Diane

Thanks! Candace hope to see you at the "goal" line soon too!!

Thanks for the pat on the back "Megin". But I must admit that in my excitement on losing a total of 146 lbs. I should've worded my post differently. I actually lost 72 lbs. pre-op with the Medifast food and I lost 74 lbs. post-op in 6 months with the sleeve for a total loss of 146 lbs. I don't want anyone to think I am superwoman or anything. LOLS!! Guess I was just so excited at being at goal I didn't word myself correctly. So sorry for the misinformation. I know that we will be seeing you at goal shortly too! Thanks again.

Thanks Soon2B!! But I guess in my excitement in losing 146 lbs. I didn't word myself correctly in my post. Sorry for any confusion, but I lost 72 lbs. pre-op with the Medifast food, and I lost 74 lbs. post-op in 6 months for a total loss of 146 lbs. I didn't want anyone to think I was superhuman or something !! LOLS. But I appreciate your well wishes. I know I will be seeing you at goal before long also. Thanks again!

Hi Tinafine. I guess I didn't word my post correctly I was so excited with the total loss of 146 lbs. I had lost 72 lbs pre-op with the Medifast food and I have lost 74 lbs. post-op in 6 months with the sleeve for a total loss of 146 lbs. I didn't want anyone to think I was superhuman or someting!! LOLS!! I followed my DR.'s instructions to the T, 2 weeks liquids, 2 weeks pureed foods, and 2 weeks of soft or mushy foods. And then slowly added in new foods that I liked. I do mainly high protein and low carbs all the way. I usually eat my Proteins first, then veggies and then fruit, after that I have no room for many carbs. Up until I reached my goal I exercised 3 times a week for 1 1/2 hours each time. But now I am just trying to maintain so I have decided to cut back to 30 minute workouts 3 times a week. For me I have found that if I don't eat enough my body tends to hold onto the weight and my weightloss slows down. I usually have 1 Protein Drink per day mixed with crystal lite in the Water and a scoop of amplified wheybolic extreme 60 Protein powder purchased at GNC which adds 25 grams of protein. On the days I worked out for an 1 l/2 I sometimes would add a scoop of protein powder to some greek low fat yogurt with a little fruit mixed in such as crushed pineapple in its own juice, for a snack after supper to add more protein to my diet. Oh and I ALWAYS make sure that I drink at the very minimum (4) 16.9 oz of water mixed with some flavor packets each day. to keep me hydrated. And I make sure to take my Vitamins that were suggested by my Dr. daily also. I hope this helps and I am sure I will see in your posts that you have reached goal soon. Have a good day!

Thanks! Coops but I guess I should've worded by post differently - I had lost 72 lbs. pre-op and have lost 74 lbs. post-op in 6 months, for a total of 146 lbs. I didn't want anyone to think I was superhuman or something!! LOLS Sometimes I think loosing the weight at a slower pace makes it easier to keep it off anyway.

Thanks! Longer-life I know we will be seeing you at goal before long also! Keep up the good work!!

Thanks! SleeveGirl! I know we will be seeing you at goal soon too!!

Thanks! Rootman I see you are doing pretty good yourself!

Cool Wishes!! I just may have to SPLURGE !! LOLS and get one of these. Thanks for the Info.

Miters36!! All I can say is I decided when I started this journey in May of 2010 that I DIDNOT want a scale to DEFINE me or HOW my day was going to start out!! For one thing I only weighed in about every 2 weeks and after a few months I only weighed in once a month. Once I had the sleeve I weighed in every 2 weeks. If I felt my clothes were getting bigger I might sneak a weighin in just to see how I was doing. I don't want to be crabby cuz one day I stayed the same or the next day I gained 2 lbs. or start my day out upset because what the scale says from day to day. That is what I mean by I didn't want the scale to define me or what my day would be like. A persons weight can fluctuate 2 lbs or more from day to day depending on fluid retention from day to day. Don't get yourself all worked up on a daily basis that only leads to fustration and possibly to causing you to eat things you shouldn't any way. Now to deal with the constipation, this is what I have found works for me. I would go 6 days without a BM also. I purchased some stool softeners at CVS Pharmacy - First I took 1 a day for a week to see if that helped, If i still felt too constipated I tried a suppository to get me going. Then the next week I would take 2 stool softeners a day for a week. If no results and I felt constipated I again used a suppository to help get me going. Then the next week I tried 3 softeners a day for a week and that is what finally worked for me and has for the past 3 or 4 months. I usually go about every 2 to 3 days and I donot have to strain to go either. And usually I will go about 2 or 3 times that day. But I also take my 3 stool softeners along with my other vitamins EVERY DAY and since that time I have ZERO issues with constipation. These softeners are not hard on your system either. Laxitives can be hard on your body causing you more problems than you already have. Laxitives should not be used on a regular basis. Hope this information helps you as it sounds like you are struggling. Diane!

Wow!! You are doing "AWESOME" yourself lady glad you are doing so great!! Congrats and good luck to you on your journey as well!!

Thanks Sleeveme2011 !! Thanks for the great support!! Diane.

Thanks Amanda!! I see from your stats that your are doing AWESOME as well!! You will be there before long for sure!! Diane.

Thanks Tiffykins I will certainly try your recomendations ! I copied a recipe on here for sweet and salty nuts made with splenda I think I will try that too. Thought maybe I could add in a atkins bar once a day maybe too. You are such a great support on this site. Thanks for your help with everyone! And good luck with your little sprout!

Took the test my real age is 56 and I am 57 - lols - at least I gained a year!!

