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Hi all, This group is pretty buried within the forums, so I can see how I missed it until now (and I can also see why it's pretty inactive). I would have really liked to read a story like mine from someone else while I was researching the sleeve surgery. So, here's my story and I hope it helps someone. I would love to hear from anyone and try to pump some life into this forum! I'm a newbie, just 12 days post-op, so I am still learning everyday and ask the veterans dumb questions all the time. But I still think my experience just coming to terms with knowing the sleeve was for me might help another low BMIer in a similar situation. I'm 31 years old, 5'6" and started at 180lbs (29 BMI). I had a lot of backlash from friends and family when I made my mind up to go forward with this, but ultimately everyone ended up being supportive after they realized there was no talking me out of it and the surgery was done. For low BMIers wondering if the sleeve is too drastic for them, I'll tell you it's a personal choice and a lifelong commitment. That being said, I was a major yo-yo dieter. I binged on food for weeks, gain 35 pounds, then went vegan cold turkey (cold tofu? Lol). Lost 30lbs. Then went on a binge, gained 40lbs, then did Atkins (extreme difference from vegan), lost 35lbs. I've been repeating this cycle of bingeing then dieting (insert any fad diet here: HCG diet, Orange Theory obsession, phentermine, personal trainer 3x, vegetarian, back to Atkins, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers...) since I was 12 years old. Anyway, the highs got higher and I never made it back to my pre-binge numbers. I got exhausted from dieting. Frustrated with myself and my lack of impulse control. I looked into WLS. My mom is the same as I am, just add another 100lbs. I went with her to a weight loss seminar and learned about the sleeve. I was ready to sign up then and there; finally, I found something that could be a real tool to help me maintain a healthy weight for life - you can't binge if you can only eat a half a cup of food at a time! Unfortunately, the US healthcare system wanted me to be a 35 BMI to get the surgery. And, if I wanted to waste a couple years of my life, I guarantee I would've made it there, and I would have brought along my new friends diabetes, high BP, and joint pain. Instead, I researched getting the sleeve in Mexico where I could pay a fraction of the cost of surgery in the US, and they were willing to do the surgery within 2 weeks of my filling out paperwork and a deposit for just about anyone BMI 28 or higher. I went w/ Dr. Ortiz at OCC. I was THRILLED with the entire experience. When I arrived in Mexico I began having doubts, but the staff and the other patients put me at ease. There were several very low BMI patients with my same issues. An interesting fact the surgeon told me is that once you gain 30 pounds the likelihood of you losing the weight and keeping it off without surgery is 10%. I already knew I didn't fall into that 10%. So I did it on 7/22/16. After my pre-op diet (which was absolutely the hardest part of this entire process!), I weighed 173 pounds on date of surgery. I'm 12 days out and weigh 163lbs now. I really think that being low BMI and healthy were 2 major reasons I had such an easy surgery. Aside from a little nausea caused by the anesthesia (I never threw up, just felt icky for about an hour) and getting the gas out, I had no complications. My incisions are all tiny. I have no pain in my abdomen. I'm a stomach sleeper and can sleep on my stomach. I was only on pain meds a couple days past surgery (and I just took what I was told, not sure I even had any pain ever). Getting 64oz of liquid in the first 2 days didn't happen for me, but as soon as I could introduce the Protein Shakes, this process became totally workable. I'm currently drinking 3 Premier Protein drinks p/day and get 90g of Protein per day. I drink 48oz of regular Water and 16oz of Vitamin water. I enjoy tomato Soup with almond milk and yogurt drinks (the yogurt adds another 12g of protein, bringing my count up to 102g) as my Snacks. I mix my Vitamins with the soup and the yogurt, because I'm not supposed to take them as pills yet. The biggest issues for me are mental. At this point, I haven't had solid food yet, so I just miss eating. I get to start my pureed phase on 8/5, so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm very excited for cottage cheese, poached eggs and the ricotta bake! My dr's goal for me is 150lbs, because that puts me in the healthy BMI range, but my goal is 130lbs. Here's my before shot, I'm going to update it on the 22nd of each month: Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I ate yogurts and creamy soups! I also made scrambled eggs with cheese. . There's a recipe for a ricotta bake which I did and it was delicious. Also I made shepards pie with chop meat sweet potatoe and spinach. There's a lot of choices b Good luck

