bilka

Thank you SO much for the information! I see you want to get off the pump... May I ask you why? It's just that the pump has helped me so much keeping my sugar low and could never figure going around again with all the stuff I used to carry with me if I wasn't planning to go home for the next meal. The idea of having to go to the bathroom to inject myself before any meal... I don't know, it scares me. But, obviously, everyone is different! The idea of popsicles just inspired me: I am going to make my own without sugar (you can't buy them here anywhere)! Going on ebay straight away to buy what I need! :thumbs_up:

Not sleeved yet and a big wine drinker now, so I guess I can't help at all. I do have a question and hope it isn't too out of topic: how do you manage food, sleeve and worries when your hubby is in Afghanistan? Mine is leaving in Summer and I'll be sleeved at the time and I am worried about my feelings and not compensating them with the usual tactics: food. He won't stay long (Italian army doctors do not stay there for more than 3 max 4 months because they're needed here as well) but still...

As Globetrotter says: STRIPES! And looking good in them!!!:thumb: Great! For someone like me, getting sleeved soon, it really is an inspiration to look at such successful stories and pictures! :thanks::thumbup:

I don't want to offend anyone... But in Florida I have seen the biggest food portions ever. I mean, I am a great eater, obviously. Here I eat more than anyone I know. I sometimes go home from a restaurant being still hungry and eat a couple of snacks. But on my last holiday in the US I had to share breakfast with my hubby in order to finish everything. Or I had one single entree, no appetizers nor desserts, because I couldn't have managed it. I wasn't really shocked, but it made me think. I am noone to judge, seriously. I am obese, and have always been, in a culture where there is no place for big people. No clothing shops for anyone who is over a size 8, for example. But I heard that the US are the country with the most obese people in the world and I guess portions at reastaurants do not help staying thin. Neither does the fact that you can get food 24/7 everywhere, I guess... It is just a thought and this seemed the right topic to share it with you guys... It must be really hard to stay on a diet when you simply surrounded by food.

Not sleeved yet, but in the past I always lost 0.5 size in shoes when I lost a lot of weight...

Great to hear you are doing fine. Really.It's encouraging. Please keep us udated! What did you do with the pump before and after surgery? Did you put it back straight after? Did they monitor you sugar level 24/7? Did you do ok with the no eating during the day of the surgery? What about the liquid diet? Is it giving you troubles? Sorry for the 100 questions...

Here I am back to the cold of my city, looking forward to doing my sleeve in about 3 weeks. At least I had something to look forward to at the end of the holiday. I have to say, I loved my holiday. Thank you for all the suggestions, I followed (almost) every single one. i had a great time. Seriously. Amazing. People were SO friendly and helpful. The places I visited were stunning. I wish I grew up in the US too. I am sure there a lot of bad things there too that I simply couldn't see, but still. Life seemed so much better over there. Technology is unbelievable. The people, the places, the houses. I am even tanned (I am very pale, this time I will be the one who is tanned compared to the others, yeah!). So great we are already planning our next holidays in the US in a year! Great great great :biggrin1:

Last September my fiancè and I bought our tickets to Miami we'll leave Italy ont eh 1st January and will stay in Florida for 2 weeks. We have already booked all the hotels and a car. I was thinking: who can better tell me anything interesting about the place, than people who actually live there have there there or just live in the US?! I am going to be in Miami for about 4-5 days altogether, 2 days in the Everglades, one day on Marathon Isle and the rest on Key West. What things should I definitely do? What reataurants (I won't be sleeved till February... :angel_smile:) ? What shops (I wear now a size 18/20 and need a swimsuit for keywest)? I love accessorizes,shoes, body shops, massages, make up, books, anything girlie, basically! And what should I definitely see, apart from Hemingway's museum and bar, the turtles hospital and swimming with the dolphins? I am SO excited!!! :Dancing_wub: It's my first time in Florida and only the second time in the US! Any suggestion is really welcome!!!

I woke up this morning in on my first day of my thirties feeling so ready for my new age and my soon-to-be new life as a sleever, probably the greatest present I could ever give to myself. I feel really happy and I don't hate myself this year, because I know things are going to change! (I guess that waking up on holiday in Miami, far away from the cold of my hometown is helping improve my mood too!)

One week and I'll be in my thirties too..!

In italy the pump didn't even exist 30 years ago... wonders of technology! Let us know how it goes, i am scheduled on February the 8th

AAAAH!!! Just arrived and already loving it!!!! How's that possible??? Super friendly people and amazing weather great cocktails (not enough alcohol, but still!) and diet Dr. Pepper... I could die here! I LOVE IT!!! I guess I'll just buy basketball jerseys instead of hockey... It'll be alright! What's the basketball team called here again???

Almost ready to leave...We have about 28°F here in Torino, we are freezing and I can't wait to have at least 15°C above 0°! It's gonna be great and I am so excited! I have one more question: what's the ice hockey team of Miami? My little nephew plays this sport and I would love to bring him back some t-shirts and other ice hockey related stuff, but my knowledge of sport is below 0 and I should look it up before I get there so that I now what and where I am looking for!

C'è un burger king anche a qualche chilometro da torino (la mia città) però non voglio guidare per andare a mangiare! E' troppo anche per me! (it's just a conversation over BK locations and it's nice to have someone speaking my language, yeah!)

My date is Febraury 8th, so I do think too that 2011 will be great, especially after all these years of struggle and frustration! Congratulations on your 26 pounds anyway, I am sure you can reach the 400 before March!

Oh, that's great then!

Can't you take anti-inflammatories? spray for the throat? Ibuprofen? Hot milk with a dash of rum and honey? Gargle with water and vinaigre?

:rose: good luck!!!

I am a terrible, terrible person! The surgeon told me not to gain any more kgs before surgery but I am evil and I have made a list of all the things I am going to eat before surgery! No way I am not going to gain weight! It includes a meal at a fast food (it's funny, I live a 1-million-people city and we only have few Mc Donald's, no other types of fast-foods. Milan and Rome have a couple of Burger King as well and that's about it), a big steak with gravy and salad and a regular panna cotta. I guess for fast food and steak I will wait for my holiday in Florida in January, they are not really worth it here... Terrible, terrible person!

I can't wait for Christmas 2011 (a little premature right now, I know!), where I'll be sleeved and my life will be so different! This was my last Christmas as a big girl... I had been sick for a week, I could barely speak and had the great idea to go clubbing on the 25th, which made me sicker and took away my voice completely. The food wasn't a problem (we have a very small family with no cooking skills) but the alcohol on the night of the 25th! We stayed out all night (I am 30 but I really act like a teenage girl sometimes), like at the old times where nobody had a bf/gf, I talked to everyone at the club and people were telling me how funny I was... Well, I'd be seriously worried if I couldn't be fun after 5 gin&tonics (and here we do not measure the quantity of alcohol for a cocktail, the barman just makes your glass full. It's really worth the 5 euros!)!!! But all I could think about was: this is the last time I go dancing this large. No more Christmas parties like this. No more fat&fun girl...

Always great to read success stories like yours, especially for us who haven't been sleeved yet and still have doubts! Congratulations!