I didn't touch my version of crack for a few months post op.  Then just a half caff here and there.  I do more caffeine now, pretty much half caff all the time now.  I have noticed more acid issues since crack has reentered my life, but nothing terrible.  I am still Ok with doing straight decaf too still, just the folks at work start to tremble if they don't have some caffeine.  

I have been in maintenance for a few month and I am still dealing with people who are not recognizing me, and daily comments.  I honestly do not think that I have gone 1 day without the topic coming up.  I too did not share about surgery and am looking forward to not constantly talking about this.  sigh

And for the record it just took me 3 attempts to spell maintenance correctly.  Stupid vowels.  

I ended up buying the Ninja instead of the Vitamix and absolutely hate it.  Now I feel like I must use it for a few years before i can warrant buying the vitamix.  ugh. 

A diagnosis of  a lesion is scary stuff.  If it ends up being cancerous they have good treatments.  My sister is going through this process and doing splendidly.  I am sending good karma your way.  Hang in there. 

Try not to worry.  I can attest to the wild fluctuations due to water retention.  A few months ago i was told to substantially increste my sodium intake due to low blood pressure, and my weight can swing 3 pounds in 24 hours.  This morning it was a few pounds down from yesterday, but had nothing to do with what I ate.  I can hear your frustration.  Just know that it is the cumulative total, not the daily or weekly loss.  I remember clearly feeling at the end of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd month that I could have lost at that rate without surgery.  But for sure I could have never lost what I did without the surgery.  Just hang in there and don't give up.  If you keep yourself on plan it will work :)

I would not increase by too much at one time for sure, nor approach it like you can "eat back" the calories that you burn off.  I added in 100-200 calories until I leveled off at 1200. I was careful to monitor the weight progression though, going by an average over a few weeks versus just a sporadic day here and there.   Exercise was 1 hour of elliptical or a 4-5 mile walk daily for 6 days of the week. ometimes on the weekends I would do both.   Carbs were about 100 net carbs a day when I was at the 1200 level, but I was careful to alternate 15 net carbs and 30 net carbs to avoid spiking insulin levels.  You don't even want to know my carb situation at the moment.  I also kept my protein at around 110-120 a day at that calorie level.  

Hernia repair is also plausible.  Many of us have that fixed at the same time as the VSG.  Personally, I did not tell work due to discrimination issues that are prevalent there.  The downside of this is that they assume that the weight loss is a result of cancer.  A bit of it is from that, but most all of it is a result of wls.  Others are right in that people will talk.  I think they will talk either way though myself.  My husband went on a diet when I had surgery and he lost over 90 pounds without surgery- and it came off at a faster rate then what I experienced.  Hence, it is entirely possible to lose at a rate that nonsurgical patients lose at.  Check my ticker- I did not have any one month that was crazy high, except perhaps month 1.  But if people know you were in for surgery it will make sense to most of them that you may have lost weight as a result of that. 

Remember, this is about you and not about them.  Do what is best for you.

I do not personally, but my sister does.  She just was cleared by her heart doctors so she is initiating the process.  Not sure yet if the bariatric team will work with her, but her heart docs are from the University of Michigan and specialize in her heart disease.  Her afib is controlled through a combination of medication and shock (can't remember the proper name- conversion maybe?).  Not sure.  It is SO worth the process though!!

Skip the juice- it is a bad habit anyway.  Loads of empty calories.  Fluids are critical though.  Try protein shakes and fluids at different temperatures like a warm tea versus iced tea.  The warm sometimes helps.  Isopure makes a drink that goes down like kool aid- not thick at all.  Keep trying!

In the beginning it was much higher.  I was buying a huge variety of items until I could figure out what was working for me.  I ended up pretty much buying what most do here:

multivitamin (with iron) Sams Club, under $15 I think

D3 Sams, again under $!5  both of these last a long time

Readty to Drink Pure Protein shakes Sams, 1 case every 2 weeks now but early out probably double that.  This is the most expensive, but overall cheaper then presurgery eating habits by far.

Torani syrup-$8 a bottle.  The dollar store carries a sugar free line of caramel, vanilla, and hazelnut- it is a better deal and they are sugar free.  I use the Torani black cherry in greek yogurt- or I did back when I did this. 

Fage Greek yougurt- Sams about $6

Early out, Isopure about $45 a case.  This phase did not last too long, just in the beginning during the healing phase. 

Jarrow whey protein unflavored (on Amazon).  I would use this to add into foods like yogurt.  Don't use it much anymore.  Once I started using Kroger carbmaster and now lite greek yogurt it was no longer needed

I started with the expensive HMR 70 products for protein shakes, but the Pure Protein was a far better deal and better nutrition profile for the calories.  

For your first few weeks I would recommend a box of protein cream of chicken soup, sugar free jello, and maybe protein hot chocolate to help give you some variety.  Those were not used too long though.

Love to see another make goal- congrats!!!!!!

Overall, I did fairly well with this- but far from perfect.  I started trying to lose pre op a few months before surgery.  The first month I accomplished not gaining, and in all sincerity that was progress for me.  Month 2 started losing some, an was thick into it in month 3.  That third month is when the prescribed 2 week pre op diet hit.  I had 5 Guys one day, and something else was in there but I no longer remember.  It was  a lot of work to lose the 26 pounds pre op, but it went a long way in helping me to transition and eventually make it to goal.  Try to think about just making a good choice one choice at a time instead of the long term I am going to have to eat perfectly forever mentality.  Good luck.

Doing 4 of the 10 on a regular basis-

Good read :)  That struggle between knowing what to do and actually doing it is a bit@h!