Soon2BMiniMommy

Whoo hoo, Jimmy!! Welcome back! I am so glad you found the internal peace and acceptance you need to do this for YOURSELF! So proud and so happy you will be with me on the loser's bench soon!!

I don't remember who told me this, I think it was feedyoureye?? But she said that to remember that just because our surgery just happened, and they took out the portion of the stomach that makes ghrelin, doesn't mean that the hormone isn't still floating in our bodies. It DOES take a while to adjust. I honestly had a REALLY hard time in the beginning, was one of the ones that felt hungry. It took a couple of weeks for it to go away. Add on top of that the mental anguish, or difficulty, of just KNOWING you can't eat, and it's tough. There is a huge physical and mental adjustment in the first month....just hang in there, honey. It WILL get better, I promise. I thought I would be one of the lucky (?) ones that would have NO hunger and would have to force myself to get in nourishment. Not so But now I am happy I can eat whatever/however, and have never had any problems with anything! I still feel hungry, but it's normal now, not like that gnawing hunger like before. And it's much less than before the surgery. Your body will level out and find it's balance. But it will take a while. Once you are able to eat 'real food', a lot of that hunger, both head and physical, go away. You don't feel deprived anymore, either mentally or physically. Remember, you can eat as much as you can handle now, as long as it's in your guidelines. 9 days out, you on pureeds, yet? Or full liquids? Just keep getting in those blended cream Soups, smoothies, blended bean with bacon Soup, whatever you are allowed to have which will enable you feel as if you are getting food in your body. Like I said, it does get better, Sweets!! The first couple weeks/month are the hardest. It was more of an adjustment that I expected, that's for sure. And I thought I had read everything and prepared for everything! There's light at the end of the tunnel!! I promise! Eat what you can to feel satisfied, progress as your doctor says, it will work out and you will be so happy in three months :wub:

Cludgie......I :wub: you........

Refried beans and cheese (mixed and warmed up in micro, can add salsa or sour cream on top, you'll be surprised how good this is!), Eggface's ricotta bake (nummy - that was my fauxsagna!), and pureed soups (campbells bean with bacon, clam chowder, split pea) and my homemade pureed black bean soup. A bit later, canned chicken breast salad mixed with mayo or avocado, or both!

Oh, Spatters.....thank you. So much. I have been stalled for 6 freakin' weeks and am going absolutely crazy. I try so hard to not get down, but man, is it tough But you know what, you're right! I just need to somehow get back my determination and anticipation and hope. I had SUCH excitement and high hopes at the beginning, but I've lost it...need to get it back. So right about not being able to give up and say F*^$ it like I used to at this point. Oh, don't get me wrong, I've tried , but just can't fit much in there!!! I'm hoping the scale will move soon. My problem is that I haven't lost inches, either, which is horrible for six weeks. Your words did help! :wub: Thank you.....

I completely agree with 5-6. That's what I do. We eat SO little, we need to eat more often, in my opinion. As for tracking, come join www.myfitnesspal.com. There are literally dozens of us on there!!! My screen name is shadowdlady there. Friend me! You can also see our food diaries for tons of examples of what we sleevers eat. I can't even imagine eating only three meals a day. I would only get like 500 or 600 calories!! That's crazy talk. I do believe doctors and NUT's are worried about us 'snacking' continually as that is how many weight loss surgery patients regain our weight, by eating constantly cause we can't eat volume anymore, but they do tend to go overboard sometimes in their instructions. You will find your own routine and schedule. I also think it's important to eat more often, or you can feel very hungry, and then eat too fast, or eat too much, and be really uncomfortable afterwards, or make bad food choices because you're so hungry. We did lose most of our ghrelin, and we don't feel AS hungry as before, but it is still there. Our bodies still need nourishment! And since we eat so little, it does go through our tummies faster, so we do get hungrier more quickly than if we had a huge meal three times a day. Well, not all of us, some NEVER feel hungry, but I wasn't blessed with that side effect I still get hungry, just not that gnawing, gotta-have-some-food-NOW feeling I did before.

I am over 4 months out and have absolutely no problems. I wish I did, to a point! I can eat pretty much just like I used to, except not as much. I WISH I had to eat slower and take smaller bites, but I still have to make myself think about it, if that makes sense, like before on a diet. My little sleevie could care less what I throw in there She's extremely tolerant. But, again, everyone is SO different! I just ate steak last night and had to slow myself down so I didn't get full in two minutes! I can eat just as big as bites, just as fast, but I just get full a WHOLE LOT quicker, then just watch everyone else still enjoying their food, lol. It's still a mental thing for me, not physical.

Did you get these, CT? How were they?? What did you think? I think by 'non-fiber carbs' they mean that those are the 'net carbs' left after you subtract the fiber content from the total carbs. There are some high fiber diets that use the term 'net carbs' when trying to figure out how many carbs you are eating and those diets say that you can subtract the total fiber from the total carbs. Just a guess?