Stalls are completely normal, especially in the first several weeks after surgery. Stay off the scale for a while. You really can't control them, and trying to do it will make you nuts. It's important for you to get your protein in. It isn't important if you like your protein drink. You just need something you can choke down without vomiting. You can worry about liking something in a few weeks or months -- right now you are eating/drinking for nutrition and healing, not for entertainment. Are you taking your vitamins with something substantial (protein drink, yogurt, etc.)? Taking them on an empty stomach is going to be very hard on your stomach. You may want to switch to one that is easier to digest at least on a temporary basis. Liquid vitamins (such as Wellesse) and non-bariatric vitamins tend to be easier on the stomach. Remember that it takes several weeks for any sort of vitamin deficiency to develop, so a few weeks on a non-bariatric vitamin should not hurt you. I can tell you I am 3+ years post-op, have never taken a bariatric vitamin, and have never come anywhere close to having any sort of vitamin or mineral deficiency. Hang in there and good luck! It will get easier but for now you just need to look at this as work to do and a time of healing and recuperation before things get back to a more normal state.

Hello, I'm not sure what "dumping" is but after reading this forum and what everyone has described I am suffering from the aftermath of it right now. Last night I pureed some shredded chicken which I have been eating for the past few days, but last night I added some fat free sour cream just to change it up a bit. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! Not even 10 mins later I was balled up in fetal position sweating, then about 5 mins later I was in the bathroom with it (TMI) coming out of both ends. This morning I'm still sick and feel queasy, so today I will just have my Greek yogurt and add my unflavored Protein to it. I never want to eat sour cream EVER AGAIN!!! This is really an unpleasant feeling.

PS, if you are on puréed foods then Greek yogurt and cottage cheese both have a lot of protein.

Have you tried looking on my protein.com. They have protein powder in individual sachets so that you can try different ones. This might be helpful for you to find one you can tolerate. Also Greek yoghurt is a good source of protein. Fage 0% is lovely but quite expensive (available all UK supermarkets). Aldi do a fabulous Greek yoghurt which is so creamy and delicious. Make sure you buy Greek yogurt and not Greek style yoghurt as I find there is a huge difference in protein. Sorry this hasn't helped with your Pizza Hut problem.

I already have a therapist and believe me this will be discussed at my next appointment. I was doing fine until my PCP said 5 simple words. Words that most anyone else would love to hear, but instead for me it was doom. "I'm so proud of you." Ever since I was a kid the moment someone would tell me they were proud of me I instantly would do ANYTHING to never disappoint them. And I'm losing weight okay right now. I will easily reach the 10 pounds lost that my surgeon wants. He wants it by December, I'll probably have it by the weigh in on the 9th. I wish someone would just say "Not bad." instead of telling me they're proud of me. As for my current diet, I'm not on a low calorie diet. I'm on a low carb/high fat/moderate Protein diet. I try to stay under 20 net carbs a day, okay with going up to 30. Today I've eaten 7 so I definitely have room for something else to eat. I've already done all my tricks for combating head hunger. - Read a book - Put away laundry - Watch a show - Watch my fish - Drink more Water - Play a video game - Text a friend And through out it all the hunger has remained. That tells me I'm actually hungry. I just am having a hard time telling myself that it's not going to disappoint anyone if I do eat something. I have a lot of food allergies so I lot of the easy go-to Snacks I can't have. Like Peanut Butter or nuts (as an example, I'm allergic to a lot more than that). And yogurt is far too high in carbs, my PCP wants me to stay away from it and dairy as much as possible. I'd love some other snack ideas though.

A lot of these I don't think are unhealthy like you said? I think yogurt, certain cheese, natural peanut butter and brown rice are totally OK for us!

