LindaS

I hated when the drain was in, but getting it out wasn't bad at all. It went fast and didn't hurt, but it felt very weird. It was like I could suddenly feel every place it was as it was pulled out -- like a snake in my belly. It was a very strange sensation -- sort of like the roller coaster, but like a roller coaster with a kick. It was over in less than 5 seconds, and I was also shocked about how long it was although I had been told to expect that too.

I am so looking forward to wearing summer shorts, but Michigan weather isn't cooperating.

http://pinterest.com/linda_sherwood/

You look fantastic! Congratulations on all of your hard work. Your arms look good too!

Fantastic! You look great!

Congratulations! Welcome to Onederland!

My scariest moment after surgery was immediately after surgery when I was first taken back to my room. I don't remember a lot of this time since I was still under the influence of the anesthesia, but my husband was pretty freaked out. He said I looked like I was on the verge of being dead (probably normal for someone coming out of surgery), and my blood pressure warning bell kept sounding because my blood pressure was falling into the 30s, 40s and 50s. This was making my husband very nervous, and it was apparently irritating me because I was complaining about the noise. In a couple of hours, I was fine. I never had any problems after surgery. It bothered my husband quite a bit though. I had tried to prepare him for what I'd be like after surgery, but apparently I didn't warn him enough. LOL.

Congrats on making it to Onederland! Love it!

Woohoo! Way to go!

Last year, my goal was chosen without a lot of thought. My surgeon recommended I try for a goal of 135-145 pounds. I'm 5'7. I had weighed 145 my senior year of high school, and 140 was between my surgeon's recommendation, so I put down 140 as my ultimate goal. It also made my ultimate goal match my youngest daughter's weight: 115 pounds. Since then, I have done more research about my ultimate weight goal. I learned that I will be at a normal weight according to BMI charts when I am about 161 pounds. This really surprised me. Why was my goal 21 pounds below "normal"? Although 140 is still within that normal range, I didn't realize the normal range for BMI was so big! I have considered changing my goal weight numerous times, and I know I've talked about it here as well. Today, I decided to do it. I adjusted my ultimate goal by 15 pounds. My new goal is 155. I'm not giving up on losing weight. I am not changing anything that I am doing. I just feel like this ultimate goal is a good place for me to be. It makes me have a normal BMI and gives me wiggle room as well. When I get to 155, I might change my mind and my ultimate goal again. But for now, I think this is a more realistic goal for where I want to be.

Since your kitchen is out of order, there are a lot of shelf stable options. I buy single-serving powder packets that have at least 15 grams of Protein in them from online retailers. I use BariatricChoice.com (same as dietdirect.com). Many of the items come in paper envelopes that you just add Water to. They are shelf stable and easy to mix on the go. I like their Fruit drinks and hot chocolate. There is a strawberry banana smoothie that has real bits of strawberry in it that is delicious especially if you use milk instead of water and add ice and mix in a blender. It is wonderful. I really like the fruit drinks too -- tasty and refreshing and still 15 grams of protein. I also tried their Soups, but I didn't like those as much until I altered how I ate them. Instead of eating them by themselves, I add an envelope to "normal" Soup. It gives me the added protein with more flavor. I tried the broccoli and mushroom flavors. I've also tried some of their protein chips. They are good to get the "crunch" of a chip, but they don't taste great. I liked the barbecue crunch the best. I also like Protein Bars and Protein shakes. I can get Atkins brand at my local stores as well as EAS and Muscle Milk. I go for the ones that offer at least 15 grams of protein if not more. If it is less than 15 grams of protein, I don't bother buying them.

