Suzannesh

Hi, I loved reading all these. I wanted my back to stop hurting after walking very much, and for the pain in my leg that felt like a hot poker to stop--Guess what all those things happened. I had just retired for the local School District and I wanted retirement to be fun. Boy has it ever. I have a business where I teach First Aid & CPR classes and I had two ladies in my class who thought I was a different person than had taught the class before because I had lost so much weight they didn't recognize me they said--now that really made my day! We also have 4 Street Rods that we take to Car Shows and Cruise them. That requires a lot of walking and for the first time in many years, I can walk without my back hurting and I NO longer have that pain in my leg--I feel great! I wanted all new clothes and to be able to fit into a size 12--well I have done better than that, I fit into size 10 and sometimes depending on who makes them size 8. I still have about 20 pounds to lose. I laugh now because when I find clothes on sale sometimes it seems like all they have are the larger sizes. I found a wonderful man about 4 years ago who fell in love with me when I was fat and he loved and adored me then. He was able to see beyong the outside of my body and see who the "real me" was. Now it is fabulous seeing him look at me. He loves me just the same only I am a new version of who he fell in love with. I am still the same inside and that is who he fell in love with. I truly have it ALL. So for me this part of my life is everything I ever wanted. We are engaged and may get married one day, but we are happy with our life just the way it is now. NEVER give up on yourself and having what you want in life. I am living proof of it. I was single for 15 years after being married for 21 years, so it can happen if you don't give up on yourself. I am almost 64 years and found out what makes me happy. I did this for ME AND NO ONE ELSE. It was time to lose the weight I was ready and I found what worked best for me. I love going to buy new clothes and it feels good to put them on and be able to zip them up! When people call me skinny I am surprised "Oh that is me they are talking about." I never feel or think of myself as skinny. I like to think of myself has healthy and thin now.

Well, my answer to that is that he could see beyond your weight and loved you for who you really are. What a wonderful thing to find a man like you did!

Hey, I see nothing wrong with a quick follow up E-mail to this person. Add me as your friend on FB and I will check out your picture. You can find me on Facebook under Suzanne Shewmaker Hinshaw. I think you are smart by moving on if your current boyfriend is acting funny. Enough is enough. You are giving days away days of your life and sometimes no matter what you do, you can't fix someone. Every day you give away is a day you will never have again. There aren't enough days left in your life to fix someone. You deserve to have someone who cares about you and accepts you for who you are. My suggestion is if you are camera shy, get a tripod and set it up with your camera and learn how to use the timer. Take some pictures of yourself with NO one around. See how they turn out and if you like any of them--you can keep taking them until you get some that you like and make you feel good about where you are now in life. You won't be so camera shy then. It will be just you and the camera, what do you have to lose? Not a darn thing. You have to understand sometimes if they don't answer you back it isn't about you always, so don't take it as if it is something wrong with you. It might be them, they might think you wouldn't be interested in them, so that is why I think it would be a good idea to send another E-mail to them. Hope that helps you some! I always say never give up, there is someone out there waiting to find someone just like you.

Hi, I think that there are some people who are NEVER going to change their eating habits. And we have to realize that we can't save everyone who has had WLS. If they are in these classes they really need to be there, but I am not sure they are going to hear what is being said. You have to really want to be healthy, along with the weight loss. I think we can tell them what we know and have learned, but I have learned that no matter what you say or how you say it--some people just aren't willing to listen to you. Soda is really bad for you, and depletes the calcium from your body. The carbonation isn't anything that we need at all, so for me who use to love it, just said what do I want more? For me after spending that much money, I want to be healthy and to lose the weight too. The sleeve is a tool that allows me to achieve the weight loss and have a health body. This fat just didn't melt off of me, I had to work at it. I am eating good, and exercising too. You are the only one who can make a difference in your life.

Hi, I have found out that sometimes I don't chew enough too. But, I also have found out that if I drink just a small amount of something that is warm before I eat, that seems to help me quite a bit. Try just a couple of sips of something warm before you try to eat--not a lot of liquid. I hope that helps. Take care

Hi Chancie, You are cute. I loved it you haven't figured out how to do the profile, but you managed to lose over 130 pounds. Even if you don't post any pictures on here. I highly suggest that you take pictures of yourself every month. For me I would look at my body and say--OK I have lost weight but where. I am a very visual person, so by seeing the pictures, I could actually see where I had lost the weight. You are doing a wonderful job. You have a fabulous attitude and you are going to be very successful. Welcome to our world of the " Sleeve Weight Loss." They is a great site to get information and share with everyone. I was sleeved in Oct 2008. You will find that the people on this site are so helpful and they are a great support. Take care and Hugs.

