Oregondaisy

I was a slow loser and I called it a chunk loser. I didn't lose for awhile, then I would drop a big chunk like 5 lbs. When that happened, I was guaranteed not to lose again for another month and if I did, I was really surprised. One good thing about being a slow loser is that you don't buy something and only get to wear it once because the next time you try to wear it, it's too big. We have to buy a lot of clothes from surgery date until goal, so it's nice when you find something that you like, to be able to wear it awhile!

SN............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.........Lbs to Goal Avilda..............275.................187..............177..............10 Cwalker..........250.................180..............170..............10 DJackson..................229.................229..............215......14 Ibejjo...............249..................249............229................20 Juliarh.............230..................230..............215...........15 Kimmes............239..................222..............200............22 Kgremmy.........225.................210..............199..............11 LeslieH...........212..................212.............199..............13 LilMissDiva.......235..................235.............220..............15 Mommy2Girls....275.................240..............228..............12 Moni luv..........190.................190..............178..............12 MRSKOUBIK....317..................283.............267..............16 pattimomof3nj..203.4..............167.1..........155...............12.1 Sailorgirl...........240.................220..............200..............20 Secret Surgery34..........205........179.......165.........14 Sleeve 4 me...166..................166.............156..............10 Yolanda240.....236.................203..............170..............33 Sweatinitout....245................170..............160...............10 Coops ...............238................191.............177................14 Daisy 237 138 130 8 I am determined to lose what I gained over the last couple of months from my birthday halloween thanksgiving and christmas. It's down to business now. It's been harder for me to lose than it was in the beginning but I am very determined to get back down to goal rather than change my ticker!

I eat pizza pretty often. I take my kids out for pizza. I can eat one piece easily. I enjoy it and one piece makes me so full that I don't care that I can't eat more. I feel so stuffed that it feels like I ate as much as I used to.

In the beginning, you do have to order Soup. Anything else is just too filling. I always said things like I had a late lunch or my tummy is a little upset. I am watching my girlish figure and I don't eat large portions. I eat small portions more often. I usually wait until I find out if I am going to be eating often with the person. Now that I am almost 2 years post op, I can eat quite a bit more. If it's someone I know I will be seeing more often, I just tell them I dieted for years and just could not lose the amount of weight I wanted to lose so I had the surgery. WLS is a lot more common now, so every guy I have ever told has been very supportive and always tells me who else they know who had WLS., like their friend's wife, or their sister, etc,

There has been talk of this before and it seemed like people thought Vegas would be the answer. There are usually some good deals on airfare to Vegas. I did a Caribbean cruise and the airfare to Florida was more expensive than the cruise.

So how is everyone else who is close to goal or at goal and on maintenance doing?

Another vote for Miralax. It really mixes well with anything, even Water and my doctor says it can be used every day. I don't use it every day, and when I do, I only use half the amount. I do take colace every day too. I also try to remember to mix a little Fiber one Cereal with my yogurt cause I do think natural fiber is the best way to go. Our bodies require fiber and it's hard to get on a high Protein diet.

Most doctors put their patients on a PPI. Those block acid before it even starts. It definitely sounds like acid and you should ask your doctor for a prescription.

Too big of bites and not waiting between bites is usually what causes this. Eat very slowly.

If we could lose weight and keep it off, we would not have had this surgery. this surgery is like a MIRACLE!

I use BSN Lean dessert Protein mix. Half a scoop of banana pudding and half a scoop chocolate fudge pudding. 120 calories and 25 grams of protein 3 grams of carbs if made with Water. I use half water and half hood carb countdown chocolate milk so there are 8 grams of carbs and 150 calories. Very yummy!

If you want the insurance to pay, it sounds like you're going to have to jump through their hoops. Unless you can go to another surgeon and start the process over and the insurance company will accept another therapists opinion, it sounds like you're stuck. I would suppose the option of self pay is out of the question. Those of us who chose to go to Mexico didn't have to have psych evals.

I guess I don't feel bad about using the card because I am 58 yrs. old and at most places, you can order off the senior menu at age 60. I rarely use it though. I'd rather order a regular dinner or lunch and take home the left overs since I am not big on cooking and it gives me another one or two meals. I got my card from my lap band surgeon. All it says is this person can not eat large meals so please consider letting him/her order from the senior menu. It is signed by him. You can print the cards online. I have had a lot of people photo copy my card and laminate it. I don't have the link for printing the card but I have seen links for it so I am sure you could do a search and find the link.

Syntrex nectar has some clear Protein. Go to the food section and look for a thread called something like places to order samples. You can get samples of all the flavors that will get you through the post op liquid phase. Also ungury has a chicken Soup that is a clear protein. You can get samples of that too. I used GNC unflavored Protein powder and put it in anything sugar free I could find. I would say it isn't flavorless, but the taste didn't really bother me if I put it in something strong tasting like crystal lite lemonaide.

