deedadumble

Stop weighing every day.

I think it makes much more sense to set other goals other than a specific weight. Way do you want to do with your new body? Do you want to hike up Half Dome at Yosemite? Run a 5K without stopping? Learn how to surf? Go zip lining? One of the things I have to continually remind myself is that I can't control how fast I lose the weight. I can control how much Water I drink in a day, how much Protein I take in, how much exercise I get, and how well I track what Im eating. The weight loss will happen if I do all of these things... it won't happen just because I set a weight loss goal. Enough of the negative self talk! Look in the mirror and repeat after me.... I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me! Set a goal to do this 5 times a day.

Learned my lesson this weekend... Running every day is a good way to get injured. Finished W5D3 on Sunday and on the walk home my knee started hurting so bad I had to keep stopping and let it ease up before walking for a little longer. I think I just overdid it. I've not been running for the exercise lately, I'm running to take my mind off of a personal issue I'm trying to deal with. In the past, running has always been the way I deal with stress. Throwing my knee out through my back out a whack as well. I've also been working 14+ hour days the last week which has sent the nerves in my arms and wrist into a tizzy. I'm a wreck! Thanks to Fiddleman my back is feeling better. I order one of those bed of nails from Amazon and its amazing how much relief they provide. My knee seems to be easing up, so I'll probably get back running tomorrow. Love my fitbit! Here are my stats for the last week:

I just got the Yurbuds with the over the ear clip. They were $29 at Best Buy. Here's a link tho Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Yurbuds-Ironman-Performance-Earphones-Black-10200/dp/B00503ZT9E/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1375308935&sr=1-11&keywords=Yurbuds

Thanks! My loss is up to 70 pounds now. Still very thankful to have my sleeve.

I appreciated the postings with detailed experiences the most before I had surgery, so here's my take on things. Overall, I had a really good and easy experience. I have had 5 surgeries in the past: an extremely painful C-section, a low pain hysterectomy, a very low pain laproscopy/uterine ablation, and 2 knee surgeries. I'm pretty tolerant of pain, but I don't ever try to push it. If I need pain pills/shots I get them. I would rank this very close to the laparoscopy/ablation for pain. All my pain levels except right after surgery were less than a 3, but I kept on top of getting pain meds. Right after surgery, when I woke up I had some pain and just asked for pain meds and they were there in a second giving me something. It was about a 5, but could tell it was progressing. It didn't last more than a few minutes after the pain meds. Before arrival: Check with your cell phone company to see if they have a Mexico plan. Check with your bank to see if you can use ATM in Mexico (most can't), if not, bring cash. You can exchange for pesos at the hotel desk. Everywhere I went accepted dollars, so no real need to exchange. Arrival: Heading out of the airport keep tunnel vision and don't pay attention to the people there trying to get you to try tequila or give you a ride. Your ride will be in the next room towards the right side. There will be people there that insist that you are on their list. Keep walking and look for sign with your name on it. They will take you to a small room where you will wait a minute or two for the driver. Ana Karen will probably not be there to meet you, but she will be staying at the hotel, so if you want to see her, just give her a call. She is very sweet and will help you with anything that you need. Dr. Lopez also stays at the hotel. Hotel: The hotel is pretty nice. The pool is heated and there is a hot tub. You won't be able to get in it after surgery, so take advantage before. Getting around: Taxi service is cheap, but the roads are very bumpy. I took a ride downtown after surgery and it did me in for the rest of the day. A shorter ride to the pier would have been better. Food: The broth at the hotel is good. One version I got was amazing, but couldn't figure out how to get it again. You can order from room service or at Champions. You could probably order from the restaurant by the pool, but I didn't try because I wasn't hungry. They don't have popsicles or Jello (or any that we could find), so I did without. We did get a wonderful orange juice and mango smoothie (ice and orange and mango juice) from the bar the last day. It was a nice change. Hospital: The hospital was the nicest hospital I've ever been in. There is a couch in the room that your guest can sleep on. It's ok on the comfort scale. It was new and all the equipment was new. All the nurses are new and pretty young. They aren't the best at starting IVs, but I have really hard veins to find. My sister (ER nurse for 30 years) helped the nurse find a good vein after I bent the first one while sleeping. There is an odd mix of new technology and new hospital, but some older practices. They have alcohol in a metal container with cotton balls instead of individual alcohol wipes. They used ace bandages as leg compression instead of the automated inflated leg compressors that our hospitals use. I didn't see anything like that though that would increase risk in the operation. After surgery: The best advice I got was to walk, walk, walk. Every time I woke up after surgery I would get up and walk. The first time just a little bit down the hallway, and a little bit further every time. Even throughout the night. I woke up every hour or two and got up and walked. I had very little gas pain. I would also advise burping as much as you can to get rid of it. I took a heating pad, but never needed it. I would still take it if I had to do it over, because you never know. I had a bit of nausea the second time I woke up after surgery. I could feel it starting and immediately rang for the nurse to get some meds. It didn't come back. Dr. Lopez gives you the option the day after surgery to stay another night or go to the hotel. I asked Karen if most people go to the hotel after one night and she said yes. I planned for 2 nights in the hospital so I didn't have enough clothes to wear, but I just wore stuff twice... no biggie! I had a pair of loose pajama shorts that I wore in the hospital under my gown. The drain and tube is cumbersome, but bearable. The doctor will leave it in until you're at the hotel. It didn't hurt to take it out, just felt weird. Things I'm glad I brought: carmex!, pajama shorts, Water flavors (mio, crystal light, etc) Things I brought but didn't need: Heating pad, ear plugs (the hospital was quiet), sleep mask, sore throat drops Things I wish I brought: Tylenol (sometimes needed a little bit of pain relief, but took the prescription from the hospital), more unjury Protein broth mix, unflavored Unjury (could have mixed it in with the mango smoothie), bandaids (for the port incision) Doctors: My sister (ER RN for 30 years) was extremely impressed by the hospital and the doctors (she wanted to take Edgar, the anesthesiologist home with her... you will too!). Dr. Lopez is very good. I was extremely happy with my choice to go through him and to have it done in Puerto Vallarta. Results: my surgery was 1/17/13. Including the preop diet, I've lost 31 lbs. My BMI was 38 before surgery and is down to 33. Loss is slowing down the last two weeks, but hoping to increase my exercise levels soon. I am already so glad I made this decision. Looking forward to a healthier 2013.

I also went to Dr. Lopez in PV. Cost was $5,600. Airplane ticket cost is higher than TJ as well. I went to PV because I wanted to take my sister with me and she needed a real vacation. Total cost of my trip, including airfare, surgery, food and drinks, and tips was around $7,000. The hospital was brand new. My sister, who works as an Emergency Room RN, was extremely impressed by the hospital and doctors. Here are some pics of the view from my hospital room, view from hotel, beach at the hotel, and the pool at the hotel.

Some of it can be attributed to a slower metabolism, but if you're realistic with what you are eating and stray calories are not slipping in due to mistakes in measurements or calculations, try doing the calculations for how much you should realistically be losing according to Calories Consumed minus TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). For example, here is my calculation when I started: Height: 5'11" Weight: 265 Exercise level: pretty low TDEE: 2,522 Calories: 800 Deficit: 1,722 * 7 days is 12,054 One pound = 3,500 so expected loss is 12,054/3,500 = 3.4 lbs per week! Surprising huh? Of course, in the beginning excess Water weight is lost, so the rate of loss may be higher. I actually have lost around 2-2.5 pounds per week, but I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, both of which reduce my metabolic rate by about 10% each. Now, here's my calculation for last week: Exercise level: High (5 days of 10,000+ steps including Couch to 5K training) Weight: 199 TDEE: 2,793 (higher because of exercise. If exercise was the same as before it would be 2,162 because of a lower weight) Calories: 1,000 (I'm 6 mo post op) Deficit: 1,793 * 7 days is 12,551 One pound = 3,500 so expected loss is 12,551/3,500 = 3.6 lbs per week! I actually lost 4.5 lbs last week, so I probably had some water loss. Have you tried doing this calculation?

I'm a slow and steady loser. I'm 6mo 1wk out from surgery and I've generally lost 1-2 pounds a week after the first month. I decided to challenge myself to stay on program (64ou+ Water, 60g+ Protein, 30m+ exercise, and track all food) until my birthday next week. I started a week ago and weighed in today and I lost 4.5 pounds!! I didn't do anything hugely different, but I think the combination really helped get the scale moving. I also exercised 4 days for more than 60 min (30 min was walking at 17min mile pace). SW(1/17/13) 265 HW (10/15/12) 273 CW (7/25/13) 195 Height 5'11" Goal 175

I have fibro and had surgery in Jan. I've lost 70, with another 20 to goal. I would say that losing has helped me become more mobile, but hasn't reduced the pain. I am jogging and walking every day up to 60min. I grit my teeth and bear the pain. The exercise doesn't seem to make it worse or better, but I feel better mentally. Because of insurance, I've had to switch from Cymbalta to Gabapentin. My pain was under control with Cymbalta. I tapered off of Cymbalta gradually because it has the worst withdrawal symptoms. Since the switch my pain has become progressively worse. I told my rheumy I would give it 2 more weeks with a higher dosage of Gabapentin, but if that doesn't work we need to get the insurance to approve me to get back on Cymbalta. I've also tried tramadol, mobic, and OTC NSAIDs.

I would recommend waiting for several reasons. The first is at 14 going on 15 your daughter is still growing. The growth plates in her bones have probably not closed. The beginning phases of diet restriction from the sleeve will not provide enough nutrition for growth and development. Second, you mentioned that the other diets that she has tried have not worked. Has she been fully compliant with the diets and not lost weight? If so, she may have a metabolic disorder that should be identified before surgery because the sleeve will not fix metabolic disorders. You should have her thyroid tested and take her to a Gyn for testing for polycystic ovarian syndrome. Third, If she's tracking on MFP, have her follow the basic plan for the sleeve... 64ou+ Water, 60g+ Protein, 30+min exercise, and track all eating. If she eats that much protein and drinks that much water, she shouldn't be as hungry. Fourth, the first few weeks after surgery are going to be a full time job for you to track and get in your water and protein. It's going to be extremely difficult to manage both of you in that situation. Finally, until you've had surgery you have no idea what it's like. Having her watch you go through it will give her realistic expectations.

Today was my first weigh in day after starting my birthday challenge and holy moly I lost 4 pounds and am down to 195!!! I exceeded all my goals for the week (64ou water, 60+g protein, 30min+ exercise, and log all food. It's amazing what happens when you stay on your program! I've lost 70 pounds from when I started preop and 78 pounds from my highest weight in Oct '12. I'm only 20 pounds from goal! I don't normally set weight lost by a certain date goals, but my birthday is in 9 days. I'd like to get to 190 by then, but based on my averages, 193 is more realistic. Planning on doing W5D2 today if the rains clear off. Does anyone else run on consecutive days? Do you recommend it or not? I've never been able to in the past because of soreness, but I haven't been sore this week since I started running every day.

Finished W5D1 today. Still completing the workout and then walking back, so getting 60 min of exercise a day. How is everyone else doing? This is the first week in a long time (surgery was in Jan) that I am excited about weighing in. My weekly weigh day is on Thursday. This week I came up with my birthday (8/3) challenge to stay on program and get at least 30 min of exercise, 64ou water, log all food, and get over 60g of protein. I can't control my weight loss though, so I don't like setting weight goals, but I can do the things that I know will help me lose weight. I was at 199 (yeah onederland!) last week. Based on my weekly averages I will maybe reach 195 by 8/3. I haven't been that low in 20 years.

Be careful where you poop when running!

You look beautiful! Hope you feel that way too!

I have pretty bad arthritis in both knees and multiple injuries and repairs in my right. I started getting Orthovisc injections 2 years ago and although they hurt like crazy to get them, they have helped tremendously. I also take Megared Joint Care, which has krill oil and hyaluronic acid (same stuff that's in the Orthovisc). I really notice a difference in my pain levels when I don't take it. I've taken glucosamine and chondroitin before and never could tell that it did any good.

Here's my 2 cents.... I was following the thread to see how it was working for the vets because I figure I'll be there someday. Then it was moved and I can't even see the thread because I'm on the iPad, so it seemed very exclusionary to me. I think that if the group had been created and the thread not been moved and instead been left to die a natural death like all threads do that don't get many posts, no one would have noticed. There's also not a lot of info on the iPad version about how the groups work and how to gain entry into a group. I understand the reason why it was done, but I think that a 1 year cutoff is arbitrary. Most of us are adults and can hopefully make our own decisions about what is right for us.

No monthly charge. I got my Fitbit Flex on Saturday. Both Sunday and today I was about 2000 steps from 10,000. I wanted to get the flashy lights for getting to 10,000 (I am easily motivated ), so I went out for a walk. I would have never done that before the Fitbit!

Thanks so much! I needed that!