LindaS

After being on a very bland diet for months, I had no desire to eat things with sugar. Even very plain items tasted way too sweet for me. I do drink coffee. I invested in a Keurig though because I don't drink as much as I did, and some days just one cup is enough.

I will be two years out in just a couple of weeks. I don't come here as often as I once did, but it is because WLS no longer dominates my life. Before I had surgery, it was all I could think and dream about, so I was here more than I was anywhere else. Once I had surgery, I had some weird things happening and this forum helped me realize it was normal (Protein breath, for one). It was also great to see people who had surgery around the same time I did and see what they were going through. Plus, I liked staying up on the people who inspired me to begin with. In the last 6 months or so, I might be here once a month. I want to give back like those that helped me, but I am also trying to get my life back to normal, which means my extra time is limited. So do I spend an hour sitting on my butt reading the boards or do I spend an hour working my butt off exercising? In most cases, I now choose to be more active. This has seriously put a dent in my internet time, y'all. Right now, I just finished my second week of a 6 week boot camp that I love and hate. I have not had any weight-loss as a result of said boot camp yet, but it is doing everything it can to reshape my muscles, and I know this because they complain to me. Did you know that even your wrists and elbows can be sore after a good workout? I have also been battling some flare ups from the arthritis in my ankle, which I think I have finally managed to subdue once more thanks to a well-placed cortisone shot. So, I try to get on here to help the newbies, but I am trying harder to make sure that I am living an active life, which means I don't sit in front of a computer nearly as much as I once did.

I will be two years out next month, and I have never vomited since surgery. Twice I got a saliva-filled mouth from eating too much too fast but that was pretty early on when I was still learning about my sleeve.

I will be two years out next month. I still eat mostly Protein, and if I stick to that I have great restriction. But, I do allow myself to eat other things. For instance, this summer I will eat an ice cream treat when my family does that. At home, I keep Greek Yogurt for my treat, but if we are out and about on a hot day, I won't skip the treat. For me, I think the biggest difference is my tolerance for sweet stuff. Right after surgery, I had absolutely no tolerance for anything even slightly sweet. The mildest flavor seemed very strong to me. I believe this is because of the restrictive diet I had been on (pre-op diet, post-op diet). My surgeon's guidelines kept me on liquid with protein for something like 8 weeks in a row (two pre-op). My diet was so bland that when I finally did start eating regular food, it tasted horrible. Almost two years later, my diet isn't as bland. The ice cream is appealing again. So, I can eat things I wouldn't have right after surgery. However, I still have restriction. I think the best thing about this whole experience is that I now eat more "normal" than I ever had in my life. My portions are sized right. I also know that I don't have to eat everything I'm served. It has become normal for me to leave food on my plate. I say this knowing that there are also "quirks" in my new diet that I never had before. The other day, I was eating out with my family and had limited options. I ordered chicken strips. When I was done eating, my daughter questioned me about why I had left the breading on my plate. She wanted to know if it was something I couldn't eat. I could eat it, but breading/bread/carbs make me feel full and bloated, so I tend to avoid them. I had peeled off the breading to get to the chicken underneath (protein!). I hadn't even realized what I'd done until my daughter commented on it.

Ha Niki! My kids are in braces too, Right now we have four sets of braces going on. I'm a bigger wimp than my kids.

Fiddleman, I opted for braces instead of implants. I'm missing two teeth on the lower jaw (one on each side), but I have all of my wisdom teeth. My orthodontist is slowly moving my wisdom teeth into the gap to fill the space, so I won't need implants. I had my braces put on just a couple of months after my VSG. I opted for clear brackets in the front top, so it isn't obvious that I have them. The cost was about the same as implants. The good news is that when my teeth ache after an orthodontist appointment, I am satisfied with just a Protein drink.

I am almost 2 years out for surgery, and I have been logging at MFP since before surgery. I think I have a 560 day in a row record right now. :-) I'm slsherwood51 there.

No regrets here. I'm almost 2 years out (surgery day Aug. 9, 2011). I feel great and am able to do so much more. The only thing that is a downer is that my teenage girls now borrow my clothes.

You can't listen to your friends. I am the exact height you are, and before surgery at 255 pounds, people were telling me that I wasn't fat, I wasn't obese, and I was "too skinny" to need weight-loss surgery. They were wrong. I am currently in the 170 to 175 range, and I have been as low as 169. I am still in the losing phase, and I am 21 months out from surgery. My weight fluctuates, and I have to WORK to lose, but I am determined to get into the "normal" BMI range, which is 161 pounds. I will say that I was very happy in the 185-range. Personally, I wanted to be as far below 200 as I could be in order to give me as much room as possible to keep from ever going back over 200. I know I weigh more than people realize, which is one reason I get told that I shouldn't lose more weight. At my current weight, I am wearing medium shirts and size 10 jeans. My inches are 36-31-44. Is it any surprise that I carry my weight in my hips/thigh area? When I started this journey, I thought my goal weight might be 140, but I quickly changed my mind. I've since realized that I don't know exactly what my "ultimate" goal will be. I know I am close. I know that even though I don't feel I'm done, I am very happy where I am at. My current goal is to get into a normal BMI with wiggle room, which would be 155 pounds. I am not sure if I will actually stay there since I noticed wrinkles on belly as my weight dipped below 180 pounds. But I won't know unless I try it, so I am still working on losing more. I log my food daily, I weigh several times a week, and I exercise several times a week (most weeks). This can't change if I want to keep from gaining weight.

