November Surgery Buddies!!!

[Pete-TheTimeIsNow 48]

20 minutes ago, OutdoorsGirl said:

... I guess like others have reported about chicken breast, it is too dry for me and didn’t move through my stomach very well.

If the chicken is too dry, I've been mixing in some Salsa sauce or low cal Avocado mayo.

About two days after I started taking the Vitamins, I started getting heartburn at night. So I stopped them for a few days to see if this was the cause. It coincided with me running out of the Nexium the Dr. prescribed after surgery. So this is most likely the cause. But I've read here that some people have to have their vitamins with food in the morning or get heartburn.

[OutdoorsGirl 93]

1 hour ago, Pete-TheTimeIsNow said:

If the chicken is too dry, I've been mixing in some Salsa sauce or low cal Avocado mayo.

About two days after I started taking the Vitamins, I started getting heartburn at night. So I stopped them for a few days to see if this was the cause. It coincided with me running out of the Nexium the Dr. prescribed after surgery. So this is most likely the cause. But I've read here that some people have to have their Vitamins with food in the morning or get heartburn.

Thanks for the tips!

[DaisyAndSunshine 303]

So my scale seems to be finally moving after almost 10 days of stall post the clear Fluid phase.

Let's see how it does by the end of this month. I try to stay away from the scale but I keep getting drawn to it every morning 😂

I don't get too bogged down with stalls after having heard of them here for months now. So I don't mind weighing myself daily. I'll be happy as long as scale moves after a certain point and I hit appropriate goal every month.

Hope everyone is doing well with their diets.

I still have 11 more days of full fluid diet phase.

[Boss_bypassed 0]

Bypassed 11/23/21!

[LouLouM 70]

On 12/17/2021 at 7:11 AM, OutdoorsGirl said:

I had my surgery on 11/9 and had my first bad experience with food yesterday. I had some roasted chicken breast and ended up throwing up. I chewed it well, but I guess like others have reported about chicken breast, it is too dry for me and didn’t move through my stomach very well. After eating, I had a feeling in my chest like the food was just sitting there and my saliva was coming back up. After about 45 minutes, I had some Water and then threw up. It was a really weird feeling coming up since we don’t drink before or after eating. After that I felt better. I’ve had chicken breast before, but it was from a Chinese restaurant and was steamed, so it was very moist and tender. It didn’t bother me at all. I will for sure make sure all meat I eat from now on is very moist or with a sauce.
This morning a half hour after eating, I took my first one a day Vitamin capsule along with my other medications. About a half an hour later, I felt like I was going to throw up. I took some deep breaths and thankfully the feeling passed. I’m not sure if the feeling came from the new Vitamin, but I’m glad I didn’t lose the medications I had just taken.
I hope everyone is doing well!

The. Same. Exact. Thing. happened to me the first time I ate chicken. My surgeon wants me to eat Soup with some shredded chicken and I'm weird, I want the chicken separate, so I fix a small plate of shredded chicken and drizzle a bit of the pureeed soup over it and have not had that problem since.

[Zoedragonfly 1]

Does anyone else feel like they’re failing at this? I can’t seem to get enough fluids or Protein. Nothing seems to be bothering me diet-wise (just started phase 3), but still can’t seem to get the hang of it.
Then, tonight I had like a 1/5th piece of veggie pizza. Of course I feel super guilty and like I’ve ruined myself or something, which I doubt is the case, but still.

I have eaten what feels like nothing but lunch meat and Protein Shakes, a few little bits of grilled chicken. Had a few little broccoli florets and nothing is kicking back. I keep waiting for some sort of recourse, and I guess I’m lucky??? But trying to make just healthier choices, chewing super well, etc.

I think unflavored Protein Powder may have to become my new best friend over these next few weeks, maybe longer. I can’t eat very much at all, unsurprisingly, and that makes it difficult to get adequate protein.
I actually don’t even know where I’m going with this. I just feel like I’m doing it wrong and ruining everything.

First week post op I lost an obscene amount of weight, but I don’t feel like I look any different. I want to keep momentum and keep losing, but also do things sustainably so that I can stick with it.

is anyone else struggling to find a good rhythm? I can’t be alone in this, right?

