Jafter

Hi everyone sorry i have not been on in a while. Well it has been about 10 months since surger and only down 95 lbs. I have slacked off the past couple of months with the holidays but now it is time to get back into the swing. I am deteremined to lose another 70 lbs this year, I just started drinking a protien shake for breakfast and will begin exercising again. I hope everyone else is doing well. I feel great and glad I made the choice to have the surgery. THere is a support group meeting on Tuesday 19th of Feb.

You are not alone in the forum. Did you go to the support group meeting last week. Next month they will be doing a clothing swap so you can recycle your larger clothes for someone who may need them so they do not have to go shopping. I am going to resign up for the gym at the hospital that should help me kick start my weight loss. I have not been as diligent as I should be.

I started walking about a week after surgery. I did it gradually walking up and down the street. Then I walked around the block then worked up to 3 miles a couple of times but now I try and do 2 miles every other day depending on how busy i am at work. I was going to the gym after 6 weeks, I really liked that but it has been busy lately and may switch to the conway gym it is only 35 bucks a month cheaper than the hospital at 60 a month. I need to exercise more I have slowed down losing weight i need to kick it back into gear.

Hey guys, you will go through stalls it happens. The thing is not to give up this is a marathon not a sprint. I am 3 months post op and I am down 80lbs. Stick to the diet the best you can and exercise. I have slacked off exercising the past 2 weeks and I am not losing as fast as I was when I did exercise. Hopefully things at work and around the house will slow down so I can get back in the swing.

Every doctor is different how much have you lost. My doctor did not set a specific goal for me just to lose as much as I can. I only lost 20 lbs. I was on a liquid only diet. He wanted my liver to be as small as possible so he had more room to work.

I drank powerade zero and protien drinks to get my fluids, just keep sipping all day long do your best. Dont make your self sick but make sure you do not get dehydrated. my doctor told me that if you cant get your fluids up I could go in and get an IV to help. I never had to do that. Dont let your pee get to dark the clearer the better.

Meredith, I am 3 months out of surgery and I can eat anything that I would like. I still drink a protien shake for breakfast but now I put in a banana and some frozen strawberries for extra flavor and vitamins. Lunch I stick to protiens maybe left overs or a half a can of tuna or chicken. I make hard boiled eggs sometimes and eat either just the egg or make egg salad. For dinner I make a hamburger, girlled chicken, fish, chili, shrimp, stuffed peppers, anything actually. I stay away from carbs and sweets. If I do have one I eat very little of them. Once you are ready start walking it will help that fat melt away and firm up your muscles. You dont want to lose your muscles during your recouporation. (sp). So keep drinking your water so you do not get dehydrated.

Good luck Sparky you will do well. I will wave as I go to the support group meeting tonight at the hospital. If you are local maybe I will see you next month.

you will start losing. Remember to get up and move around the house. Do you still have your drain in or did he take it out yet. Dont look when they pull it out. That will aleviate some of the pain. Take your pain med at night if you need it to help you sleep. Remember to sip sip sip all day.

I am not sure how many of your are local to the conway/myrtle beach area, but there is a support group meeting at 6:30 at the hospital. Hope to see you there. Mimi I hope you are doing well.

Fantastic, Mimismom today you just have to wait for the leak test, keep walking around get that body moving, hopefully they will bring you some water to drink to get your mouth wet. The dry mouth was the worst part for me. When you get home set yourself up with some type of protien drink and some gatorade or powerade and sip sip sip all day long. You can have and 1 ounce every 15 minutes. So slow and steady wins the race. I had two rocks glasses filled with my cytomax (40 grams of protien) and the other filled with powerade and dipped little plastic jello shot cups in them and sipped all day long. I had a little nausea but the prescription pill handled that mainly at night. One of the pills kinda knocked me out and I would take that one at bed time the other one was a 4 hour pill and I took that one during the day. Get some rest but dont forget to walk around every 2 hours get that blood moving. YOu will do great.

I will give you a wave as I go to Dr. Washingtons office today at noon. I have to pick up a form for my bloodwork. You will do great.

GOOD LUCK MIMISMOM YOU ARE GOING TO DO GREAT.

Good luck Sparky you are going to do great, stick to that liquid diet get some powerade or gatorade for after the surgery. If you can start exercising now that will help in the recovery. If you are local myrlte beach area, dr washington's office has a support group meeting once a month. We are a very supportive group. At the last meeting we toured the wellness facility (work out facility run by the hospital). They gave us all a one month free membership with a one hour personell trainer. I have gone a few times each week. Once the nurses give you the ok to walk I would recommend it if you are able. It helps you from getting blood clots in your legs. the worst part initially is getting comfortable in bed and not being able to drink until they do your leak test. Otherwise it was a piece of cake. I had my surgery on April 18th. I had to do a 3 week liquid diet. I started at 361 pre liquid lost 20lbs on that and now I am down to 285 for a total of 75lbs so far. At least 85 more lbs to go for my goal of 200.

www.vitaminshoppe.com is the website the store is the Vitamin Shoppe it is at Coastal Grand Mall. Not the vitamin store at Tanger outlet their prices are higher.

Meredith, I am not sure where you live but try the Vitamin Shoppe they are cheaper than GNC and you can also shop online. There is a store at the beach if you want to go there after your appt. It is at the coastal grand mall. If you take a right out of the hospital, a right onto 501 going towards myrtle beach you wont be able to miss the mall about 10 miles or so on the right. Remember men most of the time lose faster than women. But remember the slower you lose your skin will be tighter and less flab. (that will be a plus). We did not put this weight on over night and we will not take it off over night. Even though I do want to lose these 3 lbs to get to 299. LOL. I will be in the office on the 29th at 1:30 for my one month post op appt. I had to push it back a week due to work.

