delta_girl

My fav is Siggi Skyre, but I have only found it at Whole Food.

It happens, and may happen again. At 5 months out and getting close to -70 lbs, I get comments like "you are going to blow away" and "eat a hamburger!" I still have 38 lbs to go till goal. Go on ahead and get a few responses ready. I don't think people mean anything evil by it. They think they are giving a compliment. Thicken your emotional skin. I say things like... really? or I wish! or wink at them

Try baby foods

That's the size I skipped as well ...12s. Interesting.

Are you getting in your Vitamins? B12, Calcium, Iron, D3? That could be it. During one stall I had, a friend who had bypass surgery told me to go out and get a hamburger or milkshake to shock my system. So I did. Yup, shocked my system alright. I got a sundae and could only eat about 3-4 bites. It worked, though.

The sleeve does not "stretch." The fundus, which is the stretchy part of the stomach, is removed. As your sleeve heals, the swelling goes down and relaxes. You can challenge your sleeve by eating too much, which can begin to feel normal to you if you do it often. There are a lot of discussions in the forums on the topic of sleeve stretch and has been a question many of us have discussed with our surgeons.

Asian grocery stores sell concentrated miso. It comes in several varieties. Health food stores typically sell it as well.

Bumble Bee Sensations - Sundried Tomato & Basil Tuna Medley (3 oz) with 3 pork rinds. I threw the crackers that came with it away. I'm 5 months out.

I eat out a LOT due to my travel, work, and graduate school schedule. I do many important business meetings and some social or working lunch meetings with coworkers. I've noticed that people don't pay that much attention to your food. Order a cup of soup if that helps. It will be a very small serving and inexpensive. If anyone asks, just say that you are not that hungry right now. Eating is a basic function of survival. It shouldn't cause anxiety. Our culture creates that anxiety in us. Give yourself permission to eat when you are hungry and only eat as much as you want. Don't worry about anyone else.

I was severely addicted to suger pre op. Now I rarely eat it and when I do it is very little. I'm just not interested in it much anymore. At around 5 weeks out I ate some creme brulee and it made me really ill. Now I just have one bite of something and that does it.

Try the exercise where you press your tongue to the roof of your mouth for 2 seconds then relax, then do it again 60x. You can do this while walking or just sitting at your desk at work. It addresses the muscle and tissue of that part of your neck. I have two aunts who are in their 70s and they do this exercise frequently. They do not look like 70 year old ladies. They are pretty fabulous looking.

Background: At almost 5 months out I've lost 64 lbs. It has not always been easy. The first 8 weeks especially had a lot of ups and downs. On Jan. 1, 2013 I stopped drinking shakes/protein supplements per my surgeon's recommendation. I did have a stall for about 4-5 weeks in which I lost not a single pound, but my clothing was looser. After 2 weeks of extra D3 and Calcium, my weight loss has returned. I started at 219 lbs and am now 155 lbs. I had around 4 different sizes in my closet and I have gradually cleaned out my closet as my size has changed and things became too big. I took some things to a consignment shop and the rest went to Goodwill. At this point, I have some things that I can still wear, and have many clothing items that are baggy. I'm not quite ready to invest in a whole new wardrobe. I have 40 lbs to go to my personal goal of 115 lbs (5'3"). My doctor set my goal for 128 lbs, which makes me 27 lbs from his goal for me. Current State: My body feels so weird to me now. My layers of safety (fat), my buffer against the world (fat) is so reduced. My health is better, my health issues are gone, my skin quality has improved. Yes, I am losing a lot of hair and shedding all over the place and have to keep a lint roller nearby (not complaining). As I sit here relaxing on a Sunday afternoon, still in my pajamas (hard week, I'm indulging in some extra laziness), my body feels so weird. It is so unfamiliar. I am beginning to be able to feel that I have bones in my body. I feel so light. My pajamas are so loose. Even the $4 pair of jeans that I wore yesterday (I got them 2 weeks ago at Goodwill) are now baggy in the butt. I have a waist where before there was just a lot of bulk. My body is alien and my mind is not catching up. I still think of myself as a very fat person who has clothing too tight or that I buy things too big to try to hide my size. My car seatbelt is different on my body. A bra feels so different. I've gone from a 2 or 3 xl to a medium. For the first time since pre-surgery, I tried on some pants and the size 20 I was before is now a size 10 or 12 (though I haven't bought any new pants). I eat 2-3 bites of cake and am more than satisfied. I have a glass of wine. I eat at a restaurant and can make 3 meals out of one serving, if I even want to eat it again. I can make 2 meals out of an appetizer. I'm not sure if that is a true normal because my normal size friends eat much more than I do. I can socialize in any situation and eat or drink, though it isn't extreme. My body just feels so weird. Like it belongs to another person. Another 27 or 40 lbs and I can't even imagine what it will feel like.

Didn't work for me at all. I'm losing handfuls of hair every day.

This didn't work for me. I make protein a priority. My hair is falling out by the handfulls.

D3 with calcium. Exercise. Plenty of sleep. Fluids.

food funerals are a high anxiety/fear reaction and very typical. I did it to, but with moderation and actually lost weight the weeks that I had many food funerals. It really isn't necessary, though. The reality is that you will probably be able to eat almost all of the things you enjoy now. The aspect that is shocking is that you won't even want a lot of those things anymore. I was a sugar addict before and would prefer anything sweet over anything else. Now I don't care if I eat it or not. I don't even want it most of the time and if I eat too much I get sick. Now I would rather have cheese. I eat out a lot because of work travel, and I don't even want things that have a lot of fat. I no longer want anything fried...actually can't stand it. I don't want any things with heavy sauces. They are gross now. The only thing that I miss just a little bit is beer.

Lots of change in my feet. My shoes that were too tight before are now almost falling off of my feet.

Get busy. It will help. Exercising is a great stress reducer and it will make you feel a lot better when you are feeling down.

I regret nothing at all. It was the best thing I've ever done for myself in my entire life (another was getting rid of all of my credit cards). Health issues are resolved. I move more easily, my balance has improved, my skin looks better, my attitude overall is more positive, I can shop in any store now. I eat out frequently (due to work travel) and enjoy what I do eat, I have a glass of wine when I want, I can exercise longer, I feel lighter, I take more time with my appearance. Yes, the first 8 weeks had a lot of rough spots, but it was SO worth it.

Today I'm 155 lbs. My goal will be 145 lbs. Surgery on September 26, 2012 Highest weight 219. Current loss is 64 lbs. My weight loss has slowed down a good bit after a 4 week stall and I was 4 lbs shy of my Valentine's Day challenge.

For the first two weeks after surgery I had a TON of energy. Just make sure to keep taking your multivitamins and keep up with your B12s and iron.

Crackers are one of my "old foods" that I still can't get away from. So now I keep Goldfish crackers and 34 degree crackers. http://www.34-degrees.com/

This sounds a bit like the conversation I had with my surgeon about bougie sizes. He asked why I wanted to know, then when I told him because I had read about it here, he said that bougie size has nothing to do with what size your sleeve will be. It just helps them "see" when they are doing the surgery to determine how they will proceed. After hundreds and hundreds of vsg surgeries, I would guess that they can look when they are viewing your anatomy, take into consideration your height and the shape of your stomach, and determine what will be the safest, yet most effective seal size for you sleeve.