Lissa

So you don't fill up on water/fluids and not be able to eat your food. Water does slide through, but you don't want to have a sleeve full of water when that first bite hits. It can make you very uncomfortable and even cause you to vomit.

You need to friend request a lot of the folks from VST who are on there. I think my friends are mostly VST members and they are SO supportive. It's really nice to post my workout in the morning and know that I'm going to get a high five from someone! I'm definitely not as good as giving them back as I should be, but I haven't seen a single negative post on MFP. I'm Lissa912 on there.

Any comments on this elliptical? I found it for $250 on Craigslist. Pro Form Elliptical 400 LE w/ I Fit technology

I take Rx pantoprazole because of med interactions. Have your doc recommend something. And, yes, I didn't start taking the acid reducer until 3 months out. It made a ton of difference in my hungry feelings.

Yes, you did! Amazing NSV!!

Our tastes change after surgery, so maybe you'll be lucky and they will taste good to your afterwards. I personally like the Premier Protein bars and shakes that are sold at Sams or costco. There are ways to make most of the Protein Shakes taste better: using splenda/equal, adding SF syrups like Torani and DaVinci, mixing the protein with other liquids to mask that taste. You will eventually get used to the protein taste and it won't bother you as badly, but, just like beer and soda, it's an acquired taste.

OTR, I'm not sure where you're from, but my Kentucky granny was always dosing her kids and grandkids with blackstrap molasses when I was little. Your post brought back fond memories!

Elle, First, welcome to VST! You've come to the right place for support! Second, slow your jets on exercise. You'll soon be able to exercise safely, but you don't want to hurt yourself and set yourself back this early in the process. Be prepared for your weight loss to slow or even stop for a little bit when you first start exercising; it stopped for me for a bit. Third, Take a picture of your face and compare it to a pre-op picture. I'm betting you'll see a difference in both your face and neck, from "just" 30 pounds. That's where I noticed my changes first. If you're interested in seeing what your progress might look like, check out my gallery of pics here. I started at 352 and I'm now under 250. I have several face pics in there, plus pictures from at least monthly to show my progress. Congrats on being sleeved! Welcome to the loser's bench.

Nope, not true at all. I've been working out with weights for my arms and I'm just now getting definition and visible muscle. I do NOT have big arms. Look at Miss Diva's arms in her pics. They look fantastic, not all bodybuilder-y.

There is NO bad food/good food. Just better choices than others. Stick to your plan, 70 grams of Protein and 64 oz of Water and you will get to goal. This is not a diet...it's a total lifestyle change. We all have to learn to incorporate all food into our lifestyle...and now is the time to learn to say no to things that don't work for you. I'm crunchy cheetoh free for over a month now, and I'm almost done craving them. I did buy some parmesan cheese pops that are cheese, not chips, to help me get past the cheetohs. So far, it's working. You'll find your way through and around it and you WILL get to goal. I'm within 60 pounds of mine..and I never have believed I'd get here this fast!

I know nothing about a 5 oz rule. I know that the rules for me are: 70 grams of protein, 64 oz of water per day. I also "have" to do 30 minutes of cardio per day because I want to stay of a prescription drug.

I see nothing wrong with deliberately putting someone else's needs before our own for a set period of time. Women do it often, while raising babies or taking care of elderly relatives, and we do it happily (for the most part) because we know these situations won't happen long-term. I just think we need to make sure we take care of ourselves, too. A happy, healthy heart and soul can handle those situations better than one that is full of bitterness and self-loathing. You're doing a great thing by your mother-in-love.

I think the wonton is okay, but it is carb-laden. Probably not a lot of carbs in one wonton, especially compared to rice. For me, though, any bready food fills me up really fast and keeps me from being able to drink my water until more than an hour past the meal. Not good with the amount of water I need to drink daily to stay hydrated.

Emily, I can truly say I have outside verification that I was/am bottom heavy. When I worked in a prison, one of the inmates got in huge trouble for blurting out that I "have a ghetto onion". Of course, his comments didn't stop there, so I pretty much knew he thought my bootay was amazing (and huge). Now I'm not sure what you'd call it, but my tush isn't as plush as it was before!

