MegInNOLA

When your husband starts calling you "Hottie" in front of all your friends!!

SW---CW---Labor Day GOAL--Pounds to goal 306--233-------231-----------------------2 C'mon, stinking last 2 pounds!!! I'm actually thrilled, because at my current weight I'm no longer "obese," just "overweight." Never thought I'd be so happy to be overweight!!! LOL I'm going to work hard this week to exceed my goal. I think I can do it--I WILL DO IT! Let's go, y'all--just 1 more week!!!

I love Wasa bread, too, especially with cream cheese--you can also make a pretty tasty broiler melted cheese on it--or use it like a pizza crust under the broiler for all sorts of yummy toppings. It's a very versatile cracker.

So I've been anxiously awaiting getting to this point, the first of my goals. This morning, the scale said I was down 73 pounds from the morning of surgery, and that puts me out of "obese" on the BMI scale and into simply "overweight." !!!! Next goals: 1. To make my Labor Day goal of being down 75 pounds total, so 2 more pounds to go in a week, which I think I can do; 2. To weigh less than my husband (I need to drop probably 12-15 more pounds to achieve that); 3. To reach my dietician's goal for me (211 pounds--I'm 6'2"); 4. To drop into Onederland, where I haven't been since grad school at age 27; 5. To finally hit my "flexible" goal of 190. My surgeon didn't set a goal for me, but at 193, I'll be in "normal" range for my height, and 190 seems like a good, perhaps temporary, goal--it's a weight from which I can reassess what I want to do next. These goals are sort of close together, but they've been a long time coming, so I plan to enjoy each and every one of them. I've had a good week so far--going back to school and community choir rehearsals and being down more than 70 pounds has garnered a LOT of positive comments. Feeling good with the sleeve!!

I spoke with my pharmacist to see if these are a good choice for me post surgery (because I'm on Prilosec). He said yes, these are excellent. And I personally look forward to taking them because they're yummy, so they're easy to remember.

I, too, have as my first thought, "Wow, that could be me, except for my sleeve." After that, I try to make eye contact and give a pleasant expression or smile; I remember feeling "invisible" to the world, and it's strange, invisible yet huge. I'm not at goal yet, but I'm 6'2", and people do notice me. Lately, I've seemingly become more visible, if this makes sense at all--anyway, I remember feeling so isolated even (or especially) in a group, so when I see someone who's obviously hurting--and do you know any truly happy morbidly obese people, because I certainly didn't/don't--I try to make a brief connection, just to smile. Don't know why, really, other than I always felt so alone in my fat suit. It served its purpose well--it definitely did keep me "safe," but it also blocked a lot of simple contact, like having someone say "hello." Not a good way to live.

WOW-- 6 months and 10 days and 143 pounds gone??? You are SUPER WOMAN!!! How fantastic--congratulations on achieving your goal so fast!!

Once again, I'm relieved I'm not the only one--and thank goodness for this board, or I would sometimes wonder if I'm cracking up! LOL Disney Momma, great pics--you can really see a difference. I completely DO still think of myself as 300+. Every time I pull something out to put on, I think, "Wait, this is too small"... it's just me and DH here, so it's not like I have any daughters whose clothes those might be, but it still really surprises me when things actually FIT and ZIP and BUTTON. Wow. Other stuff: Yesterday I had to squeeze, not once but twice, into my car when people parked way too close--70 pounds ago, there's no way I could have done it. I was able to sneak my way in--the hardest part was getting my big ol' wedge sandal in at the very end!! There's another one--wedge sandals without feeling like my knees are going to break!!! Yeah, I'm with you on not being able to mentally picture my body at this size yet. It's getting better, though, and it's getting FUN.

Oh yeah. Tofu saved my fanny early on, since I couldn't tolerate protein shakes. I added a bunch to some Chinese hot and sour soup broth, and it was delicious!

