Butterthebean

Walked 1.6 miles this morning. 5.5 total so far. Felt easier today. Slowly getting back my energy.

I got them at a medical supply store. Here's a pic similar to what I got. I think they were about $25 each.

That's terrific. Yes, the sleeping sitting up and the walking like Quasimodo gets old and keeps your back rather sore. Once you're able to stand up straight you'll feel much better. I bought one of those bed wedges to sleep on. It's like a pie shaped piece of foam to put under your upper body. I got another to elevate my feet. Ended up putting me in the same position as a recliner would have but took the pressure off my butt and lower back and felt way more comfortable.

Today is day 20 post op. Everything is looking and feeling great. Still a little sore but not bad. Energy levels are slowly coming back. Swelling varies from day to day but overall has not been bad at all. I feel great about it's turned out. Clothing fits completely different now....but in a good way. Oddly, I can only find one VSG scar now. The rest were cut out or have faded to the point I can't see them at all.

Looking great.

I eat about every 3 hours....so 5-6 times per day. Every other meal is a "bigger" meal and the others are more like a snack. The bigger meals I'll measure out about 350 calories worth and no more. 350 calories is slit of lean turkey or fish. A little broccoli or asparagus added to it hardly adds any calories but adds much needed nutrients. The smaller in between meals are more like 200 calories and will often be just lean deli meat, cheese or a Protein shake. I try to have some fruit once a day and green veggies 1-2 times a day. I rarely eat red meat so my Protein is mostly fish, turkey and chicken.

How did your surgery go? Hope all is well.

LOL.....I doubt that model ever had a weight problem.

Don't be discouraged folks. I can eat a lot. And I do. I eat about 2000 calories a day at 17 months post op. And those are mostly healthy calories. No starches or junk food. It hasn't stopped me from losing almost 200 pounds. The reason is....I eat clean, I exercise, I drink 120oz of Water a day or more. And I still weigh an measure my food. I don't eat till I'm full. I don't usually get full. I don't have to. If I eat Protein every 3 hours I stay not hungry, which is all I need. If I eat a bunch of junk, carbs, starches and sugar I'll stay hungry and want to eat more junk. If I concentrate on lean Proteins I stay satisfied. The surgery gave me a window of opportunity to lose weight and turn my lifestyle around, but it did not limit me to the point that I could eat anything I wanted and still lose weight. Following those guidelines has worked for me despite my sleeve's rather large capacity. It can work for you too. Weigh and measure your food. Eat protein every 3 hours or so. Drink as much water as you can in between. Exercise everyday. Eliminate foods that just leave you hungry....mainly starches and processed "healthy" foods like Protein Bars.

The biggest problem with McDonald's is not so much the raw ingredients....it's the manner in which the food is cooked. Even a bunless burger patty is full of fat when fried. And the chicken nuggets...even though they may be white meat, they're still fried chicken. To call fried chicken healthy is laughable.

I love you more each day.

You apparently had energy enough to walk/bike 100 miles last month....plus whatever energy it takes you to fly back and forth to the emerald city everyday. That cannot be easy.

Yep. No doubt. Regardless of type of weight lost, metabolism will go down. Maintaining muscle will lessen the effect. So will increasing exercise. But no matter what you do, it simply takes less calories to haul a 150 pound body around all day than it does a 300 pound body. The good news is most 150 pounders have more energy to be more active than the typical 300lb person....thus balancing it all out.

It's the worst time. But soon enough the thought of that McDonald's food will gross you out and you won't want it.

I envy you. I wish I could get some torture garment free time. I take really long showers cause that's the only time he'll let me keep it off. I did get my softest, thinnest tshirt, which is so soft apparently it's made of angel wings, and I put my binder on over that. Gives my skin a break from the medieval corset. Weird thing is the random numbness in certain spots....but right next to it will be a spot that's twice as sensitive as before.

Sums it up right here.

I was thinking the same thing. WTF? "Uh, don't ask these other idiots for their opinion cause they don't know what they're talking about. Instead go ask the idiots on Obesity Help."

Yes just the thought of them peeling back all that abdominal skin like a blanket....so they can fold us in half and stretch it do tight....gives me the heebie-jeebies. There is a lot to heal there. I don't know how long my incision is but the doc said he stopped counting stitches at 200.

Cleared for EASY walking. Frankly that 1.5 miles was a bit too much. I should have kept it to a mile. Today I will. Heck I may even call today a rest day. I don't have much energy but I'm also tired of sitting around already. The restlessness is the hardest part for me. Running 140 miles last month didn't burn me out on running like I hoped it would. And now the weather is taking a very good turn and that makes me wanna get out even more. Gotta. Be. Patient.

After a seriously invasive surgery like a TT or even more so what Jane had, cutting back on calories would infringe on the healing process. You need to be anabolic during healing not catabolic. Even if the result is a few extra pounds of fat it will go away quickly once exercise is resumed. Now that is not a license to eat anything and everything but you don't wanna try to lose weight while recovering either. Basically you have to focus on healing and not obsess over the scale. That being said I'm down 6 pounds from my surgery date. Of course they removed 6 pounds of skin but I also have some extra water weight due to swelling, although my swelling is not bad at all at the moment. I feel like I'm losing muscle tone by the minute but I know it will come right back as soon as I'm cleared to exercise again. I look forward to restarting my activity. I know it will be painful and difficult at first, but no where near as difficult as it was right after my vsg, when I was still obese.

Jeez I read that whole thing. Whatever else you do, get your BMR tested. That's the one thing you mentioned that makes sense. With that information you do not have to guess any longer. Your BMR test results will tell you exactly how many calories you're burning. The problem with the fit bit/body bug devices is they estimate your calorie burn based in non sleever information. Everything changed the day you got sleeved. It has been well documented the metabolic "reset" that VSG causes....and they are still not 100% sure how and why. But such things as diabetics being able to go off meds immediately even before they lose the weight...these instances happen frequently. Point is what worked before sleeve doesn't necessarily work the same way now. Also, curious about your hospitalization. Was it lack of calories or lack of hydration? Cause most people suffer from dehydration immediately after surgery, but lack of calories does not usually cause problems. Our bodies will happily burn fat at that point. But even drinking the 64 oz of Water maynot be enough for someone like you with a large athletic frame. It's not for me. I drink double that. It's always a shock to people how much of our daily water needs are obtained through food prior to surgery. After surgery, that's no longer the case which is why they push us to drink so much.

You guys are all making 100 miles look too easy. Proud of y'all.

That's all one thread. Throw in a little "my husband is a piece of **** because he ate a cheeseburger" just for good measure.