To Be Thin 2011

You really are doing well, dont fret over it... I have my calories up around the 900 - 1000 range, but again everyone is different... so what if you go walking a few times a week, it wont hurt!!!! LOL! That scale will move, just keep following your doc advise....

Hi! Everyone is so very different, and each of us follow different plans and doctor recommendations. For me... I cannot eat in the morning so I still do a protien shake. It is low carb, low calories and 17 grms protien. I have one every morning. Mid morning I eat an Atkins bar, you need to read lables, but typically they are low carb, good protien. lunch I have 1/4 cup of fat free cottage cheese and 1/4 cup of protien meat (chicken, turkey, imitation seafood) afternoon snack I eat beef jerkey or unsalted roasted peanuts. dinner varies..always a serving of protien, sometimes more, sometimes not. Sometimes I will eat a sugar free popcycle or fudgecycle at nite if I have a snack craving. Sometimes I eat out, Taco Bell pintos & cheese, add meat!!! Wendy's small chilli add cheese, McDonalds chicken ceasar salad and I only eat the meat & cheese,,, a couple bites of lettuce. The larger chain places, Ruby Tuesday, TGI Fridays, Applebees, -- all have specialty salads, I typically order a chefs salad and eat the meat, cheese and egg first.. not very hungry after that! Or a Grilled chicken ceasar salad is great!

bump... Hoping someone has feedback on this topic...

Hi! You have done great so far! Losing that much weight in short time, Congrats!!! I think if you re-read your post you kind of answered your own question,, you are not exercising. The surgery alone will not make the weight just continue to drop off. I have been the oposite I over exercised and saw very little actual weight loss, so I had to bounce up my calories. I had little wieght loss that month, but wow could I tell in how my clothes fit!... I also had a low weight loss in July, I was not faithful to counting my calories & carbs.... went on vacation, etc... You are doing great honestly, ... just in my opinion you should add the exercise, start slow and work up. I know some people "BS: on here, but I am telling you the honest truth.. I was so heavy when I started walking it was on our treadmill, 15 minutes a day... I kept increasing and increasing. I am now doing 3 miles at around the 52 minute mark. My goal is to start actually jogging, but we will see! I work on it 4-6 times a week and I truly do feel better once I get off the treadmill. On nice days (that arent too hot) I go to this walking path at a park not far from my home. Even if you walk in place during your favorite tv show or the nightly news,,, just suggestions... Maybe you are just in a little stall and then boom you will see that scale really move! Keep the faith,,,& good luck

This will be interesting to hear from others.... For me...I have been sooooo hooked on following doc's advise for my diet, exercise -- -protien, calories and carbs that I really dont think I would even consider any usage of diet pills..

Wow,, I guess we all are different! I count calories, carbs & protien.. I keep my calories under 1000, typically I am right around the 900 - 1000 each day.

WOW!!! That is a lot of wieght in a short time, congratulations!!!! Imagine what you are going to look like at Christmas!!! What a great present to give yourself!

nausea - yes... I had bouts of nausea up until my 6 week post op... Just unexplainable when it would hit, sometimes after I ate, sometimes 2 hours after I ate, morning or night.. I could go 4 days without an attack, then have 2 in the same day... it was just so odd. I explained it as the room wasnt rocking like a boat, I was rocking like a boat... I felt so terribly sick I would have to lay on the bathroom floor because I did not know which way I would be sick..and I never did actually vomit or have diarha.... would get the sweats, could not get air... and as the attack would ease up I would get freezing cold... .. My doc gave me anti-nausea pills too, I didnt notice any difference. The only thing I did find relief with was GasX strips... they melt under your tongue, sometimes I would have to use 2, sometimes I needed to do a 3rd one.. No idea why these worked for me but they did... and I would release gas one way or another and the attack would ease up some... I got to where as soon as I felt one come on I quickly took a strip, so by the time it was in full swing I was disolving my 2nd one and getting ahead of it... it worked for me. Give it a try, you are not out much if it dont work for you..

Yes... the head hunger... those darn TV commercials! It seems like you never really noticed how many food/resturant commercials are on TV until you are sleeved and on the Liquid/muchie/soft stages!!! For me, it was hardest at the 1 - 2 week post op mark... gradually started leaving and honestly by the 4 week mark it is gone... I would have to leave the house and go walking just to get my mind off of food sometimes! Good Luck.

