CowgirlJane

Coops....you box???????? That totally rocks. I want to get on a plane and go visit you at your gym!!! I want to know more! When I was in Mexico I saw a news story about awoman boxer. In Spanish so I didn't understand but I loved watching her train and had a fantasy of doing it for fitness. Sar....bigger is relative....we see ourselves bigger then we are. My good friend mary is 60. She used to be skinny now she is medium and dresses a little frumpy. She says I inspired her to upgrade her look because she thinks I look hot and she is like just a pant size bigger...so realizing she shouldn't just give up because she isn't tiny..she's normal size now. Side note: What's weird is she weighs 5# less is 2" taller but is a size10(nostretch real denim jeans where I am an 8). Anyway we judge selves too hard. So what happened to pdxman? Seems like several people I used to see post are gone...at least from my view. Must be mating season,my POF account suddenly generates a bunch of emails. Couple of these guys might be cool to talk to. Oh and speed dating is Dec6...means no Portland trek. The 35_55 age group seems to show up every other month. I don't feel confident in going to the 49 and under since men want younger most of the time...

I was on the road to early death with a detour through disability....and after the weight loss I feel younger,healthy and hopeful. I understand his anxiety as I was very anxious preop, but sleeve has low percentage of complications and very low death risk versus 100percent chance of serious obesity related illness and young death without the surgery.

Daisy I am sorry you had a not so fun turkey day. Allen's ghost will be hanging around for awhile I think. I MADE today a good day! Solved my and my son's cell phone issues. HIs girlfriend came with us to T-Mobile store at mall and helped me find the perfect booties for the leggings. Guess brand for 35 bucks. Screw black Friday, go Burlington coat factory! Then I brought ingredients to make my good friend Mary's favorite cocktail and watched a movie at her house. She runs a doggie daycare and tonight had a weekend boarder in addition to her own dogs. Hard to feel sad with that pile of puppy love!!! Plastics are way harder then advertised. My advice dont do it unless you are feeling really strong and up for the journey.

Maybe I have gone blind, but I don't see the fitness and exercise forum anymore. Anyway, I saw this the other day and thought it would be interesting to discuss. Basically, discusses a muscle destroying condition that can happen from over training. The level at which I do crossfit (well, haven't done it in awhile due to my plastics, but anyway) is not intense like this so I am not too worried. I also protect myself - ie I don't push through pain or injury, but i still thought it was interesting. https://medium.com/health-fitness-1/97bcce70356d

I don't know your situation, but in answer to your question - yes, I think it is worth it to "try harder" My band experience was not a good one (had it for 10 years!) and i did revise to the sleeve. I have been very very successful with the sleeve, but I think it helped to really examine WHY I didn't do well with the band. Much of it was truly some differences in the two surgeries, I was one of those people who still felt alot of hunger with the band and couldn't tolerate it being filled without having reflux and vomiting. However, I also wasn't well educated in how to truly "work" the tool. When I revised, I picked a surgeon with a good reputation and success rates but ALSO had a good support and education program that went with the surgery. Somehow, something, clicked and I have had very good success and am currently maintaining. Regardless of what you do surgically, you really do need to "work it" and get educated on how to eat. The way that any WLS patient needs to eat to get the kind of success I have had is NOT the typical diet. I have to work out, i have to eat high Protein low carb and I have to keep trigger foods out of my house. I can go on and on, but I think the real "secret" to success is accepting my reality and finding a new lifestyle that supports my success.

So, I know this is hard to understand how freaking depressing this is to me. It is Friday 1130 am and other then cleaning the kitchen, I have barely stirred. Yesterday I made mashed potatoes, candied yams and pumpkin bread in the morning... went to my nieces for a lovely but long day of socializing and eating. Today, my legs are so sore. I have lost so much fitness that I am physically exhausted - I feel like I ran a marathon and all I did was stand around a bunch. It may not be rational, but it makes me feel sad to physically be such a weakling. I feel like I have been going through this amazing transformation toward fitness and right now I feel like it is all lost. I KNOW it is temporary and now that I am cleared for exercise I can start rebuilding my strength. I know this was all self inflicted so it is really just a pity party, but right now I feel sad that I am just not my former strength and endurance. I was the woman who had the go go when everybody else was tired. I remember going through a similar feeling - and I know this is a crazy sounding comparison - when I first bought my house with acreage so i could have my horse at home. It took a little while to get the property horse ready so the first nearly year i owned it, I had the disadvantages and none of the advantages. It was my son who wisely pointed out that I would feel better about it once my "dream" was all put in place. He was right, i love my little teeny farmette now. I think with plastics, I am so pleased with the results, but it is almost like "who cares". I don't look THAT different in clothes (at least in my eyes), I have suffereed alot (more emotionally than physically), I have lost fitness and strength and really... other then not having to look at a weird wiggly belly and huge fat balls on my inner thighs - I have had no real benefits yet. Some days I have a hard time remembering why I even thought I needed to do this. Anyway, I am also contemplating that I am a bit conflicted about my relationship status, and really wanting something and yet feeling a little fearful of actually finding it. I think at my age, there is a little bit of emotional baggage and i just have this fear of falling for someone for real. Anyway, I have decided to sign up for the next speed dating thing - if nothing else as a practice run. Hey, I have an outfit at least! And then my stupid cell finally really died. The final death. And so I am basically cut off from everyone ...LOL. I have a little posse of friends that we text and talk alot and now that is silent for a few days. In some ways nice, in some ways it feels lonely. I am not as crazy as i sound, sometimes I just really need to vent. I had fun yesterday showing off my arm scars to my family. All is forgiven for me not telling them about going to Mexico - I really have a wonderful family - extended, not just my kiddos - so I am truly blessed. I have been through much worse then this, and I know many others have things much tougher so my negative emotions are frankly out of proportion to my situation.... but it is how I feel right this minute.