Post-op, we eat so little that it's easy to just grab and go, but it's a terrible idea, IMO. This surgery is about us taking/regaining control of our lives and learning to treat ourselves better. I find that hard to do, as a lot of us do, I'm sure. I started out with little stuff, like making sure my meals were eaten from pretty plates and with cute utensils. That is helping me learn to make ME time as important as anything outsiders can throw at me. I get a lot of work from outside companies and they will fill my days up to the brim if I allow it. I've done that all this week because I'm going on vacation in early July and I like having the cushion in the bank. However, I set my foot down tonight and just told all of my customers that I won't be available tomorrow after 5 pm. If they have any work it will need to be postponed until Monday, period. Do I feel guilty? Yeah, just a little, but not a lot. I WILL be busy, doing things or myself. So, use the pretty plates. Carve out a few minutes to truly enjoy your food. I think that treating ourselves well in little things leads to our making time for ourselves in bigger things, like working out and sticking the our food/water goals. You have to become your own priority, or else others will happily make themselves the biggest priority in your life.

You need to do what you feel is right for YOU! It's great that your hubby is supportive; it sucks that your parents don't support you. However, I'm betting your folks are more worried about losing you than really intending to be negative about the surgery. If it's truly important to you to have your parents' support, then show them the statistics for death and complications and explain how low they are. I've read that you're in more danger driving every day than having the sleeve, yet we all still get in our cars daily. Once you're post-op and doing well, I'm sure your parents will come around, even if you don't choose to show them the stats.

I find myself craving meat all the time, now. Maybe it is because that's the staple of my diet these days, but I also crave green veggies.. and a few days ago I found myself standing at the sink eating beets cold, straight from the can! LOL at myself for that one . I know better than to eat like that. I try to make sure I treat meals like an event these days, including silverware and my new china saucers that are my plates. I guess we must be ever-vigilant to not transfer our old food addictions and habits to new foods. But, I do crave meat, preferably a nice medium-rare steak!

You look so great!! Enjoy that new body!!!

This is why I adore you, Tina! Besides that million-dollar, million-watt smile, you have a million-dollar, million-watt personality! I love the Tina-isms and I'm in awe of your "only" 70 pounds lost! LOL That's an amazing amount of weight lost at "only" six months out! Your post is also one of the reasons that I love this community. I can remember reading your pre-op posts and trying to give you a bit of encouragment, and look at you NOW! You're the one passing along what you've learned from your Sleevina! I see that pattern every day here and I think it's great! Go Tina! Go Tina!!!

I doubt the doctor would postpone your surgery because your mother had a blood clot. You should definitely tell the surgeon and let him decide if there's a need for the preventative measures. Your mom had a broken leg, which caused her to be much less active than normal and escalated her risk for a blood clot, from what you posted earlier. That does NOT mean you're more at risk, usually. There are tests which can determine if you're more likely to have a blood clot. You also have some control over the likelihood of a clot: stop smoking (if you do), make sure you're as active as possible, this means at least 5,000 steps a day, so take up walking. Drink lots of Water and keep up with your green veggies (they help thin the blood). Good luck! Discuss this with the surgeon, though, since this seems to be something that is really on your mind.

17 pounds is great! If you started at a lower BMI, you'll lose slower initially. The great news is that you'll get to goal faster and you will be neck and neck with the higher BMI folks by 9 months out because you'll lose more steadily. If you're higher BMI, then you need to up your Water intake to at least 64 oz a day. Water is truly the key to losing here because it flushes the junk out of our systems. Make sure you are eating enough, get in that 70 grams of Protein per day and try to stay on the lower end of carbs UNLESS you're working out a lot. Working out, in and of itself, can slow down our weight loss as well because it converts fat to muscle. Just keep doing it... oh, and lose the words "only" and "slow" about your weight loss! They're depressing words. When have you ever been able to lose 17 pounds in six weeks before???

Congrats! It IS close.. .and it's close to my surgiversary!

Normal? Normal? What is normal? I'm not sure I've ever felt normal... especially since surgery. I woke up raring to go and haven't stopped since!

Yay, CMullin! That's the key. Do it today, do it tomorrow and keep doing it until it's a habit!

I still get the starvation message every day even though I've changed my preferences. I wonder if there's a trick I'm missing?