Yeah, where are our EMOTICONS!!! Sheesh, for real?? Censorship on a board where we are supposed to be so honest and open??? If someone is unhappy with the 'offensive' ones, then by all means get rid of those ones, but ALL of them?? Admins, bring back our little happies!! They help us so much try to get across our feelings, frustrations, support, etc. Or, at least talk to us and post something about why they're gone....I really, really miss my hugs ....and my crying *sniff*

I think it's totally your body shape. I have noticed that if you are an 'apple' like me, you tend to hang onto your belly fat longer so your pant sizes don't change as fast as someone who is a 'pear' shape (hips). I know my best friends all have their junk the trunk and skinny waists (well, skinny in relation to their hips) and when they lose weight, their the ones whose pants literally fall off, or down! Me, who started with a 58" waist (! yes you read that right!) but absolutely NO hips, I've only went down about 1- 1 1/2 sizes with a 50 lb loss!!!! Damn tummy, anyway. I keep waiting and waiting to be able to really notice a difference in my clothes, but not much yet. I know it will come. My shirts are also only down about a size or two (30/32 to 26/28). It really is discouraging since everyone on here always says "I'm losing inches!" even if they're stalled, but I've been stalled for almost 6 weeks and have NOT LOST ONE INCH off my waist since. Okay, I have to stop, or I'll start crying.... SO, anywhoozle...I totally think it depends on your shape! Anyone else?? Any apple shapes wanna comment? Any 'hipsters', lol!!???

Works in Picasa, too....upload your pics, create a collage. I had to play with it for a long time the other night, but I figured it out! But they're on my homecomputer, so I have to play later

I'm at over four months and have been stalled for FIVE weeks!!! Sheesh. As you can tell, I still haven't found the magic combo to make the scale move again. Don't know if there is one...think everyone is different and my body will lose when it's ready, but man is it frustrating!!!

Thank You, Dorrie.....and wonderful article, Wi3hes!

I don't track fat at all. I do track Protein and carbs. As long as I get my protein in, and under about 50-65 gms of carbs, I'm happy. And so's my body! We NEED fat - our skin needs it, our cells need it, our bodies need it. I try to make sure I only eat 'real' fat, not processed or 'fried' fat. Fat is fat, but I use butter instead of margarine, real mayo versus light or non-fat. I try to avoid fried foods, fries, chips, etc. I eat whatever I want of protein fat (chicken, hamburger, eggs), dairy fat, nut fat, and avocados, olive oil, etc. In my opinion, the benefit of eating natural fat with meat, dairy, nuts, avocados, etc, far outweighs the worry of us eating too much fat. Again, the more processed, the worse it is. And it's very true that when they take out natural fat, they fill it up with other things, sugars, sweeteners, whey/carbs, etc). Of course you can go overboard if you eat nothing but prime rib, Havarti cheese, butter and cheeseburgers all day long, but seriously? With so little volume that we eat, if you stick to natural fats, I think you'll be JUST fine.

Lauter was my surgeon and he used a 32 on me. I seem to be able to eat a lot, lol!! Easily a half sandwich! I was worried at first, but I definitely have restriction. It was tight at the beginning, of course, but as the swelling went down, I was just fine. Can eat two scrambled eggs, too. Funny how different everyone is!! Dr. Lauter told me that he specifically makes sure to avoid complications by keeping the area where the curvature is a little looser so as to avoid the stricture problem that smaller bougies can SOMETIMES create (the hourglass issue). Although he also stated that those problems were more prevalent in the beginning as the procedure was new. Honestly, I would trust the surgeon. He has much more experience than we do. It's easy to scare ourselves, or convince ourselves of what we think is right from all we read. If you're like me, that is!! I did so much reading about this - stats, outcomes, etc. And I had all these preconceptions and expectations and I had it all planned out. But in the end, I trusted his expertise as he's done it more than me And it's been an absolute cakewalk!! So much easier than I ever could have hoped for! I almost wish I had more restriction!! You can PM me if you have more questions, or concerns, or just whatevers. I had a hard time finding Lauter patients here, too, in the beginning.

Oh. My. God. There is NO way anyone would laugh at that. Good grief, Girl. Is that the same person!!?? You were beautiful before, but oh man!!!! You don't even look the same!!! That is amazing....SO amazing! I am so freakin' proud of you!!!

