Pookeyism

I had long hair, and I lost soooo much. I kept coming across info that people had shortened their haircuts and it made a difference. So I thought to myself "where can I go that they are extremely familiar with haircuts for people with thinning hair?". Sportsclips! lol It worked, I went in and asked for someone with a +1 year tenure and Victoria has done my hair since.

With a job you can get a doc to write you a note, but (not knowing exactly where you are in your program) I have known of a WLS patient who could not finish his semester due to complications, and it created issues with his financing. Make sure you are covered so that if you did have to drop due to a medical complication you would be able to pick back up where you left off.

Go get a glood glucose meter and test yourself upon waking, before you eat (even if that is just a half hour or so) and then once you get those feelings, test again. Large high to lows, or reverse can indicate what is causing it, maybe. Even if you are in range, many people will fill a steep drop or high. I would consider a large jump to be 30-40 in either direction. You may also want to revisit your meds with a pharmacist (not pcc, not surgeon) and let her know what is going on. Some people outgrow their meds, or need adjustments as they go. I am off of everything but an antihistamine, this surgery can really change your body chemistry. If you were not required to, I really stress you go in and have a full bloodwork panel done. Some people do not get these very often, and then as they progress into the weight loss they cannot determine if profound changes are par for the course, or an indication of a real problem, because they do not have previous tests to compare to.

Whatttttttt...

I would caution real food is not a great idea at 4 weeks, and the way you are defining your portions might need to be revisited ("small", "bite", "half"). The foods you are describing come straight off my no-no list straight to this day, so I cannot say that you can eat those things and be ok. Stay away from foods you cannot measure and keep a calorie count, give yourself no excuses, keep a food log. You did not mention what you were drinking - Water, juices, dairy? Alcohol?

Do you have a history of being this size, or bigger? Something you can document through the time period your insurance requests/if they request that?

spinach about 7 grams per serv. tofu, Beans, banannas (a near perfect food), kale, beans, and there are much more. raw and whole food sites provide great sources, even if you do not eat a whole food lifestyle. I cannot claim to have a "lifestyle" of eating. I have some rules, which serve me well, and I have make an effort to listen to my body to learn how to adjust as necessary. I eat from all 5 color groups daily. I have some no-break rules: No grains. just none. or very exceptionally rarely. No fast food. Period. At all. Nothing from those locations, either. If I am not there, I will not eat it. No refined sugar. At all. No "treats" - 14 months out I have become very aware these things are, for me, not treats. My ability to feel and be awesome and present in my daily life is both my treat and reward. I do allow animal protien to sneak in and if not I will purposefully have some about 2x a week.

consider an orange or apple. There is nothing wrong with fruits and veggies, the carbs are handled dfferently than grain and nuts. I eat or drink almost no suppliments now, but I have been able to amp up almost every type of physical exercize I was doing since I laid off animal protien and focused of veggies, fruits and leafy greens (no lettuce, no lettuce, no lettuce). I could not have ate this way to begin, but I wish I had tried it in the late fall (about 10 months post op), rather that just a few months ago (about a year post op).

I got off chewables almost immediately. They were gross, made my teeth feel aweful. I switched to gummies, and just let them dissolve slowly. It sounds funny but that very last little nugget never seemed to dissolve, so for a few weeks I just spit it out and compensated with another gummy. Two a day from then on, its been over a year now. One thing that I think would help alot of us I think is to juice. If you can get in juice that has members of each color family, you are providing your body with a tremendous source of Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, all of it. It is something worth considering. If I knew now what I (thought I knew) then, I would have juiced and added complimentary flavored protien drink from the start.

I don't usually make comments like the one I am getting ready to make, based on someone's interpretation of things said or done. BUT if that is the picture you sent him, and that is exactly what he said - and if he is still going on and on about the surgery after you had it. Well, let me pull out my soapbox... You are better off than you have ever been from the sound of it (physically). You still have a tremendous road ahead, and you need to be at your best, whenever possible. This is the person, that at 2 years into a relationship I assume it is at least somewhat serious. Love is a strong emotion, and I would never want to get rid of someone because they were having a hard time dealing with something (yes, even if it were my own weight loss), BUT BUT BUT what you relayed here warrants some real consideration as to whether this person is worth your time. This might be a good time to read up on passive-aggressiveness and those that are routinely (be it aware or not) so. These people are the sleever's nemesises (spelling, lol) and should be avoided - but also learn to recognize it and deal with it. PS - even if you keep the boyfriend, find someone else to send thise pics to - someone who can appreciate just how awesome that is, and how very pretty you look.

I went straight into a gummy vitamin, after trying several chewables...ugh!

I had 3 & gave them all back with "thank you but save your $" thank you notes and kept a second hand blender from wal-mart. Not better, nominal differences but would have been about 25$ cheaper if I had bought it. Okay, in hindsight I an editing this - I say that but my "Hubby's Kitchen" as I refer to my kitchen does have a vitamix, a juicer and about any other goodie you can think of. The second hand blender, however, met almost every prep need unless I am jucing, spiralizing, pulping or making cold Soup.

