Fallenangel2904

Everyone looks amazing!! Thanks for the motivation!!

Thanks Tally and Buckeye! I have my fingers, toes and every other crossable body part crossed lol. Staying positive! I want this so much!

Hey November sleevers! I have my pre up appointment on Tuesday the 6th and am suppose to had surgery the 14th! We didn't submit to insurance yet- we're doing it when I go on the 6th. I'm so nervous that 1 week won't be enough time for them to approve, but they were optimistic it would be. Let's see, please keep your fingers crossed for me, I'm so scared they won't approve. Ahh I just want want to able to finally focus on pre surgery nerves instead of 'will I be able to have surgery or not?' nerves.

Ive heard of someone using the orange tangerine with vanilla protein powder and it tasted like a creamcicle! Yum! I love mio, I def plan to try it!

It's definitely an aquired taste. When I first tried it I hated it. I tried it again recently and I liked it. I LOVE the oikos individual ones- the honey flavored is the best thing I've ever tasted, though the carbs and sugar on those are pretty high so it's not an all the time thing. I started buying a big tub of plain FF yogurt and quickly realized all Greek yogurt is not created equal. I bought the Chiobani and it was SUCH a strong flavor, I didn't really love it. I like putting it on things in place of sour cream- chilli, with black Beans and salsa etc and the Chiobani was way too tart to do that with. I almost gave up on Greek yogurt again but then I bought a tub of Fage just to see and it's SO much better. I love it! But some people just don't have a taste for it which is understandable. Don't force it If you don't like it, as lilmissdiva said- there are plenty of other high Protein things you can find to eat

