former_vbg

You look absolutely incredible! And, your glowing happiness exudes from you in the AFTER picture!! Congratulations!

That sounds great too! Thanks for sharing!

Was reading on msn.com this morning and clicked on an article on various things to do with Tuna. Most of them are just different variations of salads, but I liked the one that talked about making a "tuna burger" almost like making meatloaf in the sense of putting various vegetables mixed into the tuna and then forming a patty which you cook like a hamburger. Looked really yummy, gonna have to try this. http://www.delish.co...recipes#slide-7 Turn a can of tuna into a zesty tuna burger with this quick recipe. If you can't find good whole-wheat hamburger buns, whole-wheat English muffins are a great substitute. The burger mixture might seem a little soft going into the pan, but once the first side is cooked, you'll be able to flip the burgers easily. Serve with steamed broccoli or sweet potato fries. ** I think we might want to do without the sweet potato fries though.

Ok, hoping this is my last challenge!! Current weight- 128 Labor Day Goal weight- 120 That will be my final weight I have been working to achieve since I started this journey almost a year ago. I'm pretty confident I should be able to achieve this within the next month- let's hope anyways. I will be seeing my baby brother (15 yrs younger) August 11th, haven't seen him in about 2 years. He's been in law school very busy, graduated this past May. We live 8 hrs apart, and are meeting up near Des Moines for a National car racing event he attends every year to hang out. Nobody in my family knows I had surgery, and due to the distance I live from all my family, I haven't seen anyone since last Fall. They did notice I had lost weight and thought I looked good then. Boy would they be shocked if they saw me today. I plan to play a little trick on my brother by spotting him before he sees me and doing a "walk by" from behind him to see if he recognizes me- don't think he will. Then, do a turn around a few feet past him and say, "Hi stranger!" Just so I can watch his reaction. He is going to be just amazed!! Can NOT wait!! The only thing that would make it more sweet is if I had someone to video the event. LOL I may try to arrange that if I can find a stranger willing to do it for me since we will be at a big car event... How fun!!!

Why did the holiday weight loss challenge get put in this grouping? It's been in the General Sleeve Discussion forever? That's where everyone always knew to go find it, especially if it wasn't PINNED. Just saying.... doesn't make any sense.

I don't know if what I'm going to suggest will apply for you or not, but I will share and if it helps great, if not, then hopefully others will chime in that can offer other advice. I am so close to goal, I can't hardly stand it. A little more than a week ago, my left leg started swelling up like a watermelon. Long story short, it turned out not to be a blood clot, but rather a complication from a blood clot I had earlier this year. Moral of the story, I gained like 10# of Fluid in a VERY short period of time. Now, common sense tells me- DUH, this isn't a real weight gain, right? I went into this funk and I think subconsciously I was telling myself I was never gonna get to my final goal anyways, so might as well have some food I enjoy. Did I make good choices? Nope!! In fact, I think I added another 3 or 4# to that fluid gain in this same time frame. Being so close to goal and using COMMON SENSE, a reasonable person would think, WHY would I do that to myself??? Is it the fear of success? Ok, sounds like an oxy moron, but I emailed a friend over the weekend about this issue I just went through. She reminded me that when people are exposed to abusive relationships whether it be a parent/ child, spouse, etc.... that often times we get into our heads that we just aren't good enough for those "good things" in life. That it becomes a form of self-sabotage and then we can say, "well, they were right, I couldn't do it anyways".... I've seen others reference some books on this subject. I haven't looked them up as reading is something I don't have time for in my schedule, but I am seeing a therapist to help me on addressing my food issues. Being 9# to goal, I still have major food issues. I want to eat the good stuff, but logically we all know what that does to us. Try to put the 3 donut holes aside and move on. Just look at it as a wash for today and continue on your track to meeting your July weight loss goal! I hope that helped some. I don't know if this date you are working towards involves any people that have been negative in your life before, but you might give this some thought. Forgot to mention, my Dr.'s put me on a diarhetic and I lost ALL that fluid in like 2 or 3 days, which left me with the 3 or 4# that I believe are from the poor food choices I made. Those are now gone plus 1 thank goodness. Food demons will likely be part of my life forever.....

