mistysj

You look great and I bet you feel even better!

Thanks Alex! This sounds perfect and i will be first in line!

It didn't get worse for me. I'm 10 days out so I guess I can quit waiting for the other shoe to drop!

Did you spread the Peanut Butter on the turkey! Inquiring minds...

You are amazing! And I love that dress.

Those are excellent results! Especially the a1c! Are you off your diabetes meds??

Nope. the incisions aren't really in the part of your abdomen that you tighten up to sing. I play trumpet too and no problems. I'm a week and a half out.

She is right, there is no such thing as pre-diabetes. The medical thresholds for diabetes in the US are way too high 120 mg/dl is already dangerous yet it is considered OK by most doctors, and they don't worry until you are over 170 mg/dl). I have had diabetes since 2005 if not earlier, and it has been in remission snide the second day post-op. my readings are consistently arou d 80 mg/dl now, WITHOUT metformin.

I am still having a cup every morning. I drink it black, which helps because I have to microwave it 2-3 times and still don't finish it.

Thank you guys for being awesome. I have learned so much from this thread. And I adore the fact that our members are having face-to-face meetings regularly too. We are awesome! Aussiegirl, thanks for the idea about spaghetti. It's not my favorite but I will consider it for the rotation. Maybe lasagna would work too although I would probably have to leave off the cheese "crust" on top as that would not purée well. I agree on the low-fat / fat-free thing. Though with dairy, low-fat dairy is made with 2% milk so it is not "weird", fat-free is totally weird. Full-fat milk is only 3% anyway, it's not like it is 50%. But I dislike low-fat salad dressings and things like that because a lot of chemicals are added. We have switched from butter to nuttelex except in cooking, and now we actually like it. We made that switch when I was trying to sort out some food intolerances and cut out dairy for a couple months (never did get to the bottom of it). I suspect that with the sleeve, the more natural and wholesome the food the better, since you are getting so much less of it. I actually really dislike the idea of all of the Protein shakes and supplements long term, and I'm glad I will be able to get off them eventually. My mother and her husband are "health nuts" but what it really means is that they eat almost 100% highly processed low-carb and low-fat "health food." For years, when I visit them I buy my own food. Today is my last "sick day" and I aim to enjoy it! I have made the list of things I will cook for purée week 1. We are going shopping tomorrow morning and I will do most of the cooking tomorrow and a little Sunday. My goal is to freeze portions in a muffin tin and then pop them out and freeze in zip-loc bags. Then I can just grab 2 "pucks", a yogurt, and a pot of purée fruit to take to work. I am a bit nervous about how it will go at work. I wonder if I will remember to eat, if I will get my Water in, how/when I will schedule my walking, and how hard it will be to get back into the groove of an 8-hour work day. I am also a bit tense about a trip I will be taking to India in July and what I will be able to eat there. I actually found a thread on here with Indian Sleevers and subscribed to it to get some ideas. I will be in north India and most of the "Indian food" in Australian restaurants is modified South Indian cuisine, so I am not likely to get much help from my dietitian on this one. I found a bariatric cookbook by an Aussie author, called "Your Complete Guide to Nutrition for Weight Loss Surgery" by Sally Johnston. It is really good and has a whole part about nutrition, and then lots of recipes for each phase. There is another book I will recommend called "The Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients" by Colleen Cook. She has a website where you can pay a yearly subscription fee to get access to all kinds of workbooks and other support materials. The website is a bit US-centric so I have not paid, but I found the book to be great and I am sure I will re-read it when I am closer to the maintenance phase. Do any of you Brisbane folks attend an in-person support group (besides the meet-ups)? I am not really a "joiner" but I keep hearing that people are more successful if they are in a support group. My surgeon didn't inform me of any support group that is part of his practice. Sorry for the long brain-dump. I'm not sure why I am so chatty today!

Wow I never thought about that. Very good point.

Blood sugars getting more unmanageable going up to 9 mmol/l (178 mg/dl) Ending Optifast after a year and immediately gaining back 20 pounds of the 40 I lost. Oh and sorry this is backward because I got on Optifast because we couldn't conceive because I had PCOS. The doctor detected uterine cancer and I had to have a total hysterectomy at 32, so there goes that dream. But that woke me up and I committed to the medically supervised Optifast for a year and it was hard. It was the pre-op diet for a year. And I only lost 40 pounds. I needed to lose a lot more than that. That's not to mention all the psychic damage from being a fat kid, never dating or having a boyfriend until I was 22, my daddy dying at age 45 of a heart attack when I was 18. The writing was on the wall that it was going to me, and sooner than 45. I felt like an old woman with my bad feet, bad ankles, bad knees, tummy apron, shortness of breath, yeast infections in my fat folds. I'm only 35. I missed my teens, 20s, and half my 30s because of this. Sure I have had some good experiences and I'm married to a lovely man. But it could have been so much richer. And the rest will be.

I use Retin-A and it is a prescription but cheaper than most of the moisturizers. A tube costs me $60 and lasts a year.

Cool I found this too. http://www.mom365.com/Wisdom/Moms/Perfect%20Chicken%20Puree.aspx

I'm so happy to hear this! Any tips on getting the chicken smooth?

You are my hero! Thank you so much for sharing this. You look so great!

Welcome, Kitikat! I think this is the best and most supportive thread on VST. There is a whole forum on here related to band-to-sleeve conversion too. It's such a gorgeous day in Brissie! I hope you other Brisbanites are enjoying the weather too. I just got back from a walk and now I'm on the deck with my Water.

What app are you using?

If you are having diarrhea the best thing you can do for yourself is get some baby wipes. Use one for you and one to clean up the toilet seat/rim. The last thing you want is a UTI too.

Man. People are such a$$holes. You are losing weight and soon you will be at your goal, but they will still be stupid. They must feel really bad about themselves if they have to make fun of a stranger to feel better. You are so much better than them.

Morning all! I was so lazy yesterday with the cold and rain and didn't get a single walk in. Today it's gorgeous so I plan to take two 30-minute walks. I'm still working on my Breakfast so will take the first one after that. It's hard to believe that my two weeks are almost up! I go back to work on Monday and start the purée phase Tuesday. I've been told to eat 6 times a day during this phase and only 1/2 cup at a time. That means I need to eat 3 times at work each day. Does anyone have any recipes? For breakfast I will have porridge or semolina, or ricotta blended with fruit. For morning tea I can have yogurt and puréed fruit or mashed banana. For the other 4 meals I have been told to have something that is half meat and half veg/starch (rice or pasta), with a good amount of sauce and blended smooth. I think I would like to make 3 different-tasting things that I can freeze in half-cup size portions. That way I can just toss them in my lunch bag in the morning. I have a small fridge in my office at work and there is a microwave. I have to drink one Protein shake a day as a liquid, not a Meal Replacement. I am very busy during the work day and I go straight from work to band rehearsal on Tuesdays and don't get home until after 10 pm, so I need to make this as easy and organized as I can.