Thanks Ivy, I am about a month post op and I am down 40lbs since April 18h. I have hit a stall it is frustrating I am 2 lbs away from being under 300 so that makes it even more frustrating. I have been walking and I can not cut these 2 lbs. But it does make sense that your body needs to adjust to weight loss. This is a marathon not a sprint so we all need to be patient. Thanks again Ivy for the reality check.

I am not a runner either but I have been walking about 2 miles every day or every other day for the past few weeks. I have had both of my knees scoped and weighed 361 when I started this. I was sleeved on April 18th. Start walking in small increments and build up to a comfortable pace. You should be able to talk without being out of breath. Work up a sweat and bring a bottle of Water with you as you walk. I have an ipod and put that on and go. I normally try and walk before I go to work so it is cool out I am not a fan of hot weather. I was just cleared to lift things so I am just doing some basic weight lifting curls as mentioned above muscle burns even more fat even when resting. Also I want to lose fat not muscle so siting on the couch will not do you any good. The sleeve is a tool not the magic bullet. We all know that this is the begining of a new life for us and we have to be even more diligent on what we put in our bodies and what we do for exercise, if not we should have never have risked our lives for this surgery. Sometimes I need a kick in the butt. I am on a short stall stuck at 302 and so badly want to get under 300. That is my first goal then 25 lb increments until 200.

Some are not as bad as others. I used Cytomax and they were ok, I also use Muscle Milk lite chocolate and strawberry, and Elite whey powder chocolate. For me they have to be cold. So when I use the powders I make them in the blender and use crushed ice it is like a milk shake. If you have not started walking now try it even if it is short distances. That way it will be easier for you to walk around after your surgery. DO not lay in bed all day you do not want to get a blood clot. Plus every time the doctor came up to see me I was walking up and down the halls doing my laps and he did not make me stay a second night .

The first few weeks it is tiny sips all day long. Now it is a little bigger sips all day long I am about a month out from my surgery and I need to drink more. I take a bottle of Water with me everywhere. I put one in my pocket when I walk around the block, go to the store, go over to friends house. even when I went to the movies to see the Avengers I took a bottle of my protien drink. THey want 4.25 for a bottle of water how crazy is that. So you will do fine just keep your fluids up.

Good luck Meredith. I have a follow up appt with Dr Washington's office on the 29th around 1:30 so you should be up in your room or in the recovery room by then. Keep doing what they tell you to do. Right now the only thing that I am having trouble with is drinking enough water. My pee is too dark I need to drink more. I dont want to get dehyrdated so I am drinking another glass of water. I am almost down to 60 lbs lost according to my scale (lol). I am right around 302. Walking is helping me and the doctor released me to lift things (carefully). I am going to wait to do sit ups and crunches. 100 more lbs to go for me to get down to 200 lbs.

You can do it Meredith. Just keep drinking your protien shakes. Start walking every day it will help you post surgery to have your muscles up. YOu will need to walk when you get out of the hospital. Drink plenty of water. If you need to eat something try a dill pickle

I had two rocks glasses with me at all times one filled with powerade and the other with a cytomax protien drink. take small sips all day long you do not want to go back to the hospital for dehydration. You an do it. I am about 3 and a half weeks post op and I need to increase my liquid intake so keep trying your best you will get through this.

My first consultation with Dr. Washington I was 361. The first day of my pre-op diet I weighed 358. I lost 20 lbs during my pre-op diet and was at 238 the day of surgery. Yesterday I weighed 306. So not to bad I feel good I need to walk more I have had a busy week this at work since I started back full time. I have been trying to walk 2 miles every day or every other day. I also need to increase my Water intake. The worst part of the surgery is the mouth dryness since you can not drink anything until they do the leak test. The second worst thing was when they take the drain out it is a litle uncomfortable and you side will ache that day. But for me it was not that bad make sure you get your nauseau pills they will help with any discomfort you may feel. Get up out of bed in the hospital and start walking slowly. Also start walking now before surgery so your body is used to it and it will make it easier after surgery plus muscle will burn more fat.

Welcome Kristen and Lloyd!!! Lloyd I am right there with you I should lose about 160 lbs by my estimation. That will put me at 200 even. I know they say that 177 is the right weight for my height 5' 11" but I think that is to small. Anyways I did the 3 week pre-op diet and it was tough I made sure that I got my Water in I drank a pitcher of water and a pitcher of crystal light every day then I drank my shakes I used muscle milk light powder and Elite whey powder. I still drink them now that I am on mushie foods to make sure I hit my protien goals. I am lucky I have not had any problems (knock on wood). I have been walking about 2 miles every other day. I am back to work full time. I eat very small meals scrambled egg or egg salad, I can have canned meats. In fact we went out to dinner last night and I ordered a crab cake appetizer and could only eat one small crab cake about 2-3 ozs. I do get cravings but I just look at myself in the mirror and tell myself no. It is not woth going back to the hospital or getting big again. I honestly believe that this 75% mental and 25% physical. You have to change your eating behaviors and your exercise routines (or start one). I am down from 361 from the start of all of this to today I was 306. So I went from 361 to 258 pre-op diet weight to 238 day of surgery to now 3 weeks post op at 306. Ladies dont shoot me men lose faster than women. So you all can do it lose as much as you can presurgery we all can do it.