Ugh. I know how you all feel. I have been stalled for a month now, with a 3 lb gain in the middle of it. I am starting to get so frustrated. I had read and read on here about stalls, knew they would happen, and would feel bad for people who were stalled but wondered why they were upset when they had to know it was temporary. It's TOTALLY different when you're in the same boat....I have been EXTREMELY discouraged, to the point I am eating 'bad' and not coming here as often as I should. The biggest problem? I am NOT losing inches, either So I am really, really down. I logically know it's temporary, know I will lose weight again, but it's so hard emotionally. We have been so abused by diet failure after diet failure....our little fragile minds are all twisted up and we think we're done lsoing weight, when we know we aren't. I just gotta say, I hate this. I really do. And I haven't reached out on here yet cause I know everyone will tell me it's temporary, and I need to exercise and drink my Water, and not eat carbs, or shock my body, or stand on my head and chant three times (just kidding! :wub: :wub: I so love everyone!!) but I know all that myself. I just need the scale to move again. I know it will....just so tired of waiting FOR A MONTH!!!! I think it was Lissa (?) who had a six week stall? That's the longest I've seen...I think I may break her records. I may have to go ask on the board what the longest stall was...without inches lost.

I have dyed, and highlighted my hair three times since surgery and it doesn't make it fall out any faster, or worse. I gotta agree with Wheetsin again (sheesh, Wheetsin, you practically write my ideas for me!!) that our hair loss is systemic and hair dye is topical, so doesn't really matter. It's gonna fall out regardless if that's what your body wants to do. And it is hormonal, not tied to anesthesia (for many hormonal reasons - unfortunately, obesity causes a maelstrom of related hormonal issues and when we have the surgery and suddenly lose weight, our body's panic). That's why some have some hair loss and others not. I had HORRIBLE hair loss after the birth of my son three years ago (another hormonal upset and maelstrom on the body) yet some women don't lose weight after having a baby like that (most do), but my hair loss since the surgery hasn't been as bad. But it has not been pretty, either. It is definitely thinning...was worse right at the three month mark, which is very common, and has slowed down a bit, but it is still falling out, just not as bad.

Yes, it will hurt your credit. One of the main factors in calculating credit score is balance of utilized credit to total available credit. So if your LB and Cath cards have a zero balance and like a $500 limit, that means you are utilizing no money on those cards, which really, really helps your score. Just like, in reverse, if they were maxed out, they would really hurt your score. The more revolving credit you have with balances less than 20% increases your score exponentially over time. Closing open accounts with zero balances is one of the top five no-nos you want to do to your credit, in addition to late payments and having high revolving balances. It won't hurt you at all to keep them. Just toss them in a drawer somewhere or shred them if you will never use them and just let them continue to help your credit score!! Longevity is also important...the longer you have them, the better off you are. As for the addiction, I have to agree with Wheetsin....if you are doing it because you CAN, as an accomplishment, because it's something you could never do before, and you're not buying just to buy and hoarding unworn clothes all over your house, I think you're fine!! I have watched many go through this and after a couple of years, once we have a really nice wardrobe built up, and the awesome novelty wears off that yes, we CAN really fit into what we want and look great, it naturally slows down and levels out. And look at naturally thin people, who shop all the time, and are normal. I think we have no real reference of clothes and accessory shopping because we avoided it and didn't enjoy it cause nothing fit and it made us feel worse. So now it feels as if we're going overboard, but we're just engaging in normal behavior. I don't think it's an addiction unless it becomes a real problem and you are shopping just to shop and not even wearing what you buy.... Just my two cents.....I'm not an addiction therapist, but I finance and credit is my specialty!!

Oh honey! I'm so proud of you! You are doing amazing!!

I totally have that. Some days I'm just fine and then others I feel like I can't get enough. Honestly, I think this is normal. I know a lot of 'natrually thin' people that go through these stages, too. And, I mostly think of kids. If you're a mom, you know children's natural body swings are like that. Your 3 year old can go days or weeks without eating hardly anything, then all of a sudden will eat like a football player for a while. The go back to not eating hardly anything. I honestly think it's natural and our bodies' natural rhythyms. I think most of us have a hard time recognizing it because most of us ate all the time, whether we were hungry or not. I don't know about you, but I NEVER felt real hunger before as I was always eating (well, except for all those diets!). Now it's interesting to re-learn my body and actaully try to figure out when I'm hungry, if it's tummy acid, if it's head/mental hunger. It's a whole new world!!! But, yes, some days I'm starving and eat more than my alloted 1200 calories or so, some days I eat less. I have just learned to follow my natural ebbs and flows and eat my BODY tells me to, not my mind (which I still struggle with!)

I'm in!!!! Can't wait!!! I have a personal goal to get to 235 by 3/31, so this is perfect timing!! I didn't make my very first challenge, the Christmas challenge, so I have been licking my wounds and avoided the Valentine's challenge. Now need to step back in the ring again!!!! SW: 302lbs GW: 235 lbs (by Easter) CW: 251 lbs Need to lose 16 lbs Let's do this!!!