Trust me the thighs themselves can start a fire from the chub rub still going on!! Lol, yep I'm looking up recipes.. It's going to be turkey everything this week.. My husband asked me not to fast today? But I feel like I need too.. I want stuffing and pumpkin pie bad, and I don't think I could resist if I tried to eat normal.. I was told by plastics surgeon that my thighs will likely always touch. I think you look completely at goal and look very attractive!

My surgery was done in a clinic and I stayed one night.when I went home I drank very slowly and did have some acid pain. Taking a ppi drug helped. I would say I drank at a similar pace you describe. If I needed it,I would have gone back for IV fluids. Wonder why they can't let you go home and have you come back for fluids if needed.

My sons and I at my niece's house on Turkey day

I didn't stuff myself, like too much quantity at once but i ate all damn day... and massive carbs. We spent like 8 hours at my nieces house because thats how we roll .... ha

Congratulations jgirl! Wishing you a speedy recovery and awesome results!

Happy thanksgiving!! Globe that is discouraging news. Is treatment better in USA? Does it improve your quality of life to move? Is disability an option? Disability can be incredibly hard to get but for some conditions it's practically automatic. Do you belong to any MS online information and support forums? I know nothing about this illness but I have to believe there is hope.

Congratulations pammy!! I consulted with Dr harrris but he had little photographic evidence of his work since he had just moved there so I didn't choose him. Love PSSC and am sure he is awesome! Can't wait to see your photos.

I think some of the symptoms described are actually overfull. One of the main keys to long term success is keeping a restricted feeling and the best way to do that is to not"fill" the tummy to capacity but rather eat to absence of hunger. That becomes clearer once you are on solids.

Love it! I am a big believer in showing off "if ya got it, flaunt it baby"!!! As you get closer and closer to goal, I think you should consider replacing your eyeglasses with ones that fit a bit better. I like them on you, but don't they seem big???

If I were feeling more spunky I would go over and argue with the crazies... but just don't have it in me today. dang, I usually kinda enjoy a good fight with the irrational.

i hope this is better now... and alot less painful. I hope you don't mind, I am just curious about how they recommended you care for the wound. I just had plastic surgery 6 weeks ago with ALOT of incisions. I had to do a daily shower with antibacterial soap and then use a clean qtip to put antibacterial cream on before covering with gauze. Toss the qtip and get a clean one before redipping in the lotion. Every.day for 3 weeks - tedious. One of the risks with plastics is wound infection and with a crapload of incisions, you can be sure I didn't want that. It surprised me when I read that you opened the bandage and saw the infection and made me wonder if they had instructed you to just keep it covered or if you were changing it daily? Doesn't matter, just curious.

