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You are doing great! Your only 2 weeks out and this is a time to coddle your stomach. I was doing soups, Protein drinks, yogurt, pudding sf, until 3 weeks out. I could hardly eat anything. I don't drink fluids with my meals. I follow the rule of 30/30. 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after. Take it one day at a time. Oh, btw, protein drinks count as liquids at this point in your recovery. Are you on a PPI? You could be experiencing hunger when it's actually acid or gas in your stomach. A PPI is omeprazole, nexium, tums, etc. If in doubt call your surgeon's office for a prescription. GOOD JOB and CONGRATS on your success!

Is Reser’s seafood salad acceptable during the purée stage? I’m 2.5 weeks post op and my doc has me on purée. I’ve done homemade refried beans and can tolerate it some, scrambled eggs, broths, yogurts. I’m burnt on protein shakes and I’m trying to work on getting protein from food as much as I can even though it’s quite difficult at this stage. I’m wondering if the seafood salad would help me at all or if I should avoid it at all cost

Full liquids I was allowed anything I could fit through a straw. Thin cream of wheat, applesauce, drinkable yogurt, egg drop soup, tomato soup with cottage cheese blended in, thin pudding, blended cheese and broccoli soup. That's all I can think of right now!

I make mine with dry Fiesta ranch dressing mix and greek yogurt. I haven't had Zaxby's chicken salad, but for a change of taste you can try this recipe out, and see if it's too your liking. I found this on a Rachel Ray website forum via a quick google search: I've made a few of these recipes, some were yummy, some umm not so much. Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipes, Chicken Salad Sandwiches Recipes | ifood.tv Curry chicken salad is one of my nummy yummy favorites.

One thing that's nice about Trader Joes is they don't carry any items in their store that contain partially hydrogenated oils. So it's heart healthy. I love their Nonfat Greek Yogurt, the mango and vanilla bean are both really good.

Hi SK, Oh yes. I took the advise from this board and changed my diet around a little bit. I switched from my oatmeal in the AM to a piece of toast and some yogurt. Sometimes you have to fool your metabolism a little bit. You should get a lot of responses! Also, some of my nasty habits starting to crawl back and had I to give myselft a good kick in the buttocks! Such as snacking in front of the TV. Once I start that business...I am in trouble again. I am losing again, but I did struggle for quite some time til I sat down and really figured out what was going on here. Good luck! YOu can do this!!!!

I don't do supplements, but I do make sure to have Protein at least 30 minutes before working out and immediately after. I also try to have the bulk of my carbs then as well. However I only do complex carbs. My typical workout routine is a protein shake with 1 scoop of Protein powder, ¼ - ½ cup of Fage 0% greek yogurt and whatever mixins I feel like. Sometimes that a tablespoon of almond butter, sometimes a ¼ cup of fruit like pineapples, strawberries or peaches, or a ½ and orange. Depending on my mood I may add some flax powder for added Fiber, or a handful of raw spinach or ¼ cup if frozen. I add enough Water to mix and toss the whole thing in the nutrabullet. Often I end up drinking half before I workout and the other half post workout. My morning workout is and hour of aquafit and 30 minutes run/walking in the pool. This also counts as my Breakfast. After this I drink water until it's time for lunch. I get in 30 - 38 gms of protein this way.

I weighed in for week two and I'm at 288. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little let down since its only a pound, but I'm also not surprised. I've been having a hard time adjusting to eating on a schedule and eating consistently. It seems like my metabolism has completely shut down, which makes sense. The other thing is that I haven't been active at all. Between school through the week and work all weekend I've been giving myself an awful lot of excuses to not work out. I have a treadmill so at the very least I can be doing that. Hopefully I can settle into some sort of routine. No pain or discomfort at all this week. I have noticed I keep feeling my port. I don't know if its just a nervous habit to run my hand over it or the sheer fascination of being able to feel this strange object in my body but I do it a lot haha. My appetite is back, but still in a strange way. I'm having a really hard time trying to tell if I'm hungry or if I have the urge to eat. The urge to eat (and overeat) is in my head. Other than knowing its 'time' to eat, or knowing that i need to eat something I'm not sure if I'm feeling hunger. But when I do eat, I want to eat a lot. I've been trying to limit myself and have been doing a decent job but I definitely need to drinking my shakes more. I've ventured into new territory with my soft foods, I've been making chicken salad and chicken with bbq sauce. Does anyone else feel like by the time they add all the stuff to make it 'soft' they've added a ton of calories? I've been using miracle whip instead of mayo (which kills me lol), and substituting Greek yogurt in anything I can get away with (because it still tastes like sour cream), but still- it adds up. Any tips? I haven't really pursued vegetables except for potatoes (again-super starchy! help!), but thats on the to-do list for this week. In other fun news, I just booked my first real vacation ever! I'm going to North Carolina in May when school lets out to visit my best friend. I'm so excited because I feel like that's enough time to make a big difference. Since she doesn't see me everyday, it'll also be interesting to see her reaction. Plus ya know, beach ocean swimsuit blah blah blah. Should be quite an adventure!

