theoldmusicbox

So very pretty! Feels good to hit our milestones doesn't it! Keep up the good work.

don't sweat it buddy. it'll come off. the best thing is to not compare yourself with others, because all of our roads are different, and it's way to easy to get discouraged. only 20? but ask yourself, when was the last time that you lost 20 pounds that you will never regain? in 4 weeks. you are doing great. good luck

Yep, we all get them. No, it doesn't really 'hurt' when the remove it, but it's longer than I thought it was, and it felt weird. Best description Ive got for that sensation. Weird. Don't sweat it though, it only took like 2-3 seconds to get it out.

my NUT said that on average, people who only drink diet soda GAIN 15 pounds a year. she explained it so much better than i am, but something about the carbonation, mixed with the sweeteners used causes an reaction in your brain that actually makes you FEEL hungrier and you end up eating more. so, yep, as for me, no more soda. ever. and honestly i have drank NOTHING but soda since i was 13 (im 37 now) i had my last soda in april of this year, and thanks to mio sweet tea, i don't miss it. but, there are sleevers that still partake in soda. but, for me, nah. good luck on your journey.

convenience does not have to get out of life. if so, i would be a total failure. instead of the chips and crackers, switch to things like string cheese, greek yogurt, turkey peperoni slices, thin sliced ham with fat free cream cheese. or similar items. chips and crackers fall into what we call 'slider foods'. sure, they taste good and go down easy, but you get no real nutritional benefit from them, and they end up being just empty calories. and they really dont do a very good job of holding off hunger. try to make even your Snacks be something relatively high in Protein. you may not be getting enough protein. that and water/liquid. protein and Water are your new best friends. good luck.

1st off, are you losing weight? If so, don't sweat it. All of us have a different experience. I think I can eat more than many sleevers, but, I have lost about 130 pounds since April 1. So, just keep yourself in control. The key is learning the difference between being full and being satisfied. We aren't trying to be full. Just satisfied. Good luck on your journey.

my wife has lost 62 pounds since my first meeting with the NUT on april 1st. she is a freaking rock star! (i do all of the cooking and grociery shopping, so, she said if she was going to eat healthy food, she may as well work on portions and excercise too)

i love this one. however, i could not help but to read it in yoda's voice. ready2bskinny, we all have bad days, the choices you make on whether to start over again, or lay down and die will be the difference between a bad day, and a bad life. you can do this, we all need help at one point or another. life is good.

ok, here's the deal. maybe i'm just having a 'i'm a fat slob' day, or something, but i was wondering if anyone else has this issue. i have seen my before and after pics. holy freaking crap, can i ever tell a difference. BUT, when i look in the mirror, honestly, i still see that almost 400 pound midget staring back at me. i mean, seriously, i've lost 125 pounds since april 1 of this year. i know that i look different, but, my eyes just don't see it. i read an article awhile back about your brain not being able to keep up with reality, and thought how silly that it was. i am only 26 pounds away from the 'high' end of my goal. my goal was to be between 175-220. and, well, maybe i'm just being a winey brat, but, i just want to SEE myself the way i look now. does anybody else have this issue, or am i the crazy one in the group?

While no one can answer this for you, I will say this much. 3 and a half years ago, I went through every bit of the 6 month prep requirements, then did not go through with it. In that time, I gained 20 more pounds. On april first this year, i weighed 373 lbs. I got sleeved on June 5 of this year and now on October 1, I weigh 243. I have went from a 56" waist and a 5-6x tshirt to now a 40" waist and a 1-2x shirt. I ran a 5k race with my teenage son in august. And I no longer feel like my body is betraying my desire to have a full, fun life. I am still losing 2-5 pounds a week on average. This surgery has it's risks. Many people have a really rough first couple of months. But many of us only have a bad couple of weeks. After week 2, I was feeling better everyday. And now, I live normal. If they have a local support group, I suggest going and sitting in. Then, you get to here all the ups and downs from folks that are really doing it. as for me. I would do it again tomorrow. I finally feel like I have control over my life, and my future looks good. I love my new life.

