Lissa

Bionic Broad, Thanks for pointing that out! I think a lot of us forget that stretching is as important as exercise for our new bodies. I've been doing some stretching, but I think I need to add more stretching to my routine. Diochick, I haven't had a lot of hip pain, but you could very well be having pain because of weight redistribution. Maybe look up some chair exercises that you could do at your desk and do them for a few minutes of every hour? Because I had pre-op blood clots, I try not to sit still for more than an hour at a time. Even if I'm driving, I'll pull over and walk around my car once an hour, just to keep the blood flowing. Perhaps getting up and walking in place once an hour for a minute would help with the hip pain? Good luck!!

I bought myself a gym membership to celebrate the century mark, although I'm still a few pounds away. That's something that will have a permanent effect on how the rest of my journey goes. Congrats on hitting the 100 pound mark! I'm raising my Water bottle in a toast to you!!

Here are my 8 month post-op pics, along with a new pre-op picture of me I discovered tonight. I have to say that I feel like a whole new person... and, just for reference, I've probably lost almost as much as the bride in the picture weighs!!

Joni, Go look at Lil Miss Diva's pics. That's motivation right there!!!

I'd wait on the TT and lift, too. You look like a blond bombshell NOW! Great work!

Don't get too frustrated by this. Suddenly you'll be pulling off those smaller pants without unzipping or unbuttoning them and you'll be lamenting that you have no clothing that fits!

As long as Sleevie isn't complaining, it's not too much. Be careful of the strawberries, though. They have tiny little seeds that can get caught in a new staple line and cause problems. They are on my doc's "Don't eat till six months" list. Also, your sleeve is still a little numb, so you may not feel pain in your sleeve if you eat too much. You'll feel it other places, mine was my shoulder if I over-filled Rex (my sleeve). It's really important to under-eat your sleeve. You can always eat a few bites more, but it's really painful when the sleeve lets you know it's over-filled.

Star, That's a great NSV!! As a matter of fact, losing clothes sizes may be my favorite NSV.. .no, second favorite, but this is a family forum.

I still have egg drop soup, and it was good in the liquid stage, too. I'll eat the fish part of sushi with wasabi, crab, shrimp and even some of the chicken from sweet and sour chicken, although I have to peel off most of the batter to eat more than one or two pieces. I'm a REALLY cheap date for chinese food these days! LOL

I'm a fan of the Premier Protein shakes from Sam's Club. That said, NOTHING sweet tasted good to me early post-op.

Your doctor should give you an Rx for liquid painkiller. Make sure you have the right measuring device for afterward. My dosing was listed in metric and I only had English measuring tools. Figuring out the conversion was out of my league at the time I wanted the dose.

Having more muscle definitely makes everything else work better. It ramps up your metabolism, gives you more endurance for tasks, and makes you look so much better!

To keep my questions separate from recipes, here's what is for dinner at Casa Lissa tonight: In 1.5 quart crockpot, put 2 small pieces of frozen steak, add frozen cauliflower, 2 small roma tomatoes, diced, 1/2 a can of V8 juice (4 oz), 2 small green onions, chopped, and 2 pieces of garlic, whole. Cook for 4-6 hours on low, stir and enjoy. Yummy. Gives me 2 servings of veggies and my Protein for this evening. For a sleever, 2-3 servings.

Blackberry, Have you tried the lamb tongue yet? If so, please post a recipe. I love lamb chops, but they are way too expensive for me to buy often. I might be interested in trying the lamb tongue, though.

Southern Girl, I answered the incision question in your post about bandages.

Do what your doctor said to do. My instructions were to leave the steri-strips on my incisions, but not to worry if they came off in the shower, which I was allowed to do as soon as I went home. I had a drain, and when the surgeon removed the drain, he put a band aid over the opening with instructions for me to leave the bandaid in place for 3 days. I had no problems with infection and can barely find any of my incisions now.

Congrats!! Welcome to the loser's bench!

No, Mama, #2 is a layered cut with the slightly messy look that's been popular for a while. It's really cute, though!

Try drinking decaf tea, Water with mio drops or crystal lite mixed in, or decaf coffee. All good sources of hydration without being straight water. Are you on an acid reducer? If not, talk to your doctor about starting one. Good luck! This too shall pass.

You need a therapist. Knowing what drives you to eat is good, but a therapist will help you understand WHY you chose eating as your drug of choice...and help keep you from developing crossover addictions. I see a therapist to deal with my issues with food. I, like you, ate my emotions because I didn't have another outlet. Some of my "friends" don't like the changes in how I deal with things now, but that is their problem, not mine. If being friends with someone requires that I accept being treated like crap, then I don't need that "friendship". Hopefully you can find a good bariatric therapist, but any therapist is better than none for these issues.

Search for 3 week stall. EVERYONE goes through this stall. It's part of the healing process. Keep following your doctor's plan and it will be over soon.

I like #2 as well. It's cute, fairly short, allows for layers and doesn't require the upkeep of either of the other two cuts. Since it looks like you have a small child, it's probably the easiest to maintain. I had mine cut in a graduated bob, which is wash and wear for me. The back is cut so that it curls under a bit by itself, which leaves me looking polished, even when all I've had time to do is run a brush through my hair. Even though I do a lot of driving, I can hit it with a brush and it lays back down when I'm going into meetings. The bonus is that my stylist can keep the style going while letting my hair grow longer and it has a bit of flexibility for the layers I have now.

Crystal lite tea is okay if it's decaf. I don't know if it is or not because it's too sweet for me, even with artificial sweetener. I like my tea dark, but barely sweet.

Well, you're following the post-op diet your doctor gave you and your body is probably still retaining a bit of Fluid from surgery. At your next appointment, you'll have lost more than the doc is expecting, so he'd better make it up to you then about how fantastic you are doing! Don't let that thoughtless comment get you down. You're doing great and this surgery WILL work for you!