I take 4 pills every night NOW. However, I have been restricted so tight that I was unable to swallow water, much less pills, so I had to ask the pharmacist for a liquid alternative. The taste was utterly horrid. Otherwise, if you can't swallow them, you can crush them and hide them in yogurt or pudding etc. However, if you have capsules, you need to make sure they are not time released and it's okay to open them. Otherwise, your pharmacist may be able to suggest an alternative.

Yogurt, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, shrimp, avocado, deli meat, cheese, eggs, and soups. Beef was on the list however, unless its cooked for a long time like in a stew, I cannot get it chewed to the consistency that is required. So I stay away from beef. Chicken and tuna are my go to. Just remember chew, chew, chew.

any kind of bean, hummus, guacamole (homemade) yogurt for me, Also mandrian oranges in their own juice,

I remember eating a lot of Greek yogurt and hummus. And refried beans.

I am on day 5 of liquids. My stomach growls a lot! There is no ignoring it at work. It rumbles most of the day...a bit embarrassing. I am hungry a lot but am determined to get through the next two weeks on liquids. Yogurt blended with protein powder seems to be one of the most filling thing I "eat."

My doctor said to get at least 60 grams of protein a day. You could add unflavored protein powder to foods and another thing that I do is add fat free dried milk to yogurts and Sugar Free Carnation Instant Breakfast. This will help you reach the goal of 60 grams a day.

I'm on day 6 post op. Not sure exactly what it is. I'm sure I over did it I felt so good and probably did not rest as much as I should have but today it felt like heartburn (bad) I can't keep crushing Pepcid so I got chewable and they helped but still hurts so not sure what I'm feeling. Wonder if I ate to much. I may have drank my broth to fast do I took in to much? Or maybe half a yogurt was to much? I'm not sure how to tell. Glad I'm seeing the surgeon tomorrow I'm a little nervous.

I also dont understand. I only had surgery 5 weeks ago and this week have only lost 1 lb. I thought the weight would come off quicker, my Dr. actually said you should loose 1lb per day in the first 3 months and that is definitely not happening for me. I am only consuming protein shakes, yogurt, cottage cheese and tofu and not loosing much weight. I am terrified what will happen when I get back to regular food if I am not loosing now.

I am right there with you. I am 17 days post-op and my dr. said nothing to eat or drink that won't go through a strainer for 21 days. I can not stand milk in every day life so getting in the protein has been next to impossible for me. I have tried every kind of protein drink. Ones you mix with juice, the Isopure and then several different kinds of protein shakes. They are make me feel like I am going to throw up if I have to drink them. I have decided at this point that I am 4 days away from eating soft foods and that I will wait until then and I can have eggs, greek yogurt, ground beef, etc. I have lost 25 pounds (11 pre-op) , taking my vitamins and I am feeling good. I will be glad when I can chew something though.

I was sleeved on the 9th of Aug and Ive lost about 15lbs so far. My husband was sleeved 14 months before me and he has lost about 130lbs to date. He is very supportive and we did use the same dr for the surgery. My concern is that the meal plans that he received when he had his surgery and the plans that I recieved when I had mine vary greatly. For example my plan goes straight from full liquids(yogurt, puddings, strained Soups, ect) to what they are referring to as soft foods (tuna, lunch meats, oatmeal, mashed potatoes ect) and he is shocked that I would be able to eat that because I remember more of a mushy pureed transiotion phase in there when he was going through it. Also there has been some discussion in the house that if I want to "cut corners" I wont lose as much as him. I know he doesnt mean it the way he is saying it but I feel like somehow Im cheating if I eat the way Im allowed to eat per the diet recommendations. Has anyone else went through this? Im not gonna lie, I severely miss being able to chew and being able to take something that resembles a normal lunch would make for way less questions when I go back to work.

