VACookey

I consider myself to be wildly successful. My nurse tells me I'm losing like a bypass patient. I couldn't be happier. So, just for comparison, I calculated how much I lost in the 60 days after surgery (after I subtract what I lost from the pre-op diet). You know how much? 33 pounds. So you got me beat! I mean, think about it: 16 pounds a month is INSANE! Congrats on your AWESOME progress so far!

How interesting. I didn't have a problem with the pre-op diet. In fact, I left behind a couple of shakes (because I lost track of what I had already eaten two of the days). I just spaced my shakes out perfectly and never had a problem. For me, the hardest part was the first two weeks. The pain of eating or drinking anything had me in tears. I totally regretted the decision at first. But that goes away pretty quickly and then the fun starts. It's really a fun process watching the weight go down and slowly regaining energy and mobility. I'm actually enjoying myself now and I'm not even at the 3 month mark yet.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. and Yes. Now, had you asked me the first month I would've said no. The first month was HARD. But I'm not even at month 3 yet and I'm so happy. I feel great, I can move again, I'm out doing stuff with my friends and family, I'm walking and exercising and dancing and just flat out enjoying life like I haven't in years. And I'm still 225 pounds! I just see things getter better and better as I drop more weight. So yes, I'd totally do it again.

Good question! I've had the kid, done the breastfeeding, lost 90 pounds, gained 100 pounds, and now losing another 100 pounds. I soooooo need a lift and several implants.

The protein shakes I liked pre-op were too sweet post-op and they made me sick. But after a few weeks, I tried them again and they're fine. The first couple of weeks is hard finding something that doesn't make you sick. But don't give up on it. Things will settle. Just drink what you can. Unjury.com has a nice little sample pack of protein drinks. All of them except the strawberry really worked for me and got me through the first few weeks.

I was having that problem and wanted to add more grains to my diet. I bought some Weight Control oatmeal. 7 grams of protein per packet and only 1 gram of sugar. I can only eat half a packet at a time though but ever since I haven't had a problem at all. I eat it every other day for breakfast.

I've been having a recurring theme in my dreams: I'm in some sort of eating situation and I scarf down half a sandwich before I freak out and say "oh no! I can't have bread!" and then I sit and wait for the pain to start. Maybe I'm craving bread or something. Very weird.

I've been exercising but just bike, treadmill, and light weights until I got my full workout clearance. I thought I was doing pretty well. I'm losing weight like a bypass patient (so I'm told). So I went to step class tonight. I finished the whole class but sheesh was I winded. I'm so out of shape it's not even funny. I can do 40 minutes of cardio on a machine but this was so much more intense. Wow. I'm totally feeling it right now. But I'm proud of myself. I didn't give up. I really wanted to about 30 minutes into it (ok, I lie. I wanted to call it a day about 10 minutes in! LOL) Anyway, I had my handy dandy heart rate monitor on. I burned 638 calories with 45% of that being fat calories. Not too shabby. I can't wait til the day I can come on here and shout "I took step and I ROCKED IT." That day is not today. Now I need a hot bath and a glass of wine protein shake.

I am 2 months out and still have that problem. In fact, I asked my nutritionist about it today. I'm going to start logging when I feel like that, how long after I ate, what I ate, and if I exercised that day. She says I shouldn't feel the hunger but I definitely do. I never forget to eat because if go too long my stomach lets me know.

Isn't crab and shrimp soft enough to eat now? I'm less than 2 months out and I've had shrimp already. I just chopped it up real good and chewed the life out of it. It was fine. Chipotle lime shrimp. mmmmmmm

I was fine with the Optifast. The Soups are incredible. I really liked them. In fact, I traded some of my shakes for extra soups. I got tired of the sweet shakes all the time. And I lost 18 pounds on the liquid diet so that was great!. I didn't want to work out too much during that period because I felt like I wasn't consuming that many calories to begin with so I just limited myself to arm weights. I know that losing weight makes you lose muscle tone, so I really wanted to counteract that as much as possible. So every day, I did 10 pound arm weights. Then the day after surgery, I started the 10 pound arm weights again. I got permission from the nurse before I left the hospital. I believe once my QBall was depleted I went back to the gym (but I asked the nurse before I did it). I was still on 10 pound weight restriction and wasn't allowed to do any exercises that twisted my body (like elliptical or any dance-type of classes). So I just did bike and treadmill and 10 pound arm weights, and maybe a few squats. I'm so glad I did because not only is my weight down, I can totally see the difference in my body. Oh I forgot. You get some bars with the Optifast. You're allowed one a day. They have 3 varieties, one of which is chocolate. Of course, I didn't get the chocolate. I had the other two and I didn't like them at all. So while you're there, see which bars they give you and see if you can swap a few for the chocolate. But who knows? You may like the other bars as well. So, are you excited yet? Two weeks away!