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

3 hours ago, Zoedragonfly said:

Does anyone else feel like they’re failing at this? I can’t seem to get enough fluids or Protein. Nothing seems to be bothering me diet-wise (just started phase 3), but still can’t seem to get the hang of it.
Then, tonight I had like a 1/5th piece of veggie pizza. Of course I feel super guilty and like I’ve ruined myself or something, which I doubt is the case, but still.

I have eaten what feels like nothing but lunch meat and Protein Shakes, a few little bits of grilled chicken. Had a few little broccoli florets and nothing is kicking back. I keep waiting for some sort of recourse, and I guess I’m lucky??? But trying to make just healthier choices, chewing super well, etc.

I think unflavored Protein Powder may have to become my new best friend over these next few weeks, maybe longer. I can’t eat very much at all, unsurprisingly, and that makes it difficult to get adequate Protein.< br /> I actually don’t even know where I’m going with this. I just feel like I’m doing it wrong and ruining everything.

First week post op I lost an obscene amount of weight, but I don’t feel like I look any different. I want to keep momentum and keep losing, but also do things sustainably so that I can stick with it.

is anyone else struggling to find a good rhythm? I can’t be alone in this, right?

I am 8 months out and less than ten pounds from goal and I will admit I have eaten things that were “off plan”. pizza, yep I’ve done that one too. I was curious to see if it agreed with me. I use the term off plan as many do around here but actually no food is off plan according to my team. I just make sure to figure out the calories and it usually means I do not have any Snacks that day.

i also do not have any issues with food. I haven’t eaten anything that upset my new little stomach. I also can eat more than I should be able to at each given stage without feeling restriction and even further I don’t have to eat super slow anymore which all seemed like maybe the surgery wasn’t successful And I would fail. But, I measure my food so that I don’t overeat and try to still slow down My eating so I can get more satisfaction out of what little I do eat and this seems to be working because I continue to lose.

i also did not see a thinner person in the mirror. I had to see before and after pictures to see a difference and even then I almost had to pretend it was someone else I was looking at in order to see what other people see. This is not at all uncommon.

[gmast99 19]

Zoe don’t be too hard on yourself. In a month I have managed to eat every single thing they have told me to avoid. I just do not eat much of it. While I used to destroy a carton of ice cream, I was completely fine with a few bites. One slice of pizza at my favorite restaurant doesn’t kill me. I am full and feel like I deserve the reward after a long week. I don’t look at these things as failing. I look at them as adjusting to my new life. It is not realistic to think that I am going to live the rest of my life avoiding everything on the very large naughty list. The naughty list is things that I eat less of. No longer an entire large pizza. Now a slice. No longer an entire box of chips Ahoy. Now three with some skim fairlife milk. And I am still losing my 2 to 3 pounds a week which my doctor says is healthy weight loss. Some days I don’t get enough Protein. Other days I get extra. There is nothing magic that happens at midnight that resets your nutritional needs. If I average out enough protein a week I am happy.

There is a support group here in Miami which is helpful because you get to hear first hand from people a year and later post op how they eventually fell into a routine and now most people seem to not think of their surgery as a burden like I feel it is now. I keep reminding myself that this is a lifetime lifestyle surgery and not a quick fix. Losing 100 pounds in 2 months would be very satisfying but is not healthy for your organs or your healing. I do get jealous of the people who can eat whatever they want. Some of my favorite foods do not sit well at all with me. eggs are still a no for me. Shrimp is death. My favorite chips and the spicy salsa at my Mexican restaurant had my drenched in sweat on the curb trying not to vomit in the gutter while my friends frantically went for the car. We never even got to order the meal. My surgeon for my 30 day follow up said that with time I will be able to enjoy small amounts of all these things again and to just continue to proceed cautiously. He is pleased with my weight loss and my healing and that is all you can ask for.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Zoedragonfly said:

Of course I feel super guilty and like I’ve ruined myself or something

Hey! This is high-risk thinking I get why you're thinking that, but it's just food. Read what you wrote. You had a fifth of a slice of pizza. Who cares? Just track your calories, try to get to your Protein goal and you're fine

If it's any consolation, I probably had more 'bad' food in month 2 than I do in month 13.

[jensgettinghealthy 6]

I am currently in Insurance Pre-certification with Dr. Curry. Can you share your thoughts about your experience with him?