One of the key reasons for me to decide that I didn't really want 140 as a goal is my 16 and 17 year old daughters. They are about 5'5 and 5'4, so they are a bit shorter than I am, but they both are in the 23 to 24 BMI range and weigh more than 140 pounds. I think my girls are healthy weights and look great. One of the things I really want to change is to make sure my girls have a healthy attitude about food and exercise and understand portions, etc. I feel like my having a goal that is below their actual weight wouldn't accomplish that especially since there is nothing wrong with their weight/bmi. My youngest daughter is 5'2, and as I said, she weighs 115 pounds. I think she it tiny at this size. I couldn't imagine her (or you, Catracks) at 105. As I said, I already think she is tiny. She wears size 0, and it can be hard to find clothes that fit her. I want to be at a weight that is healthy and maintainable. @renee, you and I were very close in beginning weights. Congratulations on your loss to date! I am actually 5'7.5". My original goal was to be under 200, and I felt amazing reaching that. I think I'd be very comfortable between 170 and 180, but I keep thinking of my daughters and being a healthy example, so 155 it is.

I was wondering about contact lenses. I thought about asking here on the forum and never did. I just got new contacts at the beginning of the year. Recently, they don't fit right. I've been wearing contacts for years and never had as many problems as I have with my current ones. I was wondering if maybe my eyeballs became smaller because of my weight loss. I've considered going back to my eye doctor to check the fit. I've hesitated though because I bought a year's supply, which I have never done before. What will I do with the other three boxes if my size changed? LOL!

1. Figure out what your bad eating habits are -- where do you eat and what do you eat? I realized that I tended to graze. I would eat popcorn and veggies. I like convenience foods. I just want to grab something I can snack on. Now, post-sleeve, it is hard to find healthy convenience foods. I don't eat raw veggies anymore since I had braces put on my teeth about two months after I was sleeved. It is hard biting into them. This was a HUGE part of my diet before, so I have to be creative replacing it. I now snack on Babybel cheeses and cheese sticks. I've also tried some of the Protein Snacks. 2. Stock up good food choices in places that you go frequently that are not your home. I keep Protein drinks and little packets of protein drinks and Soups at my work. I keep Protein shakes in the fridge in my in-law's garage. I also have Protein Bars stored in my car and my desk at work. The other day, we were out and about, and I needed to eat. We stopped at my in-laws' house for a few minutes, and I grabbed one of my cold shakes out of their fridge. 3. Get your family involved with your exercise. I have three teenage daughters, and they helped me start exercising by playing those dance games with me. When I started doing Zumba, they went with me. My youngest daughter is doing Zumba almost daily, and we motivate each other to get it done. My husband and I are walking more. And when there are options about what we might do, we are choosing the more active options (usually) like playing softball in the yard instead of watching a movie in the house.

I had surgery 8 months ago, and I still don't eat a lot of bread. My family likes to go to Subway, and my co-workers like Jimmy Johns. At Subway, I order the Soup. Sometimes I add a Protein soup powder to it to up the protein content. I haven't tried it, but I heard Jimmy Johns now offers a breadless sub. I've heard it is good from several people. I can't eat the bread from a sub even if toasted. It is too thick for me. If I get a sub, I eat just the stuff inside the bread. If it is a thinner sandwich, I might eat a bite or two of the bread and the inside stuff, but I leave most of the bread. Early out, soups are great choices that are available at most restaurants. Cottage cheese is another option that is usually available.

I don't think obesity should be a protected class. Obesity can interfere with job performance for some jobs. I can only use my own experience at home as a basis of my opinion. I know in my personal life, I am amazed at the the things I do now that I'm 70 pounds lighter that I didn't even try to do at my higher weight. I didn't even realize I was avoiding those behaviors. When at my heaviest, I wouldn't bend down to get something that has rolled under a table, and I wouldn't climb up a flight of stairs in my home. At my higher weight, I would get one of my kids to pick up my item on the floor, and I would yell up the stairs to wake my kids instead of going up there. Now I do it for myself because I can. My examples aren't job-related, but I can see where obesity would prevent me from performing well doing certain required job activities. I wasn't lazy when I was obese. I was active, but my body size prevented me from living my life to the fullest. I can see how obesity can interfere with some job performances. This is what is going to prevent obesity from being a protected class. It is wrong to discriminate and make fun of someone who is obese, but legislation isn't the answer to prevent it.

