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Next week I’ll have my first required nutrition/WLS group meeting and PCP appointment the next day to get my clearance letter sent to my bariatric surgeon. I’m getting more & more excited than I was a bit ago with my nerves flaring up. I’ve already been walking, watching my portions, trying to master the art of not inhaling my food (baby bites is hard for me 😳🤫) to try and get my body in the same place as my mind is. It also helps that I have been really busy lately to make the time go by faster. I love all the info I’ve gained from this site. It has really helped me start to work on some of the things I know I need to get a handle on prior to surgery. And, I’m not gonna lie, looking at that before/after forum is motivating as anything! I wish you all luck, everyone on here has been really wonderful, so thank you! 🍀

Good luck on your WLS journey

Best to you! Thanks for the refreshing update of life. Totally agree - and the next 5 will be great with perhaps some trials and many victories.

I always use the soap the hospital gives. Usually it is Hibiclens soap, I think? You can also buy it at Walgreens. I buy Hibiclens wipes and use them for cleaning wounds with my family sometimes in lieu of hydrogen peroxide. I've noticed that every hospital that has great grades/points due to super low incidents of patients getting infections seem to adhere to protocols like this and others which in the end is what WE, the patients, NEED. I was delighted I was given Hibiclens soap free from the hospital and didn't have to break into my 'got it on sale at Walgreens's suppy'..lol

When you decide a weight that you want to maintain. You eat your maintenance diet plan to slow/stop your weight loss. (adding more calories, carbs and fats in this phase.). Ask your team for your maintenance plan instructions to put your mind at ease Its hard to even think about what you will look like at a lower weight. For fun - check out this virtual weight loss simulator. It will give you an idea of what you look like at different weighs https://modelmydiet.com/ Goal weight is a personal thing for each of us. Choose a weight you feel healthy at. at your height 4’11 healthy BMI weight zone is 92lbs to 127. Overweight BMI 129lbs to 146. Some use the BMI chat to help decide a goal weight,

there are A LOT more people with the opposite problem (never make it to goal) than there are people who get too skinny. Plus you do have some control over that - just add calories when you feel like you're getting too low.

4 days post sleeve. As long as I stick to 10ml or less per sip I’m fine. Anything more than that is uncomfortable.

Many of us had the same feelings. I cried all the way through pre-op, wondering if I should get off the stretcher and leave the hospital! This decision is huge and definitely takes courage, but for me, one the best I've ever made. I have a brand new body and I am loving it every single day, with all the things I can do now. OK, so you have to commit to a new, healthy lifestyle! For sure! No shortcuts there. You have to reframe your thinking so that you see the new changes as part of your new, healthy life - not as deprivation.Yes, you have to give up the crap - but you get so much more in return. I started making these changes long before surgery, but have solidified them since surgery. I think a great motivator is starting to get the weight off and once you can start enjoying new things (like smaller clothing sizes, activities that you couldn't do before, etc.) it becomes easier and easier to embrace the healthy changes, because the payoff is so great. For me, those changes are: no wheat (I have been gluten free for years already), but now do not eat refined grains - only whole cooked grains. No sugar and no soda of any kind. No juice. These were biggies, but I feel SOOOOOO much better without sugar. It's not even a temptation anymore. No coffee or alcohol because I don't want to risk any irritation (I already have Barrett's esophagus with a pre-cancerous polyp removed, and as a GI nurse, I've seen the really ugly side of WLS patients who start drinking again.) No processed foods, period. If it comes in a box, it's not for me. Lots more veggies, low carbs, higher protein. Intermittant fasting is a very powerful weight loss and maintenance tool to use later on in the journey, Lots of exercise. For me this started out by getting 10,000 steps a day. (My step tracker never leaves my wrist and is my best little buddy.) Gradually, I've added a lot of other exercise components, and they get more fun and more motivating as I see strength and muscle definition increasing. This is a journey. You start out with baby steps and commit to follow the plan. Do not cheat. Don't let your mind even go there. Some people look for ways to flirt with forbidden foods or ways to game the system. This is a recipe for failure. Your determination to be successful is the greatest predictor of ultimate success in this venture. Develop some mantras to get you through the temptations.: "I AM NEVER GOING BACK!" "IT'S JUST NOT WORTH IT!" "I CAN'T HAVE THAT NOW, BUT I WILL HAVE IT LATER, DOWN THE ROAD." You can do this. Learn from the mistakes of others and be motivated to avoid their pit falls. The fact that your mom lost weight successfully is a good predictor of success for you. You just have to make sure you take your vitamins and keep on top of the nutrition.

I hope that’s a typo 😮

Lucky you, mine are so bad that it can be like drawing blood from a stone