Butterthebean

I think the concern is you will swallow the air in the top of the straw before the liquid hits your mouth, but most people naturally expel that air, not swallow it. I think this is one of those rules that came about "just in case." Brilliant doctors are not immune to following dogmatic practices. It's right up there with no swimming for an hour after a meal.

Ha....I remember when I first came here, I read a post by PDXman that said something to the affect of ...."you can't eat Taco Bell every day after surgery and expect the sleeve to limit your portions and still lose weight"....and I thought...YOU CAN'T??? I was hoping it worked that way. I was so naive. So once I did more reading, I found post after post of people not making it to goal, or not losing weight, or gaining weight..and many of them had a common theme....eating crap on a regular basis. I made up my mind that I was going to learn a healthier way to eat so that when my capacity increases (as it has) I would be eating the right things. I guess it's working cause I've lost a little weight. Best of all, I've found that there is a happy medium. I'm not eating twinkies and big macs, but I am eating in a way that I can sustain indefinitely. I am not depriving myself, so I am not going to break down and binge.

People don't realize how different some of us feel after surgery. Some people can't drink a thimble full of water. Some can drink 8oz on day 2. Alot of it comes down to inflammation after surgery, and possibly an individuals pain tolerance. Combine that with an untreated flaming food addiction, and you've got a deadly combination.

Lunges are one of the absolute best shaping and strengthening exercise you can do for your thighs and glutes, but there is absolutely no way to get rid of fat from a specific area. You cannot spot reduce fat. But you can work the thigh muscles and that may help the overall appearance of the area.

Everybody's sleeve is different. Some people can't tolerate greens. Some can't tolerate sweets, or bread. The only thing I couldn't tolerate was that nasty barium swallow. Everything else has sat with me no problem, so it's up to me not to eat unhealthy food any more than possible. Take it easy on those pigs in a blanket...you're only 5 weeks out.

some docs think you will suck up too much air and hurt your sleeve. I have never seen a case where this actually happened and many sleevers drink through straws...many actually drink better. If you have difficulty drinking without one, you might try drinking with one, but take it very cautiously to see how it goes. And be careful about swallowing extra air...it's not difficult to avoid.

32 oz is not good. Just because it's more than usual, it's still half the minimum. You should go. If you're afraid of an ER, go to local urgent care clinic. They are used to dealing with people who have no insurance or minimal insurance. They will work with you...but you need to make this a more urgent matter. Not urinating is a huge sympton of dehydration. But just the fact that you're drinking so little is the biggest sign, you don't need to poke, pinch or sniff anything. Just go get a professional opinion.

Mary, that post surgery picture is heart breaking. Poor thing. But the final picture says it all...you look great.

Nice job Pip....that's amazing. And love those shoes.

That is remarkable. Go you. Was it an organized run or did you just do it on your own? Where is your half marathon going to be? Here local? Good luck, you will do great. We runners are few but we're proud.

Capt Derel...you're energy levels sound really low and that can't be enjoyable. Are you eating really low carb? Or had your blood sugar checked lately...hypoglycemia maybe?

Watch out...those little suckers are good. I've tried most of the flavors, but the chocolate paradise are exactly that to a chocoholic like me. I'm going to put 2 in my pocket to eat mid run on my next long one.

7 miles yesterday....my longest so far. What fun. I'm starting to believe! My 10K is in 3 weeks. Just hope my knees hold out a little longer. So far no problems but after all the knee injuries and pain I've had in my lifetime, I'm paranoid that any minute they are going to self destruct.

Sorry to hear that. Hope it picks back up soon. Mine is slowing down also. Unfortunately the farther out from surgery we get, the more calories we can eat, but out bodies burn less as we get lighter. At some point you either have to lower calories (which isn't reasonable) or increase exercise intensity, frequency or duration to burn more calories. I don't know what you're doing for exercise but if you've been doing it a while it may be time to mix things up a bit.

Yes, but compared to before surgery? I'm just saying, diet may or may not be playing a role. It could be you're nervous about becoming a thinner, healthier you. It can be scary. A lot is going to change. But it's all for the better so enjoy the ride...it's a doozy.

BMI doesn't take into account your larger bone structure from carrying around all the extra weight for so long, nor does it take into account any excessive muscle mass you may have, so don't worry about BMI. Your body fat percentage is getting very good, and that's much more indicative of your overall health. Let it and your weight get to whatever point your comfortable with, don't worry about any one else's opinions. You are the one who has to live in your skin. When you get to that point, if you're still losing, I'm sure your doc or NUT can give you some strategies for maintaining your weight.

This could also be carb withdrawal. Many Adkins dieters suffer from irritability in the early stages. It should ease up.

What kind of high fiber cereal do you have?

I started at 401. 8-1/2 months later I'm 229 and still losing. The sleeve will do the Job just fine if you're willing to make some lifestyle changes. If you think you will never be able to control your eating then the bypass might be a good alternative. The upside of the sleeve is less complications and a more normal life. It works with you but it does not do the work for you.

If you do a side by side comparison with a jar of full fat Peter Pan...yeah, it's not going to win that match up. But to me, it tastes good enough to be my choice considering the nutritional consequence of eating regular Peanut Butter. Plus, I do believe there is a slight art to mixing it up right. It took me a couple of tries to get it right. 2 parts powder to 1 part Water PLUS a dab more water make it just right to me. And don't accidentally turn on the hot water like I did the other day....hot peanut butter is not as good as it sounds.

Looking at our sig it seems you're losing 8-9 pounds a month. I'm 8 months out and I'm losing the same so that seems about right to me. That's 2 pounds a week which is safe and healthy, and probably all you can expect being that far out. BTW I eat 1500 calories/day but I'm 6'2".