samsmom

Congratulations!!!!!! I am so happy for you. I will be sleeved on Monday, 9/24. I am happy and scared at the same time. I am ready to emabrk on this new journey of my life. I am finishing nursing school on Friday and having surgery on Monday. What more can I ask for. I have everything else which is a beautiful family. Continue the good work and keep us posted as I will you.

I had my surgery on Monday everything is going well so far. The only thing is it hurts really bad when i cough. I can get down my liquids and Protein if i sip all day long. I am happy with my decision so far.

Thanks for sharing Just a quick thought from me - I saw something on one of my good Friends FB Walls the other day.
It simply said: "When I see something to eat I know I shouldn't have, I tell myself 'I DON'T eat that instead of I CAN'T'"
It's a positive declaration rather than a negative connotation. I've been doing that and meaning it. It really works.

I know that I struggle with eating when not hungry from triggers and I thought I'd post this for others who are struggling with the same thing. This sleeve is a wonderful tool to help with Portion Control, but it's also our thoughts that can drag up back to weight gain. Here it is:
By Michelle May, M.D.
Our environment is loaded with triggers for eating when we're not really hungry and for continuing to eat past the point of satiety. Learning to recognize these triggers and respond in an effective manner is the key to thriving in our food-abundant environment.
What is a trigger?
Think about the word trigger for a moment… In behavioral terms, a trigger is anything that serves as a stimulus that initiates a reaction or series of reactions. This concept is analogous to a mechanical trigger, defined as a mechanism that activates a sequence.
Thinking about a trigger in mechanical terms is helpful because it takes the emotion out of it for a moment. More importantly, it reminds us that a trigger has no effect on its own and must be activated in some way. Similarly, your triggers for overeating are powerless over you—until you choose to act on them.
Dismantle the machine
When faced with one of your triggers, instead of automatically eating, use the following mindful eating concepts to FEAST instead (excerpt from Chapter 3 of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat):
Focus – Whenever you want to eat or continue to eat, that is your trigger to pause and ask, Am I hungry? or Am I still hungry? In essence, you are creating a new trigger for yourself - wanting to eat now triggers you to pause and check in. This pause creates a gap between the stimulus and response, allowing you to respond instead of react.
Explore – If you're not hungry, get curious. I wonder why I want to eat right now even though I'm not hungry. What was the trigger?
Accept – Don't judge yourself; you wouldn't judge a machine for having a switch. Instead, say: Hmmmm, isn't that interesting?
Strategize – Choose how you’ll respond: I could eat anyway if I want to. For now, I am not going to activate this particular sequence of events. Let's see...what else could I do until I'm hungry?
Take Action – Each time you choose not to pull the trigger, you weaken its connection. It's as if the wires rust and eventually break. Further, each time you choose a different action, you create new connections. With practice, you’ll hardwire these new pathways—like insulating the wiring.
Michelle May, M.D. is the founder of the Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops and Facilitator Training Program (hyperlink to http://amihungry.com/) that helps individuals learn to break free from mindless and emotional eating. She is the author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. (Download chapter one free.)
what do you guys think about this?

And waiting for the anaethatist to come .becouse today .the day of surgery I have woke up with a cold.so they have to check me out first .i may not be able to get it done grrrrr.so let you all now later what the out come was .by for now and wish me luck

I'm at my 2 week apt and just got weighed and I've lost 25lbs....yay me!!.. first time I've weighed myself since surgery....

I had lost like.....60 lbs and NO ONE had said a word! then 80....nothing!!! I thought "don't you people rem;ember I used to be REALLY huge??? Maybe I don't look so different!" Then all at once a couple weeks ago, at 91 lbs lost....people were on me left and right with comments and questions and congratulations....it was so weird!!! It's like everyone snapped all at once. Kinda funny.
Not that I did this so that anyone would notice, but it IS nice to get some encouragement from it!

Congrats!!!! It's so nice to hear random compliments that just make us smile!! I look forward to this as well.

Wow! I felt so good too! Our Brinks guy came today to pick up our currency at work. I haven't seen him since 8/29. He saw me & said "have you (motions to his shoulders/belly/chest) lost something?" I of course said I have lost weight, and that I have lost close to 20 lbs. Yay! Such a good feeling!