I'm almost at two months out. I've lost 45 pounds. 18 from the pre-op diet and the rest after surgery. They tell me I'm losing weight at the pace of a bypass patient. But I've also been exercising 4 days a week since the day I came home from the hospital. Cardio and weights. So I'm guessing that has a lot to do with it. I'm amazed at how fast my body is transforming. I don't think I was mentally prepared for it. It's weird. Anyway, a little story about Dr. Halmi. (Dr. Nain was my surgeon). I was walking the corridors one afternoon and I saw him in the hallway coming out of one of his patients' room. He got a smile on his face, put his hand on my shoulder and asked how I was doing. I said I was feeling pretty good. He patted me on the shoulder and said it was good to see me walking around. I know it seems like such a small encounter, but he was so nice and friendly and seemed genuinely happy to see that I was doing so well. When you see Karen and Stephania at Potomac Hospital for your visit, they'll tell you what a "rock star" Dr. Halmi is. And now I know why. He's a really sweet caring man.

I had my surgery with Dr. Nain. I couldn't be happier. They've been absolutely wonderful throughout the whole process. I don't know about Fair Oaks, but Potomac Hospital was phenomenal. I couldn't have asked for a better experience, considering the trauma I put my body through.

My husband spent the night with me and I'm so glad he did. I told him he didn't have to but wound up needing him after all. We you're heaving and ready to puke, the nurse can't get there fast enough to help you. And when you need to go to the bathroom at 3am, I'd rather have my husband help me than to wait on the nurse.

*YAY*

Here's my advice: give it up completely. It's all chemicals and not good for your body period. Carbonated or not. And this is coming from a 4 bottle a day diet coke addict. My skin, hair, nails, and teeth are so much better since I stopped drinking that stuff. I'm sure Vitamins helped but I believe getting those chemicals out of my body has helped as well.

How funny. I take the Bariatric Advantage and I like them. Guess I can't recommend those to you, huh?

Oh wow, the first two weeks are rough. You just keep walking and do your best to manage the pain. I promise you it will get better!

Thank god for edit buttons

Their crab cakes are the best. Mostly crab, just enough filling to get it to stick together. I used to get the crab cakes and steamed broccoli with the salad bar but since I can't eat salad yet, I haven't been there since surgery. I've been dying to go since that's my favorite meal. Glad you enjoyed it!

*YAY*

I've been lifting weights since the day I got home from the hospital (Day 2). I got permission first of course! I'm still on a 10 pound restriction so I've been doing 8 pound bicep curls, one arm at a time, 10 pound with both arms triceps behind the head, 5 pound in each hand shoulder presses, 5 pound in each hand side arm raises, and 5 pound in each hand chest presses. It's not much and I'd love to be doing more, but I really feel like it's been helping. My biceps look awesome already!

Operation Sexy – I love it!

It was explained to me like this: Water pretty much pushes the food out of your stomach faster. Since we aren't eating that much to begin with, they want the food to stay in your stomach long enough to get the nutrition from it AND they don't want you getting hungry again too soon. I thought I'd have a really hard time with it since I love downing diet coke with my food. So I had to give up the coke and the drinking. It hasn't really been that bad. It just requires planning. I have to time cooking my meals and stopping the drinking in time so I can eat. Then after eating, the half hour goes pretty quickly and I can drink again.

Plenty of people have weight struggles. My step instructor is normally 135 pounds. She had gained weight, almost to 150 and she was really stressing about it. Just because I weigh 100 pounds more than that doesn't mean she doesn't have a valid concern about her own weight. Being 150 when you should be 135 is traumatic. I supported her efforts to get back in shape just as much as she supported my efforts to get back in shape. I would never expect my friends to censor themselves about their issues just because my issues may be a bit bigger to handle.