my local wls support group is doing this on oct. 9! i think it is an awesome idea. after years and years of shopping at the big and tall store (which was very ironic since i am only 5'6") and years of asking the walmart people "um, what do you mean you only sell up to 46 waist and 3x shirt? have you not seen the people that shop here?" i now have to go to the thrift store every couple of weeks to get new jeans! gotta admit, it's fun to go clothes shopping now. not only can i get normal people sizes, but, at the thrift store, jeans are like $5 and shirts are like a buck. i started out in a 56" waist jeans and a 5-6x shirt. last week, i got a size 42" waist and a 2x shirt. i used to get depressed because nothing fit, now i almost cry for joy because everything does! ahh, life is good. good luck on your journey

i was afraid of the same thing. but i have found that we can still have delicious food! my family all likes our new menus better than the old stuff. check out this sites http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/ http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ http://www.emilybites.com/ they are my go to resources for food recipes. we especially LOVE the emilybites. check out the line of cupcake meals that she has. i live on cupcakes now, and they are fabulous. my kids beg me to make these recipes, and as an added bonus, my wife that is a nonop has lost 62 pounds by eating these recipes and being my support person. life is good. good luck on your journey.

skinny sex is definately more fun.

that is still great. that puts you at about 179, right? ya gotta change your thinkin buddy. when was the last time that you were 179? the sleeve works differently for everyone. we knew before surgery that we weren't going to come out of the hospital with a hundred pound drop. it took us years to put on this weight, we can't expect it to fall off in 3 months. i know it sucks watchin the scale move (or not) very slowly, but hey, it's going in the right direction now! it won't be overnight, but it WILL be a reality that you make goal. i know it's dissappointing when you see other sleevers with higher numbers, but focus on the numbers that count. you have lost 47 pounds! that's freakin awesome. on another note, have you been taking your measurements? when my scale stops moving, or is going really slow, it is those times that my body is doing other things. i went through a 2 week stall, where i actually GAINED 2 pounds (talk about wanting to throw the stupid scale out the window and drive over it repeatedly with the truck) but in those 2 weeks, i actually lost a full inch from my waist and 1/4 inch from my arms AND my thighs. then, the stall ended. there are a ton of things going on in your body right now. dont lose heart. you are doing great!

dude, lookin good. it's cool to be able to tie your shoes without holding your breath isn't it!

since i've been seriously overweight for so long, my mind's eye has not caught up with reality. i still see the same old 'fat' guy when i look at myself. but, i notice my weightloss in my clothes. the uniform provider at work is really starting to get annoyed with me . if i put side by side pics of myself up, i can see the difference everywhere though, just can't get my mind to wrap itself around my new reality.

hey buddy, if you compare yourself with other sleevers, you will be constantly upset and disappointed. try to focus on the fact that youve lost SEVENTY-ONE pounds! woo-hoo, do the happy dance with me! we have to remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we all win in the end if we do what we're supposed to. you are doing amazing. have you ever lost 71 pounds in 3 months before? i did on adkins, but gained 80 pounds back. if you stay on course, that 71 stupid pounds is NEVER coming back again. you are doing great! be pround of yourself.

i think that we all have that fear. and mostly it comes from all of the diets that we've tried and failed with. i was terrified that i was going to go through all of this, and then still be in the same boat. well, i am 37, 5'6" my starting weight was 373, and now, i am now 249 and still losing about 2-5 pounds a week, depending on how my body decides to react to my new lifestyle. these fears will also resurface after surgery as well. when you hit what we call a 'stall' and the weight STOPS dropping. i had a 2 week stall, and a 1 week stall. each time, i thought 'see, i knew it wouldn't work for me, i am the 1 person that this wouldn't work for'. then, i had to remind myself that, hey, it will work as hard as i will. i have found that taking measurements is a good thing. it seems that during my stalls, i was not losing pounds, but i was losing inches. sometimes, your body just needs to adjust. dont let your fears fool you, the sleeve will do what it is supposed to do. now, you just keep doing what you are supposed to do. good luck,

Awesome, congrats. Hope to meet you at goal before summer 2013! I'm over half way there now.

'foods they can't eat' is generally something that your sleeve does not tolerate very well. not so much a medical restriction, but, a personal tolerance restriction. i am one of the very very fortunate sleevers. i have had practically NO complications through the whole journey, my recovery was pretty smooth after the first week, and now, at 3 months out, i can honestly tolerate any food that i've tried with the exception of some breads. when i eat some breads, it feels like i swallowed a brick and it feels like its stuck in there for a while. it doesnt make me sick, but it is uncomfortable so, for now, i avoid it. maybe in a few months, but hey, i have substitutes for bread and it's all good. it seems like the whole 'foods i can't eat' thing is different for each person. some have a difficult time with spicy foods, others can eat a volcano but not be able to tolerate dairy. unfortunately, there is no way to know until you make the plunge. many of us also have out taste buds change on us. for example, i LOVE cauliflower now. i tried it in the past and spit it out. maybe this is a mental thing, maybe not. but some things that i used to really like, even the thought of it makes me want to spit. and hey, dont worry about your family not supporting you. yeah, i know it sucks, but in the end, it's all because of ignorance and them not being educated in the facts of the surgery. once they see that you can live a normal life afterward, and be healthy, they will come around. when many people think of wls surgery, they think of the rny patients who lose a ton, but look sickly because of malabsorbtion. sleevers dont get that. we absorb all the nutrients, so, we tend to not get that sickly look. when they see the new you down the line, they will come around. i'm wishing you great luck on your journey

