LindaS

I like Greek Yogurt that is flavored. Healthy Choice now makes a 100 calorie pre-packaged frozen greek yogurt that is very yummy. I also like the Protein drinks. If you are craving something you can bite into, try protein chips or jerky. You can find a good selection of high protein food on sites like dietdirect.com. Linda

When my dad had this problem, he went to a local bakery. They have large scales there to weigh flour. People have also used the scales at a grain and feed (co-op) place (where they sell food for animals like horses and cows). Generally these type of places are fine with letting someone use their scales.

I'm a year out, and my scars are still visible, but you have to look hard to see them.

We were in the middle of the woods in the upper peninsula of Michigan, so we didn't have any options for not eating right. We stayed in a camper, so we fixed our meals. We didn't even have wifi or decent cell service. It was remote! LOL. We didn't even buy fudge, which is one of the things the UP is famous for. Thanks everyone. My leg and ankle was still swollen yesterday, but it seems to be down a bit today. I am going to stay on an all-liquid Protein diet for a few days with lots of Water and see what happens. Heather, your post gives me hope! Thanks. It really sounds similar to what I was doing, so I hope I have the same results.

I confess that I immediately had to try this, and I can too.

I can kind of understand why the successful sleever suggested you look online rather than just talk to her. I'm with the ones that suggest she was doing it with the best of intentions. My mother-in-law is in the process of getting the sleeve, and I had it done a year ago. I am VERY nervous about this. I am excited for her, but I am also worried that if she ends up having a bad experience or problems that I am to blame. I am very nervous about this. When I first had the sleeve, she openly declared she'd never get WLS. I remember posting in the rants section because she kept bringing over food when I was in the liquid phase. Then a cardiologist suggested WLS to her, and she has seen how it has helped me, and she is looking forward to WLS. She has been struggling to lose weight through diet and exercise, and we all know how hard that can be. Before she decided to have WLS, I didn't talk about my experience much because I could easily monopolize a conversation with everything I was feeling and experiencing. When she was looking into it, I was very cautious about telling her about my choice because I wanted her to make her own choice. I talked to her about the various Centers of Excellence and why I went with the one I did. She decided to go to the same place. I went with her to the initial meeting that tells about the various options, and I've gone with her to most of her appointments. I have tried to be very supportive with her while still trying not to influence her into doing it "my way." Still, she decided to go with the sleeve, and she even ended up being assigned my surgeon. She likes that I've done what she is doing now because I can help her find where she is going and tell her what to expect. My mil hasn't told a lot of people that she is going to get WLS. She is still finishing all of the requirements and something could still halt the process. She had a second endoscopy today, and she has an appointment with a pulminologist (sp?) in the future. Yesterday, she finally told her daughter about it. Her daughter probably has a bmi of 60 or higher. Several years ago, the daughter looked into getting sleeved and even started the process, but her insurance denied her coverage. Since then she lost her insurance and hasn't restarted the process with her new insurance. My sil has been going to a different center of excellence than I did. One of the first things the daughter said was that she wanted to be at the hospital with her mom. Her mom told her no that either her husband or I would be with her. My mil wasn't being mean. My sil has some medical issues that make it hard for her to travel, and she also doesn't have a lot of money. The location my mil is having surgery would place a burden on my sil financially and medically. All of this is a very long winded way of saying that it feels very scary to be an adviser to someone starting on this process. I am glad to help, but I worry that my comments will influence my mil to make a choice that won't be right for her. It is easier to do it in this forum where my comments are one of many and my influence doesn't have such a direct impact on my life. For instance -- if my mil has surgery this fall, it is possible that she will still be on a liquid diet at Thanksgiving. She is the one who normally cooks thanksgiving dinner. Will she still want to do that? And if she doesn't, who will? And how will my extended family feel if my mil decides that a family tradition won't be happening this year? Will I get blamed? Or worse, will I be expected to cook and host Thanksgiving? I've never cooked a turkey!

I haven't lost weight since May, and I am making changes to get over this. I have been tracking my food regularly, but I'm still not losing. It made me really review what I was doing and where I might be going wrong. My biggest area of questionable eating is when I cook at home. How much am I really eating? I suspect that my portions are larger than I realize. To get me back on track, I've recently bought smaller bowls (4 ounce size) and a digital scale. This way, I will know exactly how many calories I am eating because I will know the weight of my food. I am hoping that using the scale will help teach me what portion sizes really are, and I will be a better judge of portions at other iffy times like in restaurants. I am also reviewing my exercising and upping my game there as well. Walking three times a week isn't enough. I need to do the stuff that leaves me red faced and drenched in sweat at least 5 times a week. And I'm joining the gym at work.

