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Mostly it depends on what you are going to eat. There are a ton of bariatric cookbooks out there. But I did find this link: http://obesitycoverage.com/before-after/top-7-apps-after-weight-loss-surgery/

Hi, My name is Kimberly and I was banded on 03/02 and am having a very difficult time with keeping clear liquds down. I am post-op day 4 and feel dehydrated, will be notifying the DR in am. I also had a hiatal hernia repaired that I didnt know i had. I weighed 234 lbs when i was banded and dropped to 225 today. I know that rapid of a weight loss is not good. Ant suggestions would be appreciated. God Bless.

After my initial meeting with my surgeon, he set a weight loss goal for me of 10 pounds, I think because they want to see that I am trying to change my habits before surgery. I went to the NUT at my surgeon's office and she has been amazing. We are slowly removing sugar and Diet Coke from my diet and adding Protein and Water. This is to get me ready for the surgery. Ask the surgeon for a NUT recommendation, it is likely they work closely with one or two. I would follow either the surgeon or the NUT that is recommended diet as they will be the experts when it comes to bariatric surgery. Also, it sucks that your PCP isn't on board. Mine is very supportive, which I think will ultimately help with long-term success. I hope everything works out for you!

Your weight loss will flucuate. You lost alot right away so don't panic. I do have 5-6 small meals a day. If I have a protein shake I don't have yogurt too, that would be way too much food all at once. Split up your foods to have your 6 small meals and don't worry the weight will come off.

This is how I've been getting my fluids in. The last couple of days I can't stand either. I'm not trying another Protein drink, I've tried several premade and mix at home and I'm repulsed by all. I am also starting to HATE MY g2's and I had finally found a flavor I liked. Water is way too harsh, out of the filtered fridge, out of bottles, all of it. I abhor sweeteners so I'm at a loss. This stuff is actually making me feel like I'll gag. I'm actually concerned about myself. I don't know how I'll get fluids in now. Just when I'd figured it all out. Grrrr. I wanted to work out today too. Please tell me what you did? Water isn't comfortable. Sweet stuff is sickening. My herbal tea actually made me sick last night. I'm feeling all kinds of nervous about this. Ps. I'm totally turning into a complaining diaper baby post sleeve. Eek! Depression, mood swings, Fluid woes. I knew I wasn't taking the easy way out, but I didn't expect this to be as trying as it is.

:biggrin:Just picked up recipes for Life After Weight Loss Surgery: Delicious Dishes for Nourishing the New You by Margaret Furtado at Barnes and Noble last night... excited to try some of these recipes! I know there are other cookbooks out there for WLS... any favorites? I LOVE to cook, and would love an army of healthy recipes I can make for the whole family... I love to cook but I'm not cooking 2 dinners a night!

Hi All- I am two weeks out and feeling well. I wanted to run my daily intake by some veteran sleevers to see if I am on the right track. Im still on full liquids/some puree's. I want to make sure im eating what I need to optimize my weight loss. 1 cup plain greek yogurt mixed with 1 scoop Syntrax chocolate Protein powder 2 eggs pureed w 1 tbsp greek yogurt and 1/4 tsp mustard 1/4c pea Soup with 1 tsp ff sour cream 1/4c skim ricotta cheese w 1 tbsp tomato sauce & garlic powder I ate these things over the course of 1 day with about 2-3 hours in between I drank 69 oz Water or flavored water beverage 600 cals and 64g Protein good? bad? too much? not enough? thanks for the input

Here's psuchic help with your decision... Play the odds. Have you been able to do sustained weight loss without surgery? If you can, DON'T do surgery! If you can't, where will you be this time next year. The worst case scenarios happen very, very, very infrequently. Me, I'll be at the hospital the day after you, let's be pals.

If you've never read Maya Angelou's collection of autobiographies, you should. It has nothing to do with weight loss, but I found them very inspirational and she's led a fascinating life. Very well written, too. At one point in my life (several years ago, jeez I'm getting old), I was a single mother with no money and no education feeling very overwhelmed. Reading this got me to thinking that if she could overcome what she overcame, I need to quit whining and just do what I needed to do. You know...I'm needing a fresh dose of inspiration. I'm going to re-read those books and see if that inspriation can't be applied to my life's challenges today.