I had the same problem with losing it from lap band surgery and it never really had time to recover when I had my revision to sleeve surgery. I used to have super thick hair and couldn't keep any type of clips in it. They wouldn't close because it was so thick. Now they fall out because my hair is so thin. The only good part of it is, mine is coming back curly. I love it. I did get all my Protein in from day one and have been taking Biotin for almost 4 years. I don't think it does anything but it's cheap and I take it because I don't think it hurts a thing. I would say mine fell out from about 3 months until I was at least a year post op, but then I had my gall bladder surgery and I don't think that helped anything either. From what I've read, any type of surgery can cause hair loss due because it's a shock to the system. I have new hair coming in all over the place but it's going to take a long time for it to grow to be the length of the rest of my hair. It now looks frizzy all the time because of all the different lengths all over the place. They have good products for that though!

Thanks for the encouragement! Some days it's hard, some days, like today, it is pretty easy. I have hardly eaten anything today because nothing really sounded good. I do all those things you talked about. I love the 100 calorie packs of cocoa almonds, I do eat other nuts too, etc. What are those True North that you're talking about? I've never heard of it and have no idea what it is. Regarding my friends, the funny part ( or sad really) is one of my best friends is sleeved. She is a nurse, she is diabetic, and she lives on Oreos and other cr@p. It's gotten to where I can't even go over to her house anymore because I can't stand to sit and to watch her eat candy, Cookies, cheetos, etc. I guess it's been hard the last couple of months because my birthday is exactly 2 months before Christmas. I had a lot of people wanting to take me to dinner, and lunch. Then there it was a ton of Halloween candy at work, and all the holiday treats everywhere after that. I have put about 5 lbs back on and have been fighting to lose that 5 for the past 2 months. I think now that the holidays are over, I'll be able to get it off. If not, I am going to have to change my ticker! I have a big tin of fudge, cookies and other goodies that someone gave me (thanks a lot ) that I am taking over to another friend. She is going to give it to her neighbor who has a bottomless pit teenager and he is going to eat it all!

I am sure they want us to see all those ads even though we find them completely annoying.

Oh believe me, I don't keep Cookies candy or chips in the house. I would be crazy to do that. I live alone, so I don't have to cook meals for anyone or keep snack foods around. The problem is that I can't stay home all the time! It's hard to watch other people eat that stuff. I have friends that do not care about their weight and offer me junk food. I do eat out quite a bit, and it's hard to order grilled fish etc, and watch them eat a cheese burger and fries! It's in my head, luckily, not in my stomach. It's the thinking about it that drives me nuts. Especially in the evenings. I do fine all day long, but in the evenings I start wishing I had a cookie. I don't eat Pasta or those nasty white carbs either. It's like Tiffy said though, there are so many foods that slide right through and I do get tired of eating meat and veggies all the time. Again, it's what Tiffy said. Maintenance is a slippery slope. I am lucky that I do like to exercise and I spend a lot of time at the gym. I am really glad that I got into that habit way before I had WLS. It's good for me to work out in front of those mirrors and be happy with what I see. I know that if I gave into that head hunger, I would not fit into any of my clothes and I would go back to hating what I saw in the mirror.

ALJ, how are you doing now? It's been a month since you posted that you were having trouble maintaining. I hope you will post and tell us if you've found a balance yet.

I either order from the appetizer menu , the kid's menu, or senior menu. A lot of places will let you if you tell them you had WLS and can't eat much. Of course there are many times when I am not comfortable doing this. I also split meals with friends frequently too.

I am glad both of you are under doctor's care. We are not doctors here, and this is not the norm for most of us. It will be good to find out what diagnosis the doctors have and we should all be able to learn something here. I know a lot of people do experience nausea in the beginning, but usually with medication and taking tiny sips of fluids, they improve a little bit each day.

That's great. I still stress about food most days. I am almost 20 months post op and planning my meals and being worried if I know I am going to be around sweets is a daily problem for me. I watch what I eat, but I worry about gaining the weight back on most days.

There are a lot of people who do have nausea problems. The problem is compounded when you get dehydrated because being dehydrated does cause nausea. The key is to sip slowly. They have those little cups that you use when you take cough medicine. Use those cups at first. Take one sip then wait at least 10 min before trying anymore. Your doctor should have also given you medication for nausea.

I am very happy the chat function is back. There are a lot of us that like to talk in the evenings. The time change does make it a little more tricky, but please check in and see if anyone is chatting. It's a great way for support and to get questions answered.