I confess: I had my blood work for my 1 year appointment today, and I lied about fasting. I'd had coffee and a protein shake. I'm not sure why I had to fast in the first place and didn't realize it until it was too late. I'm worried I won't have a weight loss to show when I go for my 1 year appointment later this month -- it has been May since I've lost any weight. I think my sleeve has helped me lose all the weight I am going to lose. If I lose more, it will be because I stick to the plan as far as eating and exercising. I will not lose more without exercise. I have a hard time determining my portion sizes when eating food I make at home. I think this might be a place where I can improve my diet, so I've bought smaller dishes (4 ounce sizes) and a digital food scale to help me get more accurate calorie counts for home cooked food. I need to quit drinking alcohol. A frozen margarita sounds SO good on a hot summer day. I can easily pass up a 100 calorie snack, but it is harder to pass on an alcoholic drink. I think knowing the actual calories will make it easier to turn it down. When I learned those frozen premade margaritas have 300 calories, they lost their appeal. It is shocking that one drink can be a third to a half of the calorie count of my normal intake. I feel like my belly is getting bigger although my weight hasn't changed. I'm afraid to measure in case I'm right. I love it when someone asks me what my pant size or weight is, and they get this shocked look when they realize I am now smaller or the same size as they are...

I have almost no issues with eating. I can pretty much eat anything. I haven't had any vomiting or nausea -- not even in the hospital. But I don't eat bread. And I used to love bread. Since surgery, it fills me up very quickly (less than a single piece), and it hurts to be that full. I can eat toast or hardened bread types, but even then, I don't eat a lot of it.

He wasn't my doctor, but I've heard good things about him.

I'm 40, and I weighed 255 at my highest (BMI of 40). I've lost 73 pounds. Almost immediately as I lost weight, I started getting loose skin on my arms. I started lifting weights and within three weeks, I saw improvement. It has now been a year, and I would say that I don't have any loose hanging skin anywhere. However, my belly is very loose/saggy, but I've also given birth to four children. It is getting better, but it will never be perfect. I exercise pretty regularly. My legs also have muscle definition in my calves and thighs. I am hoping some exercises targeting my belly will help as well. I think my belly is also from having kids and not just being overweight.

My driver's license expires next week, and I got a letter that I could renew by mail. No WAY. I want a new picture, and I didn't even think about the weight thing. How cool! I'm really looking forward to it.

I also take Biotin 7500, and I did have hair loss about equal to what Wheetsin is showing. I started losing hair about 3 or 4 months after surgery, and it lasted for a couple of months. I did a few things to help lessen the hair loss -- at least how noticeable the loss was to others. I have thick hair and usually thin it, and I stopped doing that for a while. I started washing my hair every other day instead of daily. I had my hair cut a bit shorter since the loss was most noticeable at the ends. I also stopped coloring my hair for a while. I was worried that the color might accelerate the hair loss. I waited 10 months after my surgery before I colored again. I spoke a lot to my hairdresser about my options and how bad my hair loss was. I spoke to her almost immediately, and she helped assure me that it was OK. She had some products I could use as well if my hair loss got worse, but I never had to use them.

My surgery went very well. I quit taking pain meds the first day, and I was up and walking around the evening of my surgery. I haven't had any nausea or vomiting since I've had my surgery, which is exactly one year today. It was difficult to get the 64 ounces of fluid in at first. I think it took me several weeks to be able to do it.

I was perusing the health and fitness boards at Pinterest.com tonight, and I found a link to this Weight Loss Simulator. It lets you plug in your current weight and your goal weight. It works best if you use the advanced settings to customize things like height, and you can even make the virtual girl look more like you. You have to change the height to really get a simulation close to your real body size. What I found fascinating was playing around with the goal weight, so I could see how much or how little difference 5 pounds would make. For instance, I didn't see very much difference between my model at 170 to 160, but when I lowered 160 to 155, it was a huge difference. For the women: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eywomen For the men: http://api.modelmydiet.com/eymen

I started out having a BMI higher than 94 percent of the women in the US ages 30 to 44. I currently have a BMI lower than 57 percent of the women in the US ages 30 to 44. I started in Tonga and am currently in Fiji. I'm heading towards Myanmar. Very cool facts. Thanks for sharing!

A slider food is a food that you can eat large quantities of even though your stomach is smaller. It is usually something with lots of carbs -- chips or popcorn. Ice cream can also slide pretty well. You can eat more of it than you should without it hurting, so your stomach doesn't get that full feeling. A non slider food is something that fills you up fast. For me, this is refried Beans. I can't eat more than 1.5 ounces of them at a time, and it takes hours before I want to eat anything else.

It's OK to grieve a bit, but you just need to know that it isn't forever. You won't always have to miss those foods, but there are things that you've struggled to do or couldn't do, and you are going to be able to say goodbye to those struggles forever. Like Sarah said, I encourage you to make a list. In addition to Sarah's list of things you can't wait to do, I suggest you write a list of things you never want to do again. The things that you will be saying goodbye to permanently -- not being able to cross your legs, not being able to walk a flight of stairs without heavy breathing, etc. It will help give you perspective. Just know that what you are feeling isn't wrong. I was on the liquid diet longer than anyone it seemed, and I missed chewing so much! But I'm chewing again, and I don't miss fitting into size 22 jeans.

