DUBrookie03

The fact that we even have to discuss this, prepare a story, ect ect is ridiculous. Sorry. I just hate that society in general has this FREAKISH urge to "out" people!!! Mind your own. But on a side note, I used my hiatal hernia repair as my cover story, and added the fact that I have been working with a dietician and weight loss doctor since last May. No one thinks otherwise! If some one asks you how you are losing the weight just tell them a lot of hard work. And then ask...jealous? LOL

High Weight: 288 lbs Surgery Weight 12/24: 277lbs Today: 225 Went from size 22 to size 16 so far. Oh and I can no longer shop at Lane Bryant!!! I bought 2 dresses recently in their smallest size and they are too big!!! It is AMAZING being able to buy clothes in the regular size section!!

Made a delicious smoothie tonight for a snack, and I didn't use any protein powder (GAG) It tastes like a buckeye! HAHA for those of you who dont know what that is, it's like a reeses cup only shaped like a buckeye nut. Makes two 2/3 cup servings: 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I use trader joe's brand b/c it has the lowest sugar content that ive seen) 1/2 cup skim milk 1/3 cup sugar free chocolate pudding (made ahead of time with skim milk) 1 TBSP of PB2 (PB2 is a peanut butter powder sold in the organic or health food aisle, it's awesome!!!) Each 2/3 cup serving has 10.5 g of protein!

Ok so I have lost over 60lbs since I began this journey last May. 51 of those have come since surgery on Dec 24. It's crazy because I know I am much smaller, I've gone from a size 22 to a size 14/16 but I still look the same when I look in the mirror! And what's crazy is I never thought I looked that big before. HAH my body image is clearly off. What I really wanted to document was the fact that I just went and picked up some stuff that I ordered from Lane Bryant. I'm proud to say that this order will be the last time I shop there. Even the size 14/16 stuff that I ordered is really too big for me! I walked past NY&Co on my way to LB and wondered when I will be able to fit into that stuff. I think I might be there! Granted it will be the biggest size they carry vs being the smallest size they carry at LB but hey, to have the joy of shopping in a regular size clothing store....PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!

I was told 60-80g for women. 90 is excessive for a woman and is usually what they recommend that men get! I try to shoot for 70 most days myself.

Did they measure you at 5'8" or is that what height you have always been and gave them? Only asking b/c I have been saying I'm 5'7" my whole adult life, but I am now only 5'6" and 3/4 inches. While I qualified at either height, you may want to have them check and if it's not exactly 5'8", that may help push you closer to 40.

Walking is fine! Just don't be lifting weights this early

I had that and I started brushing my teeth/rinsing with mouthwash a bunch during the day and after a while of doing this it went away. Biotene can be found in most drugstores, it's specifically designed to help with dry mouth. Good luck!

This had been happening to me for almost 2 weeks, EVERY time I got up I would take about 3 steps and then it would hit like a train, I'd almost pass out and/or black out and feel SO weird!!! I have been killing water over the past week and finally the dizziness upon standing is beginning to subside. Try drinking more. I started sleeping with a water bottle in bed with me at night, and everytime I woke up, or changed positions, I took several big drinks. Before I knew it I was killing a 16.9 oz bottle in my sleep every night.

I like Yoplait's 100 calorie greek yogurt. High protein, good flavor and the lowest sugars I've seen.

I chew 30 times before I swallow and wait at least 3 full min in between bites. I have found by trial and error that if I do not follow this, I slime and spit up half of what I've eaten. GROSS!

This may seem weird but try something a little high calorie. I was sleeved 4 days before you and also hit a stall at the same point. During the end of mushy foods/beginning of soft foods I had a hard time keeping things down and as a result there was a period where i didn't get down much of anything. I ate the burger part of a wendy's jr bacon cheeseburger and some guacamole, and BAM! My almost weeklong stall was over! It was almost like my body had gone into starvation mode and was no longer losing, giving it some fat and calories seemed to do the trick for me. Woke up the next morning and was down 2lbs.

It's powdered peanut butter. Has like 85% less fat, but still tastes just like peanuts. I shop at kroger and in my store they keep it with the organic foods. It's a little more expensive, like $5, but it is a great protein addition to smoothies.

I was allowed chili put through the blender at this point. I also made the "baked ricotta" recipe that is famous on here. It was AWESOME. Some other things I had were tuna salad that I ran through the food processor, mashed potatoes with a gravy made from ground beef and fat free beef gravy (blended in blender), and greek yogurt smoothies.

