Globetrotter

It has been 12 years since I was in an 18, 14 years since I was in a 14, and 17 years since I was in a single digit!! I have lived in a "uniform" of jeans and 3/4 sleeve plain knit shirts since 1999. It's kind of ironic that only in the months before making the decision to have surgery did I finally find stylish stores online for plus size! Kiyonna, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer, JJill ...

Go to a thread in the Ladies Room entitled, "now there's a side effect". I think you'll get a kick out of it and find it informative!

I have 128.8 pounds to lose to reach my initial goal. My surgeon's goal is higher than mine so as far as he is concerned I only have 108.8 pounds to lose. Since all of us on this thread have over 100 pounds to lose I have a question: Did any of your surgeon's tell you that you have a certain window in which to lose the weight and that you have to lose X amount of weight by a certain number of months out? I ask because that is what my surgeon told me and his is considered one of the preeminent VSG surgeons in the world. He said we have a 9 month window to "work" the sleeve, after which we just lose like "normal" people. Because of that, and because of how much I had to lose, he wants me to lose 75 pounds by my 3 month surgi-versary. I'd be thrilled to do so, but it seems like I may be a slow loser so am a bit anxious.

I love taking the time to put on make up, granted it is a rare occasion that I wear anything beyond tinted moisturizer and tinted lip balm but when I make the time to do my hair and make-up, it is almost like a zen thing for me, because I am taking the time to beautify myself. It doesn't have to be a chore to apply make-up! There are so many advancements in make-up technology these days, I swipe on Almay invisible foundation, it's freaking amazing! I don't know how it does it, but it goes on white and then turns the color of my skin, if it weren't for the obvious blemish I knew I was covering, the first time I used it I wouldn't have known where I put it on my face! So between that and my old stand-by Bonne Bell Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker, my face is done in 45 seconds!

I think that body type is actually easier to dress than mine. I'm big on top, big in the hips, but I don't have a super tiny waist. I do have thinner legs, but that just makes the hips look even bigger. If I dress to fit my hips then the legs are just swimming. If I dress to fit my chest then the area between the shoulder blades has wads of extra fabric. Guess I'll just have to learn to sew!

Lollollollol! I don't actually have a scale - I weigh at work on a big old fashioned doctor's scale in the medic's bay. I try to only weigh once a week - but I cave every time, it seems now that I weigh once every 2 days. I will try to be stronger and not wander to the medics bay. :scared0:

Thanks everybody, update!: I upped my fat, included some cheese. I also knew from lower right abdominal pain that I was probably a bit constipated. Took some miralax, got things moving, and when I weighed myself I was minus the "gain". I then took my shoes off and "lost" another pound and a quarter!! Who knew that keen hiking sandals weighed so much!! I don't know if it is because of my nearly all-meat diet or if I am the only one but, does anyone else have issues with regularity and um, dryness of bm's? If I don't use a laxative, I don't go. Well, I can go, but without help it is just once a week and really painful. Anyhoo, TMI I know!! But thanks for the encouragement everyone and if you come up with any higher fat foods I could eat that are still good for me, let me know!:scared0:

I get mine in the PX - I live/work on a military installation. The soldiers love their protein powders, shakes, pills, etc!! I use Body Fortress Super Whey Shot - 26g's of protein, 110 cals. They taste horrible but at only 2.9 fluid ounces it is easier to down that then to slowly sip an equally horrible protein shake. You can also get protein shots online at drugstore.com, amazon.com, gnc.com, and I'm sure others. I've noticed that on days where this is the first thing I have in the morning, I have great energy all day and low interest in food.

Making time to sit down and eat is also making time to sit down and focus on yourself, a trait that we overweight folks often aren't good at. The world will still be there after you have paused to take a moment for yourself and because you have taken care of yourself, you will be better able to respond to the world!:scared0:

I recently started a thread called looking for snacks and people gave me a lot of great portable ideas, one of them was the 100 calorie packs of cocoa-dusted almonds. Take protein shots too so you don't short yourself on protein!

And don't forget Two - you still have tons of general anesthesia swimming around in your body. This was my Mother's biggest concern for me regarding the surgery, she has always worked in the medical field and she knew that general anesthesia does bizarre things to the emotions and the body. For example, a week after surgery my scalp got crazy itchy and started flaking like the worst case of dandruff ever, and then it went away. And yep, that pain sounds like gas pains to me, that's what mine felt like when I tried to lay on my back. This was major invasive surgery, would you go back to work the following Monday after having your appendix out? I'm grateful I was able to take 3 weeks (I'd saved up vacation time for a year). This too shall pass and when you go in for your first check up with your surgeon and see the weight you've lost, you'll be stoked!! :scared0:

Stacy, I got all choked up reading your post, after that story you have GOT to post a pic of you in those jeans!!!! And hey, with the bizarre fashion these days, I wouldn't be surprised if those jeans are back in fashion!:scared0: You could do what the blogger Eggface did with some jeans she wanted to keep as a memorial to her journey - she cut off a piece of the embroidered leg and turned it into a coin purse.