A sign of inadequate Protein is hair Loss! But Biotin and Silica combined does help with hair loss, plus Nixon Shampoo and Conditioner helps

Hi Lisa, so excited for you! You will hear so many people saying they wish they had done this sooner in life. I am one of them but these days I'm not looking back -- like you I'm looking forward to this summer and all I will accomplish in the next six months. I was banded in November and am now in the process of getting fills to reach proper adjustment. I found this site so helpful -- read everything I could to prepare myself. I'm also really happy I started to exercise a bit more prior to surgery as that gave me something to step right into after getting banded. And I mean right after -- like that night. I walked and walked and walked -- it helped with any residual gas pain and also kicked my body into healing mode. The weight loss happens more for some than others during the first weeks. Because the band is adjustable that's the real deal -- after you've healed up to get to that place where your appetite is truly dimmed and you can walk away from temptation or just have one little taste of something without wanting more. Best wishes -- keep us posted on your surgery date, etc. And have fun with those twins!

Just another thought to throw in the mix... there are several people on this board who are "flying solo" without a band (either due to complications or by choice). There is some great support available here to help you meet your weight loss goals. I'm so sorry that the band isn't working out for you. Keep your chin up - there are people out there losing without a band! (((HUGS)))

It is truly a blessing to be able to feel so good about the sleeve, your body, the changes, the whole process! I understand what you are feeling, things that you probably never felt prior to the surgery. It is like being given a second chance to have a life you should have had all along. Grats on your weight loss as well.

This is how my wt has dropped this week. Down 1 pound on Sat, Sun and Mon. Total -3lbs. 0 on Sun. Up 1 pound Tues, but got my monthly "visitor" as well. 0 on Wed. Then down one on Thurs and Fri. Wow! Big change since that 3rd wk stall! A net loss of 4 in a wk!! I'm really happy with that. I said it before and I'll say it again, "it DOES keep getting better, just like they said it would"! Hang in there everyone who is frustrated in their first few weeks postop. I was in your shoes. I didn't believe them when they said that. But its true!! I promise. Big hugs

My surgical weight loss center sucked! The girl that handled insurance couldn't even get the right documents faxed to the insurance company. I eventually just faxed the missing documents to the insurance company myself. Then after surgery I never saw my surgeon for follow ups - I always got stuck with some fill in doctor. In truth unfortunately most businesses today have zero customer service and suck. Bariatric surgery is a business and they are there to take your money. Don't let a crappy doctors office make you feel like giving up. Be strong and fight for your health! You got this!

Oh Cindy, Carbs are not the enemy...I thought that for years. I was on Dr. Bernstein which is a low cal, high protein, low carb diet. I lost almost a hundred pound on it but when I came off and started earting carbs...yikes I gained it all back and more. I think that the right carbs are good for you and the right portions. Sometimes when you restrict yourself from carbs you put your body in a vicious weight loss cycle...trust me your learning from the pro!! lol. I would hate to see anyone go through what I did. Take care girl.

Let me start by wishing everyone the best in achieving their weight loss goals. I am literally at the very first stage, at step one. I am both excited and full of concerns. I'm sure this is normal. I think one of my main concerns at the moment relates to scarring, and I was wondering how many incisions and what the after is esthetically speaking. :thumbup:

Sorry to ask this here, but I’m scared. I don’t know what to do or have anyone else to ask. I’m what I call “irregularly regular”. Irregular in the sense that I never know when I’m going to get my period. Regular in the sense that it always lasts for 3.5 days, four at tops. Last month, I got my period and it lasted for almost two weeks. That has never happened to me before. I figure it might have to do with my recent weight gain (about 30 pounds since July) and the related hormone changes. I haven't felt "healthy" for a while now. After my period ended, I was fine for about two weeks. Then I got my period again. I’ve had it now for over a week and it’s very heavy and there’s more …”material” than before (not a ton but noticeably more). I’ve had a little bit of dizziness – my shrink says that’s a side effect of Wellbutrin, but over the weekend, I had a few dizzy spells. (Haven’t had one since, though.) I did some research on the internet and though my flow is very heavy (for me) I’m not changing my pad every 6 hours, so maybe it’s not that an extreme a case. I think the blood loss has made me a little anemic and caused a little of the fatigue and dizziness so I started taking an Iron supplement today. I had a little bit of cramping yesterday and today, but I took an Aleve and I’m fine. There’s no pain or anything otherwise weird. I just can’t seem to stop bleeding. I’ve just about convinced myself that I have cervical cancer or something. As far as I know, none of this runs in my family. I haven’t been to see a doctor, mostly because I’m chicken. I’m 31 and have never had a gyno exam. (I rationalized it by saying I’ve never been sexually active, so I didn’t need to.) I’m also in a tricky situation because my company switched to a new health insurance carrier effective Jan. 1, but Blue Cross is taking forever to do the paperwork, so I don’t have a member number, a group number, a PCP, or anything. I’m waiting for it any day now, but who knows how long it will take them? I’m really scared, but apparently not scared enough to be smart about this because the second I have my insurance info I’m going to see the PCP about a referral to bariatrics. I’m afraid to mention it to my doctor because she will be someone I’ve never met and she may want to do all kinds of history and testing on me before she’s willing to do any kind of referral. I’m all twisted up in knots. Have any of you experienced anything like this? Any advice would be much appreciated.

You are a true inspiration. The body image thing is something I don't think any of us thought about. We expected that our body image was supposed to be "off" while we were overweight, but figured it would improve with wt loss. Don't get me wrong, it feels a lot nicer when I can't find my size cuz I'm smaller, but I'm waiting for the time when my wt plays no favor in my lifestyle at all.

Well its been a long time coming but after a year of deliberation and tests and phsyc evaluations I had my VSG performed on the 20th of May, I started the Optifast liquid diet 2 weeks prior to reduce the liver and to start the weight loss journey, I have a relatively active job and I managed to lose 22lbs prior to surgery with the help of a few days at the gym. Since the surgery just shy of 3 weeks I have lost a further 24lbs with my goal weight only another 70lbs away

This life is your journey, no one else's. We are losing weight so we can have a normal life. We are learning to indulge just a little, every once in a while. 1/2 an ice cream bar is probably a victory for you. In the past you probably would have eaten a lot more than that. Continue your weight loss journey knowing that you will succeed because it looks to me like you are doing a great job.

Hi all - just wondering if any of you have had great success loosing lots of weight while eating regular foods but on a portion control plan ... Say regular food but only 1000- 1200 calories a day ? Yes, Proteins first, then veggies , then the carbs? Regular food - maybe one day you are on the run so you have 4 chicken nuggets with maybe 4 fries ..., because that's all that fits in the sleeve ..... Your family goes out and you have steak, veggies and 2 bites of dessert ? Any veterans eat like this and loose and keep it off ? Any newer people eat like this and loose ? I have been doing this and have 33 pounds in 12 weeks. I am thinking I am not loosing as fast as others because I am not doing a strick Atkins Plan ... Any feed back would be appreciated - unless it is just gonna be un - constructive criticism. Thanks all you sleevers ????

I had pretty bad GERD before my surgery but it had only come with my weight so surgeon and I hoped it would disappear with weight loss. Straight after surgery I was so much better that I was able to drop from 40 to 20mg Nexium. Around 4 months out and 22kg lighter (2/3 of my total excess weight) it started getting worse. I am currently taking 80mg Nexium with poor control of symptoms - very painful and affecting my oesophagus, throat and Eustachian tubes (ears!). Seeing the surgeon tomorrow and hoping he has some "magic" suggestions. I also wanted the simplest possible procedure and am not at all keen on bypass, but I know there can be serious health consequences if my dr and I can't get these symptoms under control. Knowing that a bypass revision is always possible, is it worth talking to your dr to see about doing the sleeve in the hope that you are amongst the lucky ones whose GERD is not made worse by the sleeve? It would be nice to keep it simple if you could - ongoing need for vitamin/mineral supplementation is something I'm keen to avoid.

