Paola

An amazing story!!! God bless you!

Is your pre-op supposed to be low carb? I notices the Ensure High Protein has 23g of carb, personally I think thats too much. I have tasted the Slim-Fast Lower Carb shakes they taste great to me, and they have 20g of protein. Something against the Slim Fast one is that they do have a 9g of fat, and the Ensure has 2.5g.

@CJinMichigan, I understand what you are saying now. Not to worry, I am not offended.

I am not having mine in Mexico, my surgery will be in Dominican Republic, even though I live in the US. I am Dominican, so this is not a big leap for me. About the sub-standard part, I get a liitle annoyed when I see words like that. Keep in mind that there are great doctors and facilities outside the US. There will always be good and bad doctors and facilities no matter where you are. As a patient you just have to research well where you are going and your surgeon.

Even though my pre-op is 3 shakes and a light dinner, my doctor told me that if I was too hungry I could eat some low fat cheese. So I would ask your doctor and see what he says.

In my experience it is all mental, every sunday there is a buffet style lunch at my house, and I just don't eat it. I won't lie, I would love to eat all those yummy carbs, but I know they are not good for me. I tell myself I am going to drop all this awful excess weight and I refuse to let food control me anymore. I tell myself I am the boss of me, not food. It takes time to talk yourself into this mental place, it certainly did not happen overnight for me. In the mean time, if it is too hard for you to see that food around talk with your boyfriend and explain that you just can't have that kind of food in your house. Or, make your own diet friendly pizza, get some low carb tortilla, or pita bread, and toppings that agree with your sleeve.

I totally agree with everyone, you are doing amazing! Sometimes people just don't think before they spout nonsense. Also, take into account the clothes sizes you are dropping, not just the number on the scale. You are doing great, don't let anyone bring you down!

I agree that to lose weight you need to create a deficit, and 3500 less is a pound. Taking into account that I am no doctor, this is just a suggestion, I would calculate her BMR, that is going to tell you how much calories her body needs a day, as you grow older you need less calories. Track what she eats in a food diary like myfitnesspal.com and if she is consuming less calories than her BMR then hypothetically she should lose weight. If she does exercise compare her net calories (food calories-exercise calories) to her BMR. Example: Food calories= 800 Exercise calories= 350 BMR= 1400 Net Calories= (800-350)=450 To make it simple, lets say this is what her calories intake looks like every day Monday- Friday (7 days) All week calories is then 450*7= 3150 What the body needed those 7 days was 1400*7= 9800 All week deficit = 9800-3150 = 6650 calories 6650/3500= 1.9 lbs lost in 7 days Like I said before, I am not a doctor, I am actually testing my theory this week. This is an estimate, and should give you an idea of how much she should lose in a week. Myfitnesspal.com tracks food calories, exercise calories and has a BMR calculator. Hope this helps! PS: Please don’t judge me for all those number, I can’t help it I like numbers

I believe that if you both have been friends for so long she will eventually come around. People will always react differently, we just have to remember that we are doing this for us, for a healthier us. In my case it was the other way around, I was actually the last one to want the surgery, all my family wanted me to do it before I wanted to do it.

This is from THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED BARIATRIC SURGERY Recommended full liquids:  1% or 2%, skim milk  Soy milk  1% or 2% milk drinks – no added sugar  Protein mixes/shakes – low sugar and fat  Protein supplements/powders – low sugar  Cream soups– strained (no solids), low fat, low sugar  Any clear liquid – sugar-free  Thinned pudding/custard – sugar-free  Strained & thinned hot cereals

I have seen some stool softner pills, can people post -op take them?

My doctor is going to have me do an endoscopy to see the inside of my stomach. As far as I understand its a small tube that is inserted in your mouth and goes all the way into your stomach, they sedate you. Hopefully I will be really sedated because I do have a strong gag reflex. Is that the procedure you are having?

Amazing post and progress, congratulations!!!

I am confused about how many meals/snacks a day you are supposed to have post-op. I have been told 5, and 3, which is it?

thank you!

I am hoping to have a date by next week

I started my pre-op diet by the end of October, around the 24th I think, I thought I was gonna have my surgery by mid November, but it was postponed. So I decided to keep on it, I still haven't had my surgery. I don't really get very hungry anymore, If I get a hunger pang I'll eat a slice of cucumber or low fat cheese and i am fine. If I am somewhere, where there is nothing I can eat the hunger goes away in 5 minutes or so.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I have lost 62 lbs since I started this journey. I had an awesome nsv moment today. Since I arrived at my grandmother's house I have not been able to sit on this particular wooden chair, the arms wouldnt let me sit on it, but today I was passing by it and decided to try, and I slid right in!!!! WOOHOOO

Kathy, its good to vent when we are feeling upset,I do it all the time. I was really upset earlier this week and I read this post that had an awesome quote: ‎"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." ~Reinhold Niebuhr

Did you surgeon tell you the difference between the multi-band and the multivitamin?

can tablets be crushed, or thrown in the blender when you are doing your protein shakes?

I tried it again today, I managed to do 25 minutes. On Monday I will see if I can do 35 minutes. I think the one I have is the cardio one. I never knew I could lift my leg that high!