Pookeyism

Thank yo ufor deciding to join us! Our strength is in our numbers! I would offer to stay with you Friday, but Cali is a bit far away!

I am sorry I was self-pay out of Houston - but I will keep you in my prayers - patience, you iwll get there!

Wonderful story! I am so glad you were able to share with your family, and demonstrate to them that this isn't just a diet, that you have it figured out and are doing great. I would give so much to be able to have another huge dinner with my abundant family and let them see the new me, but that can never be. Enjoy every minute of it. What a NSV!

I did not realize you were going through that. My baby sister married my best friend at a young age and he progressed into horrible alcoholism, but I did not see him to know - and she held it in for almost 18 months. For an 18 year old kid it's a lifetime. Hang in there - and don't take any crap!

I appreciate your vent, but I want to say something - how do you know you just didn't make a fellow dieter, someone with or without surgery pay attention to what they were eating? Perhaps you were being looked at with healthy appreciation and envy? Judgeing and assuming about people who are smaller than you is as fair as them doing it to you, and it does happen often. I was with a friend one time downtown, we had parked the car and took our bicycles to the farmers markets, and she goes "I hate it when those skinny 'B------' show up with their eco bags and yoga pants and hair pulled back" and finally I looked up and went "um, those two work at a non profit yoga place just down the road - the one I go to on the weekends"...she just assumed they were doing to show off, but they were gathering stuff for their dinner, lol.

Okay, I think my body is still not ready for mushies. I always end up in pain the next day and usually a certain amout of intestinal distress. I also get very runny stools which I am pretty sure would dehydrate totally except I lived with a cup or popscicle in my hand yesterday. It is annoying but not overwhelming. I think I am going to give my tummy a rest and stick to liquids again - give my tummy time to rest and any inflammation I caused to fade. After I am going to to a very very, super very gradual mushie transition and if that does not work I will check with my Dr. I was sleeved on 1/4/12so it has been almost eight weeks. I am not concerned yet, but if anyone wants to recommend some exceptionally bland mushies that worked for them in a similar situation I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Now you know - and honestly - do they need it either? Alot of people forget these foods are not treats, they are bad - There was a time when an orange was a treat, because it was rare. Now we make things treats because why? They don't taste that good, and they aren't rare, and they definately are not made out of good things... Good decision and yes, keep those triggers out of your house!

Wow, I had not even thought about all of that! I have never been on a birth control pill (not as irresponsible as it sounds, long story and still no kids ) but that is a really good question.

What solid foods are you eating? While there are no real negative-calorie foods some foods have a track record of not being weight gain friendly. You also want to avoid the suplements - they are not good for weight gain and expensive. I did not say they wouldn't work! I said not good. My sister and I had the same metabolic issues but different ends of the spectrum. I was overweight and starving at 1200 calories. she was underweight and starving at upwards of 3500 calories a day and for a few years a doctor supervised 4500 a day. She ate alot of stuff and was ok'd for crap, empty calories too, but among the healthy choices were: chicken, turkey, leaner red meats - buffalo is good. Chick peas, Edamame, heirloom Beans. starchy veggies. Potatoes are good. Oranges are good. Whole grain cereals. Berries, seeds, etc. Variety was a big deal for her too. Good luck.

Exceptionally well said! Amen!

Posts like this are sooo very important! Thank you for posting! So encouraging!

If you walk the same block at 2 mph clapping your hands, if you enjoy it and stick to it, thats better than giving up after a few weeks or month or hating your routine. I have never been to curves so I can't speak specifically of it. I could guess it is destressing if it is social, but also possibly a very good way to develop some bad habits on machines if yo ujust go as fast as you can - form is very, very, very important. That may be a reason why you would not see many results. I would say if you use curves still keep a core muscle routine.