@@jenn1 Thanks for the links. I will definitely check them out. I'm doing cardio 5 days a week right now, but want to start strength training so that my skin has time to catch up with the losses. Thank you for the response!

Hello. It's going to be a month since I had the surgery. I'm 29 years old and having this surgery was about the idea of wow, being able to lose weight, not be controlled by appetite. If you follow the 4 rules of my surgeon then I'll get my weight loss down without being hungry!! It seemed like a dream. Well it has been hard. I did practice eating without drinking before surgery and it was difficult at first, I didn't notice how much I would drink to get what I was eating down. Well this past week I started solids. It has not been fun. I notice that even tho I chew my solids, I am still doing something wrong because I throw up after. I have not had dumping. I eat what is on my sheet. I concentrate and eat, but I guess my bites are still bigger than they should be. They told me a chick pea size bite (check), chew it 30 times, (well I honestly can't chew it 30 times) stay the table for 25 min. (I get full before the 25min.) Eat sitting down (this is kinda new to me too) Drink 64oz of Water (this is also hard, because you can't just chug water you have to be consistent and remember to drink) I have also been good at drinking water, and crystal light, and if I feel like I don't have energy because I couldn't keep up with my meal I drink gatorade. Anyways this is where I am, everyone around me says I look great, That I look younger. I went down 2 sizes for my top, being a 3x and now 1x, and 1 size from my jeans and sometimes 2 depending on the brand. I was so happy. This is hard tho. It wasn't as easy as I thought. Sometimes when I have been throwing up this week I asked myself. Was this worth it? I was clearly upset because every meal I was throwing up, trying different foods and having the same outcome. I have narrowed it down and I have to be believe that I am not chewing enough, that has to be it!! I know my surgery was worth it. I can climb the stairs without shortness of breath, I can clean my bathroom without taking breaks, I took my 7 year old son out because I haven't been tired. I got on a Ferris wheel (I could always go on a Ferris wheel, but I was always worried with my weight) and loved it. I speak without hard breathing anymore. For the last 3 weeks I felt great. Even tho I couldn't eat certain things, I wasn't hungry. I'm not going to lie tho, at night I thought about food. It doesn't mean I was hungry because I was not. I would be watching my hour of t.v. after I put my son to sleep and the commercials, and my imagination. It seems funny now, but I realized I have more of a problem than I had realized. I wasn't going to eat because again I wasn't hungry, but being in bed thinking about food, made me realize I have a problem with food. Before surgery I was a person who ate 2 huge meals a day. They were usually store bought too. I also drank a lot of coke. Like a lot maybe 4 coke cans a day. When I went to discuss this surgery with my surgeon he told me, if I gained 1 pound, I would be exempt and wouldn't be able to have this surgery. I cut my coke to 2 a day, but continued to eat the same about but I would kind of say healthier, as in no longer burgers and pizza, but more Proteins to see if I could eat chicken, fish every day. It turned out I could, I also gave up eating potato bread, well all bread but that was my favorite. Anyways of course everyone one here knows that changes have to be made. I made mine. I wish that before I had surgery I would have read someone else's take. I think besides wanting to write it all like a journal right? Anyways it has not been easy and this week with solids, has been hard and draining. I have to continue to move forward and if it means to just eat completely alone with a sign in front of me to chew or else I will throw up, I will have to do just that. I can't wait to see what a couple of months has in store for me. To have more energy, to change my life from sitting to actually getting up and having energy to go out and do something. To be able to go to the zoo with my son without having to take breaks. To be able to go to Lego land next year and be able to get on the rides with my son, and not having him go with another family member. To go bike riding. Damn so many things I will be able to do, just now to clean my bathroom without having to stop to have some rest is awesome. I have read some people say they see someone to talk about their ideas of foods, and I think that is a great idea. I think I will look for someone who helps people after bariatric surgery. I just wish to meet people who have had surgery around the same time I have and I can have a buddy. I think it's easier when you have someone to talk about it with!!