I have arthritis in my ankle, and I take naproxin (an NSAID). Even before surgery, this medication can cause stomach ulcers if taken too much. I take it with food, and I don't take it daily although my prescription recommends taking as often as twice a day. My surgeon told me I didn't have to worry because of the surgery type. He just told me to be aware of stomach issues and make sure to always eat something with it. I also verified that a Protein drink counted as "eating" something. Basically, what I have to watch for are the same they were before my VSG surgery.

It doesn't hurt, but it was a very weird feeling. They pull it out quickly, so it doesn't last. It was as if as soon as they started pulling on it, I could feel every inch of it all through my belly. It was closest to a rollercoaster stomach-queasy feeling.

I use circuit training.

I love that I weigh less than my husband.

I didn't stress over my hair because I was so happy with everything else. My MIL probably has the thinnest hair of anyone I know. She gets a lot of compliments on her hair when she uses one of those hair pieces. They are pretty easy to find, and it seems everyone is using them. I know that Kelly Ripa removed hers on television a couple of months ago.

I feel like I eat normally when I go out to eat with people. Most would not know I was sleeved. I am 21 months out from my surgery. I eat slow, and I take things home. If my meal comes with something that I don't eat, I order it anyway. For instance, I don't tend to eat potatoes or bread, but I still get the bread and potatoes that come with my meal. I might take a bite or two of potatoes. I just box it up and my kids will usually end up eating it. The first few times you go out, try to look at the menu first. This helps you figure out what to order. I started out just getting the soups and/or chili. I now tend to order chicken and/or hamburgers. I don't eat the buns. I have gone to a restaurant where the food was pretty much all fried (a bar menu). In that case, I will get chicken strips and try to peel off most of the breading. For the most part, people don't pay attention to how you eat. One thing I do though is that I will stop eating after I've had what I gauge as a couple of ounces of food. I wait 2 or 3 minutes before taking another bite. This lets me figure out if I'm full yet. I think this has saved me numerous times from getting too uncomfortable. I do drink before dinner, and I will have sips during. I am usually too full to drink after dinner though. Even if I don't drink it, I still order something. If nothing else, I order water with lemon. If you don't make a big deal out of what you are ordering and eating, most people won't notice.

If I don't track, I don't get in enough protein. I've been tracking at MFP for more than 2 years (since July 2011), and I've only missed one day (it did get recorded a day later). My daily record is over 500 days right now, which makes me want to keep tracking. :-)

I did lose hair from about 3 to 6 months out. I am now almost 2 years out, and my hair is back to normal. I did a number of things to help minimize the hair loss. I took Biotine (7500 mg) daily I talked to my hair stylist who recommended a number of things I washed my hair every other day since I lost the most hair when washing/drying/combing wet hair I didn't color my hair for a year; although coloring is fine to do, I decided not to do it when my hair was at its weakest I worked with my stylist to minimize the thinning -- when my hair was longer, the thinning was easier to spot, so I shortened my hair more than normal to hide the thinning She recommended a special shampoo and conditioner, but I never felt I needed it My hair is naturally thick. My mother-in-law's hair is naturally thin, and she is in the hair loss phase right now. She had surgery in October. She uses hair pieces to help supplement her natural hair. She got this great ponytail with hair attached that she puts in her hair, and it looks great.

Yes, you can have an NSV before surgery. NSV stands for non scale victory, so it is anything you can celebrate that doesn't have to do with the numbers on the scale.

I went pretty often for the first year. Then I had a 1.5 year appointment. The next time I see him, I will be at 2.5 years. From here on out, it will be annually.

I take Celebrate multivitamin one time a day and Iron once a day (most but not all days). I was taking Biotin, but my last two blood tests have shown my Vitamin B levels were much higher than they needed to be, so I stopped taking it at the suggestion of my surgeon. I don't take calcium because I eat a lot of calcium-enriched foods. When I first had surgery, they recommended I take a multivitamin twice a day, calcium at least twice a day and iron twice a day. I never did twice a day. With the sleeve, we don't have problems with malabsorption, so we can get nutrients normally.

Don't panic about the stalls. They break eventually. I've had stalls that lasted several months, but when they break, I lose. I hadn't lost any weight since Dec. 23 until three days ago. In the last 3 days, I've lost 3.5 pounds. I didn't give up, and I just kept doing what I was supposed to be doing (exercising and eating right). Eventually, it works. This losing weight isn't a race, and I've found that my body doesn't always drop weight like the "math" claims it should. But eventually it gets with the program, and the weight comes off. Trust in that. If you do what you are supposed to do, the weight will come off even when it seems like it never will.

I had saved my clothes from my "before" picture, and I tried them on last weekend and took pictures. I showed the results to my father-in-law, and he pointed to the picture on the left (the before) and said, "that was you?" I said, yes. "I don't remember that," he said. My MIL had surgery last October. My granddaughter had been born in September. The other day my FIL was showing someone a picture of my granddaughter that he had on his phone. My MIL was holding the baby shortly after the baby's birth. The person who looked at the photo asked who the woman was holding the baby. The person couldn't believe it was my MIL and how much weight she'd lost.