VJSlim

Welcome to the forums, Sara! Its great that you are researching the surgery and post-op aspects. Its true - you'll have to re-learn eating habits. But it is not as hard as it sounds. I was just like you. I will drink right before, during and after the meals. Usually coke, pepsi or plain Water. But you'll learn that if you want to get in any food at all into your stomach, you need to stay away from water during the meals. I was not very strict about the 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after meals rule. I got away with it some days, and some days regretted it too. So it all depends on your body. The good thing is, you'll be on Clear liquids, full liquids and mushy food phase for couple of weeks and that will help ease out the eating habits. When you start solids be careful with chewing and eating slowly. You'll do fine - dont worry!! Some learn the 'full' feeling early on - others learn it after some struggle. But once you have your own 'tell' for the fullness, you'll control your stomach and not the other way round!! I don't consume alcohol, so cant help you there. But I've heard from people that once you are further post op you can have some wine without problems. Again, welcome! and I hope you get approved this time! See you soon in the losers bench!

I dont know about fried food coz I havent tried deep fried food yet. But I can share my experiences with sweet. Sweet doesnt taste 'sweet' anymore - you know what I mean? Chocolate is no longer my haven from stress and loneliness. I do like some milk based sweets and I taste it every other week to see if there is any marked improvement in my taste - but nothing till now, and I'm more than 5 months out. I hope I regain my taste buds atleast for my sweets. I know I have built a pretty strong tolerance and can control my cravings, but not even liking sweets anymore - the thought makes me sad

You are doing a good job! Keep it up! And you look great! Congrats on losing 100+ lbs - I cant wait to lose 100+

Best of luck to you, Karen! Make full use of the pre-op diet. My doc wanted me to be on a pre-op diet for 3 weeks only. I lost 12lbs and it did wonders to my self-confidence. I needed to believe that I AM ready to make lifestyle changes and choose food wisely to step into this journey. The pre-op diet made me believe this. Very excited for you!! See you soon on the losers bench!!

Welcome!! Very excited for you! I wish you a safe surgery, speedy recovery and great weight loss!!! Keep us posted

missmachine - I know you didnt mention your surgery date - but your profile mentioned Jun 11, 2012 as the surgery date - so I assume you are atleast 2 weeks out and would probably be on the pureed and mushed phase. And when we grind the nuts a bit it is perfectly mushy. You could check with the nutritionist and see if you can include this into your diet or not. They would probably recommend that you dont eat this too often coz of the fat count. Anyway, good luck!

I was concerned about the fat. And in the past I have had gas troubles when I ate peanuts. So I kinda stay away from those. I just use reduced fat PB with my protein shake.

I read somewhere that overdosage of biotin is not a problem, because it is water soluable and can be easily removed by the kidneys. You may want to check with your doc to confirm.

WOW! Congrats! At 10 weeks I was still obsessing over the scale and driving myself insane. It was quite a long time before I realized that weighing myself every other day is actually hindering my progress and sabotaging my weight loss. Nowadays, I just weigh myself twice a month and its done wonders for my sanity (and for my family's too LOL)

Thank you very much for posting this!!

Getting a tattoo in the forearm should be fine. Arms is a totally different case though. As you loose weight, if you have loose skin in the arm, you may need a cosmetic surgery and the tattoo is gonna look distorted after surgery.

You are doing an amazing job! Congrats! Keep it up! I was not a very active person pre-surgery and not one even now. I cant even imagine of jogging slow for more than 15 minutes, let alone running 5Ks and marathons. But I have to say, walking is my new favorite pastime! I look forward to my early morning walks with some great music on my iPod. Those 1.5 to 2 hrs are the best time of my day. I dont do much in terms of work out coz I'm not very fond of going to the gym I only do some cardio. I run the treadmill, hit the elliptical and then do some floor exercise. I'm still learning to be physically active and it doesnt come easy to me. So seeing posts like this inspire me to get up and keep moving! So thank you very much!

All the best! Have a safe surgery, speedy recovery and a great weight loss!!!

That is awesome!! Congrats! And dont worry about BMI. You being healthy, feeling confident and happy, that is what counts.

I assume you are in solids phase? If so, you can still try some chinese -- very small quantities, and request that they dont use much oil. I tried chinese a month ago and had no issues. Just ordered a chicken manchurian - no/less oil - and shared it with my sis. It tasted great and my restriction hit pretty soon - I only had like 3 pieces. BUT - if are not in solids phase yet, you may need to wait a bit and confirm with your nutritionist before you start. All the best with your weight loss!!

Awesome! Congrats! I hit this mini-goal only a week ago so I totally understand how great you must feel now! I'm doing the happy dance with you!

I do this all the time! But I use instant coffee powder (Bru - the most popular brand in India). I just add 1 tsp coffee powder to my vanilla Protein Powder and blend it with cold milk or milk + ice cubes. I dont like the skimmed milk or soy milk so I just use regular milk (3%). I love that cold coffee shake!! The only way that I can get my Protein Shake in is by adding either coffee or reduced-fat PB. I like both variations.

You look fab!! And I love those shoes!

Awesome NSV! Congrats! I felt the same way when I fit into those really tight fitting single rides in amusement parks without my belly obstructung any kind of safety measures (namely the latches)! LOL

I'm 5 months post-op and I've been drinking coffee (regular - I dont like decaf) from 2 months post-op. I just cant live without my coffee. My doc did not object - just told me to make sure I have small quantities at a time. I drink two full cups daily once in the morning and once in the evening. No problems.

I'm on the slower side too. I only had a 33lb loss at end of 2nd month. But I'm really happy with the way things are progressing. I know I'll get to goal sooner or later. I know it can be frustrating during longer stalls, but that is mostly when I shed inches faster. So that works well for me too LOL! You're doing great! Dont worry!

Do you mean they still make the incisions to place cameras, but instead of using one bigger incision to remove the stomach, they remove it through endoscopy? They showed the portion of my stomach that was removed to my parents. My parents said it was quite a big piece. I wonder what kind of effect it would have on my throat to remove my stomach through endoscopy. BUT if, like they say, the trauma is minimal, I really hope they do more experimental surgeries and bring this technique mainstream.

Hi buddies, Wanted to share a happy news and do a happy dance with you all..... I've finally arrived at Onederland........ This is such an amazing feeling and I've been waiting oh so long for this. I was bouncing betwen 201 and 203 for the whole month practically. On Monday I weighed 90KGs (198lbs) but I didnt want to post so soon coz I though I may go up a pound again or something. So I weighed again yesterday and I was 89.5KGs !!! Crossing that 90kgs border is like getting a Visa to dreamland. I still cant believe it happened. I've decided to enjoy this feeling to the fullest before worrying about crossing the 80Kgs line and stepping into 70kgs.. LOL

Hi Amy - Congrats! Its great that you've been approved - I know insurance is the major hurdle for most people. I wish you a safe surgery and speedy recovery. See you at the losers bench soon!!

I dont like most Protein shakes either. But I like coffee flavored ones. And I can tolerate the vanilla flavored ones when I add a tsp reduced fat PB. I live in India, so I get a limited choice in the brands. I haven't tried Muscle milk yet. I drink Optifast VLCD. The others that I've tried are Indian brands - so no help to you really, sorry! How far post-op are you? If you are in the solids phase, you could probably try some Protein Bars? I like the Quest bars! You could try samples of different brands and buy those which you like.