MegInNOLA

Agree with above poster--great smile. And what an awesome achievement! Congratulations to you.

Congratulations! I still have 35 pounds until normal, but notice that I know that. LOL Because it's a fantastic achievement that you have attained!!! Way to go!!!

No way. My sister had gastric bypass, and she has done well, but the sleeve has fewer surgical complications. Also, my sister can't eat particular foods, as in ever, whereas my diet is basically whatever my sleeve can tolerate--I will eventually be able to eat a slice of toast, let's say, whereas she won't. I'm not a fan of dumping syndrome. Really glad I had the sleeve.

UPDATE: SN-------------SW-------CW--------GOAL-------Pounds to goal MegInNOLA--306-----229---------210--------------19 I had one of those OMG weigh-ins this morning that put me at 229 (SUPER YAY!), so I decided to go big with the Halloween challenge and aim for losing 19 pounds between now and then. I think the trick is going to be exercise--I honestly haven't been exercising much at all, so getting that piece of the puzzle going is important. So YAY--GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

I've been making this cauliflower cheese soup for years--but my recipe doesn't use any milk/half-n-half. I cook the cauliflower in chicken stock, add some roasted garlic, melt in some reduced-fat Velveeta, and zap it all with an immersion blender. Lots of black pepper and YUM!! So good on a rainy/blustery day (like we're having today with TS Lee). Thanks for the reminder--I need to get cooking!

Well, I think your body might be healing at a different rate than others. I was doing the same thing--I threw up every day at 4 weeks--and I wasn't overeating. Are you on a PPI like Prilosec/omeprazole? Once I started on that, my tummy settled down a lot and I was gradually able to keep food down (at 7 weeks!). So if you're not taking any acid medication, I would suggest starting that right away. If you ARE already on it and have been for a while, try Soups instead of "food," if you get my drift--Soup, even creamy soup, will go down more easily. It may be that you just have a small, picky sleeve--you will be glad of that later, but it's really hard right now, I know. Let us know if you're on the PPI or not--and I hope things get better for you soon!

GOAL!!!!! Made it 1 day early. This morning I weighed 231.2!!! I'm thrilled to be down 75 pounds since surgery on April 18. YAY!!! I'm excited to start the Halloween challenge--looking to get to 215 by Halloween--let's go everyone! We can do it!!! EDITED: I'm actually at 229 this morning--can't believe it!!! That's kind of how it goes, though, slow, slow, slow, then wham!! So I'm happy to start my Halloween challenge at 229 and am aiming for 210 instead of 215--going to be harder, but yay!!

Congratulations to you!! It's exciting to see long-lost "front numbers" on the scale--I'm about to break into 220-land (yes, there is such a place!), which I haven't visited since just after grad school MANY years ago. Keep up the great work!!

Wow, Looou, you are gorgeous! What a lovely gown, too....

I finally got my husband to adjust our thermostat to 78 because I was simply freezing at 75 (we live in south Louisiana, where it's HOT and humid all the time)---even now I have to keep a fleece jacket on the couch because I get chilly at night. I also noticed that I'm wearing sometimes 3 layers to work, whereas before surgery, I would always look for the coolest, least insulating outfit available. I think it's the loss of one's insulating layer and also the fact that your metabolism is running at a different speed. Someone else on the forum mentioned that her feelings of being cold correlated with weight loss; after reading that, I kept a lookout, and sure enough, when I seem colder than usual, that does seem to be the time that I'm losing more quickly. Don't know how or why that is, but I like it. When I feel chilly, I Celebrate and grab a sweater.

I don't know how you did that--there's no way it would happen here--shoot, I just heated up 1/2 cup of chicken Soup and most of it's still sitting here--got too full too fast. I agree with Kelly about not allowing yourself to get too hungry. Whenever I do that, I ALWAYS eat too fast, and then I have pain (or worse). Regular eating times, even if I'm not particularly hungry, are the key to keeping things level.

Right there with ya. My sleeve is also picky at 4.5 months out. Like Foxbins, I have a few tried and true foods that I can go to--for instance, I keep a can of almonds in my car, a protein bar in my favorite flavor in my purse, and soup in the cupboard--if nothing else is "working," I usually chill for a while and then try one of those standards. I also find that when my sleeve is being especially picky, I'm probably dehydrated--if I get some Gatorade and cut it half and half with water and sip that for a while, it helps get things settled down.

I'm in! I'm "assuming" that I'll make my Labor Day goal (only have 0.5 pound to go--whoop!) and am going to set this up to start from there. SN-----------------SW--------CW--------GOAL-------Pounds to goal MegInNOLA-----306--------231--------215--------------16 An additional incentive is that one of my big goals has been to weigh less than my husband, which I never have in our entire time together. He was sleeved a year ahead of me and now bounces between 220 and 225--so hitting this Halloween challenge goal means that I will definitely be smaller than him. I've been waiting a LONG time for this, and I think these next two months are going to be GREAT! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

I started them pretty early, because I couldn't tolerate protein shakes. As soon as I was on "soft" foods, I started with bits of protein bars. Now, I'm up to being able to eat almost 1/2 of one at a time, yay! They've been a really important part of my diet, and I still eat at least a portion of one every day.

Congratulations! you look fabulous!

WOW! Congratulations!!