food travels through your esophagus and into your stomach and intestines through a series of waves. The waves start when you swallow. The theory is that if you swallow more (drink while eating), the food can move to and through your stomach faster. When it gets to the stomach, what happens depends on the type of WLS you have had. Sleeve patients still have a pyloric valve at the bottom of their stomach. This means things aren't released from your stomach until your stomach fills up and signals to move things along. Bypass patients don't have a pyloric valve at the bottom of their stomach. Food isn't stopped and can wash through quicker with liquids. This is what is depicted on the YouTube video that explains why you shouldn't drink after WLS. If you go to this link from the US Health and Human Services department, you can read about how the digestive process works. In the section that says "Movement of Food Through the System," you can read about the three tasks the stomach has including the factors that go into emptying the stomach. It notes that carbs go through faster and Protein stays the longest. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/

I'm also going to stick up for the boyfriend. The comments encouraging better eating and suggesting exercise could be his way of supporting you in your efforts to lose weight. Now, this would only be true if you told him you were on a diet or doing something to lose weight before he made the comments. As for him getting mad, his reaction could have more to do with his self esteem than yours. Maybe he is worried that now that you've lost weight, you aren't interested in him and will possibly leave him. My point is that while your interpretation is real to you, it might be very unreal to him. The only way you will know is if the two of you talk through your feelings and thoughts. You need to tell him how you feel, and you need to listen to how he feels. I have never been a woman who gets upset when someone tells me the truth to the question "Do these pants make my butt look big?" If I ask, I want to know. Honest communication works wonders. I like that my husband calls me on my bull and helps me stay on track. We exercise together, and he asks about my workouts.

1)Given that, what do you think makes this surgery so uniformly successful? Is the "sleeve tool" that powerful? Like, before surgery did you feel like you were clearing brush with a teaspoon and now you have a backhoe? Before my sleeve, I could work months and months doing everything right -- my eating and exercise. I would end up losing 10 pounds, which could all be undone in 1 weekend of bad choices. Since my sleeve, I lost the initial 50 pounds pretty easily. I've fought for everything over that, but I am still losing. Even if I don't make the best choices, I can't make a 10-pound mistake in a week let alone a weekend. But the great thing is that the sleeve makes it easy for me to make good choices. I don't have room in my belly for bad ones. The key is to eat the Protein first. Another thing that I noticed is that I was on liquids for about 2 months and it was still another month or so before I was eating *normal* food. This allowed my taste buds to reset themselves. I've never liked real sugary Snacks, but after the sleeve things that are even mildly sugary seem too sugary to me. I think it the extended change in diet really let me reset my taste buds, so I really stay away from sugary stuff. 2) When I've been on "traditional" diets in the past, I know the moment I fall off the wagon: it's the moment when I no longer see a relationship between effort and reward. Do you feel you are better able to handle the "stalls" when they come? Do you see a faster relationship between eating right/exercising and weight loss? Do you feel more confident in that relationship? More patient? What? The sleeve has definitely helped me overcome falling off the wagon. I have had a pretty long stall. I've lost about 10 pounds since February (6 months), but I'm not discouraged or worried. Part of it is because this is the first time that I've measured myself by more than just my weight. I took pictures and measurements, and I am seeing progress. I have more definition in my arms and legs than I did 3 months ago. I can feel the muscles getting harder in my legs and arms. The scale hasn't changed, but stuff is still happening. I was amazed at how quickly lifting 3 or 5 pound weights led to definition in my arms. I definitely feel more confident in the relationship between effort and results. I know the results are happening, and it isn't always just the numbers on the scale. 3) When you reach goal, what keeps you living right? I'm not at goal yet, but my concerns about my health keep me on the straight and narrow. I can't eat very much, and I know if I don't eat the protein my body needs, I put my health in jeopardy. Vitamin deficiencies can be pretty serious and irreversible. I can't risk that. 4) Here's a really wacky question. WHY does the sleeve increase your desire to eat right and exercise? I don't have hunger any more, and I don't want things with real strong flavors (sugars). This makes it pretty easy to eat right. Before surgery, I loved potatoes and breads. I ate those more than anything else, and I couldn't imagine giving them up. Now, I rarely eat more than a bite or two of potatoes and hardly ever eat breads. I don't like the way they make me feel when I eat them. This makes me less likely to want them. As for exercise, I lost a lot of inches in my arms right away. It was very quickly after my surgery that I realized I had bat wings, and I did not want bat wings. I started lifting weights, and in less than 3 weeks I had muscles. The results were amazing. It made me want to exercise more. I'm not sure it has to do with my sleeve other than I am now small enough that I can exercise easier, and I am seeing the results.

I do drink when eating, and it doesn't flush my food or mess with my fullness level. I think SleeveofSteel drinks while eating too.

I count protein more than I count calories. I eat protein first, and I try to get in 70 grams a day. It doesn't matter what my calorie count is at -- if I am low on my protein, I need to eat some protein.

Taking pictures every 2 to 4 weeks really helps with this. I did front, side and back pictures in my bra and underwear (tried to use same ones as long as possible), so I could get a really good comparison. It has been several months now since I've done that, but I plan to do it this week since my one year anniversary is tomorrow.

I've tried several flavors of the Protein chips, and the texture is weird but crunchy, which is what I was craving. I liked them early on, but I am not getting them any more. I did not like the cheddar flavored stuff. For salty Snacks, I've been relying on Jerky and nuts.