Glad to have you here! Listen to your body and take your transitioning easy. You speak of going from stage 2 to 3 but if you aren't getting in enough at 2 then you may want to consider staying at 2 awhile longer and forcing yourself to get in protien. Freeze your protien shakes in ice trays and throw 4 pieces in a blender to chop it up. If u like crushed ice that might help... Successful transitionign in a big part due to correct healing, and you have to have your protien and Water. Multis are important too - maybe u could get a prescription liquid. Good luck!

A very good friend and I were in a local mall and she was asking me what size I wore and I told her I really wasn't sure since I had no time to even try on clothes recently. We were just outside The 'PINK' section of Victoria's Secret and she looks around and pointed to the 'PINK' sweatshirts (if you aren't familiar Victoria Secret has a line of sweatshirts/tshirts/sleeper shorts, etc. Called PINK.) and she said "you can wear that in a large". I was just kinda laughing inside - she is super encouraging, and I just thought she was being pleasant. But then she takes me by the elbow, walks me over, gets a lime green 'think PINK' sweatshirt and says "go put this on". Not try it on or see how far, but a straight command to put it on. AWKWARD. I was just hoping she would not be embarassed when it did not fit...but it did. I just stood there and looked and was like "what???". Then it sunk in, OMG I am wearing a LARGE from Victoria's Seceret...BALLS! lol. I walked out and I wasn't a big girl in a big size, or a big girl in a too tight top. I was LARGE. The pretty little thing helping people out didn't do that Lane Bryant thing of over enthusiastic "that's soooo you". She looks up and goes oh, yes...that is a great color for you. That's it. Later in Macy's she picked out a size 12 and size 14 in jeans (no size 16 in these) and told me "Go try them on. Neither will fit, BUT I really want to to understand how close you are getting to these sizes." I could pull the 12's up totally but no hope of buttoning them. The 14's I might could have buttoned except I really cannot deal with tight clothing! So I guess I am a size 16. We had to leave just after so I would not be late for school, so I still haven't tried on any new jeans - except for some 16's given to me by a co-worker. They fit! Below is a pic of me in the sweatshirt. Yes I am aware the shorts are sagging but they are also about 4" too big in the waist!

Way to go!

Yes went to PBR at theHouston Livestock and Rodeo and went to the bbq cook off...I got us into one private tent after another! Hubby insists he didn't mind but he never left my side either! lol.

We look forward to you healing and taking the baby steps, and hearing about your NSV's - as well as anything else you want to ask or contribute.

Opurity is good! Also Celebrate makes good ones too...avoid taking you calciums within about 2 hours of your multi. Don't forget the sun! Get some daylight each day, else your body cannot do what it needs to with many Vitamins and trace minerals.

Yup, people go "what do you mean they remove a part of your stomach?" Your friends are probably in a situation where they are dealing with alot of it too. It might be that you are hearing the same thing over and over, but it is different people. I doubt all of your friends are present to hear every conversation. It must be frustrating. My Mom passed away just after my surgery, and I went home and had to tell a few more people than I had intended to immediately, and I got alot of questions, even in that situation. Not by the people who didn't know my Mom well, and not by people just being crude - but people who wanted to reassure themselves I was OK. Many of us have already been the caregivers of the groups we find ourselves in. We are often the peacekeepers, the 'git er done's, the motivators, the picture takers, the event planners, the logistics, etc...Now we are admitting to ourselves we are not OK, we have flaws - big ones - and this can make our friends really lost and scared. But, yes, frustrating as all heck.

I was like "whooz dat???"

OMG does it ever hurt! You get disoriented and your sinuses fill up and you can;t even see sometimes. It saved my life I think. I was "used" to pushing through the blam of a nose shot when I was - well, I can't believe where this pop up sometimes! - I was attacked. I was able to fight back even though I was hit repetitively in the face. The ER and Plastic Surgeon told me that people have died with facial trauma I had. I would have surgeries for the next several years. If I hadn't been used to being hit and knowing how to hit who knows...well, I know I guess. I know what they think he did to some other girls.