mom2five

Oh, I forgot to answer the question about meal planning. I don't really do that. I should. I have every intention to but I'm a procrastinator and I leave everything to the last minute. I wish I could be like those people who prepare their meals on Sunday and freeze them...but I never do. I just try to make sure that I have things available that I can eat. I make sure we have plenty of beef Jerky, cheese, lean meats, eggs, tuna, chicken, cheese, yogurt, etc. so that when it's time for me to eat, I have good choices. Lately, I've been eating pork rinds as a snack. The BBQ ones that I buy have 80 calories, 8 grams of Protein, and 0 carbs per 1/2 ounce serving....and I can eat the whole serving...so, to me, that's a great snack and it satisfies my craving for chips, and crunch!

First of all, thank you all for all the compliments. It really blew me away to see all the comments on this post! I want to say that I don't think I have done anything more/different than anyone else. If you look at percentages, I probably haven't lost any faster than anyone else. 600 calories do fill me up...actually about 400 calories will fill me up but if I have a Protein shake, I get about 600 calories... it's hard for me to choke those things down though.. yuck. I try to make them taste better, but even then, I feel so full before I'm done with it... But it is getting easier. I'm not keeping my calories that low on purpose. I just cannot eat much at a time. Sometimes I will get out a portion of food thinking I will eat it all but I never can. Even if I try. I love to do Leslie Sansone's workout videos. She has the "Walk Away the Pounds" series. That's all I do. When the doctor cleared me for exercise, I started doing the One Mile walk. It was hard at first because I wasn't used to moving around that much, but slowly I worked my way up, and now I do the 4 Mile fast walk. There are 2 4 Mile workouts that I do. One uses weights and the other one doesn't but it has intervals where you jog. The first time I did the workout that has jogging intervals, I was in tears because I would've never thought I'd ever be able to jog! It is so exciting to experience the changes that are taking place! I still can't wrap my brain around all these changes... Losing 94 pounds in 5 months is mind blowing! But, for all of you pre-ops or new post-ops, remember, I was YOU just 5 months ago... looking at pics and wondering if I'll ever lose the weight... hoping I'll be successful... and if I can do it, you definitely can! You just have to follow your doctor's advice. I'm working on my food issues in my head. I think that is the biggest part. Before surgery, we eat for all sorts of reasons, and rarely do we eat because of real hunger (because we don't allow ourselves to get empty). But we have to learn to think of food as fuel, not fun. (I think I borrowed that line from Banded Wendy on YouTube) Something I have been battling is late night eating. That has always been my worst thing. Eating just because I'm watching TV or whatever. But, I do fight it and for the most part, I am doing pretty good with it. Another thing is emotional eating! When I was about 2 months out, my husband and I had an argument and I went in the kitchen and got a bag of chips, a candy bar, and a coke!! I took it to my bed and I ate 3 chips, one bite of the candy bar and I took a drink of that coke! I felt like I was going to die...or puke... I didn't puke but I really regretted trying to eat my feelings! I was so frustrated that I couldn't do that anymore! It was a dumb thing to do, but I was working through my mental battle with food. I have not eaten chips, candy bars, or tried a sip of coke since then. Believe me, the carbonation was not friendly to my sleeve. Plus the fact that I was eating and drinking at the same time. UGH! Anyway, we have to learn to stop turning to food for comfort, or something to do when we are bored. And if we keep working on this mental battle, I think we can all be successful at losing and keeping off the weight. I think something else that really keeps me motivated is watching YouTube videos on weight loss surgery. There is a whole community of people on there who have had various weight loss surgeries and they post videos weekly. It really helps to watch others and see the struggles and successes they go through. It helps prepare me and inspire me! I highly recommend that, if you aren't already doing it. Just go to YouTube and search Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, or VSG, or WLS... I learn a lot of stuff even from people who've been banded or had the bypass. We have differences, but a lot of it is the same. Again, I appreciate all the comments, compliments, and questions. Thank you all! Oh yeah, yep I really do have 5 kids. They are all my biological kids too... as you can see from the before picture, I gained a lot of weight during pregnancy and after my kids were born. I'm working on losing 20 years worth of baby weight! LOL

Yes, I have lost some hair and my doctor said it's because of the lack of Protein. I hate Protein shakes, but it's no excuse... I really should do better on that.

I don't think I am more successful than others. My sleeve seems to be pretty small. I can only eat about an ounce or a little more at a time. I keep my calories pretty low...about 600 per day and I keep my carbs under 20 if I can... I don't do well with my Protein though. I never get enough...I don't recommend that though. I do exercise almost every day. I think that really has helped with the weight loss.

Wow! Thank you all for your comments! They make me feel so good!