Good Luck!! See ya on the losers bench!! Let us know how you are coming along when you feel better!!

GNC vitamin shop has a unflavored protein powder that you could put into chix or beef broth, or some kinda soup to up the protein and also help with fluid content. Just make sure that the soup or broth is not boiling hot when you add the powder or it has a tendency to clump up! I used a wisk to sir mine up. Hope things get better for you. It just takes some time to figure out how everything works is all.

DoOver! I take 3 stool softeners a day everyday and I usually have a bm about every 3rd day - not straining for me either - at first I took 1 a day an I increased the dose til I got to 3 and found it worked for me - maybe you could try that and they are relatively cheap. I use a generic stool softener they are more reasonably priced. I hope this helps.

Emmas mom ! I had my sleeve surgery on Feb. 14th,2011. For thinning hair I take Biotin and let me add I think it has helped tremendously. But I do notice when I comb my hair I do lose more strands of hair than I did before my pre-op and my post-op phases. Also this is something that you need to take for awhile before you notice any difference because it has to get into your system so to speak. I have read somewhere on this forum that your bodys hair growth responds to what your system has gone through in say the previous four months. So what you take for hair growth it may take your body four months to respond to. Also I am an older sleever 57 years old and it was brought up by one of the members of the support group that biotin helps all hair growth it cannot just target head hair growth. So if you have a issue with facial hair remember it could help that hair grow more also. I haven't had a problem with facial hair so I am pretty lucky so far I haven't noticed any growing, but I have noticed that my leg hairs are more pronounced since taking biotin. I started taking biotin in my pre-surgery days. Here is a list of what vitamins I take. Biotin Super Strength 7500 mcg 600mg Calcium +D - 1 tab 2xday B-1 500 mg D3 1000 IU - 1 tab 2xday Fish Oil 1200 mg w/360 mg OMEGA-3 - 2 daily sublingual High Potency B-12 2500 mcg Senior Multi-Vitamin - 1 tab 2xday I have an issue with constipation since pre-op dieting so I started taking a 100 mg stool softener tablet to help and if I didn't go after a day or so upped it to 2 and if I still didn't go I upped it to 3 tabs a day. I have found that the 3 tabs a day of the stool softener works the best for my system and I usually go every 3rd day and I don't need to strain myself to go either. - I know - TMI - right? But just thought you would like to be prepared is all. Hope this information helps you and good luck with your surgery!

I wonder if you can get this creatine at any drug store? Anyone know, or do you have to purchase it online?? Thanks in advance for your response?

I have hypothyroidism also - was diagnosed during my 6 mo. supervised visits with the sleeve Dr. Once they put me on medicine I started losing better - but I also was taking the medifast diet foods, and bars to help lose some weight before surgery. My BMI was 48 I think when I started this journey. I am on 100 mcg of Levothyroxine a day to control the Thyroid. I was told once you are on Thyroid medicine you will need to stay on it for the rest of your life. After I had lost about 125 lbs. I had my regular doctor check up and he did some bloodwork to check on my Thyroid and they said I should stay on the same dosage I was on. Interesting cuz this was ordered for me when I weighed about 250 lbs. LOLS!! As you can see from my ticker below that it hasn't stopped me from losing the weight though. Hope you have great success with your weightloss journey. Keep us informed. Good Luck to you!!

So I decided to go thrift store shopping today as I really didn't have too many summer items. Well of course as I usually do I started out in the wrong size section. Then I finally thought well I was a size 14 and those seem to be getting a little big in the waist so maybe I should try a size smaller . So I grabbed a bunch of size 12's & 12P's capris and a pair of black levis size 12 for work. I also grabbed some size large, and some medium tops. To my suprise EVERYTHING FIT!! OMG I have NEVER gone into any store and kinda hurridly picked up some clothes to try & have them ALL fit in my LIFE. Needless to say I was grinning from ear to ear the whole trip back home. But I need to add that originally when I started this journey I was a big mamma's size 32 capri's. WOW!!! I wish I had some pic's to post but my daughter says she will come over soon and post a before and after pic's when she has a day off. I just don't know how to cut, copy, paste that stuff so I can post it here. I wish to thank everyone on this site for their encouragement and insite they have given me since I joined this support group. You all are a great group of people thats for sure!!!

Just my opinion but why not save them until u are on regular food and eat them for a meal - they should be nutritionally balanced and lower calories right? Heck maybe 1 meal will be enuf to last for 2 meals after the sleeve anyway!

Hi was talking to a co-worker yesterday about thinning hair. She said her daughter had severely thinning hair after some medication she needed to take. Her daughter bought a biotin hair shapoo at amazon .com and said it helped. Her hair dresser told her whatever she's doing to keep it up. I am going to research this and see if I can find out how to buy some. The co-worker said she thought it was $20 for a large bottle. I hope this helps you! I would start taking the max dose of biotin and maybe the shampoo. I have been talking 5000 mg of biotin since my surgery on Feb 14, 2011 and I think this has helped. I am still losing some hair mind you but not handfulls so far at least.

Well Hi Katherine. Just so happens that I am 57 years old (or should I say years young) and I had my sleeve on Feb. 14th, 2011. I started my journey the dieting part on 6/28/2010 and with pre-op loss because I took medifast and the post-op loss I have lost a total of 135 lbs. so far. I don't know if that is considered a fast or slow loss but I will tell ya one thing "I LOVE MY SLEEVE" LOLS!! Hope you have continued great weightloss right along with me. Right now I am happy as long as the scale is moving in the down direction. Right now I am 10 lbs. from goal and very excited incase you can't tell. LOLS!!!