Relax..... stalls are part of the process, ESPECIALLY this early in your journey. I'm surprised you didn't have the traditional "3 week stall". Your body has to catch up with itself. Remember, you just went through MAJOR surgery. There are only a handful of people I have seen post on this board that had a continued weight loss their entire journey and even fewer who had rapid weight loss during their entire journey. Just keep doing what your doing. It sounds like you are just fine with Protein, protein, protein, drinking your Water or other no calorie/ sugar free drinks. Others have made suggestions to take measurements of yourself because while the scale may not be moving, your body is likely still changing!!!!

I have done best with my weight loss when I keep my carb count under 20, the most I ever consume is 30 carbs in a day. When I really want to amp up my weight loss or get out of a stall, I take the carb count down to zero by eating lots of dense Protein (chicken, salmon, beef, tuna, etc). That's just me though. You will have differing opinions on the carb count thing. You will want to experiment what your body responds to and use that as your gauge.

I'm so close to goal. The last 10# have been a little challenging. I've just been so anxious to see the scale start with a "12.." #, I couldn't believe it when I stepped on the scale today and saw this for the first time since I have been in probably 6th or 7th grade!!! Truly amazing!!! The scale was 129.8, but hopefully by morning it will be down a few more ounces to lock that in solid! Just 9# to go!!! I know that maintenance is going to be a challenge, but I'm ready!

If you aren't comfortable with the surgeon you are with now, then change- don't worry about delays. Each surgeon is going to have different tests/ procedures they will want done prior to having surgery, plus depending on their schedule. Some surgeon's are busier than others which could affect scheduling your surgery, so to give you a definite answer is difficult. I would say there will be a minimal delay, but like I said you aren't 100% confident in this person- then make the change now. You want to have all the confidence in the world in that surgeon and his office on that big day!

It's not the doc that decides this, it's the insurance company. If she has 6 months of documented supervised weight loss, it doesn't matter who it was with.

I agree, report them to the state medical boards. They are required by law to turn over any medical records you have requested- but to cover yourself you need to have signature confirmation if by mail or fax, etc... Emails can be done, but request return receipt. I'm sorry to hear what you have gone through. To be honest, you have displayed WAY more patience than I would have. Way more patience!!! I have little time or patience for ignorance and stupidity!

I changed surgeons 2 weeks before I was scheduled for surgery because I found out he and his office were practicing insurance fraud and I OUTED him- you betcha ya! As for transferring medical records, they are required by law to transfer any records you request. Just be sure to make sure all your requests are done in writing. If you send a fax, keep a copy of the confirmation. If you mail it, keep a copy of what you sent along with getting a signature they received it. Each state is different, but the standard is they have 30 days to send your records and so to be a pain they may take the maximum amount of time. Personally, if it were me, I would request (in writing again) copies of ALL my medical records up front. They may charge you a photocopy charge, but it would be so worth it because then you have everything yourself and you can give it to whoever you want. Plus, I probably wouldn't want my old surgeon knowing who I dumped him or her for. Go with your gut, if you don't feel right about the surgeon- switch. Even if you can't pinpoint the reason, it's not worth it going into surgery wondering if you made the right decision.

You realize what you did, just get yourself back on track. Like MinaT said, try not to put yourself in situations where you are going to struggle like this. I realize that may involve changing some family outings but it is temporary and hopefully your family will support this while you are in the early stages of this journey. It is so critical for you to adhere to the protein first regimen right now. You can do this.

Couldn't agree more. It's that basic human need to feel normal, wanted and that we "fit in". Even though I'm just 10# from goal I do struggle a little bit with this believe it or not. I look great with clothes on- don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED beyond belief on that note. It's when the clothes come off that reality hits each and everytime. Going to have to work on accepting what I have done to my body until and/or if there is a time that plastics will be an option.