So sorry I forgot to post- glad you found it greenrn! She has a lot more awesome recipies on her blog. For anyone else interested I copied these recipies from Elina's page from ObesityHelp.com so I can't take credit for them, but they sound really yummy and I think some people here may be interested in them. Southwestern Red Chicken Soup 4 Large chicken boneless/skinless breasts with fat trimmed 3 Cartons of fat free chicken broth, low sodium (32oz per carton) 2 Red Bell Peppers chopped 2 Yellow Bell Peppers chopped 2 Orange Bell Peppers chopped 1 Large yellow onion chopped 1 Large red onion chopped 1 Bunch green onions chopped 3 Medium red tomatoes chopped 1 Bunch fresh cilantro chopped 1 Can (15oz) drained black beans 1 Ear of corn (roasted) 1TSBP Olive Oil Salt (to taste) Fresh cracked pepper (to taste) Chili Powder (to taste) Cumin (to taste) In a large pot, combine onions and peppers with olive oil and carmelize until well-browned. Add-in all remaining ingredients, except the corn. Keep the chicken breasts whole (you’ll shred them later). Boil for about 40 minutes. Once the chicken breasts are completely cooked , remove them to cool (pull them apart a little bit . . they’ll cool faster). Meanwhile, put the vegetables and broth through a blender. (When doing this, it is a good idea to carefully pulse them in a blender with a towel around the blender lid and hold the lid firmly, as sometimes pressure can build with hot liquids in the blender. ) Then transfer the blended soup back into the large pot. Also, another option (what I do) is get a cordless immersion blender . . just remove the chicken first, then thoroughly blend the soup in the pot using the immersion blender – this is much easier. When the whole chicken breasts have cooled a bit, pull them apart either by hand or with 2 forks, and shred them. They should be a little stringy when in shredded form, with no large chunks. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Take the roasted ear of corn and shave-off the corn with a knife, and add the corn to the pot. Cook for about 5 more minutes, add cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper to taste and enjoy! Also very nice with a small dab of Knudsen’s light sour cream on top (optional). Magical Middle Eastern Soup 2 32oz cartons chicken broth (low-sodium) 3.3lbs Boneless, skinless chicken breast meat (fat trimmed) 1 14.5oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes 1 15oz can garbanzo beans (drained) ½ Red bell pepper ½ Yellow bell pepper ½ Bunch fresh parsley 1 Medium yellow onion (diced) 1tsp Olive Oil 4 Medium garlic cloves (crushed) ½ Lemon (squeezed) 2tsp Kosher salt 1.5 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Cumin 1/2tsp Ground black pepper In a large pot, pour-in the olive oil & diced onion and cook until browned. Then add-in all other ingredients and cook until it’s been boiling for at least about 10-15 minutes. Turn-off heat, and remove all the chicken pieces from pot. Set aside half of the cooked chicken to be eaten at another time. With the remaining chicken pieces, shred apart with pair of forks (if it’s cooked pretty thoroughly, this should be rather easy). Make sure that there are no large pieces, just stringy, shredded chicken. With an immersion blender, blend the soup (without chicken in it) until relatively smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a conventional blender – just be careful of blending hot soup, as it can spray out the top of the blender. After blending, add-in the shredded chicken and stir. Garnish with a few sliced kalamata olives and sprinkle of fat-free crumbled feta . . . delicious! If you like it spicier, you can add more black pepper, cumin, & turmeric. Enjoy! Lean Turkey Chilli 2 1.25lb packages of LEAN ground turkey 1 TBSP Olive Oil 2 Yellow onions (chopped) 2 Red bell peppers (finely chopped) 1 Orange bell pepper (finely chopped) 1 Yellow bell pepper (finely chopped) 1 28oz can of diced & peeled tomatoes 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes 2 7oz cans of diced green chiles 1 15.25oz can of dark red kidney beans ½ Bunch of cilantro (chopped) ½ Lime (squeezed) 1 Ear of roasted corn on the cob (de-cobbed) 1 Package of Wick Fowler’s False Alarm Mild Chili Kit 4 Tsp cocoa powder This recipe has evolved over many years, and this latest variation appears to be the winner. Start with a large non-stick pot and carmelize the onions in the olive oil until golden brown. Add-in the peppers, green chiles, and ground turkey and stir continuously so that the turkey meat doesn’t clump-up. Continue this until all of the meat is browned and has no clumps. Then add-in the canned tomatoes, kidney beans, cilantro, lime, spices, corn and cocoa powder. Stir occasionally and cook for about 30-40 minutes on simmer. Add in a little more salt to taste if needed. If you wish to substitute fresh tomatoes for the canned ones – go for it! If you can’t find the Wick Fowler’s spice kit, just use chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, paprika, masa, and salt to taste. Wick Fowler also makes spicier versions of this kit. I get mine at Big Lots for $1.00/ea. Regarding the corn, it is best to use freshly roasted corn-on-the cob, but you can use canned or frozen corn instead. Also, Trader Joe’s sells a roasted corn in the frozen section, which works well too – just don’t use much, as this adds calories and carbs. As far as the turkey, I use either Jennie-O’s or Foster Farms and this is the standard “LEAN” type of ground turkey. They also make a ground turkey breast version which is fat free, but will provide a result which is a bit dry for my taste, thus the standard LEAN type seems to work best. Mole Chili Stew 4 lbs beef stew meat 3 large yellow onions (finely diced) 2 tbsp olive oil 2 orange bell peppers (finely diced) 2 yellow bell peppers (finely diced) 7 large dried pasilla peppers 6 large tomatoes 1 can black beans 1 can diced Ortega chilis 1 can cut yellow corn 3 tbsp Cocoa powder Spices (to taste) – Chili powder, cumin, pasilla powder, salt, black pepper In a large non-stick pot, add olive oil and diced onions. Cook the onions until carmelized. Add the diced bell peppers, and then add the beef and toss often to brown all sides of the beef cubes. Meanwhile, boil some water and pour in a separate bowl with the tomatoes and pasilla peppers. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes. Peel the tomatoes (the peels should come off very easily after soaking in the hot water). Slice the pasillas open, remove the seeds & stems, and chop (roughly). Take 2 of the tomatoes and place in a blender with the chopped pasillas and blend - - this will make a mole-like paste. Add to the pot. Blend the remaining tomatoes and add to the pot, stirring frequently. Add-in the cocoa powder, Ortega chili peppers and corn. Let the mixture cook on simmer for about 90 minutes. Then remove the beef cubes and add-in the black beans. Pull the beef cubes apart (shred) with 2 forks and this will give you a nice pile of shredded beef. If the beef is thoroughly cooked, then it should be tender enough to do this pretty easily). Once done shredding, add the beef back into the pot and stir-in the spices. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Enjoy! Green Chicken Soup 3 Large chicken boneless/skinless breasts with fat trimmed (31oz) 2 Large cans of fat free chicken broth, low sodium (49.5 oz per can) 1 Bunch of Broccolini chopped (8oz) 3 Baby Bok Choys chopped (9oz total) 4 Small zucchini chopped (10oz total) 4 Large celery stalks chopped (9oz total) 5 Medium garlic cloves chopped ½ Bunch green onions chopped (1oz) 3 Large Carrots chopped (11oz total) 1 TBSP Dill Weed chopped ½ Bunch fresh parsley chopped 6oz Frozen green peas 6oz Fresh green beans chopped In a large pot, combine all ingredients, except the peas and green beans. Keep the chicken breasts whole (you’ll shred them later). Boil for about 30 minutes. Once the chicken breasts are completely cooked , remove them to cool (pull them apart a little bit . . they’ll cool faster). Meanwhile, put the vegetables and broth through a blender. (When doing this, it is a good idea to carefully pulse them in a blender with a towel around the blender lid and hold the lid firmly, as sometimes pressure can build with hot liquids in the blender. ) Then transfer the blended soup back into the large pot. When the whole chicken breasts have cooled a bit, pull them apart by hand and shred them . They should be a little stringy when in shredded form, with no large chunks. Add the shredded chicken back into the pot. Chop-up the green beans fairly small, and add into the pot along with the frozen peas. Cook for about 10 more minutes, add salt & pepper to taste and enjoy!