I do think you are likely too worried about it at this stage. Mostly because you are worried about disappointing them. It should be about you. You are the one working very hard to get yourself healthy. Sometimes worrying about things like that actually triggers the need to run to food. I would suggest maybe talking to a therapist about your feelings because if they are getting to you now, they will certainly get to you once your body changes and you have to deal with that and head hunger. Most people do not realize exactly how much change you go through after Bariatric surgery. It is a significant change and it impacts everyone around you. For example my husband tends to still eat like crap stopping at fast food restaurants for meals. I never ever ever eat fast food. I cannot stomach it, the idea of it is gross. That makes it difficult when we are on the road and need to grab something to eat. Because I chose this for myself, I tend to make sure that I am careful about inconveniencing others so I will always find something to eat regardless of where we go. I am also careful to have a Protein bar on me. Hopefully you get the idea. I chose this for me an honest it is ok to be selfish for a while. Lose the 10lbs for yourself because it will make your surgery safer for you. If you are hungry there are lots of options for a small protein healthy snack. Have a Greek yogurt or an ounce of nuts. Just measure and track so you know where you are at any given time. Tracking helps to hold yourself accountable and most of all it helps in making better choices. I use Myfitnesspal and it works great. Best of luck to you!

You can do this! Where are you calorie-wise for the day? While you want to get out of the habit of snacking, if you're truly hungry, and not just bored, have a snack. Some cheese, yogurt, or a tablespoon of Peanut Butter powder may do the trick. My program gave us a 1200 calorie diet and I tried to stay within 50 calories either way on it. (We were allowed significantly more carbs than you.) Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well, I'll disclaimer that I'm still learning a lot, but from what I've heard Peanut Butter in moderation is a good fat and totally bariatric friendly! (I think apples and peanut butter are pretty much the perfect snack.) Also I am of the mindset that coffee is okay as long as you're meeting/exceeding your daily liquid requirements, and I'm a huge advocate of cheese and I do a low sugar greek yogurt daily. As far as bread, rice, potatoes, ice cream, etc... I'd say to steer clear of those for the most part.... Although I did just discover an amazing low carb/calorie "ice cream" called HaloTop and it's amazing! But I could see it being a slider or trigger food. How far out are you from surgery? What surgery did you have? What's your daily protein/water/calorie range look like usually? It sounds a little to me like you're giving yourself a lot of unnecessary anxiety and should just try and follow the program your NUT has given you, and you'll do great!! <3 Now for foods that I'm "scared of" and basically can't keep in my house (even for my daughter) because I will devour them at whatever cost: Junk-food pastas like macaroni and cheese / Top Ramen, ice cream, frozen junk like chicken nuggets... these are all things I've pushed the boundaries on post-surgery and paid for it, but I don't trust myself with them!

I use Musclegen Research GENEPRO Molecular Tri Protein Peptide. I put one scoop in 3/4 cup of 2% Braum's milk, along with half a packet of Carnation Breakfast Essentials No Sugar. The Genepro dissolves completely with very little taste and the Carnation Breakfast Essential favors the milk nicely. You get 30 grams of protein with each tablespoon scoop. You can also mix the Genepro with anything...yogurt, oatmeal, milk poured over Cereal, etc. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

In here we will post about foods that we are scared of or food items that make us nervous/guilty. We will share our opinions and hopefully give each other insight on whether our guilt or anxiety can be justified or not. I am scared of the following items. Potatoes Peanut Butter cheese Rice Bread Ice cream (even two spoons) Home made yogurt Canned Soups I have recently had half a cup of small sized Tim Hortons coffee and dumped the rest out of too much guilt. I had apples with peanut butter and nearly cried from guilt.. I am afraid that I might be depriving myself of even the stuff that I am supposed to have.. I can and I will.

Hi guys! I'm just checking in. I had surgery on 7/7 and am feeling the best I have felt in the last couple of years. The weight is coming off, I'm getting nice bursts of energy and my skin is glowing. I'm on soft foods and am supposed to try "regular" foods this week. Not sure what I'll end up trying for regular first. I've been eating mostly dairy, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, but have tried all kinds of fish, chicken breast, veal, cheeseburger and no problems so far. I just feel full right around the 2 oz in supposed to eat on my plan. I was off shakes for a few days while traveling but am now going back on as its really hard to get enough protein from food alone in such small amounts. Best wishes to all the other July sleevers!

