joatsaint

Silly me, here I was thinking the zipper thing was a new fad in jeans!

Way to go! But next time please include pics of the buns you "walked off" for proof! :-P Keep Pimpin that Sleeve!

My #1 is, I wish I knew how much control the sleeve would give me over that little voice. The one that almost constantly told me I was hungry. Just that one thing would have convinced me to have the surgery years ago. Everything else from the surgery is just gravy!

For the past few weeks or so, I have been trying to get my protein from solid pieces of food like chicken or pork loin. Up until now, I’ve been eating ground chicken or ground turkey – meats that were partially broken down by the grinding process. But now that I’ve switched to whole pieces, the switch brings up new issues. When I was eating the ground meat plus vegetables, it was all mixed up like a casserole and keeping track of portions was as easy as spooning some into my half cup container. No muss no fuss no leftovers. Now it’s more difficult to judge just how much I can eat at one meal and I often wind up with a few bites leftover. Enter the problem. I’m a kid of the “clean your plate club.” I was always encouraged to clean my plate (I think I got a merit badge, I was so gifted) and now that old habit is coming back to haunt me. Even when Frankensleeve (Yes, I named him!) is telling me I’m full and if I eat any more, he’s going to put the stomach in reverse gear, I still feel compelled to eat the last two or three bites. Frankie: "Hey were full up down here, turn off the chewing machine." Me: "But I still have 2 bites of meat left." Frankie: "Okay guys, send up a burp as a warning." Me: Burp. "Oooh, that one feels like it squeezed past some food to get out. But I'll go ahead and eat those last 2 bites." Frankie: "Okay guys, put it in reverse!" Me: "Uh oh." Now, I am training myself to put the fork down and walk away. I really want this compulsion out of my life. It’s like having to go through the first few weeks post-surgery all over again. Learning when to stop and not take just one more bite – especially when it’s something extra yummy! Frankie and I will just have to build a new relationship I guess. P.S. Frankie really doesn't like freshly dug, boiled new potatoes! Leave me a comment and let us know what issues you struggle with. It helps everyone to know they aren't alone. Keep Pimpin that sleeve!

I am glad to be of some help. We all go through a lot of things without realizing that there is probably a lot of people experiencing something similar and not realizing we all have common issues. So I try to share my experiences in a humorous way and let everyone know that they are not alone in this...ummm.. No! I refuse to use that word! trek? No., odyssey? No., safari? No., migration? No., expedition? No. Oh, man I hate this word, but there just doesn't seem to be an adequate adjective to describe the process? No., we are going through. Ok, just this once I'll say it - So I try to share my experiences in a humerus way and let everyone know that they are not alone in this...journey. Oh, God! I think I felt something important break inside me. P.S. If anyone knows a different, suitable word I can use to replace "journey", please let me know. I think we should band (or sleeve) together and lobby Congress to banish "journey" from the English language and officially replace it with the new word. Or maybe not, we'd probably just run the new word into the ground sooner or later.

My pain was in the base of my rib cage, where the hernia was repaired. It felt like that "chest burster" from Alien was trying to get out. :-P Had lots of noise in my stomach and gas pains in my shoulder.

No, you are definitely not alone. I too am a slow loser - and worse, I magically gain back a few pounds without even trying. But overall, the scale slowly moves down. I try to be satisfied with that. I think we don't hear more about slow losers because it's not really as exciting as those lucky enough to be dropping 20+ pounds per month. But I do think we are the majority.

I rolled up a comforter to prop myself up. I had to sleep propped up and on my back for the 1st week. I wasn't able to lay on my side till about day 10, until then, I felt a pulling sensation inside each time I tried to lay on my side. Was finally able to lay flat and on my side the 2nd week.

Yeeeaaaa, Super Size that baby! Do you think I can get them to add a scoop of ice cream on the apple pie? Too bad they don't sell deep-fried ice cream, like we have at the carnivals.

