Bandme1

How exciting!!! Can't wait for your update.

Hey all! I am getting sleeved on July 18, just 18 little days away! I'm so excited! I am glad I found this thread because a lot of the things I've read on here are from older people or people who are far more overweight so it's hard to compare how fast I will be healing, etc. I am having my surgery on a Monday and am planning on returning to work the following Monday. I think the thing I'm most worried about is the skin afterwards. I keep telling myself that since I'm younger it will bounce back over time but I think I might be kidding myself. lol. Any tips from those who have already been sleeved?

Heyyyyyy! We have the same day! I was waiting for someone else to have the 18th! We will have to keep each other posted!

It's scary, huh!? I'm starting to get nervous. It's like nervousness and excitement all at the same time. I feel like it's gonna be here in no time!!

Thanks!! I sure hope so. EEEK! I'm getting nervous!! lol.

Seriously?? Wow...

I have updated it to show your new date. Bummer on getting moved back

I took a browse through the recipes section and there are a TON of recipes for all the stages. The consensus over there seems to be for the full liquids stage, people are taking Soups (even chunky soups) and tossing them in the blender with some extra liquid (Water or broth). Some people have even taken chili and done the same thing. anything you can get to liquid form.

Well, I finally tried them! Here's my opinion on them. lol. As soon as I opened the bag, I thought I was going to puke. The smell is WRETCHED!! I had read that you have to rinse them a lot so I put them in a colander, turned on the cold water and walked away. That smell was SO awful! So I came back a few minutes later, the smell was gone and the noodles actually have no taste at all. They have the texture of spaghetti noodles that are slightly overcooked. I put some of my homemade spaghetti sauce on them and I just couldn't bring myself to eat more than a few bites. The taste really was fine, like I said they don't have a taste. But it was just that smell from the beginning that I couldn't get over. If you have someone else open the bag and rinse them for you, you should be fine. They actually taste like nothing. It was just a mental thing for me. lol Hope that helps someone =P

That's what I was thinking! We were all just scattered everywhere.

Awesome! Thanks for that info. I will definitely be checking it out soon. I don't much care for celery anyway, so picking around it won't be a problem

Hmmmm..... what is this Costco chicken salad I keep hearing about? I may have to make a Costco trip soon...

Hey, Lisa! I don't think you have anything to worry about. I have a good feeling they will see how much you've lost so far and be happy with the amount and put you through. You can just promise them that you'll be at goal weight by your next appointment. lol. 2 more days!!!! YAY!!

LOL! So if I shake 30 bottles, does that count as half an hour of exercise?

You're only a week out and already on soft foods? Wow!

Hi!! Yeah, it does seem like a lot. It is definitely easier to pre-plan out the meals ahead of time. That way you already know what you are having. There is no guess work, there is no cheating. I have found that when I don't have a set meal planned out, I tend to want to add in extra stuff. Which is no good. lol I did end up making a homemade chili with half lean ground beef and half ground turkey. I halved the amount of Beans in the recipe and added lots of stewed tomatoes. I have had a problem getting all my servings of vegetables in, so I actually boiled a ton of veggies (zucchini, carrots, onion, anything I could find in my fridge) in some beef broth and used my emulsion blender to make a veggie puree. I have added that puree to chili, spaghetti sauce and Soups with no issue I don't even taste them and I get my extra serving of veggies. Also, I don't know if you have a trader Joe's near you but they have a lot of really convenient frozen chicken and easy meals that are low carb. I bought their frozen chili lime chicken burgers and they are pretty good! For me, it's all about variety, so I've just tried to mix and match meals. You want chicken for Breakfast? Go for it! lol. Also, I made some meatballs and I used half lean ground beef, half ground turkey and I used grated parmesan instead of breadcrumbs. I weighed them out into 4 oz. servings and when they baked, they were exactly 3 oz. each. I froze half of them for later. One meatball = one meal's worth of Protein. That has been my favorite recipe so far.

I think I'll go ahead and get that started! That's a good idea.

No food funerals for me I have been on the pre-op diet for a month now and have to stay below my goal weight or else my surgery gets postponed. And I don't want that one bit!! lol. Gotta keep on pluggin' along! We all have to keep each other updated. Looks like Kath-A-Leena is the first to go! lol. Good luck to everyone! I can't wait to hear how everyone's surgeries go!

I'm kinda wishing I hadn't thrown out all my clothes from when I was smaller. I had been holding on to them saying "Well, someday I might lose weight and fit in these again". Last year, I got disgusted with myself and said "Ugh, I'm never going to lose weight, these are just a waste of space!" and donated them all. Well, I guess it will be good to be able to reward myself with new clothes instead of "Yay, I lost 10 pounds. I've earned myself a cupcake!" lol!

Oh wow... she sounds like the wasn't really a friend to begin with. How terrible. I guess people just become insecure and either get jealous or they think that you are going to get all skinny and not want to be friends with them anymore. If she only liked you because you could be her fat friend, that's not someone you want anyway. I have a few friends that I'm kinda of curious to see whether our friendship makes it (my surgery is in 3 weeks). I know they like the ego boost of sitting next to a fatty. It definitely makes them look better. So we'll see how that goes.

My psych eval was bizarre. lol. I was very smiley with the lady and very friendly. She loved me since I was at goal weight. She mentioned several times that she loved that I was at goal. She asked me SO many bizarre questions like "Do you ever hear voices talking to you? Do you ever smell things that others around you can't smell? Have you ever harmed yourself intentionally or intentionally caused harm to those around you?" After a few of those questions I finally said "Wow... do people ever say yes to any of these questions?" She laughed and said "Oh honey... you'd be surprised.". lol!! I just said "Well, these questions are kinda cracking me up. I'm not nuts, I can promise you that. But let's proceed." So my advice would be... just be yourself. At the end of my evaluation, she told me that I am as normal as normal can be (now, I don't know about all THAT... lol! ) so just show that you are ready to make the commitment and that you aren't planning on trying to test your sleeve and push the limits to see how much you can fit in it. Oh, and if you do have those voices in your head... tell them to shut up for about an hour so you can hear the questions

Congrats on taking the plunge and making your big decision. How exciting!! We are all here to help each other.

LoL, that's how I feel! I just want to get this over with so I can stop stressing about it and just start this thing already!