@@MarieLouise It's bad. You need protein to heal and function. Find a liquid protein drink that you like, mix protein powder into a homemade shake or in yogurt. It's really important that you get the recommended amount. Hang in there.

I am a week out tomorrow. Right, not hungry. I can see how easy it would be to get dehydrated. Sipping is a chore when you are use to guzzling. Sugar free popsicles are my favorite. I use the SF jello in plain Greek yogurt which has 25 g protein in 120 calories.

This made me laugh! My first non-Protein shake meal was some Greek yogurt. It tasted better than anything I'd had in a while. Congrats on a good first two weeks. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well, for the Oikos label I shared, I am eating less than 1/2 a serving at my 2oz meal so I am well below 5g of sugar. I think the "powerful yogur" would be similar. Most yogurt labels are for entire container, and that is well above my serving size. So these make for a good protein punch and low sugar.

oddly room temp liquids were the hardest for me to get down - especially plain room temp water. warm was easiest but if not warm, then cold. and i would agree with Kristen - if you are having trouble with liquids, cream of wheat probably not a good idea yet. I didn't even try yogurt until over a week out and and i was easily getting in liquids by then and the first time i did the yogurt, it was rough - only did an ounce and it felt very heavy. so basically my advice would be don't progress to anything thick until you can easily get in liquids

@@chycky - I like those to. I think the highest Protein yogurt is Icelandic, it's just tough to find and expensive.

I like the Powerful Yogurt drink. I found it in Walmart also. Tastes like a yoo-hoo to me.

This stuff is really good, 21g of Protein for 170 calories? That is tough to beat. http://powerful.yt/ I found it by accident at the Walmart grocery. Who knew?

Thanks for the advice! It is crazy cause foods like Soup, cottage cheese, eggs, canned chicken, anything with yellow cheese all make me sick. I can eat Cereal, yogurt, Protein shakes, applesauce, canned fruit, mashed potatoes, crab meat, shrimp and white rice with no problem. It gets to the point when I eat certain foods or try a new food that the pain is so intense I have to make myself get sick to feel any relief. I think I'm going to lean back on Phase 2 and still have the foods that I know work in phase 3 until I see my doctor August 11th. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using the BariatricPal App

I weigh virtually everything. Only exceptions are things that come in pre-packaged single serving type containers, like a container of yogurt. Even single-serving containers I will sometimes weigh. For example, the little packets of tuna usually say they are 2.5 or 2.6 ounces, but if you scrape out the package and weigh the tuna, they are usually closer to 2.3 or 2.4. Measuring by volume tends to be not as accurate.

@@Armygalbonnie, You’ve gotten some great tips here! One of the best ways for a lot of people to get over a sugar addiction is to quit cold turkey. Staying away from sweets can really help you stop craving them. You’ve also gotten good ideas about making the healthy foods more available. Think of all the times you would normally grab a sweet – a candy, some Cookies, etc. – and have a substitute available that is ready to eat. Maybe you can have string cheese instead of a chocolate bar, sugar-free gum instead of candy, popcorn or grapes or apple slices instead of cookies, and frozen bananas, stewed apples or pears with cinnamon, or refrigerator oatmeal with cinnamon instead of ice cream. Celery is always good for mindless munching. Be honest with yourself – if brownies are sitting next to unpeeled whole carrots, you’re not going to choose the carrots. But if brownies aren’t in the house and all you see are ready-to-eat baby carrots or peeled carrots cut in sticks, it’ll be easier to eat the carrot sticks. So, keep ready to eat health foods on hand. Wash and peel and cut produce. Don’t (unless you want to!) feel the need to make elaborate healthy Snacks. You can always depend on hard-boiled eggs, single-serve items like yogurt and string cheese and beef Jerky, and Nature’s fast food – oranges, apples, and bananas, for example! A lot of quitting sugar is getting in the habit. It’ll get easier after as little as a few days or weeks, and the nice thing is that you may find some new, healthy favorite foods. Good luck!