WOW, going back to work after just one week, .... hmm.. you know everyone handles things so differently and depending on if your job is physical, you could come home exhausted for a few days. Our bodies are amazing, they tend to bounce back better than we think sometimes... Good Luck, get your rest and your fluids... that is the best advise I can give...

Hi! Is there anyway you can go back and visit with the nutrionist at your surgeons location? Or even call the nut? At 7 weeks out I was doing great,, fat free cottage cheese, string cheese, chicken, seafood, burger (no bun).. I would have a protien shake in morning , a protien bar at mid day snack.. I pretty much would eat 4-5 small meals all day long...just to keep fuel in my body.. If you are only eating a protien shake in the morning (which goes through you), then salmon & mash tatoes for dinner you are not eating enough at 7 weeks out...just my opinion which is why I really hope you can contact your nut, to get more on track with food/meals... Good Luck...& take care

WOW.. Congratulations - Your weight loss is incredible!!!! Congrats! If you google 5-day pouch test - you may want to give it a try. I have never tried it but I have read much about it and the people have posted how it helped bounce them out of a stall or helped get them back on track with proper eating. It takes you back to liquids like when you first had surgery..

I am almost 8 months out,,,,, my doc told me eventually I should be able to do with out mine and I have tested the waters a bit only to find I need to stay on it for a while longer, not worth the heartburn... To the best of my knowledge it has not impacted my wieght loss at all..I am happy with how I am losing.

Oh my, woman, you do have stress!!! Take care of yourself! I am very glad to hear you say you will put your scale away... You need to... it becomes an obsession and creates frustration. ... I have read about so many people being "scaleaholics" that I vowed prior to my surgery to only weigh myself once a week... each Wed.. I do "bend" and weigh myself on the 3rd of each month too, but I refuse to be prisoner to tht scale, especially when you are in a stall... so, good for you... put it away, only weigh in once a week and stay on track,,that scale will move...

I am almost 8 months out... I deal with loud, abnoxious girgles and it is very embarassing to be in a meeting with 7-8 people around a table and your talking business then I have these loud sounds... I have not yet found a trick to hide it, but I have put a connection to eating to fast and waiting to long to eat... Sometimes I just cannot stop and eat like I should, so then when I finally do get to have my lunch it is usaually hurried and when I hurry too much.. the girgles come out later!

Thank you! Sunday will be my 8 month mark and I am hopefull to hit the 100 pd loss!!! 100 more to go! UGH.. You hit the nail right on the head... everyone is different... remember that throughout your journey. It is so very hard to not compare yourself to others, what your tummy can tolerate and cant, how much weight you lose compared to others... everyone is different... You said!!

Just remember b/4 surgery we eat, we eat,,, alot of times our days revolve around food or what to eat. After surgery.... the focus of food is out of the spotlight...you start enjoy going out to eat with friends and actually look forward to talking to them and sharing laughs.. the focus is off of food as much. It is hard to get our minds to change, but it will happen. I am almost 8 months out... now when I am out with friends, in my mind I think I am eating so little and they are going to ask me whats wrong, or why am I am not eating right... and instead... I look at our plates and most of the time I am eating the same as my skinny friends.. I am eating normal resturant portion, which is so small and not what I was use too prior to surgery. It really is a mind thing after awhile. Another example that just happened to me on Sunday, I went to a bridal shower, there was a buffett of food. I proceed through taking what I thought was a small amount of food. When I got back to my table and looked around at how much food the other women took..my plate was quite full comparied to them.. and I could not eat all that I took. My head has not caught up to what "normal" is,, in my head I thought I was taking small protion but in the real non-obese world I was still taking large portions.. I really need my head to catch up to my tummy!!! Please dont worry about dining out - honestly, once you get your body healed up and you get rolling on eating real food, it will be fine. I love eating out now with my friends... fast food: McDonalds grilled chicken salad, I eat the grilled chicken and cheese,, pick at some lettuce and that is it. Wendy's - small chilli - Taco Bell - pintos & cheese add meat... Its all good.. I could go on forever! The nicer resturants all have great speciality salads.. if ever in limbo order a chefs salad.. you get plenty of meat, egg & cheese all great protien, then you pick at the lettuce... Good Luck..