Coops, I know this has probably been covered ad nauseum elsewhere, but I can't find it--have you had your thyroid levels checked, I mean thoroughly checked? Just having a TSH won't do it--they should do a test for each type of thyroid hormone and be sure you don't need supplementation. I know from personal experience--when my thyroid was underperforming, my doc told me I wouldn't lose weight even if I had a ZERO calorie intake, because my metabolism was so slow. I didn't feel any different (well, tired occasionally, but nothing drastic), but she told me flat out that my thyroid was the key to being able to lose weight, period. We got it adjusted before surgery through proper medication. As I say, you've probably had this test and answered this concern millions of times, but I so feel for you with the slow weight loss--how absolutely maddening to be doing everything right and still have it going so slowly (albeit in the right direction!).

I haven't ever registered a gain. I do sometimes "hang out" at a particular weight--sometimes for a week or 10 days!--but it eventually goes down. I don't see much fluctuation with TOM any more (I'm almost 49 and it's sort of petering out, thank goodness), but I do see less loss with fewer bowel movements, sorry if TMI. As long as stuff is moving along, I seem to be heading in the right direction, and when stuff isn't moving, the scale doesn't, either. I weigh every day and probably will until I really "get" that that's what I weigh now. I still can't quite wrap my brain around it. "235, 235, 235" was my mantra all day yesterday--for someone who was over 300, that just seems incredible--and I vividly remember topping 200 for the first time (grad school), so I feel SO CLOSE to getting where I want to be. YAY sleeve!!!

I'm allowed all fruits at this point, but grapes with skins make my sleeve cranky. Melon and citrus, good... grapes and apples, owie. Still going to keep trying, though, because they're yummy and healthy.

I was in your same boat. It took forever for me to reach my Water and Protein goals, and honestly, a lot of times, I still don't. But I keep trying. Just do what you can when you can. Keep water to hand and sip. Be sure you're taking the meds your doc prescribed--if you don't have an antacid, might be a good time to talk to your doc about one. Sip like crazy and just keep at it. Seriously. It takes a while for some folks (and I am one) to have the swelling go down and be able to tolerate more than a couple of sips at a time. Hang in there. You're not going to do yourself any permanent damage if you keep trying to hydrate and aren't throwing up--just do what you can, and your body will heal and you'll be able to tolerate more with time. Just focus on hydration and let your swelling go down.

My age according to the site is 48.5, and I'm turning 49 on Sunday. :-) I think if I were to plug in my pre-surgery numbers and behaviors, I'd be horrified by the "real age," so I figure I've gained a BUNCH of time.

Honestly, I thought I was the only one who went like a week without "going" until several messages lately on this board, but now I have solved that problem for me--citrus fruit. Yep. I eat what amounts to a grapefruit's worth of segments a day (not all at once!). That change, which I started last week without intentionally trying to (we were on a cruise ship and it was there and I love grapefruit), has made all the difference. I noticed the change almost immediately and have continued eating grapefruit daily since arriving back home. I had no idea that it would be this way, but that really is the only change that I made in my diet during the week's vacation, so it had to be that. So far, it's still providing a good benefit. I completely understand how uncomfortable "not going" can make you, but I agree 100% with the others above that taking the laxatives isn't really a good idea--you don't want your body to begin to rely on that. Stool softeners and upping your fiber might be a better way to go, and/or if there has ever been food that worked for you in the past, see about trying that. It really can get better--hang in there and keep trying different things. You'll find the right combination.

I wasn't able to eat very much or very many kinds of foods at 7 weeks--it just depends on you and how your body is healing at that point. BUT a safe bet I have found in almost all restaurants is soup. At a Mexican restaurant, I order the tortilla soup without the added tortillas. At an Italian restaurant, they will sometimes have a wonderful vegetable soup. At a Mediterranean place, lentil soup. At a Chinese place, hot and sour. Some of these have more or less protein, but they are almost all easily tolerated early in the healing process, and you can order your own appetizer as an entree, and nobody bats an eye. My standard order is water to drink (although I'm not going to drink it!--keeps the waitstaff from worrying), and then I always say, "I'd like a cup of the ___ soup as my entree, please," smile, and look over to the next person. It's quick and easy, and I don't end up taking 7/8 of my meal home and/or having to converse with the waitstaff about whether or not I enjoyed my meal, etc. etc.

