the entire top/rounded part of the small tortilla so I'm really only eating about 1/3 of the tortilla. As for a Subway sandwich, 3 Subway meatballs with 3inch of bread (pretty half of a 6inch sub). I don't eat a lot of Cereal or oatmeal, but when I choose to eat oatmeal, I can eat 1 packet of instant oatmeal over about 40 minutes. I can eat 2 soft poached eggs with cheese, and a couple slices of bacon. Sushi- I only eat the cooked variety with rice. I can eat about 3-4 slices of a sushi roll. I feel like I eat pretty normal, my portions are smaller than my naturally skinny girlfriends, but I eat all the same foods. I don't eat a lot of hamburgers, hot dogs, or sandwiches only because the bread is a total slider food for me now. Plus, I'm just not a fan of burgers or hot dogs. I think every person has a different definition of normal. For me, I live a very normal life post-op, others probably disagree. Others are way more strict in maintenance and avoid certain foods for life because how they react to those foods. It takes time, and a lot of trial and tribulation to figure out what works. Best wishes

Celebrate makes a chewable that I use that offers 500mg of citrate in one chewable, along with Vit D and magnesium. Yep, they're a little chalky, but they dissolve quickly, taste good, don't get clumped up in my teeth, and I only have to take 2 per day. So, a little chalkiness is well worth taking just 2 per day instead of 5-6 2 hours apart. calcium citrate Plus 500mg are the ones I order. I also use their Multi complete with Iron which are chewable as well so I get all my Vitamins in with just 4 chewables per day. Way better than 6-8 for my little life.

My favorite panties are Hipster cuts. They are similar to bikinis with a little extra material around the side and hip area. As for thongs, I have no butt and I have a few pairs, but found when I wear them that string actually rubs my tailbone, heavy forbid I wear tight jeans, and sit down the jeans seem to grab that little "T" at the top and pull that string further up my hiney. Not pleasant since I have a chronically inflamed tailbone, and the skin covering my tailbone is pretty dang sensitive. I don't believe their is an age limit on panties, or any other garment. If it looks good, you feel good wearing then so be it! ! ! I wear underwear for comfort. I don't wear them to feel sexy, or care if I have matching panties and bras. For me, these garments are purely functional and additional laundry for me to have to wash. I'm fairly sure after plastic surgery, new boobs and tummy tuck, I'm fairly sure undergarments will not be worn often. I might wear pasties to cover my nipples, but that's about it. HA I wear a size 5 or 6(small to medium) in most brands of panties. Joe Boxer are my absolute favorite brand, and you can find them on clearance on the Sears.com and Kmart.com websites ! ! !

Best wishes on Monday ! ! ! Most of that plan is super strict, and pretty rigid. I've been drinking caffeine since being about 6 weeks out. I drink soda and have for 18 of my 25 months post-op. All with the go-ahead from my surgeon and nutritionist. Our losing plan was strict, but maintenance is much more lax. The no caffeine rule applied only until I could drink enough clear fluids to compensate for the diuretic effect of caffeine. As for ulcers, the risk for marginal ulcers is slim to none with VSG and/or gastrectomies unless the patients has had a history of ulcerative conditions. This is well documented in studies with VSG and gastrectomy patients that did not have it performed for weight loss. The low risk of ulcers with VSG is the main reason that NSAIDS are allowed with VSG and not with RNY. As for Vitamins, with the calcium citrate and your multi (the multi needs to have iron), do not take the citrate and multi within 2 hours of each other as the calcium counteracts the Iron from being absorbed. I'm glad to hear your nut discourage Gummie vitamins as they are not a complete Vitamin for most adults. I still take chewables, not only because they work for me, but because I kind of just suck up the chalkiness and move on. They go down easily, and well, they have not ever failed me on my labs. I choose to use Celebrate Multi complete (includes Iron), and their Calcium Citrate Plus 500 (which contains Vit D and Magnesium). I have been allowed to remain on this regimen in my pregnancy, and my labs have remained stellar in the pregnancy since the formulation of Celebrate actually beats some of the more potent pre-natals on Iron and Folic Acid counts. You can order samples from Bariatric Advantage, and Celebrate Vitamins to see which ones you might like to use. I personally hated all the BA supplement/vitamins. With the Celebrate, I'm able to take (chew) just 4 chewables per day. I'm further out and only need 1000mg of Citrate, and take 2 of the Multi completes per day. Early out, I had to take 3 of Calciums because I was to take 1200-1500mg per day in the early months because my intake was so low. I use a sublingual B12 2500mcg from WalMart, and pop one under my tonuge 3-4 days a week.