Today was the first post op appointment since my surgery on 3/20 ...my last weigh-in was at the pre op appointment on 3/11... Since 3/11 I have lost 19lbs ...I have been strictly following my doctors post op diet ..haven't had any problems with reflux or any "stuck" episodes ???? I definitely feel when enough is enough .i'm currently on water/yogurt/pudding /popsicles/creamy Soups /premiere Protein shakes -aka-full liquids stage which hasn't been too bad ..I'm not hungry at all so I have to make myself eat . I'm still a little sore but only around the port site and since I'm not eating enough I don't have much energy but I still make it a point to go for a walk every day ???? Although I've lost 19lbs I'm sure most of it is from Water weight so once I start to actually eat again (Saturday) I will lose a lot slower which is a-okay with me ...my goal has never been to lose 100lbs in 6 months I just wanted to lose steadily and be healthy ???? Will update again in a week ❤️❤️feel free to ask me any questions ????

I am 4 days into purée stage! So far I made a big pot of pinto Beans (dry beans, half an onion, chicken bullion cube, pepper, garlic and a bit of tabasco plus about 3 cups water) and cooked that sucker for about 4 hours, then strained the beans and puréed it in my blender. Tastes so much better than the standard Protein drink and those beans have much needed potassium to boot. Put a tiny bit of cheese on there and it feels like your having restaurant style refried beans! I have had that for dinner 3 days in a row now and not sick of it yet. Then I decided on a whim to just purée some canned Soup I had been drinking the broth from. It was okay, but I get grossed out by the idea of some puréed foods. Like if I know what it is supposed to be pre-purée, I cant eat it... haha! So that idea only made it one meal. I think I am going to try making some lightened hummus next (love hummus!) and maybe some puréed Cauliflower (there are some great recipes on Pinterest). I had some mashed potatoes today, but those are like a treat for me because of the high carb/low protein counts. Also eating Greek yogurt, low fat cottage cheese and sugar free lime Jello. Those all make nice little Snacks. Good luck! This is a hard one to navigate, but still a billion times better than the liquid phase. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well I survived the first week. When I went the the hospital last Wednesday, I was excited, nervous and scared, all at once. I weighed in with a loss of 21 pounds loss from the liquid diet that I followed religiously for 9 days prior. It was so hard. I started on Memorial Day, got extremely sick that night. But I didn't give up , I stuck with it and succeeded that first step. Going through with the surgery was the second major step. Now one to step three losing the weight. The hardest part is figuring this all out. I had surgery Wednesday June 4th morning, and went home Friday afternooon. I had a normal recovery period in the hospital. Typical stomach pain, tired, nauseous feeing, and no appitite. I was put an stage two of the eating process. Creamed soups, yogurts, milk, etc. I started out ok but got very constipated. Realizing that I wasn't straining my creamed soups and my yogurt had fruit pieces, small but they all were there. I also wasn't taking the stool softener. All of which caused the constipation. Yuck, I was not happy. But I learned and moved on. I have lost only six pounds since Ive been home, and worried that I should be losing faster. I get stomach pains when I eat. They come on and go quickly. Im am wondering why this happens and how long it will last. I go see the doctor for my first post op check up next week. Well thats is for now . I think Ill update on a weekly basis.

I totally understand you... I normally eat as a healthy snack some small chopped fruit, seeds, greek yogurt, half a cup of soup or dried fruit:) Sometimes I even make myself some cooked ham rolls with low fat cheese..!

High protein snacks! Cottage cheese, ham and cheese rolls, a few bites of a quest protein bar, It am almost three months post op and my monthly cravings are awful I eat bad each time. Next month I am going to make a fruit and yogurt smoothie and see if that helps my sweet tooth because cookies and chocolate will kill me in the long run.

I will be 4mos out on the 13th, and I can eat anything, just not very much of it....I don't have any appetite, and have to force myself to eat. I always do Unjury Chocolate Splendor for breakfast, then a sharp cheddar cheese stick for a mid day snack, yogurt, or a fruit, then on to dinner, which is whatever I fix...always includes a high protein. Then I finish up my day with another Unjury Shake....I am down 80lbs post op. The only issue I find, I am not getting enough calories (per my nut). I tend to only eat about 2oz of regular food, but liquids don't bother me at all...I get restricted, a lot! Its rather annoying. Trying new foods always scares me, because I never know the effect it will have on me.