Thank you! I do feel great. I still have some to lose, but I am enjoying the process! You will do great! I chickened out after I posted this and tried to remove the pic. LOL

I'm so excited. Last week, I hit ONEderland! I'm now 197.8 lbs! This is a big milestone for me... It's the halfway point. I'm actually a little more than halfway now... ONEderland! and I'm not morbidly obese anymore...I'm just obese! So I'm really excited. Here's a pic. Before, I weighed 274 lbs. Today, I weigh 197.8. I am 5 ft. tall.

Thanks everybody! I am definitely enjoying the process! I'm just trying to follow my doctor's advice... but others are right. Everybody loses at their own rate and we shouldn't compare ourselves to each other. I'm losing kind of fast, but I had a lot to lose to begin with. I had 150 pounds of excess weight to lose. People with more to lose seem to lose faster at first. But if you look at percentages, it really evens out to about the same for most people. At 4 weeks, I had lost a total of 30 pounds... and 20 of that was post-op.. so I don't think you are losing slow at all! I think my sleeve is on the small side. I can't eat more than about an ounce at a time. Sometimes a little bit more now but not much. So, I don't get a lot of calories but I do try to get around 60 grams of Protein. I'm keeping my carbs under 20 if I can. I exercise every day...or try to. This week, I have only gotten it in about 3 times because we have been so busy.

It's not too hard for me to not drink with meals, but the waiting afterward is the hard part. I actually don't time it. I just wait until I feel like my food has digested... about 30 minutes.. sometimes more. I should time it but I'm too lazy.

All I have to say is you are gorgeous!!

I was sent home from the hospital on full liquids which includes creamed soups. So, that was like from day 3. My favorite was cream of chicken soup thinned with a little 1% milk.

My surgeon said to drink decaf and I could have as much as I want. He also said to limit caffeine or eliminate it completely. He also said that I could have ONE cup of regular coffee per day. If I drink coffee, it is regular coffee... but I don't have it every day. Before I started my weight loss journey, I would have up to 3 cups of coffee per day, but I just don't crave it like I used to. For me, I don't see the point in drinking decaf. But, that is just me. :-)

I drink coffee. Not every day. I drink a cup every other day or so. I don't crave it as much as I did before surgery. I am 13 weeks out and have lost 62 pounds.

OTR, I've looked up to you ever since I first started coming to this board. I totally respect your confession. We all fall off the wagon occasionally. I am only 13 weeks out, and my biggest fear is that I will lose all my weight and then have a relapse and gain it all back. You are setting an awesome example by coming here and admitting you backslid and showing us that you are getting back on track. I hope that I will be able to follow your example if/when my time comes. This is your journey... and we all learn from our journeys. During the process, we learn to change our thoughts about food. I've heard that the mental changes are quite a bit harder to make than the physical changes. It is a process for all of us. I know you will get back on track and be stronger than ever. :-)

Great job! You look gorgeous!

That's cool. I've heard about other people eating 2 or 3 ounces at my stage and earlier and I wonder if something is wrong with me! I just can't eat more than an ounce of anything... usually less. But, I'm doing well, as far as having energy and stuff. I wasn't trying to say you are eating too much.. not at all because I know others do it too. I'm thinking my issue might be that I am so short and maybe my stomach was really short too and now that I'm sleeved, I just don't have much space in there... I'm looking forward to eating slightly bigger portions. :-)

My only question is... how did you do it? I'm 12 1/2 weeks out and I can't eat half a hamburger with bun... I can't eat 1/4 a hamburger with bun... or without bun. I am afraid to try bread. I could probably take 3 bites of hamburger patty and be done. You had your surgery a few weeks after me... I just don't see how you did it.. and I'm not saying it judgmentally. I'm just in awe. LOL

I have this picture that I hate of myself before surgery... I decided to try on the clothes I was wearing in the pic and what a difference! I'm so happy and excited! I love losing weight! I've lost 58 pounds in 11 weeks.

I think you and your gf should get some counseling and try to work through these issues. Relationships have all sorts of phases. Even in marriages, people go through dry spells where you feel like just friends or like it is going nowhere... You wonder if you even love that person... ppl can't just end their relationships over that. I am willing to bet that if you stick it out and maybe get some counseling together, you will be happy again. You are going through a lot of changes right now because of your surgery...it is not a good time to make a huge decision like this.

I'm 12 weeks out. I feel the same way. 3 to 4 bites usually fills me up... and there have been times that I was like... geeez!! I wanted more! But, for the most part, I'm very happy with my sleeve. I can only eat an ounce at a time.. sometimes less. If I measure by volume, 1/4 of a cup is more than I can handle. A lot of times I measure out my food and still can't finish it. It can be frustrating! But I've lost almost 60 pounds, so it is definitely worth it!

Protein is very important, but more important at this stage is to stay hydrated. I couldn't tolerate protein shakes that early out either and I just concentrated on getting my fluids in.