Hi,
I had the sleeve done on 4/18/2012, I weighed 202 at surgery and I have lost 39 lbs since. It has been a struggle (mostly mental) but been well worth it.. No matter which surgery you have, it will not be easy. It is only a tool and will require you to learn how to eat all over again. You will have to exercise a good bit. I was good with diets but any time I stopped I would again the weight back and always said if I should only tape my mouth shut.... lol So here I am with the closest thing to that. I could have done any weight loss surgery I wanted. My doctor said it was up to me, didn't matter to him except he didn't want me to do the lap band. He takes out more than he puts in. He said I would get about the same results out of either the VSG or the by-pass. So before you make up your mind talk to your doctor and see which one he says is good for you. Hope all this helps and good luck!! You can friend me and look at what I eat and how I exercie if you like. scsleeve2012

Hey there!

6/6/11 265 to 164. Happy as pie :P

I love MFP for tracking my food but my real support came from VST (www.verticalsleevetalk.com). There are a few people on MFP that can be very rude about any type of WLS.

Tips:
- it will get hard. You might cry (a lot). Smelling food, watching my family or friends eat was so hard. But here I am, one year later and so very happy. Keep your eye on the goal. It might seem really hard at first but you will be ok.
- Sugar Free pops! Stock up now! They were my saving grace. Especially the fudge SF pops! I ate maybe 6 a day. Nothing else would go down as easily.
- take your meds! Dont wait for the pain to find you! Chase it off before it starts. Vitamins too!
- Once you are cleared to exercise (walk) - do it! I was losing and not moving. My skin was not retracting. Moving will help keep the muscle while losing fast.
- You are not alone. Nope. Never! - I felt so alone at times. Turn to your VSGers on MFP or VST! Let them motivate you! They have been there.

Congrats!!

My tips are be prepared to buy new underwear faster than you might think. Your other clothes can be worn baggy or belted but loose underwear is a bad idea.

LOL I forgot about this one!! My undies were like a parachute!~ It was laughable. I remember about 3 months post op wearing a too-big pair of dress slacks to work and my undies sliding right now my hips. I had to go in the ladies room and take them off. Pants can be belted, undies, not so much hahaha!~!

One year later, I still find that I am buying new ones more often.

Definitely an NSV

Definately find the protein shake that works best for you. It's an important source of protein.

I think the most important thing is to get your head straight before surgery. Remember, it's a TOOL and will not lose the weight for you (after a certain point). Once you are over the surgery and feeling your old self, those nasty old habits will try to sneak back in. Having your head in the right place will help you best deal with those challenges.

Good luck to you!

LOL I forgot about this one!! My undies were like a parachute!~ It was laughable. I remember about 3 months post op wearing a too-big pair of dress slacks to work and my undies sliding right now my hips. I had to go in the ladies room and take them off. Pants can be belted, undies, not so much hahaha!~!

One year later, I still find that I am buying new ones more often.

Definitely an NSV

lol This is why I mentioned it. I had the same thing happen at work. They were around my thighs under my dress pants.

My surgery is next Thursday 8-9-12. My first goal is to toss the parachute panties!

Hi everyone! I'm not new to reading discussion groups, but have not always been an active poster. Your replies to kolnitaVRWorl have been great as I had the same question! I'm just waiting to see the pre-op nutritionist then will be scheduling sleeve surgery. Looking to schedule during the holidays as that works best with my work schedule (I generally have about 2 weeks off through that time). I have made many nutritional/exercise/behavior changes so far (I'm down 40.5 since starting back in June). MFP has been a great tool and better than the other tracker I was using (I wish I would have started using it even earlier).
My question comes with the nutrition part. I was glad to see the posts about tastes changing. What might you suggest I can start to do now that will help with post op eating? Should I focus on "more creative" ways to incorporate protein? Should I try to eat lower calorie meals or work toward reducing my daily calories to a certain point? I generally average around 1000-1200 calories now.
Thank you in advance for any advice! Congrats to all of you on your weight loss successes!

Thanks!!! I ordered a "variety pack" for a protein drink (like kool aid not a shake) to see if I liked any of them. I never thought about tastes changing after surgery, but it does make sense. I checked out the World According to Eggface website. What an amazing amount of information!

I just wanted to say hi and thanks for all these great tips! I'm scheduled for my surgery on 10/29 and am getting ready to start my liquid diet. I'm excited about my surgery and future but I am very nervous about handling my sugars (I'm a Type 1 diabetic). All these tips are great! Thanks

I can only dream of the day when I have parachute panties! LOL!! You ladies are cracking me up!

LOL!!!

i love the underwear suggestion!!! it is SOO true!!!

I had VSG on 07/23/2012, highest weight was 386 - surgery weight was 353 - current weight is 269.

I also LOVE Sugar Free popcicles! I am 6 months post-op and I still eat 3-6 a day!

Make sure you have the gas x-strips with you at the hospital!!! you may have gas pain/bloating.
also make sure that you have clothing around that is at least a size smaller then what you wear. if not 2 sizes smaller!

your about to embark on a wild ride! you will be amazed on the changes that your body will go thru over the next 12 months!
keep smiling and have fun!!!

Hello, all. I had VSG on 8/13/12. I lost 80 pounds pre-op and am 3 pounds away from having lost 100 pounds for good post-op. (I have another week to lose those 3 before I hit my 6 month surgiversary, so wish me luck!). Right after surgery, it will be hard to get anything down, so focus on protein shakes that can serve as protein and fluid. I lived on the Ensure drinks for the first couple of weeks post op, and I also like the Isopure Zero Carb creamy vanilla powder. Some other post op staples are puddings, pops, and broth. I used to take the broth from a cooked can of Progresso light chicken noodle soup and feed the noodles, chicken and veggies to my fiancé without any broth, lol!

Make sure you have an eye mask and ear plugs at the hospital for sure. My laptop was also a great thing to have, even though I don’t remember much about that week, I do remember that I was on Facebook on Pogo, so I must not have been bored! Also, bringing your own pillow for comfort is a must. I went back to work after 3 and a half weeks, but I wish I would have held out for 4. Those first weeks right after are so important to your healing process.

You will have an "OMG WTF did I just do!?!" moment after your surgery. Relax, it happens. But it is temporary. This has been the best decision of my life, hands down. After struggling with my weight my entire life, I can finally feel good about getting married (16 weeks, eek!) and starting to make babies!

As for what to do now, my main suggestion is to get an exercise routine down. Get yourself used to it and it will be much easier to go post-op. Try water aerobics, too! Also, you may want to start looking at some recipes for the pureed, soft foods, and even the regular foods stage. Pintrest has some great stuff under their Health & Fitness category, and you always tweak any recipe to be VSG friendly (remember, greek yougurt is your friend! You can pretty much add that stuff to anything!). There are also some great post-op books out there, and you can’t go wrong with eggface’s blog.

Good luck!