I've had both the sleeve and the band. I can tell you my horror stories with the band, but will spare you the gory details and just recommend you check out the Band to Sleeve Revision on this forum from the main page. You'll see just how many of us have to revise to the sleeve after having the band. I have a lot of information on VSG, the band and RNY in my blog, I'll post it here, but it's a long post so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy. Attached you to the information will be research links and articles pertaining to the VSG. The band has the lowest and slowest weight loss stats with the most long term complications and highest re-operation rates. I do not regret my band decision, VSG was not available when I had my band, and it taught me a lot about myself, my food issues. I love my sleeve, it's the very best decision I ever made for myself and my family. Here is a study from the band manufacturers: And then my personal reasons for VSG over RNY for my revision:

Meg, thanks for sharing, and while I hate you felt like crap after indulging, I think it really shows us how our bodies react to certain foods. To this very day, I still hate it when I have to eat so many carbs, and couple that with pregnancy, all I want to do is sleep. I don't care what kind of carbs I ingest, they make me run in granny gear instead of my usual overdrive. I'm proud of you for recognizing how food reacts and learning how to deal with those yummy foods in moderation. It'll help once you get to maintenance. Onward and downward (on the scale) ! ! !

Thanks chickee ! ! ! You're going to rock your sleeve, and we'll be here to cheer you on ! ! !

I worried every day until the surgeon cleared me so don't feel bad for worrying. Try wiggling your legs or pulling them up to your waist area 10-20 times per hour to keep the circulation going. I slept in compression stockings that I brought home from the hospital. If you are concerned with blood clots, put in a call to your surgeon and get a pair from them. They didn't making sleeping impossible, and kept my legs warm.

That's exactly what mindset I got in as I was fighting to get into maintenance. You can do it chickee, and you'll do fabulous. If you lose a few more pounds here and there, so be it. I lost about 23lbs over 4 months getting into maintenance, and I promise I wasn't trying. So, the body does weird things. You're a lot more diligent about working out so I bet you'll see a big loss of inches and redistribution of skin and any residual fat you may have in the coming months which is awesome for clothing ! ! ! Keep rockin' it chickee! ! !

I'm with Foxbins on this one. And, just my personal experience, but foods with sugar alcohol gave and still to this very day gives me horrific gas. I never bothered with this net carb vs. good carb vs. bad carb. For me and me only as you'll get varied opinions on this topic, my body likes to burn those carbs, regardless of how much fiber I eat with them, over burning fat. So, a carb was a carb was a carb during my losing stage.

The main difference I've found with the difference in milk is the lower fat content, the more days you get out of the gallon of milk. When my husband and I met 5 years ago, he ONLY drank whole milk. Well, we moved in together, he was switched to 2%, 6 months into our marriage (2.5 years into our relationship), he was switched to 1%, and today he drinks Skim milk. I am slightly lactose intolerant post VSG, so the lower the milk fat, the easier I can tolerate it. I hate all the milk substitutes like almond milk, soy milk all of them make me gag. And, now that I'm pregnant, full on lactose intolerance is back in full effect. I can still tolerate some yogurt, greek yogurt and low fat cheese, but I'm fairly miserable with full fat milk products.

Anytime there are additional complications, the recovery is going to be much longer. I was exhausted for a solid 2 months post-op. I had my own set of complications with the revision, then a 2nd hospitalization around 6-7 weeks out that landed me back on a heavy napping schedule with drains and on more meds than I thought I could ever manage. So, just take it easy, stay hydrated, and rest when needed. I also didn't get Protein in until I was 6-8 weeks out because all of the Protein drinks made me sick. I developed a whey protein intolerance and could not use them. The soy and other protein alternatives were not tolerated well either.

