Vicki3007

That's great news! best wishes for your surgery

Congrats! You look fabulously fantastically amazing!

LMAO! Love this thread, thanks for the laughs

I am in UAE, we get them at a kiosk at the mall here. No unjury here so don't know about those.

Hi livehealthy, I find the shakes hard to drink as well. Have you tried a clear RTD protein like isopure? worked for me

Congrats kpaige77! sounds like you are doing really great

Hi Imedalsy, had my staples removed in November and can honestly say it did not hurt at all. You can definitely feel them being pulled out but no pain, at least for me

Hi serenafish, 10 days to go for the big day! yay! I was where you were not too long ago so know exactly what you mean. It's exciting and empowering while also being scary as hell. I was fortunate enough to have a relatively pain free recovery, the only pain I had was in my back from lying on it for a long time and in my shoulder due to the gas. The pain lasted for the first 2 days or so, after which I just had mild discomfort for about 2 weeks. I still struggle with water, cannot have more than 3 glasses a day and even that's pushing it.. but then I've always had a problem drinking water so may not be as bad for you. Head hunger is a problem, but as you said the mind is like a child screaming for food, it is also easy to distract. What works for me is trying on old clothes, reading, and if it gets really really bad, I leave the house and go for a long walk, away from the temptation of food! lol Glad you found a protein you like in advance, will make your life much easier, I was initially on some really horrible powders given by the doc and hated every minute of it. sorry for the long rant and best of luck for the surgery! Let us know how things go

Ok, so this is my first ever attempt to blog.. so here goes.. I am 26 years old, originally from India but been living in UAE since age 5. I have had a weight problem all my life, I was always the chubby kid, the fat girl, the obese college student etc. Guess I just got tired of being a two dimensional character, of being defined by my weight. I wanted people to know me, the real me, so after years of dieting, attempting to exercise and still not losing weight or losing weight only to gain it all back plus some, I decided on surgery. I got sleeved on 30/10/2012, at the time I weighed 129kgs, today I weighed myself and my current weight is 112kgs. Surprisingly enough, I haven't had a lot of trouble with my diet, only threw up once, and that was my own fault for eating too quickly. After the first 2 weeks I was able to manage semi-soft food just fine and now can easily manage a small piece of grilled chicken or fish. Haven't had carbs since the sleeve though, sometimes really miss bread.. though all I have to do at those times is pull out my largest pair of jeans and try them on in front of the mirror and see the difference in my shape. I have dropped almost 3 jeans sizes, which is absolutely fabulous as far as I am concerned. Hmm what else? Protein was initially very difficult, had been given those really nasty protein powders that I absolutely could not stand let alone have 3 times a day, looked everywhere for an alternative and finally found a clear protein drink which is much more palatable at least to me. So the drink gives me about 40g protein as day and the rest is from my diet which is almost exclusively chicken and seafood.. I get cold very quickly since surgery, so have learned my lesson and go to work all bundled up. Telling people about the surgery is something I've been rather conflicted over, I've told people at work and close friends I really trust, but not relatives or family friends. It is sometimes difficult to explain away my limited portions but usually just say that I am on a diet. Guess that's all for now, sorry my thoughts are all over the place, not a writer by any stretch of the imagination Cheers!

Hi cbd, unfortunately I dont think unjury is available in UAE. Just really glad I found isopure

Thanks serenafish! I have the vanilla isopure but haven't opened it as yet. Am drinking the clear RTD ones for now. Glad to know you like it though, protein powders tend to intimidate me

Thanks desertmom, glad to meet you I had my surgery done in India by Dr. Abhay Agarawal.

So glad to see there is someone else on this site also in UAE! I absolutely agree there is no support available here for WLS patients. Am still struggling with head hunger myself, though I do believe it's getting easier to distract myself when I start thinking about food

Thanks Sue! Am on Isopure RTD now, it has a weird furry tongue feeling but is much better than those horrible powders

Cool idea, so here's my list: - I confess I crave carbs a lot (especially Red Lobster biscuits) - I confess I am terrified of gaining back lost weight - I confess that I love putting on my largest pants and grinning at the mirror - I confess that I pick up Baskin Robbins whenever I go grocery shopping only to put it back before leaving. - I confess I hate passing Cinnabon at the mall as the place smells SOO GOOD. - I confess I sometimes have biterite chocolate and justify it as being low cal.

Wow! Amazing results! congrats, you look great

I don't think it was any one thing for me, guess I just got tied of being stared at and stereotyped as the fat, lazy, gluttonous person. Got sick of being stared at in public places, of rude sales clerks asking me why I did not lose weight (I was just trying out some shoes!) Also, anytime I got invited to amusement parks my first thought would be, would I fit in the rides? In pictures I would always try to duck behind others which didn't work very well as I am rather short. Random people I have just met would tell me to diet and exercise as though I couldn't have thought of that on my own! Gee really? how amazingly original of you! Anyways, all that and a lot more, but was a rather gradual process for me.