If you are lifting weights, then you may be gaining muscle - and it may only seem like you are not losing weight. Or your body may be hanging onto every calorie because you're working out so much. I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is a marathon, not a sprint. And everyone has to figure out how their body responds to different caloric intake, weight training, and cardio. I personally have been gained back 3 pounds 2 weeks ago - and have been stuck there for the past 17 days. I've been walking harder and longer than ever before, but just can seem to start the downward tick on the scale. It's pretty damn frustrating. And I know that I haven't eaten anything more or different over the past 2 weeks. But this morning, I hopped on the scale and was down just over 1 lb. Hopefully the weight loss is starting again. I've been through these 2 week periods several times in the past 5 months and I am assuming that my body is just getting use to it's new weight level and caloric intake, then it realizes that this is the new normal and starts the weight loss again. Man! I am so envious of those lucky people that report 25 lb/moth weight loss. To all those that have lost 100 lbs in 6 months, I salute you - and have a standing offer to take you to McDonald's for lunch. Muahahahahaha

I guess it's true - it ain't easy being green. :-P

I haven't had any problems with caffeine - in coffee or in Crystal Light or taking caffeine tablets. But that's just me, your stomach could be different. For example, I could not eat sugar free popsicles the first few months, now my stomach is happy with them. Other people have reported no issues with popsicles from day one. Caffeine is known to irritate the stomach, but I would also be inclined to think that the instant coffee or powdered creamer you are using my also contribute to the issue. The only real way to test your new stomach is to try each of the ingredients by themselves if possible.

I'm 5 months out. I try to eat about every 3 hours, even when I'm not hungry. It could only be a bite or two, but I do eat.

I started off with small goals. First, when shopping, I parked as far away from the stores as I could to get in some extra steps. Then I did that plus I'd walk every isle in the store. At work, my goal was to make one lap around the inside of the building 4 or 5 times a day. Now, 5 months later, I am walking 30 minutes before work and 30 - 45 minutes during lunch. My goal was always do as much as I could till it hurt then just a little more. It adds up over time.

Milk of Magnesia did it for me! 2 - 3 tablespoons full and lots of liquids. In about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs, it was GO TIME! No cramps or feeling like it was an emergency, just that little feeling of, "you need to get to the bathroom soon." :-P

It does, it does! I don't get haircuts anymore, the barber pulls hard on my chest hairs and it pulls the hair on my head back in. Much better system. :-P

I'm 5 months out and can eat anything. I've tried jerky and my stomach didn't even grumble, but I did thoroughly chew it before swallowing. When I try a new food, I take a very small bite (1/2 teaspoon size) and wait 5 minutes. If after 5 minutes and my stomach is okay, I have had no problems eating more. And I saw it but didn't buy it today - Oberto's BACON JERKY at Wal-mart! Nom nom nom! Can life get any better? :-)

Yea, and it pulls your chest hairs out too when they take off the electrodes the next morning. :-P

Yep, I was tired and exhausted every day for over a month. Then things started to pick up and was feeling my old self again.

I agree with enigmachik, I'd rather have loose shrinkly skin rather than tight and fat.

I was in denial right up to the time they rolled me into the O.R. When I had to scoot from the gurney to the operating table, then it hit me, "Sh*t's gittin real up in here!"

I never felt guilty about eating post-sleeve. But I did feel scared. I was afraid I'd eat too much and stretch out my sleeve and sabotage myself. As far as feeling hungry goes, if you are like me, pasta triggers my hunger. If there were noodles in the chicken soup, I know that the noodles would make me hungrier, the more I ate and after a couple of hours, I'd have a carb crash and be hungry again. But when I was only 1 week out, I wasn't allowed anything but full liquids - like protein shakes and chicken broth or creamy soups with no solid particles.

I am a popcorn fiend when it comes to movies. Gotta have my fix. My plan is to pay for half my friend's large popcorn (he gets one free refill too) and bring in a small paper bag and fill it from his bucket. Although, now that I think about it, he likes that awful butter topping on his - it upsets my stomach. Ok, plan B, smuggle in a pack of white cheese popcorn from Wal-mart! Although I do prefer my popcorn hot. They have self heating meals now, can't wait till there are self popping pop corn bags. But it could get noisy using one in a theater. :-P