Okay. So I seem to have slowed down a LOT since the last one, but here I am now: SW----CW----Labor Day GOAL---Pounds to goal 306--236---------231------------------------5 It looks like my weight loss is around 2 pounds a week. I can handle that at this point, I suppose.... it would go much faster if I would get off my booty and kick it with some exercise!!

:-) I know! I don't know how skinny people sit for hours at a time--I can barely make 30 minutes and I'm squirming and shifting.

No, I haven't, and in fact, because you posted this, I went and checked--and yeah, it's just calcium carbonate that evidently doesn't fare well with omeprazole (Prilosec). Yay! So I'm going to keep up with the calcium citrate and keep trying to cut back on the Prilosec as I can. It's been a good day so far, but there's probably still some residual keeping things tamped down. I'm still going to do the every-other-night thing for a while and see how that goes. Edited to add that my pharmacist was the one who recommended the calcium citrate when I told him I had had weight loss surgery and was on long-term Prilosec.

Update: I did not take my Prilosec for the first time since starting it. Took my Vitamins (including my Vitamin C) as usual just before going to bed. Was a little concerned, as the Vitamin C is rather acidic. But, I'm happy to report that I slept fine and have experienced no excess acid or hunger today, despite my usual morning iced coffee, 2 servings of vitamin-C-rich fruit (melon and grapefruit--YUM), and homemade salsa with tomato, tomatillo, onion, etc. So I'll take it again tonight and see if the every-other-day thing is going to work long-term. I'm going to be 49 in a few days, and my mom has osteoporosis--I'm so tall that I definitely do NOT want to have back/bone issues as I get older. I can't eat enough volume in food to get enough Calcium through food sources alone, so I do take the calcium citrate in the middle of the morning, but it's negated when I take my Prilosec. I'm hopeful this will work out. Y'all keep the replies coming. Very useful information.

I've had coffee almost from the get-go post surgery. I just have to be careful with acid, so finding a low-acid coffee was the key, plus I have it iced with milk (added protein and buffering!). Yay that you found a good-tasting and protein-rich way to enjoy it.

I'm really hoping that as you go through the process of getting adjusted to your sleeve, the colitis will calm down or--dare we hope?--stop. Sounds like a horrible hassle to deal with!! Hugs and hang in there.

I'm 4 months out now. I still have a few intolerances (scrambled eggs, untoasted bread/tortillas, fried food) but they're not difficult to work around. LOVE fruit and eat a small portion twice a day--prefer juicier fruits like melon or citrus over apples. LOVE nuts and eat a portion daily. LOVE salad and eat a little bit every so often--but I eat small portions of veggies like tomatoes every day. Any type of chicken except that really moist deli roasted chicken is very challenging for me--the moist deli roasted meat is great. Similarly, rare, juicy beef is great--other beef, not so much. cheese, yogurt, milk--all dairy is good. Really, I just try to eat Protein first and avoid things I know for sure aren't good for me (sugar, flour products, fried food)--that's it! It's pretty simple. The biggest deal for me is to be sure to measure by volume--it's not the TYPE of food but the AMOUNT that can cause some pain, if you get my drift. Nothing feels as awful as knowing you took one bite too many of whatever.

Hi y'all: I'm feeling sort of emotional today because when I weighed this morning I realized that I have now lost 100 pounds from my highest recorded weight. Last summer, I was so freaked out about my weight that I decided to try hard to lose it, and I did lose around 35 pounds. However, as in the past, I didn't continue with that diet/exercise program. I gained a little of it back before surgery this past April. So in a little over a year, thanks to my sleeve, I have now lost 100 pounds. I still have a long way to go, and I'm going to be working hard to hit my personal goals (my surgeon didn't set a goal for me). Post surgery, it's -69 pounds in 4 months and a week. This is the only tool I know that works whether I want it to or not--we took a short cruise last week and I lost a pound. But the better news, at least to me, is that when we got back, I was a full size smaller in pants and a full inch smaller around the chest. I don't know; seems like when I'm losing slowly, that's when my body is adjusting and changing sizes. I wasn't doing anything much different from my norm, except maybe a little extra walking. So everyone hang in there. Big changes do happen!! Meg

Thanks, y'all. :-) I'm looking forward to going back to school tomorrow--bet there will be some surprised folks.