I know very few people that have true food intolerances post-VSG. Foods might not settle great in their sleeve, but a lot of the time it boils down to people choosing to not eat certain foods. Pork chops settle extremely heavy in my sleeve, but I don't get sick or throw up, or feel horrible if I eat them, they're just heavier, more dense than say a steak. Whoever your friend is simply sharing her experience, and if she has that many intolerances, obviously she is in the minority. It's just not the truth, and I'm sorry, but that might be her experience. If you head over to obesityhelp.com you can read the "Whatcha eating today VSG'ers" and see what various people are eating on a daily basis at different stages post-op. There is also a maintenance group that has lots of 2-7 year out VSGers on there sharing their experiences. Funny thing for me in regards to your friend's comments is that chicken is actually more difficult for me to eat versus steak, ribs, venison, turkey or seafood. The only way I can eat the same amount of chicken as I can steak if it's cooked in some sort of gravy, or sauce and slow cooked works best. I still can not eat an entire grilled chicken breast by itself, but I can eat half of an 8oz filet mignon cooked medium. I just ate a chicken fajita for Breakfast HA without any issue. Oh and last week, I went to the one good Indian restaurant here in town and ate naan bread covered in chicken madras curry sauce, and about 4oz of the chicken over some basamati rice over an 1 hour and 20 minutes while having lunch with my girlfriends. I've eaten spicy food since being 3 months out including super spicy salsa, Thai curry, Thai pepper steak all with Thai medium to Thai Hot seasoning. I've never had any issues with spicy foods. In the beginning, I honestly think it's your body adjusting back to accepting foods after being on liquids so long, and eating bland foods for a few weeks. Then all of a sudden throwing something in there that throws the body a curveball. Food progression should be slow, and steady. My program recommends only introducing one new food type or adding in varied items only one item per day to see if your body will tolerate it. I couldn't eat pickles without burping up the skins a couple of hours later early out. So, I just skinned the pickles, easy adjustment and now I have zero issues. I did experience the milk tolerance, but had zero issue with cheese or yogurts post-op. The lactose intolerance resolved until pregnancy, and now it's back in full effect.

The port area was by far the most painful part of my recovery. I had hoards of scar tissue around that area, and it bothered me for months until I had my gallbladder removed at 8 months post-revision, and my surgeon went in and removed all the adhesions and scar tissue that had developed. It's the one area that, even at 2 years out, still has sensitivity in a weird way. If I bump a countertop or corner of a table "just right", it hurts more there than any other incision/scar area on my stomach. As for the bump, or swelling, I've read of others getting hematomas or seromas from their port area so watch it carefully, and ask your surgeon if you should watch for any signs of those occurrences. Best wishes on a successful recovery ! ! !

YAY YAY many congrats on all of your accomplishments ! ! !

Absolutely AMAZING ! ! !

I didn't have the 2 week liquid before, but had to do low carb/high Protein for a week before surgery because this method has shown to be effective to shrink the slippery/slimy fat on the liver. As for post-op, our program is 2 weeks clears, 2 weeks fulls, 2 weeks mushies/purees, and then add in solids as tolerated. I was able to advance to mushies 1 week early only because I had complications that kept me from eating or drinking anything for over 20 days so by the time I was allowed to eat or drink anything I was over a month out already. Then, I stayed on mushies/purees/soft solids for 3 months only because solids were not tolerated very well and I couldn't eat enough protein via solid foods. I could not use protein drinks/shakes so getting protein from food was essential for my recovery. The 2-4 week liquids is pretty standard among sleeve surgeons. I've only read a handful of patients being progressed past full liquids before 2 weeks out. I obviously couldn't have eaten mushies any sooner than what my surgeon prescribed. I'm a firm believer that I trusted this man to remove the majority of a major organ, I should probably trust him on what to put inside there for the best possible outcome. It does suck, but it's so worth it. And, remember, it's only temporary.