It is true that fiberous foods take a little longer to digest but I am exactly 2 months out and I have experimented with some tomato, cucumber, cold bean salad, green apple (with skin), and today I will try a wedge of orange with membrane. I'm not saying I chow down on all this stuff, just testing the waters. For me, it is a treat. I make sure I get my protein quota in and then I let myself have a treat of cucumber vinegar salad - when I can get my hands on some! The only foods I am still nervous about are tiny seeds and broccoli, because I've heard the tiny seeds can be dangerous and I've heard accounts of broccoli induced stomach pain.

But still not a chick!!

Thanx guys for the support! Chilo, I'm doing 600 a day because that is what my surgeon told me to do. With the limited food supplies we have and further limited by what I can eat, I find it difficult to eat right and get in enough calories to hit 600. Peanut butter is starting to piss me off, delicious but not high enough protein to justify it so I'm going to stop keeping it around - too easy to just mindlessly reach for.

Yes they do have foil packages of flavored tuna salads, ham salads, and chicken at the PX. I am staying away from tuna right now due to a recent case of angioedema brought on by a tainted batch. I also try to stay away from the canned products as I don't want even more sodium in my diet, what with all the jerky I have to consume. I could eat boiled eggs but they don't sit well in my esophagus. Meat loaf is great but we get it only rarely. I'm 8 weeks out, what vegetables can I eat with surity? We sometimes get a veg medley, baby carrots coliflower broc. but I'm basically living off meat and protein shakes.

I just got a tape measure so I don't have historic measurements to compare to. My ACUs are baggy but there's been no change in a week. I have had to move my belt in a notch, but again, no changes since. To see a gain at this point is just heartbreaking.

I work in Iraq, embedded with the Army. Dehydration is an issue, food is at a minimum and hard to find the right stuff, I wear body armor and fly in harsh conditions, also ground transportation is rough. I'm currently living off of canned turkey, jerky, and protein shakes.

Due to my unusual circumstances, which I'm sure most folks here are aware of, I need to have snacks available. It isn't for snacking, it is because I put in 12 hour days in a harsh environment where my food options are minimal at best. I'm sick of sweet drinks and jerky, as my initial post indicated. When I'm in an MRAP in full body armor my choices need to be portable, dry, and satisfying. Hence the nuts. Also I'm having difficulty getting in enough calories again now that I'm off the peanut butter. Todays food - myoplex shake, canned turkey, jerky. That's all I had available.

Gosh, you guys are worrying me that these almonds will be too delicious! So I'll probably parcel them out into servings in individual ziploc baggies and put 5 for the week into the fridge and hide the rest.

I am on the ActiGall, started it one month out and am taking it twice a day for a month. They are massive red and white pills that I have to take with lots of Water or they get stuck in my throat. What I wish I had known/done beforehand: It would have been smart to have my house stocked up with a wide variety of Soups, Protein powders, and shakes. I agree with everyone that samples (of p. powder) are the way to go, but you should still have a variety already in your possession. I underestimated how tired I would be and how I would not want to go to the store. I didn't know beforehand how bad the acid reflux or whatever it is, would be. I didn't know how often I would be constipated. I too thought I would lose consistently/rapidly, I figured coming from my high numbers that this would happen. It isn't. I didn't know that your taste buds change after surgery, didn't know that chocolate and bread and who knows what else, would taste gross to me. I'm really glad that I had a wand emulsifier, it made whipping up protein so much easier and it's easy to clean. I'm really glad that I had a family member with me 24 hours a day for the first week, I didn't know how weak I would be. I'm glad I took off 3 weeks, some people talk about bouncing right back but I'm glad I didn't assume I would be one. Actually, I think I should have taken 6 weeks.

I actually did save some clothes from high school. Apparently kilts are coming back in a big way for fall and I have a cute one from back then, I'm not saying I would actually wear it but it will be a great goal outfit to be able to fit into something from HS!!

My Last Supper was bruschetta, made a la the move, "Julie & Julia", the ultimate food porn movie IMO. It was incredible.

Sorry kid, if you're not in yo thirties, you just don't know!:001_smile: If you weren't old enough to Celebrate the millenium, be on your way! A friend of mine who is a few years older once told me this decade was called the "dirty thirties" I didn't get what she meant till I passed through the gates. As a woman, your thirties are somethin' else entirely!!

Keys & Immore, I guess I should be grateful then that cashews are on my new FIUTL list - Foods I Used to Love. I have some cashew butter someone sent me and I was excited until I ate some and it tasted like nothing butter, the very essence of bland. Almonds are great, one of the most diet-responsible nuts so I feel that with good judgement and only eaten after my Protein is in, that they will make a good choice for snack. My only concern at the moment is that I will spend time and money getting these only to have it turn out that almonds are on the FIUTL list too.