Almost 3 months postoperative

Hello. I'm new to this, but I'm hoping to gain perspective and advice from fellow Gastric Sleeve members.

I had my sleeve done on August 8, 2018. I was released from the hospital on Aug 10. Then around 11pm Aug 12, I went to the ER with extreme discomfort, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. I was admitted to the hospital around 2AM Aug 13. I was released again on Aug 16.

I was nauseous and vomited at least once daily until September 1. I went back to work (daycare) on Aug 27, doing minimum hours (no more than 3 a day). I slowly built up my time to work, and as of Oct 15 I have been working 40 hours a week at the daycare.

With all of this said, I would love advice and tips!! I'm so afraid that I'm already stretching out my sleeve. I am not the best at measuring or weighing my food. I have breakfast around 7:30 and have lunch around 1, with dinner about 6pm. I occasionally have a snack (I eat with the kids on occasion during their breakfast and lunch, at 8:30 and 11:30). I do still have the horrible horrible habit of watching TV while eating, specifically at lunch. I think I know when I'm full, but I know that it could be fake since I'm distracted, and that I could be overeating.

I am trying to drink as much as possible, but I know I'm not at 64 ounces. Due to the nausea with basically any type of medication, I wasn't able to consistently take my vitamins until recently, within the past week.

I am just afraid of my habits, or lack thereof. Any suggestions? I need help adding veggies (didn't grow up eating much, and have had issues with eating them for forever). So I need help sneaking it in so I can get all the nutrients I need.

I don't drink anything besides water, zero calorie sugar free drink packets in water, 1% milk, and occasionally low sugar apple juice and grape juice.

I am constantly on my feet at work and get about 8,000+ steps a day. I just signed up for a gym yesterday, and am planning on working with a personal trainer.

My weight day of surgery was 285 (heaviest weight was 315, I lost those 30lbs before surgery) and today I am now 232.8. My long term goal is to be in the 160s, but for now I've settled to be at 200 until I reach that.

I have excess skin on my arms and thighs, but it's not horrible. With training I know I can gain definition and lose the flabby underarms and inside thighs.

How did you change your thinking about food, exercise, and your body? I look in the mirror and don't see any changes, even though I know I've lost a total of 82lbs since January 2018. Help!

Thanks in advance!

I think you'll find that many (maybe most?) of us on OH weigh, measure, and log our food, even when we're in maintenance. I know for sure I would start gaining weight like crazy if I wasn't doing that pretty much all the time. It's a pain, but, for many of us, that's what it takes.

P.S. the best way to see changes is to have someone take pictures of you every month, from all four sides. You may not see much - if any - change from one month to the next, but if you compare pictures taken now vs. four months ago, or six months ago, you should see a pretty significant difference. Plus it's a great way to document your journey.

Vegetables were really not on my menu for nearly a year after surgery. Not enough room. Make weighing your food a habit early on! It will be your best tool to make sure you are eating enough protein and not eating junk. Logging is mandatory, in my opinion and have not missed a day logging in a years time.

I eat while distracted, I probably always will and I eat too fast. Have been setting a timer to try and not finish my meals before that timer goes off.

My change in thinking came from therapy, honestly. I needed it, and once I finally got it and medicine my brain was on board with getting healthier.

How did I change my thinking about food, exercise and my body? Therapy, therapy and more therapy:-) To be honest, desperation as well. I wanted my weight off so bad I was willing to do exactly what I was supposed to do get it off. I weighed, measured and tracked everything I put in my mouth on My Fitness Pal. I even kept a written journal of everything I ate as well, plus my feelings and fears. Putting them down on paper helped me a lot. I kept to a strict schedule, I know that is hard for people with children. I ate three meals a day with one snack at 3pm(hot tea and a protein, usually string cheese or some kind of jerky). I filled 4 Camelback bottles with plain water and had a goal of drinking all them before bed. I walked everyday, no matter the weather and made a goal of increasing my distance every 3rd day. As for veggies, I did not incorporate any until after 3 months...You can do this and congratulations on your 82 pounds, that is amazing!!!