Another article on msn.com... Probably want to watch the amount of avocado since it is so yummy and will need to be added to your carb count for the day. Gonna have to add avocado's to my grocery list!! I LOVE avocados!!! There are other recipes listed here too using avocados that overall are pretty healthy but will want to look closely at the ingredients listed and modify where appropriate. http://www.delish.com/recipes/cooking-recipes/easy-avocado-recipes#slide-2 Scrambled eggs with Bacon and Avocado When choosing avocados, opt for heavy, undamaged avocados. One that yields slightly to pressure is best for slicing and dicing; if pressure leaves a small indentation, the avocado is best mashed. Avoid very soft avocados, as they will be overripe and unusable.

Call your insurance company Monday morning, find out if they have all the documents needed to process your request. I have to admit I micro-managed that process, and I know my Dr.'s office didn't like it- but I didn't care. It was my life, my surgery and my journey! I've seen wayyyy too many times where the Dr.'s office didn't follow up to be sure that the insurance company received the request, or that they submitted everything required turning into delays or even worse denials because the request had to be re-submitted- effectively starting all over again. Maybe there isn't anything you can do today, but I would make that my first order of business tomorrow IMO.

Pretty much what others have said, but really take a serious look at what you are eating. If you are not choosing dense protein as your first food for eating, you will not stay full as long. Focus on getting your 40 to 60 grams of protein a day, veggies second and I doubt seriously you will be as hungry as you have been. Find things you can/ should eat that aren't adding so much to your daily consumption. Also, what desertmom said that we MUST learn to tell ourselves no to foods we know are not good for us. I'm sure you realize the surgery is only a tool and it is up to us to maximize the tool to the best of our ability. If you need something to keep your hands busy, find things to do, projects in the house, go for a walk, something, anything but idle time for you to sit and think about how hungry you are...

I have to watch the carbs also. Something else to add to this is pepperoni slices. A person could broil them on a cookie sheet first and then add the cheese as the pepperoni slices start to curl a bit, or it might work to cook them together. My gut tells me it might be better to add the cheese as the pepperoni is almost cooked up. I LOVE pepperoni slices! They are my snack of choice. ZERO carbs!!! Good source of Protein when I need a little in between filler too!

Ditto the advice already given to you. The only thing I can add is that continue to remind yourself that while you are in your honeymoon period (5 to 6 mths post-op), you REALLY want to take advantage of this time to loose the most you can. I am very fortunate in many ways being single through this journey because I am the one who chooses what comes in the house, don't have to watch anyone else eat, etc. I can't imagine how difficult it is to be watching family eating the familiar foods you once did. In time you will be able to treat yourself, just PLEASE wait until you are further out.

Just hang in there. You will look back on this time and realize how short it was in the scheme of things. Think about how much time it took from when you started thinking about having the weight loss surgery until the time it took for you to have the surgery. I don't know if you had a lot of insurance hoops or not, but chances are it took a lot longer than a month's time. Soon enough you will be on "normal" foods and yes eating out at this stage is pretty difficult. I would try to avoid that until you are cleared to eat solid foods.

Th Thank you and also to Amanda 3.0. Don't think that pulling thing is due to your age. Quite frankly, the younger girls that wear these should be pulling them up too, but don't. Proof is just watching any of them have to bend over or sit down. They might be cute to wear for an outing as long as I can tuck in my shirt and know it will STAY tucked in...

Isn't that the best feeling ever? Congratulations! A question for you though. As I have been getting new jeans, I'm finding that while the trend is cute (sort of) for the low riding jeans with a zipper like maybe an inch or two long, call me old fashioned, but I like the more traditional jeans- you know like button flies, Levi's, etc... Plus the jean material is so dang thing, a person wouldn't want to do much physical labor in them (I have a horse farm) or they would probably rip at the first bump against something. Does TJ Max sell jeans that are a little more traditional? I've been buying all my jeans at thrift stores so far.

It isn't poison. Diet soda does not cause issues with weight loss.

I'm sorry your dad had to go through this. He may be regretting the surgery, but I bet he feels much better and will feel even better when he is on regular foods. It sounds like he is on the track to a successful recovery. It's not the best way to get there, but he could reach goal within the next 6 months now... I'm sure he will eventually grow to appreciate the value that having this surgery has meant for him.