I'm just a little ahead of you, and I went through all of the same gross foamies, only mine were more like slimes. I thought I was eating slow enough, but what I've discovered moving from mushy to soft foods is that I really need a good 3-5 min in between EVERY bite, and the bites need to be about the size of a nickel. The slower I go, the less I spit up. By comparison, 3oz of yogurt takes me at least 30 min to eat without sliming. Try slowing down even more and see if that alleviates some of the side effects. If you give your body time to make sure it's fully in your pouch, it will be easier to tell when you're done b/c as soon as you feel the feeling in your throat, you'll know. You're feeling it now I think b/c you aren't giving it enough time to fully get down there before taking the next bite. Hope it gets better!

My surgeon prefers that people take as much time as they can because the first few weeks it's hard work to get your fluids/liquids/blended food. I went out 12/24/12 and was approved off until 02/04/13. It depends on your work policy though. I'm getting 100% pay while I'm out, some people don't have that luxury. Take as much time as you possibly can in my opinion!!

I couldn't drink water or anything cold for a week or so after surgery. Hot chammomile tea was how I survived the first few days. I'm a little over 3 weeks post op and I can drink cold water again now, and I can actually take several normal sized sips at a time. It gets better.

I'm 3 weeks post op. I am in the blended foods stage. Currently, I have not had any real nutrition for the past 2 and a half days. For some reason ANYTHING I injest, no matter how tiny the amount comes right back up with slime. It's like nothing is getting into my actual stomach due to all the overwhelming slime. I don't vomit, it's more like a productive burp. I'm going to call my surgeon's office in the morning as what it feels like is the opening to my stomach is shut preventing anything from going down. Even happens when I drink water! As a result I can barely move without almost blacking out and I have literally no energy. Carrying 2 bags of groceries was too much, I could barely lift them up on the table. Also the past few mornings when I wake up it feels like there is something hard in the back of my throat, and my stomach feels full of spit and slime. Like I have to burp up spit to make room for Water. If this doesn't go away soon I'm going to lose my mind. I wanted to be able to start working out next week and with the state of things there is absolutely no way I'll be able to do that. I fill up empty water bottles of the slime, I have to keep one with me at all times. I'd rather be fat than deal with this I hate my sleeve right now.

Your better option is to take chili! If you make the base with blended black beans and 96% lean ground beef you have a super protein packed meal that's low in calories.

My surgeon doesn't require a pre-op diet. Like you said every Dr seems to be different. I ate a normal diet right up to the day before surgery. I had been on 6 months of nutrition classes, so my diet was no longer fast food and junk, but I wasn't drinking Protein shakes (GAG!!!!). Good luck!

62 lbs is a lot of force...it's going to pull on your internal stitches and probably hurt pretty bad. I would agree with what others have said, you should probably get some help with that for a little while. Just to be safe ya know? Why risk anything when you've already gone through so much I have 2 boxers, an 83lb male, and a 62lb female. Somehow these clowns taught themselves to walk without leashes (I would love to claim responsibility, but I really think it's b/c they're boxers and CANNOT stand to be more than 3 feet away from me).

So today was a mini milestone day for me. First, I woke up to see that I was at 250.0 lbs. If I'm lucky, tomorrow I will cross a big goal off, which was to be under 250lbs! I gotta admit I am so freaking happy! Second, I started the blended foods stage. While it's not THAT much better than liquid, it's an improvement! I made a big pot of chili last night, I used cuban black beans as the base, and pureed them, and then added beef broth, some canned tomatoes and onions, and 1lb of 96% lean ground beef. Once it was done cooking I took some out for me and threw it in the food processor. OMG it is amazing. Third, I think I finally found an acid reducer that works. My Dr switched me from pepcid to prilosec, and I took it this morning, and was able to eat chili (for breakfast LOL) and then tuna salad for lunch, and it's been a good 2 hours since I finished lunch....STILL NO HEARTBURN!!!!! And lastly...today was the first day when I really felt like not only was this the right choice, but that it's really truly getting easier. It was a big emotional pick me up. One more bit of random before I go.... Sex has always been pretty good for me. Even when I was at my heaviest I was 100% confident in my body and never ever had sex unless I was 100% naked. I took a 2 week break off after surgery to allow my body time to heal...well that 2 weeks off ended yesterday... WOW Seriously...I had read a few posts about sex being better, but it wasn't just the feeling of my body being able to feel more without a belly in the way, the actual orgasms are intensified by like 1000% Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I checked with my vibrator this morning....DEFINITELY NOT A FLUKE!!! LOL

Ok this may be totally unrelated, but... I have had the Mirena IUD since Jan 2011. Up until surgery it has given me nothing but pain, however I had virtually NO period. I started my period 3 days after surgery so that would've been 12/27 that I started. I have had more bleeding now than the past 4-5 months combined. It has been 11 days now and I'm still going. It's also a really nasty brown color. (Sorry if that's TMI) The good news is that the pain I used to have is gone. Just curious if anyone else experienced anything like this?