Hi Michelle, I just love the way you have shared your information and always been there to help people. You have so much knowledge that we ALL have benefited from. You tell it like it is. No candy coating and so many of us needed to hear it that way. What an inspiration you have been for me. I feel like a whole new woman, and I love my life. Thanks for being there when I needed and you were right! Everyone does turn out ok, but we all need to learn that we have to take care of ourselves first! Put yourself first always and then you can take care of the other things you want to take care of in life. Take care,

Hi, I love it that you have so much concern for her--what a guy. I came home was doing great and then went through that stage of being so tired too. I went in to see my doctor and found out that my potassium was really low and that was one of my reasons for being tired. If it continues then she might what to check with her doctor and have a blood test. It is a simple fix--I now take potassium tabs everyday and I feel wonderful. WasaBubbleButt is very correct in saying she is eating too fast--that is pretty normal for all of us. She is also trying to eat too much. We really do have to learn how to eat again. Small tiny bites and lots of chewing once she eats the mushy stages. She need to make sure she gets her protein in and that can be liquid and it may take her a few hours to get down. I think with all of those things she is going to be just fine. Her stomach has had a lot of trauma and it takes awhile to heal. We don't see the trauma, because it is hidden on the inside and the the outside of the person looks ok, but it is there. Hang in there we all promise you that life as we once knew it gets a whole lot better. I am sure someone has told you the 1st month is the hardest. Don't let it scare you away, this is your chance to have an entire new life--and a fabulous one too!

I think everyone's body reacts differently. I have never felt the feeling of being hungry after I had WLS. They removed those hormones when the took out part of your stomach out. So I have a feeling that it is your head hunger speaking here. You shouldn't be snacking all day and then eating 3 meals. The mind is a powerful thing. You have to have a few talks with yourself--do you really need the food? Or is your head just telling you "hey lets eat something?" So work on having some talks with youself before that habit of eating takes over. I think having good protein is a good answer to this issue too.

Hi, I don't remember that my throat hurt for more than a couple days. It was more the swallowing that was my issuse and that only lasted about a week, so I think you should be just fine. Good luck with you upcoming surgery. Just know that all the things you are feeling are quite normal to be feeling. Excite, scared, unsure, can't wait, what do I expect when I get there. These are all normal and you will be just fine. :biggrin0:

You are doing great with your weight loss. Each day gets you a day closer to have it ALL. This is a life changing event, enjoy the journey that you are on!.

This is something that you can do. I did it and I am sure I am a lot older than you. Coke Zero was my habit and I quite cold turkey just like you. I was lucky I never had the headache at all. Once you have the surgery, it will be a lot easier for you. Remember the 1st month after the surgery really is the most difficult because you are having so many changes going on in your life. Keep coming back to this site to ask questions and for support.

Hi Ladies, I know that how the liquid protein tastes really is important to all of us. But there is something that I want all of you to look at on labels of the protein that you are drinking. You need to consider the number of calories you are taking in the amount of grams of Protein you are actually getting and the big one thing is how many carbs are you getting???? Remember carbs turn into sugar. Keep the number of carbs you take in each day low. I have stayed AWAY from the "Special K" Protein brand products because the number of carbs is really HIGH for the amount of protein you are getting. I am sure it tastes good, but this is the time when you need to be smart and do a lot of label reading. This is your time in life to put good protein in your body with not a lot of calories, and low carbs. I know it takes work to find just the right Protein liquid that works for you and one that taste good. :cool0: Now if you are willing to do a lot more exercise to burn the extra calories and high carbs up then you will be ok. There is nothing worse that a reformed junk food junkie saying "read the labels" because that is me saying read the darn labels. Just because they call it a Protein drink doesn't mean that it is high in the grams of Protein. Put good things in this new fabulous body that you are going to have to live in for the rest of your life. I plan on living until I am at least 100, so I need to take care of my body. I abused it for too many years! Hugs and keep up the great work you are doing ladies! :biggrin0:

