BlackBerryJuice

Wow, he's so insensitive, especially with that "flabby arms" comment about the person who lost her excess weight. Sounds like my father who's put me down about my weight since I was about 4 and then when I got the VSG claimed he never once said I was fat and had the gall to say my boyfriend must have forced me to get the surgery (!). He'll just find another thing to terrorize you about when you lose the weight - saggy skin, criticizing you for dressing too provocatively, whatever - the emotional abuser will ALWAYS find something. I'm not surprised to hear about the 10% divorce rate - lots of people shed the toxic people in their lives along with their bad habits. When you get healthier and more attractive, you'll suddenly realize there's lots of other options around, and he must be afraid of that. And I can't believe he's trying to put you down for failing before you've even had the surgery! Who's he to say that you won't lose weight? It's practically impossible NOT to lose weight with this surgery, unless you sip fraps all day. It sucks that you are stuck with someone who's so discouraging.

Just to inform those who haven't had the sleeve, constipation is not a guaranteed fate after this surgery. I've had no problems save for maybe 3rd or 4th week post-op. I generally go daily, every once in a while it's once every 2 days. I also exercise regularly, though, and that tends to get things moving (ever heard of runner's trots? hehe). I don't take fiber supplements, but I do try to eat 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables daily and I don't eat low carb.

Sign up for a bootcamp if you want to get your exercise covered without having to think about it too much. I got a huge discount on one month unlimited bootcamp and signed up my boyfriend and I. We went for the 3rd time yesterday, it was great! There's a good mix of high intensity cardio and various bodyweight exercises, plus light weights. And they mix it up every day, which is great for a creature of habit like myself - I tend to fall into a rut with workouts and do the same thing day after day.

Haha, yeah. I'm not very tall, so it's on the higher end of the healthy BMI range, but I have a lot of muscle from years of weightlifting and boxing competitively, so I think 145 would be good for me. Last year I got to 165 and could see an outline of my abs, so I don't need to be 100 lbs to look fit. I actually have wild fantasies of maybe doing a natural bodybuilding competition sometime in the next year, we'll see where the sleeve gets me. I've always wanted to do that, but cravings always prevented me from following the uber-strict diet. Now that I don't have cravings, I think this could actually be something to strive for. For now, I just want to see where normal eating (i.e. 90% healthy 90% of the time) will get me.

Yay! I keep telling people there's no need to starve yourself, good to see it's working for others and not just me.

I had major nausea issues right around the same time - I even went to the emergency room because I almost passed out on the street. Nothing was wrong according to the ER doc (no imaging was done). Dr. Aceves wanted me to get an upper GI, but I had to wait 2 weeks before I could get an appointment. After a few days, my nausea completely went away so I postponed my upper GI to 3 months out. I'm still not sure what caused it, but I've seen other people here have it around the same time (2nd-3rd week post-op).

Pop is evil.....At some point, I was drinking 2-3 cans of diet a day, and within a month, my teeth became super-sensitive because my enamel began to erode. It didn't go away completely until 2 months of soda abstinence and brushing with Sensodyne instead of my regular toothpaste. I tried pop (not diet) on Sunday for the first time - was at boyfriend's family's house and it was either pop or wine (which I don't like and which tends to make my stomach feel funny after the surgery), so I opted for the pepsi. I've been craving it since! It's so addictive, best to not even try it once you've quit.

Not quite. Upper GI is 3 months out according to my surgeon's instructions. While a potential leak is always a concern, this will also identify any abnormal scar tissue, such as strictures, which would be much more likely than a leak at that stage. "Upper GI" usually implies a barium swallow.

Haha, wow! Was that thin crust? I find that I can have a normal-sized slice of thin crust pizza.

I would just throw it away or sell it on Ebay, personally. You won't need it to lose weight. And you have no idea what's in it and how it's going to affect your body - it's an unregulated industry. Remember the phen-fen deaths?

I think it's a good idea, get it ASAP so it kicks in before you are there. I wouldn't get it RIGHT before or shortly after surgery, though, because some of these shots are pretty tough on you. I had regular and H1N1 shots at the same time last year and didn't feel 100% for about 3 days. The first day after, I could barely stand up! I essentially had a mild flu for 3 days, lol.

I'm more concerned about my boyfriend than myself for the intensity level, haha...I used to box competitively, so I'm used to very challenging workouts. We haven't started it yet because I got an awesome discount for an unlimited one-month bootcamp, so we've been going there instead. Lots of plyometrics, we did 2 days in a row and today I'm pretty sore! But I got us resistance bands, weights ranging from 3 to 20 lbs, a chin-up bar, and yoga mats, so I'm excited to start P90X in November once the bootcamp's over.

I eat a fair bit and my weightloss has been pretty quick. If you have a fast metabolism, going too low (think 500-600) might even be detrimental because you could end up in starvation mode. I've been eating 1000-1200 a day for a month and have lost somewhere between 12 and 15 lbs in the last month. I also haven't lost much muscle, it's mostly fat coming off, which is a bonus - I didn't just want to lose a bunch of scale weight and then look like a melted snowman, which can happen with starvation. Your body likes to burn muscle first when you are starving, not fat, so eating more can indeed yield better results. Plus as your muscle mass decreases, so does your basic metabolic rate, so it's a double whammy.

Wow, awesome!

Before my surgery, everyone told me they were worried I'd become anorexic and waste away. It's like people don't understand that there's a happy medium between being obese and emaciated.

I'm 2 months out today and can eat a fair bit in one meal. I can generally eat a lot more at night than first thing in the morning. This morning, I couldn't even finish my Zone bar. Last night, I had a slice of thin crust pizza (no edge), about half a large meatball, and half a bowl of tiramisu. Was STUFFED. The night before, we went out for sushi and I had 7 slices of sashimi with a bit of rice - felt full in a pleasant way. I'm actually relieved to be able to eat a reasonable amount - I still don't eat very much, but I no longer get weird stares from waiters, etc, and feel comfortable going out to eat with people who don't know about my sleeve - I'll eat enough not to look strange.

It's a lot easier after surgery, trust me.

Simplest answer is both. You'll be checked several times in the hospital before being released to catch most of the surgeon-related errors. After that, you need to make sure you eat mindfully to avoid overeating and follow your post-surgery diet so as not to stress your healing sleeve.

Nice! We are similar in starting weight and loss rate, by the looks of it.

Oh no! Sending good vibes to jg62 and her husband...hope everything turns around soon!

My doc said I could swim once the scabs fell off (around 2 weeks). The first few times I couldn't last more than 15-20 minutes, so I'd say wait about 3 weeks before trying water aerobics and don't be surprised if you need to stop halfway through the class.