If we're being completely honest, I'd say that everyone regrets it somewhere in the first 4 weeks, kinda like 'what the hell was I thinking doing this to myself' moment. But, after you get past that (it lasted 1 day for me) the regrets go away for probably 99% of us. Then, the only thing you regret is that you let yourself get to the point that you needed this kind of help. I am 5'6" tall and started my journey at 373lbs. I wore a 56" waist jeans and a 5x-6x shirt. I was sleeved on June 5 this year. I am currently 251lbs, I just bought a pair of jeans from the thrift store yesterday that were 42" waist and I wear 2x shirts comfortably and can wear 1x but, I like looser clothes. I also ran a 5 k last month with my 14 yr old son. My kids can hug me and grasp their hand behind my back for the first time in their lives. And I could go on and on and on about how much I DON'T regret this choice. Like they said in earlier posts, this isn't easy, but, I've dieted several times. Some were successful, but when you hit the wall and give up, it all comes back. This way, when you hit that wall (we call them stalls) you can't just give up, and when you stick to the program, the weight starts coming off again. I work out 5 days a week, plus do walking. I see results now a lot better than before. As far as food goes, I'm around 3 months out, and I can enjoy any food I want except for some breads. I am a spicy food LOVER, and thankfully, I am still able to enjoy the heat, though occasionally, I do get heartburn a little easier than I used to. I would do this again everyday and twice on Sunday if it meant I could have this success.

Um, do you take blood pressure meds? If so, this surgery has been known to correct bp problems rather quickly. It's possible that your bp is better now and your meds are pushing you to a low bp. Monitor your bp, or check with your doc, could be time for them to drop your meds?

i'm sexy and i know it by lmfao! haha! sorry, couldn't help it.

my go to sites for recipes are here http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/ http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/ http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/ http://www.emilybites.com/ especially check out emilybites! she has about 100 recipes on her site, most of them have NUT facts with them. i live off of her 'cupcake' meal recipes. they are awesome. good luck.

ok, here's the recipe, but i must give credit where it is due. this started as a recipe for a side dish that i found on bariatricfoodie.com but i decided that with a few changes, i could make it spicier and a main dish! so, here it is Ingredients (I shop at kroger, if you shop elsewhere nut facts may differ slightly) 1 bag frozen cauliflower (2-4 cups) 2-4 oz. of three different kinds of cheese (So 6-8 oz. cheese total. You're using a few ounces of each KIND of cheese. I used 1/2 cup shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 2 slices Swiss cut/torn into small pieces) 1 egg, beaten 6 oz. container Greek yogurt (or 3/4 cup) 2 tablespoons parkay spray butter (take lid off, pour out 2 T) (I use this because it has zero or very little calories or fat) 1/4 c. whole wheat bread crumbs (i couldnt find any at the store, so i toasted wheat bread and crumbled it myself) 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese 1 lb Italian turkey sausage 1 small can diced green chili's (about 3oz) 1 small can diced jalepenos (about 3 oz) Dashes of: onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and Italian seasoning Directions Boil cauliflower florets until tender, drain And mash While its boiling cut the skin off the sausage and brown the sausage in a skillet chopping into bits then drain. Mix in mashed cauliflower, sausage, cheeses, yogurt, peppers and whatever spices you like, except the Italian seasoning (keep the cauliflower in the pot when you do this). Stir thoroughly then mix in the egg. Transfer mixture over to a 13 x 9 casserole dish. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and "butter." Spread evenly over cauliflower mixture and top with a healthy dose of the Italian seasoning. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until top is nicely browned. this makes enough for 8-10 or so 3/4 cup servings with the ingredients that i used, these are my nutrition stats for this meal. calories per serving - 210 carbs per serving- 9 fat per serving - 11 Protein per serving - 21 it tastes great, enjoy!