P.S...I agree with taking before and after pictures. I didn't see any changes until my first 50lbs:-)

Hey I'm pretty close to where you are. I had my surgery September 11th where I was 316 ( my highest weight was 336) and now at almost 2 months post vsg I'm down to 276 so a weight loss of 40 pounds or 60 pounds if your looking from highest weight. When it comes to body image I know I'm harsh on myself always finding flaws and not noticing the differences so I look at my clothes and how loose they are or I try on the clothes that are now way too big for a confidence boost. I also take a photo every month so I can see the difference. We see ourselves everyday so it's hard to see the changes. As for logging my food intake I'm pretty bad at that as well and I should probably start I also don't weigh my food but I'm not deviating from my diet. I have one boost shake in the morning, a sugar free jello for a snack either night or morning, 1 small can of tuna for lunch and then either a scrambled egg, or 3 scallops,or a tiny portion of fish or another protien for supper. I then also have a tea in the evening. To make sure I get my 64 ounces of water I bought a 32 Oz water bottle and just make sure I drink 2 of those. My biggest thing though is to avoid everything while eating so no tv that way I'm not snacking. Also keep in touch with the other VSGERS on here they have great advice and give so much support. Congrats on your weightloss so far you're doing amazing!

Yes, we are pretty close! November 8 will be my 3 months.

My heaviest weight was 315. Day of surgery was 285. I stepped on the scale this morning and was about 231.8. My short term goal for my next check up with my surgeon, on Dec 18, I want to be 215 or lower. That's about 17 pounds in 43 days. I hope I can do it!

Last week I started drinking my Premier protein again for breakfast. I avoided it for a couple weeks after I was able to eat solids because it was so disgusting to me after having lived off it for 4+ weeks. I'm going to keep doing that doe breakfast. I eat a lot of chicken (bbq chicken, taco seasoning, ham and cheese) and turkey meat (meatloaf, chili...). I measure my chili (I can eat about 1/2 cup). I have a cheese stick for a snack with a few (like 3-5) saltine crackers and sometimes a bite of yogurt (I hate greek!). Its hard not to chug water like before, and have caught myself doing it a few times. With my job at a daycare, I dont find time to be sipping my water. But I think if I can drink one bottle before my break, and one again by the time I go to sleep, I should reach that 64oz.

Also, this is the only support I've reached out to. I don't have info from my doctors office about their groups they offer. I'm going to see my therapist on Tuesday and will hopefully be switching to someone who has hours that I can work with better. I'm even considering going back to my out patient eating disorder group to help with my mental changes.

Thank you all for your advice!! I just got some books about changing thoughts and things that are specifically written for bariatric patients. I already started reading them.

One thing I'm going to plan on starting is logging my food and liquid. That is one of my hardest things, one I've never been good at. One day at a time, I guess. Or better yet, one meal at a time.

I live with my parents (I'm 21). We are having a family meeting tomorrow to discuss health things. My mom has type 2 diabetes, and both my parents are obese/morbidly obese. My mom tries to eat healthy (salads for meals), but doesn't incorporate movement. My dad has always said hes going to exercise and eat better, but never actually does. So I hope with our discussion that they will be willing to support my new stomach/life by throwing out the foods we don't need/should not have. An issue is that my dad works all the time, over 40 hours a week, an accountant. So he's stationary all day. He forgets to eat at breakfast and lunch usually, so he eats a huge meal for dinner. My mom doesnt work, but she's currently dealing with a lot of health issues. She had ovarian cancer 2 years ago, and is going into surgery next Wednesday to remove yet another sack of fluid build up. And this wed she is having an outpatient surgery for her breast because of an issue with a milk duct. We joke that her new hobby is to have surgery.

I know I need to work on my mind, recording, measuring/weighing, and moving. I hope that the support system I have will help me keep changing while changing themselves. But I also know that it begins with me.

Goals for this week:

record food

MWF use the track at my gym for 1 mile, adding on more distance each week, and working on toning

THS go to the pool and do cardio and toning while in the water

This may be ambitious, but I'm tired of being terrified that my surgery will have been for naught. I'm still losing weight, but I'm so scared that because habits aren't changing, within the next month and later, my sleeve would have been pointless.

kelsey,

You are to be commended on making these many changes... you can do this and maintain your schedule. Listen to your body. Every BODY accepts the new tool and your unique hormones, body chemistry will affect everything you do and now you will be much more conscious of these changes.

Find the adjustments you are willing to make...and maintain. Having a strict routine becomes an antagonist to some people , I am one of those. Listen to your body as you continue to made adjustments to get to your goal. This is YOUR journey. You are in charge of maintaining your tool and learning your personal response to surgery.

Be careful to begin your changes in regimine slowly and steadidly. sudden increases in activity with limited calories can drop blood sugars. If that includes a personal trainer great, if it involves walking 4 days a week and you are comfortable with your changes. great.