I think it really depends on the doctor. If you're concerned about I would talk to him and ask why he doesn't think you need one, if you're worried maybe request one. And sunshyne, I have looked into the risks, that was the first things I did when I found out I needed one. Honestly I was freaked out at first. I have a vein phobia and the thought of something going in my vein, it still really freaks me out- but at the same time I also am taking this seriously. I definitly do NOT want a blood clot, that scares me more. I was reading it was relativly safe as long as they are taken out with in 30 days after. I saw they were often done in larger patients, so I'm sure that unless a patient has a BMI over 50 and another risk factor they wouldn't need one.

I'd be happy with a 14, thrilled with a 12. At my lowest weight of 270 I fit into a comfortable 18, tight 16 so I have no idea what weight I would be to fit into a 14. Maybe like 230lbs, but my goal weight is around 190. I'll revise it if and when I get there lol.

I actually will probably need one placed so I've been told. I find out at my pre op appointment the week before surgery (November 6th) the nurse practitioner told me I will most likey need one given my BMI is over 50 (mine is 58 ) and I have sleep apnea. I'm nervous for this, but I don't want a blood clot so it's the lesser of two evils.

Ouch! i'm pre op but I went through a similar experience a few years ago. I did a water fast for a week (terrible idea, I was desperate to lose weight at the time. Obviously I know this was not a good thing to do) anyway I hadn't eaten food in a few days- fasts cause terrible constipation. I was drinking a laxative tea and all of a sudden I had to go, except it wouldn't come out. Worst constipation in my life. It was definitely a blockage. I was crying, I felt the tearing also it was terrible. After the whole day in the bathroom in agony it finally passed. I understand how painful those things are. So glad your feeling better!

A poster on OH named Elina has some great souprecipies. Im not able to post now (on my phone) but when I get home I'll post. Or if you go on ObesityHelp.com and go to the VSG board you may be able to find her. There is one she posted called green chicken soup that everyone on there loves and I've been meaning to make.

WOW you look amazing! Great job!

I've decided I'm going to buy candy I don't like for trick or treaters LOL. I hate mike and ikes and those Mary Jane candies- this way no temptation what so ever lol

Yes these days most bariatric surgery is done laproscopicly unless there is an issue during surgery that requires opening. That's not very common these days though I wouldn't worry about it.

Yay congrats guys! I'm the 14th!

Hey I'm having surgery at Jacobi also! Haven't found too many of us on here lol. I have a date for November 14th- tentative pending on insurance. I have HealthFirst/Medicaid so we have a few things in common! I just talked with them last week and she scared me because she was telling me how Health First is difficult to approve surgery so now I'm terrified blehh. I wish they would have told me this in the beginning- we're suppose to hopedfully submit to insurance this week- I go back Thursday so fingers crossed BIG TIME lol. The psych eval is a breeze so don't even worry about that- I was a little bit but it went great. PM me if you have any questions or just want to talk

Haha this was an awesome post! You really put the trick in 'trick or treat' lol I actually wish my surgery was on Halloween- my fav holiday! Would be awesome to have my surgiversary on that day. Good luck on the surgery and may the ghouls and ghosts stay far away from your OR

Bronx NY- and on my way to being an ex fatty mcbutterhead lol (Surgery is November 14th)

Yay sleeve sister! So excited!

My surgery date is November 14th and at my last pre op appointment the nurse is explaining everything to me one last time and she was looking at the computer and goes 'oh and by the way your gallbladder is full of stones incase you didn't know' and I was like WHAT? lol I had an ultrasound back in July and no one told me I had gallstones- first u was hearing of this lol. I'm fortunate that I havent had any pain from it but Im preparing myself for an issue after surgery. She said if I have a problem with it after surgery I might have to have it removed, so we'll see I guess lol

Hi November sleeves! I was originally suppose to be sleeved in October but was pushed back to November. My date is November 14th! It can't come fast enough. I was a bit sad it's right before Thanksgiving at first, but I don't really mind missing the holiday this year if it means getting healthy lol I'll just make myself some turkey stock and call that my thanksgiving feast lol

Wow you look fantastic! You seem to carry a lot of weight in the middle and I think that may be why your sizing has been slow to decrease but you have almost totally lost all the bulk of the mid section weight!! Totally amazing job!!