Hi Everyone, This is for the Newbies who have had or are going to have "sleeve" WLS. I have posted these before & have had people ask me to repost them. I know that different doctors have different requirements for what you should eat the 1st month after surgery. Please follow YOUR doctors directions for what you have. I am posting what my doctor wanted me to do. VOL # 1 Hi Everyone, I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don’t want to read it all at one time. First thing is to start asking people on the board is all kinds of questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don’t rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn’t be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don’t give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications—thank goodness this person didn’t have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person’s name on it—very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn’t allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had Clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose who is best for you. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon. I know that there are other good doctors out there too. Do you research and be careful. Take your time and be comfortable with your choice. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs. cash. The debit card or credit card is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $65.00 in 1’s for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer& cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the Protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn’t find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz. each day, and it is difficult—it is like a job because you will need to be sipping Water ALL day long. I want you to give it your very best effort to drink as much as you can. Getting your liquids in each day is so very important to your recovery. You DO NOT want to get dehydrated; you could end up in the hospital. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days—don’t forget to drink you water. You can now have some creamy Soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a Protein Drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other Protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods—Don’t forget to drink your water. Mushy foods are a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don’t eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn’t like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don’t taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo’s or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my Breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don’t panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of—We call these “Head Games” and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. Ask where you recovery will be. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this. Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of us, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as “body payment.” It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 3 ½ years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this. *********************************************************** VOL # 2 Here are some more things I want you to know about if you are thinking about having WLS and you are having the “Sleeve.” 1. We have talked a little or a lot about “slimming or phlegming” In case you missed it, when you first start eating regular food you have to re-learn how to eat again and chew. With your new stomach you will need to take small tiny bites and chew until the food in your mouth is almost liquid like. This is nothing like what you had been doing your entire life. In the past you eat and talk and put big bite in your mouth along with a few chews and then swallowing—this will NO LONGER WORK FOR YOU. This is a very difficult thing to change. So with your new stomach and just having surgery you may experience slimming or phlegming. First you will feel like the food is stuck, then it comes back up in a clear liquid –your saliva. It isn’t vomit, so that is why it is called slimming or Fleming. It’s a wakeup call to slow down you eating and chew, and chew and chew some more. Just go to the bathroom or have a napkin ready for the slimming or phlegming if you are eating out. If you try to overeat—which is bad you may experience this too sometimes. For me it was always about not chewing enough. 2. What are some signs that you are full? At first I wasn’t sure, but sometimes I just got tired of all the chewing, so I stopped eating. I now get the hiccups or my noise will start to run when I am full. I know that other people have said they experienced this too. 3. It does take some time to retrain yourself on how to eating and I know that the first month it is such a process just trying to get all the food & liquid in that you need to get in because of your new restrictions. In time it does get a lot easier. Some people actually mourn the loss of food, because you will NEVER EAT the quantity of food that we used to eat---YEAH that is how we are going to lose the fat and maintain that goal weight that we want to have for the rest of our lives. 4. If you think you are hungry and you are positive that you are having physical symptoms of hunger this is YOUR OLD thinking brain playing those tricks we have talked about. You now have to start learning to educate this OLD brain into being your NEW thinking brain. Ask yourself do you just "want to eat" or do you really "need to eat" because it has been 3 or 4 hours since you have eaten anything. It is amazing what our brains can and will do to sabotage our way of thinking. You may be challenged by this OLD brains way of thinking for many years. For me I just have to have some self-talks with myself. We have an addiction to food. There is no way around avoiding food, so we need to find the set of skills that will allow us to change our lifestyle. I eat to live, I NO LONGER live to eat! Food is not my main focus in life. 5. I have seen so many times where people are going along and doing great with their weight loss. Then all of a sudden they are NOT losing anything—they panic—I did when it happened to me. We call these “Stalls.” We have stalled and are not losing anything. Most of the time you are eating all the same and correct things that you have in the past when you were losing weight. Our body just does this naturally--stalls. Mine lasted 9 days one time. This is really normal. I have a few suggestions. Use this site or something like it to track everything you are putting in your mouth.http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ you might be surprised at what you are eating—that is why I say track it. Remember keep your total calories at 800 per day—if you exercise then you can eat more. This site will help you figure that out how much more you can it by what kind of exercise you did. You also need to make sure that you are not eating more than 20 carbs per day. No white or refined carbs. They should ONLY be whole grain carbs—not whole wheat, BUT Whole Grain carbs—do the best you can when it comes to carbs. If you are having problems with the weight loss you can kick up the amount of exercise you are doing too. The weight loss will start back up again, so don’t panic. 6. We all stumble and fall along the way, don’t beat yourself up over it. Move on and have a better day the next day. 7. Be aware that your friends and family may not be supportive of you having WLS. For your family, first they really may NOT understand it and they are scared for you. This is pretty normal. You have been on the Internet, and been educating yourself and doing a lot of reading—you know much more than they do about weight loss surgery and your choice is the sleeve. They have only heard the horror stories that the media puts out there or one of their uneducated family or friends have told them. Your friends are scared they may lose you as a friend because you are going to lose the weight and they will remain fat—yes I call it fat. I know there are a lot of politically correct terms to use, but if I can say I was fat you will one day too. Some of your friends will be jealous. My suggestion is that you can try to educate them some, but take your time and effort right now and use it for yourself. After you have had WLS and they see you are becoming healthy and you are alive and well they may come around. I want you to put yourself FIRST, for the very first time. If they are truly your friends they will be there when you are skinny. 8. The first month will be the hardest month you will have to do. You are changing everything about how you eat. I want you to keep saying to yourself that it is ONLY 30 days and I can do ANYTHING for 30 days. Once you start the 2nd month and can have regular food, it gets easier. 9. What do you do about getting smaller clothes? One of my adventures used to be to go to Resale clothing places and sell or trade my larger clothing to them, and then finding some smaller sizes. Just buy what you need to get by for a while until you need a smaller size. It was like a treasure hunt or an adventure for me. I found some places like Goodwill that had brand name label NEW clothing that the local stores gave them. I found some great deals at these places. So consider doing something like this or getting together with some of your friends and trading clothing. I also donated a lot of mine for a tax deduction to nonprofit organizations that give tax receipts—it is really great when it is tax time rolls around and I had all these deductions. I would make a list of everything I was going to donate and how much weight I had lost. I kept that all together in case the IRS asked why I gave away 20 some dress and 10 pair of pants, and 30 tops! 10.Make sure that you go see your Primary Care Doctor when you have had WLS if you have gone outside of the US for your surgery. I went to see my PCP before I went to let her know what I was doing—I wanted a doctor who would support me in my efforts. I had to do a bit of education and after she had time to read all of the information I left her, she was behind me all the way. She said come back in to see her after being home for 2 weeks and she would check me over and run a blood panel to see how I was doing. She did this every month for a while and started taking me of meds that I no longer needed. I did need to start taking potassium—mine was low after having WLS and I knew this when I left Dr. Aceves—they had run a blood panel after I had my “Sleeve surgery.” I loved the fact that my PCP took me off 4 of my other medications within 3months of me having WLS. 11. Exercise is important for you in a lot of ways. Walking and swimming are the ones that work best for me. I know that there have been a few people who said they did nothing. Walking helped me lose a little faster and was good cardio too. I try to walk at least 4 or 5 times a week. When I can I try to swim on the days I don’t walk. I know at first it is difficult to start to exercise, but walk around your home then, down the block a little. When the weather is bad—I live in Oregon and we have a lot of rain, we walk inside the Mall during those times. They open up the Mall at 6:00 am where I live, so you can start early. Buy a used treadmill and see if you like walking on it. My last words of wisdom are the following 1. Saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new most likely and make a difference in your life. 2. Be true to yourself. It is you, your authentic self, the one you were in the first grade, before you leaned to massage your personality into a form that would suit others. 3. Sometimes it is hard to hear the message because of all the external voices and they are so loud. 4. Voices that are loud are always meant to bully. DO NOT BE BULLIED. 5. So carry your courage in an easily accessible place. Be your OWN authentic person when it comes to Weight Loss Surgery. This is ALL about you and NO one else. 6. Last you don’t need the approval of the Bully. You know what is right for you, follow your heart and go for it. I am always here if you want to ask me more questions, or I didn’t cover something that you are thinking about. I read my E-mail daily. I know it is a BIG step to take and there are a lot of things to think about, you can and will be success. My last bit of knowledge is making sure you keep drinking your water each day. It is so VERY important that you do this. Hugs, Suzanne