Before my sleeve, I would work hard to lose over weeks and months to lose 10 pounds, and I would gain it back in one weekend. Right now I am in a stall, and I have been for weeks. I am not losing weight, but my body is changing. Muscles are emerging. Still, the lack of movement on the scale is discouraging. And I realize that in the past, I would get to this point and console myself with food, which led to the weight gain. Now, I can't console myself with food. I'm not losing pounds, but I'm not gaining them back either. My body is changing, and I just need to make sure I let it.

I use 3 or 5 pound weights. I do a variety of exercises that target the different areas. I started seeing results pretty quickly even using the 3 pound weights. Low weight high rep works well for me, and I am starting to love how my arms look. I have NEVER had muscle definition in my arms before, but I do now. I am so thrilled by that!

The other day, I was able to record a .2 pound loss on my scale. It is the first time I've been able to post a loss since February 17. On February 17, I even started writing a blog post congratulating myself on losing 70 pounds, but I haven't posted it yet because I haven't lost the rest of that last pound yet. When I first started writing the post, I thought it would happen within days, and it has been weeks (over a month), and it still hasn't happened. I keep telling myself to stay positive. Stalls happen. I am doing all of the right things. I am getting my Protein in. I'm drinking Water. I'm exercising. I am looking for other ways to notice the loss. I am seeing muscle tone. But the scale still isn't moving down, and I am really getting sick of it. The thing is, I can feel changes in my body. I can see changes in my body. I know more muscle is forming. But that isn't being reflected in my scale either. I have one of those scales that measure body fat. It keeps telling me my percentage is over 40. I don't think that can be right at all. I've lost probably 20 some pounds since getting this scale, and it hasn't really changed my fat percentage. And I KNOW I have more muscle now. I can feel it and see it. I even looked into getting one of those bodpod evaluations, but there are only two places that have one anywhere near me (more than an hour away). Both of those places are universities, so I'm not sure the bodpod is available for the public. I can't find any info on signing up for it. I've read on here about many of you who have stalled for months, and I don't know how you do it and remain sane. I am at the point where I just want to say screw it and console myself in some ice cream. It's like the failure of the scale to move is giving me a reason to make bad choices. If my good choices aren't going to result in anything, why bother? I am trying to stay strong, and I realize that making bad choices is not going to make the loss happen. I keep telling myself that I will lose more weight. I am doing all the right things, and it is will happen. I read articles like the one explaining why loss doesn't happen (posted in the last few days here), and it confirms everything I know. It's just frustrating waiting for that "whoosh" the article refers to. And the biggest thing of all is that this whole experience just makes me even more thankful for my sleeve. If weight loss is this hard with the sleeve, it is no surprise that I wasn't successful at ALL before the sleeve. I am exercising more than I ever have. I am eating less than I ever have. I feel great and still no loss. Is it any wonder I didn't lose pre-sleeve when I thought exercising was a half hour walk once in a while? Now, I'm off to burn some calories. Slow and steady wins the race even if slow sometimes feels like stop.....

I am stalled too, and it is frustrating. It's been since mid February for me. I am seeing changes in my body though, so I hope the scale will start moving again.

I have two digital scales, and they are pretty close to each other. The only difference is one is set to give weight and rounds to .5. The other is more accurate and rounds to .2. Still, the two scales usually are similar readings given the difference I mentioned above. One might say I was 185.4 and the other 185.5 because of how they are set up to work.

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement!

You need to call your surgeon. You should not be in pain. I can think of two possibilities: After surgery, I was told gas pain might be in my shoulder area (front or back). If you are having pain in your upper back area, it could be gas pain. You need to burp or fart to get rid of it. If you aren't eating and drinking like you should, you might also be dehydrated. You may be to the point where you need to be hooked up to an IV. Good luck! It will get better.

I really like Oikos rasberry flavored yogurt. It is yummy. It almost reminds me of a fruit-flavored spread that you can buy for toast. I don't like the plain greek yogurt either. It works OK for a replacement in cooking or for sour cream though.

Where do I get to pick up my "juiciest confession" trophy? :-) Will I be able to top myself this Friday?