Laura - don't get sick! There is a turkey that needs cooking!! The others in your house are counting on lots of carbs to go with that turkey!!! Seriously, I hope you are not getting sick that would just about round out the pleasures of a holiday - NOT. The sun is out and it is 50 degrees... not bad for late November in the northern climates. I had this thought... sometimes voices in my head talk to me and tell me how I am really feeling. Anyway, the voice said "if I were alive, I would sneak off for a ride before the sun sets". I thought, what a strange thing to say to myself since I am not cleared for horseback riding yet and I am most certainly alive. I think the voice is telling me that I am feeling sad. At some level, I don't feel fully alive. I think it is still the after effect of the healing/recovery and also some other things going on in my life. I am just not myself... but patience. I am a believer in the "fake it till you make it" philosophy and so bought some really fun holiday nail polish and will dress up and be fun tomorrow as though it mattered. My sister died May 2007 and I keep wondering when I will get over it. Nobody else hangs on to that memory and I know it isn't healthy but we were raised like twins, she was my best friend and sister. I miss her always, but holidays are the hardest. And sometimes I just want to call her and talk about absolutely nothing ... and we finish each others sentences even though we are talking about nothing. So, just so nobody get the idea I always wear black, I took a couple of snapshots in some of my "play clothes"...haha. I have a few outfits I have never worn in public... show up at my boyfriends house and we never leave. He is fun that way. I shop at ross and can get a dress for about 10-12 bucks, so it is fun. They are decent, they are just "young" and form fitting, not stuff I that a 49 should would wear to the grocery store for example. He tells me red is totally my color. I also have a summer dress that i just love and wore it everywhere - blue and white with a 70s kinda vibe. I also wear those sweater dresses with leggings - I own a couple of them. AGain, cheapo Ross finds. One of them is too short so I wear them over skinny pants. Anyway, I was wondering if others were interested in sharing outfits and getting critiques. I think it is useful - confirmed my suspicious (I always thought bootcuts make me look short and squat - nice to hear it confirmed!). Anyway, i was going to start a separate thread but don't want to bother if others aren't interested in participating and posting too. Of course, a separate thread means nobody will actually find it... haha So, I have to make mashed taters, yams, dressing and some kind of bread. i bought gravy in a jar since that is all I could muster. Ironically I was assigned all the carb food.

I sometimes wish I was hosting. In another life, I used to host huge parties and holiday meals and loved it. I lost my will to do that after my sister died and the house I have now is smaller so I can't really take on the 40+ guest list these days. I am having a little updating done in Jan/Feb and maybe after that i will try doing a SMALL wine and appetizer party because i just don't see myself making a feast anymore. I don't even like being around all the feasting these days.... sheesh.... it is like I really try to not live buried in food so it is better that my niece is hosting now.

Wow, i ate all day. If I wasn't post menopausal i would have assumed I was PMSing. It was healthy food, but way overate. pffffff

At 5 weeks out, I would still measure EVERYTHING since as was mentioned,, you can't yet trust the signals from your body. I am thinking a meal at your stage would be in the 1/4 to 1/2 cup ballpark MAXIMUM, depending on the density of the food. As you progress, and your body starts sending you signals, aim to eat till no longer hungry. "Full" is not a concept you should be seeking during the weight loss phase.

Susan, since you are following this thread, could you consider passing along suggestions mentioned above to alex? The more I think about it, the more I realize that having the list of "new" gastric sleeve stuff going on the right side of the screen is what prompted me to respond to posts no matter what forum. As a vet, I don't necessarily click on each and every forum (I would argue we have too many of them!) but when I see a title that looks like I might have something to add, I look into it. I suspect part of what is happening now is that many of us only go to threads we are already posting in because it is a pain to click into each forum and explore "whats new". I do realize there is a new content button, but somehow it just isn't the same. I feel as though I have "lost" some of the regulars. I NEVER see their posts and I don't know why. There is something different about the navigation that I am just not being triggered to find them. Maybe the main issue really does relate to the mobile device issues... not sure... but somehow we have lost alot of regulars....

I think that there are a couple of things going on. First the liquid and soft phases often do leave you hungrier as it just doesn't stick. When I started switching to firmer food, I really had a hard time eating at all for awhile. Second, if you are not being treated for acid, you should consider getting on a PPI. The stomach still produces enough acid for 100% size and it is 15% size... it takes awhile for the acid production to reduce on it's own. Acidy tummy feels like hunger. 3, nerves were cut and it takes some time for you to really "feel". It is easy to overeat and not realize it. My advice is that the first say 6 weeks or so, eat by the measuring cup and clock - your body is not yet properly recognizing hunger signals. I had the lapband for 10 years and been sleeved for 2. I think the key thing to success with sleeve is rather then thinking how much you "can" eat, thing in terms of how little you need to eat to feel the absence of hunger. You won't get that pain feeling, I never get that saliviating or other awful signals i got from the band. With the band, i often went from, hungry to vomiting with almost no warning. For me, with the sleeve, it is more like having a petite tummy - none of the weirdness. It takes time to get there though and I highly recommend developing the habit to eat as little as it takes to remove your hunger and to eat 4-6 meals a day while in the weight loss phase. (or 3 mini meals and a very small snack or two). Good luck! I love my sleeve and hope you have tremendous success!

You have done great Frank! I think you need a new screenname!

I have been trying to figure out why...it seems the bugs are fixed but there is little action and it is like we can't find each other. On VST the new posts for all forums were listed on right and the newest post was listed under each forum,right? I think that drew me in. Now I come right to the VSG forums but don't seem to be drawn in except to threads I already posted to. I know about the new content tab I am just saying the new format doesn't draw me to new threads or explore forums.