First disclosure, i did not have the same surgery, but have insight since my surgery was 2 decades ago.I am now at my orig goal of 160. Yes i had a weight re gain of 45 lbs and it took me a long time to get it back off. I had an early WLS, an open one tht is no longer done. as a result I have a lot of side effects of several of the surgeries. When my surgery was fresh- My pouch size was 45 cc. It was truly horrible to try to get in fluids and protein. I found a few hacks to help me.

Try to get all of your water/fluids in. You may find things that increase your cravings for sugars, aartificially flavored and artificial sweetners, asparatine esp do this for me.

... because of this i avoid all sugars except a very small amount( 1/2 tsp-?) of cane sugar and stevia pyure brand or Now brand. they are extracted without strong chemicals,and i do not react with them. I do drink tea occassionally unsweet. and coffee daily 3 cups. the rest of my intake is water. The bottled waters if shipped across state lines are required by federal law... to have chemicals added.( flouride and ?) You might try avoiding these for a few days as a trial,.. IF you are having cravings.

Part of our rules was we could count nutritional liquids like protein drinks as our fluids, so they were double counted...once for protein count and once for fluid count. before i found the problem with artificial sweetners, i used sugar-free hot chocolate and a high protein supplement powder to mix in it. I made it with 6 oz water and 20 grams protein. as a result i did not have to stop fluids 30 min before and after to get protein in. This meant I could get that 6 oz of fluid in plus the 30 min of fluid each side of that...another 4-6 ounce in that hours time...It really made the difference in me getting my fluids in.

Get a food scale. measure all of your foods at home, that you are taking to work.

Know what you are taking and how you may need to eat it. If you think you will eat 5 oz of meat and 4 oz of___? in 2 meals, then take a knife and cut it in half, so you have 2 portions. then if /as it is available you have your entire days portion to eat away from home. You can eat the amount your body will accept. My Drs rule was protein first, small measure of carbs next,( up to 2 oz) fruit was last.

Get your multivitamin. Take your calcium/magnesium/zinc and K2 then you do not need to be concerned about veggies. Watch your iron levels, especially 2 years out.. Your body will pull reserves before the actual levels drop in blood of many factors. Get a printout so you can compare later results to your pre surgery or labs closer to surgical time. IF you begin to see a drop in any levels...YOU keep an eye on it. If it is close to the bottom limits of normal, remember your body will not absorb as quickly as before, so your response time to correct may be slower than most. ie... don't let it get critical before corrections are started.

My prescribed diet is 90 grams protein and 20-50 grams total carbs a day. I am 5 ft 5, with a 5 inch wrist.(my frame size is on border between small and medium.) I drink very small amount of milk, I don't tolerate it well, nor whey, nor soy,nor cheese..I use Lactose free whole milk- maybe 2 oz a day as coffee creamer. I eat fruit rarely as a desert( 2 oz cooked only- raw triggers blood sugar reaction, for me.) and do no drink any fruit juices. Most is not pure juice but have high fructose corn syrup.2 ounces makes me hungry. triggers a blood sugar drop.

Routine can be as structured or as unstructured as YOU desire. Just find your level of "right for you". My main routine is to break up my food in certain portions....30 grams of protein for 3 x in a day. limitations of 10 grams carbs with each. If needed, i can have additional Protein and 1/2 carb serving for 2 snacks. Most of the time i have 2 main meals and a heavy protein snack. i do yardwork, gardening, and walking to get exercise. I am slowly rebuidling strength after having 8 years of llimited activity..(.was doing continual care for multiple family members)

To build your estimation skills put out the portion you estimate is the amount you will need. write it down. then weigh, compare with what you wrote down, and adjust portion as needed.. in time , this practice will give you the ability to "estimate very close." It is just a matter of practice.

Wear shapewear,.. girdle, or other support garment....it serves to keep the excess skin from jiggling so much. It will help keep the tissue from being re stretched.. Keep on doing the toning exercises... have you ever learned the " Pelvic rock" or the " keegle"??. these should be some of the toning exercises you do daily to strengthen the muscles underlying your bladder./pelvic area.

Body Image: It takes a long time for some people to accept the size changes. This is common. I still start with a size too large and work down to current size when shopping for tops.... You are normal. Get a full length mirror. have someone assist and do an outline on it ,of you now. be sure to include your side view. and frontal view... compare yourself to that outline weekly. It will help you visualize your weight loss.

Another good exercise is to put on a pair of those pants/ top,You had when you were @ heaviest.( keep one of your favs.) Look at the changes and admire how much you have lost. In doing this you acknowledge the changes in your form...

I noticed my knees getting knobby, my shoe size shrunk first,..My 9 y.o daughter found I had a collarbone and thought I had a growth! LOL Take care of yourself, You are worth it.