[mynewrevenge 6]

Hello Buddies!

I have been reading this board continuously but haven't posted much as I've been busy busy, but I just wanted to jump in and relay some of my experiences post surgery if it might be helpful to those currently going through it or about to.

I had my sleeve on Nov 9th. The one thing that I found that really helped me out of the gate is walking. From day 1 I made sure to make myself walk. Each day I increased my distance by an additional driveway until I was able to walk all the way around the block and then added even more. By 2 weeks post surgery I felt like I was 100% again. A friend of mine who had the same surgery 5 years ago by the same surgeon couldn't believe how quickly I recovered. I attribute it to the walking. So that's my advice on recovery.

Unfortunately I did make some major mistakes because I was feeling good and due to a family emergency, 1 week post op I had to fly home to help care for my mother. I didn't want my parents burdened by worrying about my surgery so I kept the entire thing hidden from them. As such, I completely skipped the pureed food stage and just ate soft foods while chewing oh probably a hundred times before swallowing. I do not recommend skipping any food stages but I had to do what I had to do.

I had a bad experience with solid food. I was running around and wasn't paying much attention to the fact that I hadn't eaten all day and when I got home I was ravenous. I cooked up some tofu chicken fingers (my vegan go to for a quick and dirty meal pre surgery). Well, um... lets just say it didn't go well. I had that lump in my chest that felt like the food was stuck. The saliva continued to pour up into my mouth. There was nothing I could do to make the pain in my chest go away or the saliva stop flowing. I literally thought I was going to die. I decided to go for a walk. The amount of spit that continued to flow from my mouth could probably keep a whale wet for a decade... it was awful! After about 20 minutes, the pain finally subsided and the constant flow of saliva finally dried up. It was an experience and a hard learned lesson to remember to chew chew chew! and wait wait wait before taking another bite!

Rice, my favourite pre surgery meal is now a no go for me. It just doesn't sit well at all. Sad but I can deal with it, bigger picture and all that.

Sugar. I was a sugar addict pre surgery, I'm a mostly plant based eater, I attribute all my weight gain to my sugar addiction. I have found that although I am still addicted to sugar, I can have that '1' piece of whatever it is and be satisfied instead of that '1 whole bag' and still not be satisfied as I was in the past. If I go past that '1' piece threshold not because I'm not satisfied but because I'm still a glutton I find myself in the washroom with a mild case of dumping syndrome. Another welcome reminder that '1 is enough'.

I feel like I am losing weight fairly quickly but I'm not noticing any adverse side effects like Hair loss or sagging skin but I do take collagen everyday so I'm thinking that might be helping with that.

Today will be my first day back to the gym in 3 months. I am looking forward to getting back into running again without all that additional weight holding me back

I hope you all are enjoying success and keep going! Happy Holidays!

[Tgregorski 7]

I am about the same. More than one treat and I'm running. I found that walking helps everything. If i eat that extra bite or just to make myself feel better.

[AmazonSleeved 25]

Down 56 lbs 1 month post op!

20 inches gone!

20% of the way to goal (I want to lose 260 lbs)

[Valboosky 24]

12 hours ago, FatPositiveMotherhood said:

Down 56 lbs 1 month post op!

20 inches gone!

20% of the way to goal (I want to lose 260 lbs)

That's impressive. Keep up the great work.

[TRAVELRN 73]

Sleeved 11/29

Down 20 lbs at one week appt. Started on soft diet.

On soft diet 2 weeks- down 10lbs.

So far so good. I noticed that I fell back on my Water once I started on the soft, and I could tell. So I worked on that and back up. I'm comfortable at 3-4 ounces of Protein but that's as far as I can get. I'm severely lactose intolerant so I can't eat "regular greek yogurt". But I found this yogurt by Ratio its Keto friendly and it doesn't bother me at all.its a thicker consistency and definitely filling. 4 oz and I'm done.. I use Isopure for my Protein Shakes it's whey isolate and doesn't bother. I can use Atkins but not everyday. It's a process learning what works and what doesn't. Definitely not boring!! [emoji23]

I went back to work on 12/20 and was exhausted. Today was a little better not so wiped out but still tired.

I hope everyone has a blessed holiday.

Nannette