Hi Everyone, Well, I made a choice a few days ago and that was to stop wearing my wig I had been wearing because of the amount of hair I had lost because of my weight loss. I already had pretty thin hair to start with and then with the hair loss happening at about 3 months after surgery, I had bald spots of the side of my head and a nice BIG one on the top of my hair. Most people are taller than I am, so they really could see my nice BIG bald spot one on the top of my head. At that time, I found a local shop in the city I live in that had wigs that I could try on and purchased 2 wigs. If you are going to buy a wig, go some place that you can try them on, that is really important. I would have to say it made me very comfortable wearing them and 99% of my friends and family didn't know that I had a wig on because I matched it pretty close to my own hair. Well a few days ago I went to my hair salon and my hairdresser cut my own hair and said you look so cute, try not wearing your wig. So I have been doing that. My own hair is now pretty short and get this my hair came back in CURLY--I have never had curly hair in my entire 63 years of life. So I am now learning how to style my hair and dealing with natural curly hair--go figure that one out. My hairdresser said she wished her hair was curly like mine--not me--I now have to figure out how to style it all the time and what to do with it. So my purpose in this E-mail is that YOUR HAIR WILL GROW BACK LADIES, and who knows it might come back entirely different that what you had before--see just another adventure in life. It also feels a little thicker, but I am not sure if that is because it is curly. So one day soon I will take some pictures of me and my new VERY short and curly hair that I now have. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your self. :001_wub:

Hi Susie, Not a problem about venting. This IS just the place for it. Everyone has weight losses at different stages. All of a sudden you have started to cut back on what you body is getting and your body is say "waiting a minute this lady is trying to stave me and so I am going to hold on to some of this fat just in case." It also has to do with your age and how much exercise you are getting too? It has NOTHING to do with the kind of weight loss that you will have after your surgery. So sit back and enjoy the journey you are about to go on. The sleeve in not something magical that will just make the fat melt off your body. So before you have this surgery, I want you to get your head on straight and understand that the "sleeve surgery" is only A TOOL that will allow you to use to achieve the weight loss that you need to become healthy and get the fat off your body. You have a BIG roll to play in this weight loss and that is to eat your Protein, veggies and some fruit in small amounts. Then you have to exercise to get the fat off your bodytoo--I know you didn't want to hear the word exercise--I use to feel just like you. But, with the combination of good healthy eating and exercise you will do fantastic. I hope that helps you understand that we just take one day at a time. I can say don't stresss out over all this "how much weight loss did you have." What ever it is, is better than gaining more weight. There may be times when you only lose 3 pounds in 3 weeks, but I look at it and say WOW that is great, I ate good, and liked what I ate and I didn't gain a pound. Stay in touch and keep coming back here and letting us know how you are doing.

Congratulations to you. These are the kind of things that just "feel good" when we do them. You will have many more to come. Each day there is some new and wonderful to look forward to.

Hi Everyone, I had some of these same issues with the sleeve but mostly at first when I was not taking small enough bites and not chewing up my food first. More or less eating too fast. I also had a hernia repaired when I was there for surgery and I thought that might be some of my problem. You really need to stop eating and put your spoon or fork down between bites, it really makes a world of difference, at least for me. Have a great day, :001_wub:

I have been asked if you can find Premier Protein on line and the answer is YES. Just look up Premier Protein and there are a lot of sites that sell this product on line. Make sure you check out more than one site because they do differ in price and you want to find the best deal you can. Take Care, Suzanne :lol0:

The "Twisted bar" is made by Premier and they are at costco and they are with all the Protien bars. They come in a box with 3 flavors. They cost about $20.00 per box. Suzanne:001_wub:

For me I love the Premier Protein Drink. I get my at Costco and love them. But, as I have read everyone has something they like or don't like. The Premier has some pretty great Protein bars to that I have with me when I am busy--they are handy and nice to have around. They don't taste like cardboard like some protein bars do and the calories aren't bad. The "Twisted" bars are about 190 calories and 15 grams of protein. And not everyone has a Costco to shop at either. Suzanne

Hi Eyfura, For me the life saver was All Nuatural Fruit Popcycles. They were the only thing that made me feel better at first when I was having the same issues as you seem to be having. I would be sitting up in the middle of the night or during the day having a popcycle. So give that a try. We are all different and this does different things to us. You do need to keep trying to drink small amounts of Water. Sorry this has been so rough for you. I promise you that it will get better. Take care, Suzanne :biggrin0:

Hi Dee Dee, August 4 is going to be the day that will be a life changing event for you. You will never look back. You go girl and know that you have made a choice that will change the rest of your life all for the better. I am so happy that you made this choice. Keep everyone posted. Before you know it, it will be Aug 4th. I wish you nothing but success. Suzanne:thumbup: