castiel

This is one of mine too. I usually have to use beach towels to make sure it wraps and covers me completely!

I really really hate that I can't drink with or after a meal :[ It's been the hardest thing to deal with post-op. It does push the food through faster (apparently) and it also takes up too much room in your stomach with such limited space to get in all your protein needs

I'm going to have to take a look at my multivitamin and see how much iron is in it. I have an appt with my surgeon on friday so I'll ask him about it. Unfortunately I don't think he's going to order blood work for me. I'd like to know how my levels are.

Is anyone else feeling emotional? I don't think I was an actual food addict, but I do have PCOS, and I'm just wondering if my hormones are out of wack. Everyday I feel like crying or just laying in bed and I can't explain why. I don't miss food that much and I find it hard to care to get in my protein and water

I was searching the forums for being cold and this one came up! I find, post-op, my extremities (hands and feet) get cold very fast. And it's winter time here at my university. They get so cold it's actually painful. It was 19 degrees today and even though I had gloves on, I had to feed a meter. My hands hurt so bad from the cold I almost wanted to cry walking to class! So yes, I can totally relate to being cold (I even have two pairs of socks on in bed right now lol)

-tuna fish -egg salad -chilli -thin sliced deli meat -sliced cheeses -beans -soups -google shelly's ricotta bake (although the mozzarella i found a little hard to digest so go easy on sprinkling at first)

Yep, the first 3 weeks post op, I could sip and sip with no issues. I could finish 16 ounces in under an hour. But once you move to soft foods and solids, you'll feel restriction, and you have to balance not drinking before and after eating which makes getting everything in harder

I'm at another stall this week, so I changed my goal to 15 pounds from 20. I hope this stall will break soon!

It really depends if it's financially better for you. You could wait for your insurance to kick in and cover the surgery, and you have to go through the insurance hoops too. You have to ask yourself: do you need the surgery ASAP or could you hold out another year? Then again, if you have the surgery now, in a year from now, you'd be closer to goal.

I had a dream post-op that I ate too much and I tore my stomach staples open. That was scary. I find post-op, I have more intense dreams now.

I stepped on the scale today and it went down 3 pounds! I'm at 243. I can't recall the last time I was this weight. I've been above 250 probably since junior year of high school. I hit my highest weight ever of 275 my freshman year of college. It feels odd, but I'm glad the scale finally moved. I can't believe I'm 43 pounds from onederland. I remember hitting 200 pounds in middle school and crying. My best childhood friend told me that she remembers me crying about it to her. I think by May I could be in onederland. IN TIME FOR GRADUATION... WHOOHOO! They say the first 6 months you lose the most. And I get to start the gym this week. My family has a membership at the Y, so at least I can get back into bike riding (which i miss like crazy) and build up some stamina before Sunday when I go back to school. I'm really nervous about heading back to college because I go to a school where there are literally less than 20 fat students on campus. And from noticing the lack of visible fat people on campus, I've immersed myself within the body acceptance and fat acceptance movement online. I've come a long way in accepting and loving myself and reclaiming the word fat. Fat is just a word. It does not mean you are worthless or disgusting. My journey is about doing incredible physical things with my body and helping my PCOS as well as trying to prevent health issues that run in my family. I have history of diabetes, heart attack, and stroke in my family. And that's just from my mother's side. I don't know anything about my biological father's history, so my stepfather's (whom I've called dad all my life) doesn't count lol. I go to a school that's very privileged, where the wealthy are thin, and I see first hand that thin privilege exists. Anyway, I'm nervous for college because my gym is full of thin young men and women. It's constantly packed. I've never set foot in the gym because it makes me so uncomfortable being the only fat person there. My dad says I need to say screw it, because this is about me, not them. I'm bettering myself. I just wish there was a plus size network that I could connect to at school so we could go together. Maybe my roommate will go with me since her doctor told her she needs to work out to help with her stress headaches. I just don't want to be looked at or whispered about. And I don't want to look like an idiot who doesn't know where the equipment is or how to use it because it's different than the Y. The weight area is generally full of men, and the women's studies majors have written theses about it, but I gotta scout out to equipment and weights before I use them. I know there are some women on sports teams that use it, and I want to use weights too! In the meantime I might buy myself a set of interchangeable weights besides the 5 pound weights I own now. I really want to get on board with toning and building muscle in my arms WHILE losing weight, not after losing weight. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ In other news, I'm going into my 4th week on the food stage. Which means soft foods, and I started today :] I had 3 hard boiled egg whites. I made the mistake of not chewing enough, I was too eager, and I didn't have pain per se, but this incredible full feeling bordering on discomfort as if the eggs were something hard in my stomach. I chewed more diligently after that. I also finished the rest of my pureed chicken from last night and had about 3 small meatballs. I felt guilty, but I ate a little thing that I shouldn't have. It was 90 calories and 10 carbs, and all you need to know is it had chocolate on it. It was soft so I wasn't worried about it not going down. I mean I'm even allowed to have crackers (SO DRY) at this stage. I also found out peanut butter is hard for me to get down without it feeling like a paste is slowly leaking down my throat, just sitting there not making it down, even though it's on my list of foods for the soft food stage. So maybe I'll try it again later this week. Tuna is probably going to be my go to food. I can eat a whole can no problem. I also bought light mayo. I know I should've gotten fat free, but I need to work my way down to it because I knew it was gonna taste gross. I don't notice a difference with light, so once I get used to that, I'll eventually buy fat free in a few weeks. I'm still having issues with not drinking for a half hour after I eat. I'm forcing myself to mark the time when I stop eating, and try to wait it out. I miss drinking with meals so much. The small portions and limited list of foods I can deal with, but not drinking anything before or after is killing me. Who would've thought that out of all things, drinking with meals is what I miss most. My main issues prior to surgery were eating foods that were a matter of convenience, eating large portions without feeling satisfied, and eating foods that were really bad for you but tasted delicious. I'm waiting for the food mourning to kick in a few weeks from now when I see things with bread that I want to eat so badly, or how easy it is at college to just grab that box of pasta and boil water and eat all those carbs. Eating is going to be hassle for me with all the planning. I plan on carting sippi boxes of muscle milk light in my bags from now on I'm wondering if my PPIs aren't strong enough because I feel hunger, and I know that can be confused with acid. When I ate dinner tonight, I was able to eat a cup, A WHOLE FREAKING CUP, of unpureed chili over the course of 20 mins without feeling sick or getting to that full point where I feel it sitting in my esophagus. I'm scared I'm going to give myself a leak. I need to be committed to measuring my food. Only 1/2 a cup. AND THAT'S IT. I see people on here who can only manage a few table spoons, meanwhile I'm sitting here with no nausea and eating like a champ. I don't want to be a failure. WHAT IF MY SLEEVE IS TOO BIG? what if my nerves are so dulled, I can't tell that I overstuffed myself and I give myself a leak? This is why I need to measure my stuff more accurately and not eye-ball things. There could be bad consequences (besides not losing weight) because of it. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ I noticed that there aren't a lot of blog updates on this site. I thought about making a wordpress blog or something like that, but I'm too lazy. The tumblr WLS community is small, and I don't connect with many of the users. I could use my old livejournal, but I don't know about that since I use it for other things. This is kind of like a diary for me, to look back on my thoughts and issues during my journey. I get comfort (and paranoia) to know that people are reading my posts, even if it's just one person.

I work out at the Y when I'm home. It's low key compared to chain gyms and they offer free classes if you're a member. You have to weigh the pros and cons like location and hours. Which has better ours and specific equipment you might want to use.

My nut told me that most of her patients can't deal with the taste of clear protein the first week and to not worry about it. But my clear liquids consisted of: -chicken broth (wonton soup was a life saver from a restaurant) -powerade zero or gatorade zero -crystal light -water

You definitely need to go to the ER and get set up with an IV and a possible pic line. Seek a second opinion. The doctor didn't find a stricture? What are you eating that makes you throw up? Is it everything?? or something more specific like chicken or dairy? Can you eat pureed vegetables?

Chili: 1lb of ground beef, 2 cans of Campbell's tomato Soup, 2 cans of dark kidney Beans. Add as much chili powder as desired. It's tasty and not too spicy or has peppers or other spicy stuff which might aggravate the sleeve or acid reflux (although sometimes tomato products do that anyway) Tuna fish with some mayo and red onions

64 pounds in 4 weeks?! WOW! Congrats! I would definitely say getting in all my liquids is really hard. And not drinking after meals or even with them is still a huge issue for me 4 weeks post op. I'll get the hang of it eventually. As for the baked chicken, maybe you should try pureeing it until you can try again at week 6. Or what about canned chicken? That's softer and mushier!

I can say it does get better. I'm almost a month post op, but I've had no complications and only some days do I feel tired or crappy. Try getting in all your Protein and remember to hydrate. I don't know how your diet works, but I'm already on soft foods and I feel almost normal while eating. It's just a matter of measuring stuff so it doesn't get stuck or feel like it's rising back up in your throat. GOTTA CHEW AND GO SLOW. Savor every bite. It will get better. You just have to keep telling yourself that.

I don't really know how your insurance works, like after you gain the 8 pounds, do you have to wait two years? But looking at the number, it's only 8 pounds. That might not even be a full pant size. That seems so little for a procedure that you'll lose within the first week post-op. If you are really considering that this surgery is right for you, I think it would be worth it (but that's just my opinion). 8 pounds for a life time of a healthier you.

Hi Hannah! I see that you're 19 and I just wanted to say this is going to be an incredible journey. You have so much ahead of you! I'm 21, and I've met people who've had VSG and they said they wish they could've had it when they were our age. I'm hoping this procedure is going to help our health and be a preventative tool for common health issues like high BP and diabetes when we get older. I know it's rough now, but I'm going to be a month post-op on the 17th and I've been blessed with a relatively easy surgery and a great recovery. No nausea or major issues following my diet/eating foods. Sometimes I still get pains, but just remember to take everything slow. Even getting up and out of bed. I've heard that a heating pad can help with pain to relax your muscles and may become your best friend. I hope you were prescribed pain meds too. I wish you a smooth rest of your recovery free from issues and complications. Best of luck! If you need someone to talk to feel free to PM me :]

I haven't updated my blog in a few days. I worked out on Friday and was finally able to get my heart rate low enough to burn fat. Granted I only rode the bike for an hour, but hey it's better than me doing high cardio and only being able to do 30 minutes without my muscles feeling like they're not even in my legs. I headed back to college on Sunday. It took me forever to unpack, but I was left all alone on what I should make for dinner. I didn't feel like going through the whole process of making chili or defrosting chicken or fish. So I went to one of my quick food options: Barber Foods Chicken Cordon Bleu. 250 calories for a 5oz piece (a little high in fat) only 11 carbs and 24 grams of protein! http://www.barberfoods.com/Our-Products/Category-One/chicken-cordon-bleu.aspx I popped that in the oven for about 35 minutes and bam! a fast meal ready to go when I was unpacking. Perfect portion size. Unfortunately, at the time I misread the label and thought it was 4oz and I tried to eat the whole thing. It was only in the last few bites where I could feel it come back up. It's weird, I don't get nauseous or feel like I need to throw up, it just keeps rising in my esophagus but never gets high enough for me to help get it out. Even gagging myself doesn't do anything. So I don't know. After last night's episode of having that feeling of food rising, I realized I need to measure my food. I just have to do it. I've eaten a whole cup of chili before with no issues, and then I was forcing myself to fill my mug only half way for about 4oz instead just because I knew I was supposed to do 1/4 cup servings but I was doing 1/2. I felt like I was eating too much or maybe forcing myself with only a bite or two too much and having that rising feeling. This is why it's important to measure, so you don't over eat. I was just eyeballing it, BUT NO MORE! I made tuna fish to bring for lunch in between class and I packed a baby wedge of cheese that had 6g of protein. I had a few bites of the tuna late last night while making it so there was less for today. I ate the tuna for lunch and half the cheese wedge. My internship didn't start today, so I found that out after I went in. I went back up to my room, waited a bit and drank a muscle milk light and the other half of the cheese wedge. I later ate 4 crackers with 2tb of peanut butter. After my last class, I made myself some ground beef with taco kit seasoning. I got out my 1/2 cup measuring scoop and put the meat on a little plate and sprinkled it with cheese and salsa. I started eating and I was getting these weird pains. So I was only able to eat half (or in this case 1/4 cup of food) without feeling too full. I think the 1/4 thing was right. My eyes are still bigger than my tiny stomach. I'm adjusting and learning. I'm only going into my second week of soft foods. I'm eating the rest of the beef in 2 hours or so. I'm trying to get in all my protein because I'm still not losing weight even though I thought my stall was over. Then part of me was wondering, by not measuring my chili and other foods, was I getting too many calories? Or I could I not be getting enough? It could also be the spices causing me pain. I'm just not sure. The other thing is that I don't own a scale at school. So I won't be keeping track of my weight loss. I have a doctor's appt on the 25th so I'll find out if I lost any weight then. I'm also going to start exercising at my school's gym on Wednesday. They're open til 10 or 11 and my school's gym is PACKED. I peer into it every time I'm on the shuttle and there's barely any equipment open. I figure going later is better because not a lot of people want to work out late at night. I'm a night owl so I don't care as much. I think my best work out days will be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. I don't party or go out on the weekends (not like I can drink now hahaha), so I'm hoping the gym will be barren in the evenings. Here's to hoping!