NtvTxn

Three years out!!!!! Yay!!! Give us details on YOUR maintenence and anything special you do or don't do. I feel like I finally am living and eating like a naturally thin person. I still don't experience real hunger, more of an empty feeling, nothing that is at all severe. We went to Galveston this year, twice. I bought a new bathing suit that I actually wore without a t-shirt or something OVER IT!!!! It was a very strange feeling!!! Have a great time!!!

LisaLu - I don't consider eggs a slider food either. Sometimes I can eat two, but "one feels better" and will fill me up. I'm almost 27 months out and eggs still fill me up. I've heard it said that they are THE best Protein, I don't know why that is. I don't always start my day out with an egg or cottage cheese, which I call, the breakfast of champions.....today I had cinnamon toast, but that is rare. I feel better about everything when I know I'm starting off with protein. If I'm going to eat ONE egg, then I'll preceed it with a cup of skim milk. That's what, about 15 gr of protein!!?? Good stuff.

No way would I do the by-pass. I think the sleeve will some day be the 'gold standard' of WLS. It's forced portion control. I've had zero problems, but I was not in bad health to begin with. I had considered the band but decided the sleeve was the best choice. I'd stick with your gut feeling. I know so many by-pass patients that never reached goal and just as many who have gained back some or all of what they'd lost. How depressing! Good luck!

The first time I slipped into a size 4 jeans (at The Gap) I was talking to myself "NO WAY" I can still wear them, but after vacation and a family reunion, my size 6's feel better. I lost two lbs last week, another three and the 4's will not be as snug. My initial goal was to wear a size 8, that is what my mom wore, so I thought if I could get from my 18's and 20's......it would be a miracle. I was shocked how quickly it happened and knew I could keep going!!! This 'tool' we have is better than I had ever dreamed!!

I was self pay and didn't have to do any of that bologna that ins. companies require. I was 50 so I had to have a stress test. I attended the seminar and Dr. Davidson does self pay patients at Forest Park Medical Cntr. It's like the medical version of The Ritz. Great care, private room, nurses at your beck and call. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I had to have bloodwork done the day before surgery, but you should be in and out before you know it!! Good luck!

I reached my doctor's goal just a few days shy of five months. I wan't to be under his by five lbs. I got there four or five weeks later. I kept losing, ended up 18 lbs under his goal at one point. I was freaking out. I was 132 lbs and my size four jeans were feeling a little baggy after an hour or so. Size twos are hard to come by.....priorities you know!! LOL I got my calories up and gained back up to where I needed to be. I didn't like the 'gaunt' look at all. I'm comfy between 146 and 150. Trust me, you'll know!! Enjoy the ride, it's soooo much fun! I'm 26 months out.

and wait till they're gone, it is soooo fun if you have a good marriage! We celebrated 33 years last month. We love to hang out, we still hold hands and he opens the car door for me. I think sex is better and more fun since I lost weight, but we had a happy marriage and everything was GOOD before.

I had NO hunger for about 8 months. Now I have what I call my 'new hunger'. I have more of an empty feeling, not real hunger. I'm 2 yrs 2 months out! It's wonderful and makes maintaining much easier.

I would not increase my intake. Increase Protein and liquids, when I'd stall, I'd up my protein to about 80 if possible, and I could get out of the lull.

A cup of skim milk will add about 90 calories. Veggies should be kept at a minimum compared to protein. chicken, fish, I've kept a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer since week six, tuna, cottage cheese, eggs, beef, lean porkchops. The focus is on protein first and foremost. I never put one bite of anything sweet in my mouth until I reached goal. I wouldn't have taken a lick of an ice cream cone. I was told fruit should be seldom and considered a treat. Still now, I still am focused on protein, and with my 3 - 3.5 oz of meat, I'll have an eighth of a cup of cottage cheese and the same amount of whatever veggie we have on the side. If we have potatoes I will have the same amount.

I took in between 450 and 650 calories per day during most of my losing phase. I was in constant contact with the nurse (we're given her cell number before we leave the hospital) and the dietitian. This was not a problem at all. I was getting in the protein I needed to get and by month two I got it all in with food, no protein shakes, bullets, nothing. I'd say by the time I reached goal I was getting in 700 - 800 calories per day. When I started maintenence I did increase calories to maintain. I couldn't get it all in with the amount I was eating, so I was instructed to go from skim to 1% milk and to not be afraid to get a side of mushroom, black peppercorn gravy on the side to dip steak in....things like that. I couldn't quit losing, and I was up to 1000 calories. Finally after adding a morning snack and mid day snack...NOT ice cream or twinkies I maintain easily at 1200 calories. I gained back the additional weight I did not want to lose and now, on vacation I can put on 5 lbs, but I nip it in the bud and it comes off pretty quickly. Do NOT worry about the lack of calories, just so you feel good, which I'm betting you will.....it's all good. We had 85% of our stomachs removed for a reason!

I was told to aim for 60 - 70. I'm 26 months out and I still aim for 60 per day. It is possible to get too much, do a search on line about too much protein. There was someone at a support group meeting a couple of years ago that had to back off, she was getting to much, in excess of 100 grams, I think somewhere around 120....I do NOT remember the problems she was having, but something was going on.

