Just not impressed

[shagalious]

I was sleeved on 3/14, and the first 2.5 weeks on the liquid diet I lost 22 lbs. I started on the puree food, exercise everyday 30-40 minutes, and since eating the more "regular food" this week I only lost 1.5 lbs. I am sticking to the diet strictly, and I feel like I am barely eating. I am going to a nutritionist but they don't really have experience with sleeve patients so when I asked if this was normal, they really couldn't answer. I also was really depressed this week, but than I thought 22 lbs down in less than a month is pretty awesome, and with just this weight loss I already feel a lot better. I am happy that others are saying they have stalled also during this time, and all I can say is hang in there.

[azladyrider]

Hmmm. I guess someone should inform Tom Colicchio that his restaurants don't serve tasty food because that skewered quail I had at one of them could have fooled me.

As for your intelligence? Yeah, well, your post said it all.

Ohhh love quail, duck too. Been years...

[HGfromOmaha]

Well, I'm usually the peace-maker when it comes to conflicts but I don't know if I can even help in this situation. I guess my only advice is to be patient and not be so down on the surgery. You may be a professional but you pretty much insulted the intelligence of everyone in the forum who has been through the surgery and that is what seems to have garnered the responses you've received.

The surgery does work. Like many have said before and will say again in the future, you didn't become overweight in 10 days. You won't lose the weight in 10 days. It's impossible. Even if you were to stop eating completely, you would simply dehydrate but you wouldn't lose such tremendous weight in 10 days. Give yourself time. You have to heal before you can even proceed.

Patience is a virtue. You need patience and then when you're tired, you need to find more patience. Then you also have to put in the work and you may have the body type that requires exercise. But to be so upset at the 10-day mark is not fair to yourself, your body, your sleeve, the research you conducted and also unfair to the large groups of people who have had tremendous success with this surgery.

I encourage you to give yourself time. You can't go back now.

[woodi618]

Wow I guess that 1/2 of the 6oz delicious sizzler I had for lunch wasn't supposed to taste as good as the 12oz sizzler I used to eat before my sleeve. It seems good to not obsess about food every waking moment. Now I have some self esteem, energy, and feel better than I have in 20 years. Sorry but rarely have I seen such total negative thinking at 2 weeks post op.

[azladyrider]

Oh and the only bubble you are bursting is your own, mine, as a lot of others here are very happy with the outcome. My bubble is intact.

[azladyrider]

I was sleeved on 3/14, and the first 2.5 weeks on the liquid diet I lost 22 lbs. I started on the puree food, exercise everyday 30-40 minutes, and since eating the more "regular food" this week I only lost 1.5 lbs. I am sticking to the diet strictly, and I feel like I am barely eating. I am going to a nutritionist but they don't really have experience with sleeve patients so when I asked if this was normal, they really couldn't answer. I also was really depressed this week, but than I thought 22 lbs down in less than a month is pretty awesome, and with just this weight loss I already feel a lot better. I am happy that others are saying they have stalled also during this time, and all I can say is hang in there.

22 pounds in a month is great. Congrats!

[secretblonde]

Bravo Sue!!!!^^^^^^^

[mochachina]

Just as I thought, that is why I said what I said, because I have read other posts where you regulars tear people apart at their weakest point. Glad you all have had much success. I know what is happening to my body and obviously I am not eating cheese burgers and pizzas or I would be hospitalized with a leak. Thank Narasweet for your encouragement. I guess I should be happy with losing nothing post op.

[Mbenson5]

Uh, I have a masters in Occupational Therapy and some of the best research I did was on this site, learning from others with real experience with the sleeve. I am nearly 2 years out and some of us just lose more slowly than others. (i have now lost 127 lbs and still working on it) You should know that everyone's metabolism is different and responds in its own way. I suspect you are just going through what all of us did at the beginning and this is the place for encouragement. I also suspect maybe some tact is in order because it looks like you might have hit a nerve in the way you worded your post. �� Please be patient and come back for more encouragement. I always do and the people on here are wonderful! Best wishes to you!!

[kenson]

Great responses! I'm so sorry that you're unimpressed with the sleeve. I was impressed when I had lost 15 pounds in 7 days! You've got to be patient. You haven't really been sleeved long enough to make such a strong statement. Don't be hard on yourself. Let your body adjust to the drastic change. If you follow the guidelines that your surgeon and your NUT gave you, you can't do anything but lose. You will not feel restriction until you get to more solid food. Puree foods are still easy and slide right down--once you move into the next stage of foods is where you'll feel restriction. Make sure you read the guidelines given to you by your team and continue to stay on this site where you will learn everything that you need to about the sleeve!

[mochachina]

You are really supportive. On here you tell anyone who has not had a positive outcome that it has to be something they have done. Because you really can"t imagine that some of us don't fall into the cookie cutter weight loss schedule. And I guess if you had starting gaining on the pureed phase, you would be ok with that. All I am saying is that I have made many sacrifices and lost 12 pounds 1 week pre- op protein diet and I should be seeing much better results. I guess I am the blame according to you.

[Trustin Sleever]

I have a couple of questions. When you say you are "not getting good results", what does that mean? Have you not lost any weight at all? Have you gained weight? What result is not meeting your expectations? You don't feel restricted enough?
And why won't you ever get to eat tasty food again? What does that mean? Why wouldn't you get to eat tasty food ever again?