Sure thing.. it actually is a very well known brand: Jack Links - almost any party store/gas station sells this brand accross the U.S. key is to find the little bag with 22 grams of Protein..... most of the time you see 12 grams or 15 grams, but this is actually 22 grams of protien in a 1.5 oz bag (1/4 cup = 2 ounces) so you are getting just under 1/4 cup of jerkey. Jack Links Premium Cuts - Original Beef Jerkey - 22g Protein - 1.5 oz bag 97% fat free 1.5 Total Fat 5g Total Carbs 120 Calories In Michigan we have a store called "Menards" - its a cross between a Tractor Supply Store and a Lowes I can purchase the jerkey at Menards for $1.99 a bag. My local Wal-Greens pharmacye sells it, but it is $3.49 a bag So, I go to Menards once a month and buy about 30 bags of it... I always eat a bag a day, sometimes two.. they are so handy to keep in my purse for a quick protien snack. Hope this helps.

Hello! You are going to get a lot of feed back on this one, and your going to have people say nothing works, no vitiman, no supplement, no shampoo nothing will stop the hair loss.. and then your going to have people say they found something that works for them!!! So, for me.. I bought Biotin - 5000 mcg in a little, small soft gel capsule... found it on the net, then found it at Meijers stores. I did not start taking it until my hair started coming out in handfuls like you say.. and OMG, for the next 4-5 weeks it was pretty bad... But I stayed with my Biotin 5000 mcg - twice a day morning after a protien bar and at night after I ate my evening meal... Then I read on post here that nothing works, nothing.. & blah, blah... I kind of backed off taking it because it promotes hair growth.. total hair growth.. not just on your head! Within a couple of weeks I was back to gobs & gobs of hair coming out... I got back on the Biotin and it has cut down my loss.. I stil have hair loss, but not handfuls each day like I was seeing without the Biotin... I tried without, tried with, tried without and am back being a beliver of Biotin...

Morning NEVER changes.. my tummy doesnt take food in very well in AM so I always start with EAS AdvantEdge Carb Control premixed Protein drink.. 17 grams protein - 110 calories and 6 carbs.. can purchase at any Walmart, WalGreens, Meijers and costco. Mid Morning I have an Atkins protein bar Lunch: 1/4 cup Fat Free Cottage cheese and 1/4 cup of meat, usually imitation seafood or cubed chicken breast afternoon snack: Beef jerkey.. I found small 1.5 oz bag of very lean Jerky, 22 grams protein, 120 calories, 4 carbs The above hardly ever changes, it allows me to hit 70 - 76 grams protein with only approx 600 - 700 calories and under 30 carbs! dinner is always a portion of meat of some kind, always either grilled chicken, seafood, or fish.... Sometimes I will get Taco Bell pinto's & cheese, no red sauce add meat... Yum!!! Wendy's chilli is awesome and so filling!

WOW, Congrats!!! Cant wait to hear how your surgery goes, take pics!!! I will be following in your footsteps a year or so from now... so much skin... I still have 100 more pounds to lose... Good Luck to you!!

Same here,, my doc told me Tylenol only...

Congratulations!!!! You look great!

Wow, you have only been sleeved for a short time..... be careful not to push yourself too hard.. if you are on the liquid stage, drink, drink, drink,,,, you dont want to get dehydrated especially in that horrible heat you are facing... ((HUGS)) I feel bad for you, hang in there....

Your surgeon would be best to advise,,, however,, from what I have read up on the plication vs sleeve, yours is newer method and is reversible and you would have less absorption issues.... both are laporoscopic surgeries and minimally evasive.. so you would have same recovery time as the gastric sleevers... you would have lifting restrictions, you are going to be tired, etc.. There are many threads on here and on the preop site asking about when to return to work, or should I get help for my kids at home after surgery, etc... Again,, your surgeon should be your first source to get the answers you are looking for, but I do not see any other difference in your pre-op diet --- through post op diet. Since your tummy wont be stapled, it may not be as tender/sore, but I would assume you still would have to follow the same recovery guidelines as a true VSG patient. Good Luck!