I have nothing to compare it too, but I was happy that I killed two birds with one stone. Recovery was easy for me, other than one incision that took longer to heal totally. I put triple antibiotic ointment on it for about a month. Pain and all, no big deal. That gassy feeling, but I was warned ahead of time about that possibly happening.

It seems I spent my days trying to get Protein and water!!! My skin was dry, although I was never dehydrated, I needed fluid. I talked to the nurse and she although Water is what they prefer, just drink iced tea, coffee....anything sugar free and not carbonated. That conversation changed my life! I keep fresh brewed tea all the time and if I'm up, I have a glass with me most of the time. I drink 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day and will drink a little water here at the house once in a while. I always have water when we're out and make it a point to drink it!!

My doctor said to stop drinking just prior to eating and then wait for 30 minutes. I always order water with lemon before eating and challenge myself to get the entire glass down before I eat. I seldom drink water at home, so I need to drink as much as possible out. I drink tea and coffee at home.

I started using a straw at two weeks out. I never have any more air in my tummy.....I never had a problem and I am able to drink more using a straw. It was a win/win for me! I followed rules, but I poo poo'd this. I guess had I started having pain, I'd have stopped!!

I've always been a pain in the butt, so it's nothing new when I tell them to please don't brush my shrimp with butter!!! I'm laughing, Star Bucks is one of my favorite. I just drink coffee or iced coffee, black tea occasionally. The kids know what I want during the summer.....a tall iced coffee in a grande cup with extra ice, no syrup or milk. I add my Stivia myself. I walk in and one of the girls will ask "Your regular?" LOL

Dr. Davidson did a 32 on me. I felt NO hunger for about 8 months, now I have a 'new hunger' it is more of an empty feeling. I think this is common. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the size. I wanted a 32 and was glad when I found out that is what he did. I am hoping for this 'empty' feeeling forever! It's been 26 months now and still great restriction. I was told in the beginning by the dietitian that he wants his patients to never eat more than 1 cup of food. It has to be soft for me to be able to eat that much, even now.

I had surgery in June 2010. For about eight months I had NO hunger. I ate because it tasted good and I needed to eat. Since then I have what I call my 'new hunger'. Occasionally I feel slight hunger, but nothing at all like pre op. My new hunger is more like an empty feeling, I KNOW I'm empty and probably need to eat a little something. It is wonderful. I pray that it is this way forever!!!

I had between 450 and 650 calories during my losing phase. I'm in maintenence and to maintain I need to stay right around 1200 calories per day. To get over 1000 calories in back then, I'd have had to be eating a lot, which I could not do, or I'd have to have been eating really high calorie foods. I know I was 'low' but I was healthy and felt good. I kept in close contact with the nurse and dietitian. Everybody is different, what does your physician say? Are you losing weight fairly consistantly? We all go up and down a little before our bodies want to "let go" of two lbs and move on to the next lb or two!!

I'm 26 months out and I have a drink every so often. I never had anything to 'drink' until after I reached goal. It is definitely wasted calories. I have noticed that it takes less to feel the effects of alcohol.

In a Tervis Tumbler, a lot of ice and a straw. I started using a straw at about two weeks, it is the only rule I broke, but I could drink a lot more using a straw!!! Now days, I forego water except when I'm out....I drink a ton of tea and about four cups of coffee per day. I was scared of dehydration, I watch the color of the water in the toilet.....it's somewhere between light and clear. I'm ok with it!

My doctor's former nurse had a revision from band to sleeve early on, maybe 9 yrs ago. Hers was a 36 and she said she thinks she'd have been more sucessful had hers been smaller. She likes what she was seeing with a 32, she was also a nurse for another doctor here in Dallas, he did a 30 and she said there were problems more often with that size.

Don't worry, it takes months for you to totally heal, and within a year your tummy will 'relax' and you'll be able to eat more. I ate a cup of food tonight, I'm just over two yrs out. I can eat between 3/4 and 1 cup of food. Usually not quite a cup. I was told he never wants me to eat more than a cup. When I was newly sleeved, I could sip an eighth of a cup of broth!! LoL Oh, BTW, mine is a 32.

At six weeks you can get some deli meat, get 2% sliced American cheese....make 'roll ups' No bread!! Add a little cheese, just a little, to your egg. For something different for breakfast, put a half a piece of the sliced cheese on a half an English muffin and toast it in the oven. Steam shrimp for lunch. Bake chicken, or cook it in a can of cream of mushroom 98% FF soup, dilute the soup with a can of water, it makes yummy gravy and makes eating chicken easier. Go out to eat, when my husband and I would go to eat pasta, I knew pasta wasn't a good choice, just a couple of bites, but he like spaghetti w/maranara and no meat. We'd order an order of meatballs and I'd eat a meatball and a couple of spaghetti noodles. Any meatballs left over I'd take home for lunch. Or.....add chicken or shrimp. Maybe not things you'd usually get with spaghetti, but you are just mainly going to eat the meat, not pasta!!!