I am four months out. I didn't start trying to eat pancakes till month three. I can barely eat half of a small one. And I put sugar free Syrup on it. I don't eat them often. I dont stay away from carbs. I go with the everything in moderation attitude and I am doing well!

I promise that this is normal and YOU WILL lose weight. ALOT of people hit a stall around 3 weeks or a month after surgery that lasts several weeks. It will play mind games and you might start to think you're a rare person who won't lose the weight with surgery. But you are going to keep on losing. I promise! Matter of fact--I'll bet you 50$ that you will keep losing! If you don't lose more weight in the next 3-6 months--I'll send you a paypal payment!

I feel ok. I would feel much better if the scale was going down! I started at 300 so I still have 80-90 lbs to go. I'm terrified it just isn't going to come off like all other attempts! Although I know logically that probably is not the case, emotionally it is kicking my butt! I don't see a 40 lb difference in the mirror either. Although I can breathe A LOT better, so I'm assuming much of that 40 lbs is internal fat surrounding my organs. I'm very happy to have that gone!
Patience has never been my strong suit lol! I don't need to be "skinny" but I do need to be fit and healthy and 260 lbs ain't it!
Reading a lot probally hasn't helped me either. I always expect to see the crazy results other people see, although I know it isn't realistic to judge by other people's experience. It wouldn't be so bad if the scale moved AT ALL, but it isn't. For the last two weeks I have seen the SAME number every morning grrrrr!

Let me get this straight. You have lost 40 pounds in 6 weeks? Yowsers! That is a lot. For how long do you really think you can lose a pound a day and still be alive?
And now your body is kinda catching up with itself. The best way to avoid stalls is to stop weighing yourself.
Seriously.
The scale lies. I'm sure you are losing inches. How do you feel? I see you have tons of posts, so I am guessing you have also done tons of reading, too. You know this is normal, so ...

My tummy sounds like a muffled fart...I've had to explain it a few times in quiet settings lol

Just received my surgery date today!!!!! Any Nov Surgerys??? My date is 11/6/2012 and I am so excited and nervous, but more excited!

Be easy on yourself. It seems like everyone gets into a little slow period, but from what I hear it is short lived. Also for work be prepared for the snacking but maybe bring something to distract you or my some healthy bulky Snacks like apple slices or pear slices, they have Fiber and will create bulk. Also I have tried Unjury, chocolate Splender and it is the bomb Protein Drink. It taste so good. You are doing great, and your Mojo will return. I hope this helps...Much Love.

To ksangster, we are here for you. I get in a slump from time to time, especially this stall that I am now in. I have not lost a pound in 2 weeks. So to depress myself further, I have been eating pringles, ice cream, Cookies and greasy soul food. I forgot to mention the moscato. But, the upside to that is I didn't gain, but the way I'm going, I will not reach my 6 month goal. So, starting Sunday, I'm going back to the Protein Shakes and baked fish. Absolutely no snacking nor drinking wine. So come on, let's do this together. We have accomplished the hardest part, the surgery! We can do this!

hi i'm a newbie my vsg surgery is scheduled for Sept 24 and i'm very nervous but i'm glad i found this group i didn't know it was so many AA sister going thought same thing as me thanks for sharing

It really works but you gotta work it too!

I just posted about how mine is growing back. I takr 5000mcg Biotin, zinc, use Nioxon sgampoo and conditioner. It really has made a difference for me and a few of my friends with sleeves

I have heard Nioxin products help. As well as Biotin and zinc supplements.

I would suggest using the app 'My Fitness Pal' it has everything you need to keep up ' track what you eat, you can put exercise in & etc - also you can scan bar codes & etc - it has been a big help since I started this while process...
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MyFitnessPal.com seems to work for me. I adjusted my calorie settings to where I know it will work for me. Mine are currently set at 900 and MFP will tell you that it's too low because it doesn't know that I've had weight loss surgery. I feel it's a good tool to use, and plus it's free. Use whatever tool works for you. I personally feel it helps and keeps me motivated to stay on track. Feel free to add me if you're on there. I'm 'specialemy'.