At 14 months I have thought about a video log...maybe in time.

3 dramamine and an ...wow...lol Just find the terminal and I would call it a win!

I have tried to avoid gooing my foods now. I have become fond of mustard and vinegar - oh and "dressings" made with my Vitamix! (which are actually whole food cold soups, mostly).

What did you eat about 3-4 hours prior?

When you say travel internationally, my question would be how long is your shortest flight? Some disagree with me, but I think, for whatever reason, long flights have not worked out for me, even to the recent present. To the point I passed up an opportunity to go to jakarta recently. From Houston to Moscow, to Changhai to jakarta! noooooooo....lol (but I got some awesome gifts, lol) That is just me, and alot of people disagree. A part of mine might be the way the weeks after my surgery unfolded for me. My Mom passed away unexpectedly a week to the day after my surgery, I had to get my drain removed and fly to VA from Houston. The next several days I just could not drink or eat, I thought tooo much and cried non-stop, and on the second leg of the flight home I had some really violent complications with my stomach that caused them to almost turn the plain around (whyyy!!! I was headed home), and had me getting a barium drink at 3 am in the morning. So my first flight experiences after surgery have some really negative complications. Your trips sound like they will be more positive! Keep your luggage load light, so you won't have to worry about a ton of luggage if you do start feeling bad.

NtvTxn nailed it. If you are worried about nutrition, focus on your Multivitamins for now, and schedule micromeals, and just make sure every bite has optimal nutritional value. If you are asking because you want to be able to eat more, then before that is an option, get ahold of that thought and get it figured out. You have come a long way and have a valuable tool, but you must learn to use it, and your little tummy does not fix our big, often bad habits associated with eating. Instead of thinking of it as a detrement (if that is what you are doing), take time to stop and be amazed at how little it takes to really sustain you, and how awesome it is that you have this time to reflect on that. Good luck.

This is something you really, really want to get ahold of. Understand this habit and get away from it. I can't evaluate what is causing it, but my guess is you are very aware of it even before you do it. You are aware that it won't "kill you". You can do it, and still feel like you used to be, you get a quick comfort "reward" for simulating a bad habit. I am soooo not preaching. I am pointing out you have become aware of a potential issue, and now you can address it. Can I suggest you do not sit down? Or eat away from any distractions? at least at first? Chopsticks? small spoon? or literally just get one or two bites, and section them off on your plate in piles. As I talk to people who are in their +1year mark, this is (often) the first bad habit revisited. So it also becomes our first opportunity to learn. On the flip side, don't be overly harsh on yourself, that in itself can be detremental (remember how many times we self sabotaged with negative feelings before the surgery? The doc only removed your tummy, the rest of the issues are still here). Good luck.

Eat enough calories take a Vitamin sleep SLEEP SLEEP drink enough Water exercize a little each day If you do thi, you will lose. The scale will not always move, but you will lose. No one can tell you exactly how this is going to proceed. You are unique and your equation will not equal mine, but I can make one suggestion I feel is almost 100%: get a tshirt that is too tight, try it on, put it away. try it on every week or so...you will see the difference in that even when the scale does not budge for weeks. if you are an extreme "pear", do it with jeans, too.

I erred on the side of 2 oz. As we are healing, our stomachs are really very sensitive to a variety of things. Not only do we have a huge incision, sutures and staples holding our tummy together, we may be more sensitive to foods than we are aware of, and this all can cause our stomach to swell, in a way that is similar to inflammation in our sinuses, or tissue swelling around a deep cut. Taking it real slow can prevent some really uncomfortable moments. I have ate about 4 oz. before, been fine, next time my tummy swelled on me, and where I could hold the 4 oz. to begin with, now I had about a 3 oz. stomach. Very uncomfortable. Staying on the lower range helped me avoid that. At 14 months out this is no longer the issue it was, but it does occur sometimes. PS – I think that happens to us more often than realized. It is a good argument for keeping a food journal/body reaction journal for a long time – and keep foods simple, shy away from a lot of ingredients, it will help pinpoint the foods that are irritating your new little tummy.

When you say drain, do you mean you still have a drain inserted, or the incision sites?

Spin is KrAzY, lol. I have a friend who teaches it, she's addicted. She has to eat over 3000 calories a day!

I can't offer any advise on drinking soda or carbonated bevreages. I can say that I decided not to bring them back into my diet at all, period. I have been without any carbonated beverages for almost 16 months, and can say that I think it has a termendous amount to do with my controlling my cravings.

keep some citrus in your diet, get totally off grains, and sleep in a normal day to day schedule, with at least 7 hours a night. What an amazing job you have done so far!!! Good luck!