Eek! SW-----CW-----GOAL-----Pounds to goal 306---232-------231--------------1 1 flipping pound to go!!!! Three days to do it--I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

You look great! Congratulations on your awesome achievement!

If you want the health benefits of wine, red is the way to go. I would NOT recommend a sweet wine but rather a better-tasting red. :-) Don't drink wine from a box--life is too short; I'm actually really surprised that a wine shop would recommend that for you as a novice wine drinker. Ick. My recommendation would be for a bottle of Australian Shiraz--you can get the Yellow Tail or Rosemount brand fairly inexpensively at a lot of stores--be sure the store you're buying from has good turnover and current stock.... old, dusty wine bottles are what you want to see for vintage wine, but for "daily" wine, having stock that hasn't been sitting in rooms with temperature variation and artificial heating is a good thing. Get a bottle or two of Shiraz or Syrah (Syrah and Shiraz are different names for the same grape, and it produces a yummy, fruity-tasting wine, not sweet, but not sawdust-inducing dry, either). If you prefer buying American, Petite Syrah (NOT the same grape, but with the same flavor/dryness profile) is excellent--I love the McManis family vineyard and any wine they produce, and it is very reasonably priced. There are also VERY delicious wines from Argentina, South Africa, and Chile that are quite inexpensive and pretty readily available. If you have access to a local library or digital library, check out "Wine Spectator" and "Wine Enthusiast," both magazines of which do have lots of news on affordable wines with tasting notes. They also routinely provide lists of excellent wines at a bargain. Don't give up! Wine is delicious paired with food, and the health benefits are a nice bonus. Finding one that you like might take a few tries, but the more you read and research and taste, the more you'll get to know what you like and don't like. You might also check your newspaper to see if there's a local wine tasting club--we have one here in our small town, so you might be able to find a group (or start a group!) of people who are also curious and want to try different wines.

Congratulations! WAY TO GO!!!!

When you HAVE to put your jeans in the dryer because they're too big! I'm with ya on that one!

I think you have to sort of experiment to find what works for you. As you can see from the varied responses, the problem is common, and finding a solution sometimes takes a bit of trial and error. :-) What works for me is citrus fruit.... I try to eat a cup of grapefruit segments every day and some melon or other juicy fruit. I'm obviously not too worried about the carbs in those, so if you're low-carbing, this might not work for you. Since I started this, what was a once-a-week or once-every-9-days occurrence is every-other-day, which is a lot more comfortable. Good luck finding your solution--and you will, it just takes the trial and error thing, I think.

Hi Paul! I may be one of the few people here who have been in your wife's shoes--my husband was sleeved in April of 2010. He had NO problems with anything after surgery and quickly (well, it seemed like lightning to me at the time but was probably 6 months) lost 115 pounds. People were always coming up, exclaiming over him, bragging on him, etc. I was 100% supportive of his decision to have the surgery, but I, too, determined not to be the "fat wife." I spent last spring/summer "on a diet" and lost a total of 30 pounds and was the recipient of a few "Oh, you look good, too, but doesn't he look fabulous!" remarks. It was hard. It was super hard. NOT because I was jealous of him--I was thrilled that the surgery had worked so well for him. I was mad at the situation of me still being fat, and hearing everyone celebrating how great my husband looked while I still felt fat and unattractive was not fun. My husband was pretty interested in my having the surgery, too, not for looks but for long-term health. I resisted like a crazy person--because it seemed--get this--like taking the "easy way out"!! I know it isn't, now, believe me I know, but at the time, that's what I thought. It took a lot of soul-searching and researching and visiting with another friend who had had the sleeve to make me even start thinking about it, and I didn't tell my husband I was considering it for myself until well into the process because I didn't want to get his hopes up if I changed my mind. I found out, of course, that this is just a tool--it's no easy way out. I had a much harder recovery and "back to normal" process than he did, and I still struggle with limited food selection and small meals, etc. while he seems to eat "normal" portions of whatever he feels like having. But we're both healthier and fitter and thinner, and our marriage is stronger than ever. I don't know if your wife is considering the surgery; if she is, support but don't push--the more my husband wanted to talk about it, the more I absolutely dug in that I wasn't going to consider it--I wanted to do things "my way," and surgery felt like "his way." At the time, I didn't realize how convoluted that reasoning was, but eventually I got there. I don't think she's mad at you--I think she just wants to feel better herself, and it's HARD when someone has that and the partner doesn't. Hugs to both of you!! Meg

Wow! Congratulations!!

I was exactly like you--it took me a long time to be able to tolerate more than just a tablespoon or two of food, and honestly, I still don't eat very much at once. I'm 4-1/2 months out, and I pretty much still have around 1/4 c. of food for a meal--I can drink about 2/3 c. of Soup if it's mostly liquid, but with solid foods, it's just a couple of ounces and I'm done. It's okay--seems strange at first, but it's just fine. I'm healthy. I'm losing. In your case, like the others have said, focus on the liquid. I drank Gatorade (I just used the regular but cut it with the same amount of Water so it wasn't so sweet--I don't like artificial sweeteners), tomato juice, occasional apple juice (also cut with water--too sweet without it), and tried to disguise regular water with squirts of citrus juice--and you know, eventually, all of that turned out okay, too. Just give your body time to heal and stay as hydrated as you can. As your swelling goes down, you'll find you can tolerate more in both volume and variety. You may progress more slowly than others, but that's just how it is (me too). Good luck!!