[thinmeskreamin]

Love tasty food and the fact that Im satisfied with smaller amounts delights me. Get a good bariatric nutritionist. Theres work to be done and stalls to be had. All the research available did not suggest a miracle cure.

[ximmia]

You are really supportive. On here you tell anyone who has not had a positive outcome that it has to be something they have done. Because you really can"t imagine that some of us don't fall into the cookie cutter weight loss schedule. And I guess if you had starting gaining on the pureed phase, you would be ok with that. All I am saying is that I have made many sacrifices and lost 12 pounds 1 week pre- op protein diet and I should be seeing much better results. I guess I am the blame according to you.

I was gonna let this thread go, but I see I probably should need to. So here we go:

You can have the highest IQ in the world, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that your emotional intelligence needs improvement. Did you not talk about expectations in your psych eval? In your research you didn't come across the three week stall? All the reading in the world can't prepare you emotionally to hit that wall. It's just one of those things. You've hit it, great. Now you have to have the staying power to know that you'll get through it. This will likely not be the last stall so it's best to learn now that you can deal with it. You've just had major surgery and your body is in full revolt. We all react differently so it's not all that surprising that your body isn't moving yet. I say that with definition. I weighed exactly the same at my 1 week checkup that I did on surgery day. The surgeon was pretty pissed and that pissed me off, but I just stuck with it and the weight did move. This isn't a race. You didn't get to 234 pounds overnight and the weight isn't going to simply fall off. It's not an uncommon expectation and this isn't the first reply I've written like this. Also, if you haven't done so yet, take your measurements. I guarantee that if you're not losing weight you're still losing inches.

There are three keys to surviving this new lifestyle. Actually there are FOUR, but I'll get to that in a minute. Protein, water, exercise. Drink as much protein as you are comfortably able, drink all the water you can and walk as much as possible.

Let me point out that just with your preop you've already lost 16% of the weight you're looking to lose. That's pretty impressive.

As for the restriction, it's not uncommon to not feel restriction since fluids pretty much slide through our sleeves. The reason (but you've done every bit of research possible and have a master's degree. I have two. Big whoop - sorry but you deserve the sarcasm) is that your tender sleeve is healing and food this early can cause a problem. Wait until you get to soft foods before making a blanket statement that you have no restriction.

I think one of the issues that people have with this particular post is your negative attitude. We answer threads from a LOT of people who are in your position, but they are nowhere nearly as combative as you are. There are people here who are a LOT further than 11 days from surgery who can give you good advice, but the tone of your post kinda indicates that you don't care what anyone thinks. If that's the case, why post?

Lessee, what else? Who told you you could never eat tasty food again? By the time I hit full liquid I was already into mussles roux and full flavor soups with protein powder added. Sauces aren't something you can never eat again? Unless your idea of tasty food is full sticks of butter, there's no reason you need to deprive yourself.

And here's key number four: If you deprive yourself, you WILL fail. If you are 11 days out and you believe the sleeve is a piece of crap, you WILL fail. This is a lifestyle change which means YOU need to make those changes. Your fatalistic attitude will do nothing but hurt you. Your negative voice is the only one in your head. I've been there. I have biploar disorder which means I have horrendous depression, and my negative voice can get so loud I want to scream. What you need to do, right now. Before you read another word is TELL YOUR NEGATIVE VOICE TO SHUT THE HELL UP! You're throwing in the towel way too early. It's natural to be depressed right now as hormones are wreaking havoc with your body, but you need to find the good. If you keep going you will lose weight. If you don't you won't. It's really that simple. In the end this is your decision, and you need to decide if you're going to let that negative voice win. Reframe your thoughts. Find the positive. Even when I've been suicidal there's been something positive to find and it helps immensely. Find a victory, any victory. Yesterday was the fact that a series of rainbows literally led me home from work yesterday. It can be big or small, but there's always something.

Stay with it. If you decide it will, this will work. Sarcastic though I am, I believe this and I believe you have the ability to do it. It's going to take some faith for now, but you will start to see results soon. Message me if you need to talk or vent. I'm happy to call you out on your negative voice any time you like. You can do it. You can be a star at this.

[aglb]

I went for a follow-up ? 4 month? at the dietitian. She asked if I would be willing to look over a new form for them that they were going to have all new patients sign before their surgery - it had a list of all the "rules" and expectations because so many patients were complaining that they had never heard things that the doctor & dietitian knew they had told them. I am as guilty as the next - you hear what you hope to hear sometimes - it's just human nature. They will be having all patients sign this prior to surgery from now on & it covers many of the things that you mentioned. Not that you have a choice, because the surgery is done and can't be undone, but please give your body time to fully heal and watch the weight begin to fall off. I am a slow loser but it is coming off. I follow the protein requirements but not the water requirements very well. And I am not exercise my tail off. I am on the treadmill 30-45 min 3 times a week and I have lost 51 pounds in 5 months. There are others here that have lost 51 pounds in 2 months but may not be the weight I was when I started or may not have been losing for 1 1/2 years prior to this surgery. We are all different but there is no way you can't lose unless you eat constantly and the wrong foods. As a medical professional you have a good knowledge of how the body is shocked by the trauma of surgery - so chin up my friend, give it a bit of time & before you know it you will be posting NSVs and adding happy faces to your posts!!