skinnyginny

THANK YOU!!

Thank you! I know what you mean about the pre-surgery jitters. I didn't sleep a wink the night before. It will be over before you know it. You'll do great!

Found some Power Crunch bars at Walmart and decided to give them a try. Where have these little gems of deliciousness been all my life? So yummy!

Anyone know the best place to buy the Power Crunch bars? Hopefully I can pick some up on my way home from work this afternoon. Up until about a week ago, I was eating the Premier Protein bars but something has changed and I can no longer stomach them. Bleh....

Me! I had my surgery as out-patient here in Seattle. I was in by 1pm and home by 7pm. No issues at all. I even dressed myself when it was time to go home.

... just so I can stare at my ticker.

Is my fat reserve half empty or half full? Who cares. I've reached my halfway point and that is all that matters. 46 down, 46 to go!

Feels fantastic!

Very, very normal. The reason for the weakness is the drastically reduced caloric intake. Your strength will return, no worries about that. It took a full 2 weeks for me to be able to make it through a whole day without feeling the need to rest.

Interesting topic! I was given a prescription for Omeprazole by my surgeon and told to take it every day for 3 months. I've only got a couple week's worth left to go. During my first week post op, I did forget to take it for a couple of days. I don't think I had heartburn, not sure. (everything feels different with the sleeve) What it did do was give me a dry cough. Once I started taking it again, the cough went away. Strange!

I am headed out of town for a long weekend and I keep thinking about your post. I hope to have the same results as you! I won't have access to a scale, which is probably a good thing because I'm obsessed with it. I'm hoping that when I weigh again on Tuesday, I will have finally broken the 198 lbs. barrier that I've been stuck at for over a week. Fingers crossed!

Everyone is different so it will entirely depend on how you feel. I was up, walking around and shopping the day after surgery, no pain at all (my surgery was out-patient). So for me, driving 16 hours and going on a cruise that far out from surgery would not have been a problem at all. I'm actually jealous!

This is a great topic... I was sleeved on a Thursday and I worked from home the following week, dialed into meetings, email, etc. So technically I only took 2 days off from work. When I did go back to into the office the following week, no issues at all until around 2pm when I'd hit a wall. My energy level around that time would be completely depleted. That only lasted for about a week until I was back to normal energy-wise and could make it through the entire day without wanting to take a nap in the afternoon. Number 1 thing to have ready is your meal plan while at work. What works for me is a Premier Protein shake with milk for Breakfast, a homemade protein energy bar (recipes below) for mid-morning snack, lunch (either leftovers or something from the cafeteria), half a Premier Protein Bar (they are really huge) for mid-afternoon snack, sensible dinner (whatever I can get in), then a sugar-free popsicle for evening snack. My big issue now is the weekends. The weekends used to be my downfall. I’d stop at the store on my way home from work on Friday, buy out the store, then eat all weekend long. Now, I hardly eat anything on the weekend and I need to fix that. I do great at meal planning during the work week, but really stink at it on the weekend. Because I’m never hungry, I’ll get to the end of the day on Saturday and realize I’ve had hardly anything to eat. Paleo Energy Bars 1 cup whole natural almonds 12 to 14 Medjool dates, de-pitted 1/2 of a 88% dark chocolate bar 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds Pulse the almonds in food processor until you get small bits, but not paste. Empty into mixing bowl. Do the same with the dark chocolate. Process the dates in the food processor until smooth. They will tend to come together in a ball. Add to nut/chocolate mixture. Add the pumpkin seeds whole. Line a 9 x 9 pan with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Mix the ingredients in the bowl. I usually just smoosh all of the ingredients together well with my hands. Then smoosh the mixture firmly into the pan. Cut into bars. Best if you keep them in the refrigerator. Energy Poppers 1 cup oats 1/3 cup coconut 1/2 cup Peanut Butter 1/2 cup flax seeds 1/2 cup chopped nuts 1/4 cup honey 1 teaspoon vanilla You can sub out the nuts for chocolate chips or raisins or whatever you'd like. I've used almonds and pumpkin seeds. Mix in a bowl, roll into balls. Best if you keep them in the refrigerator.

My nutritionist warned me that I would soon loathe Protein shakes. Boy was she right. I’m 4.5 weeks post op and have to force myself to gag down a Protein shake every day to ensure I get enough in. This morning I tried something different and I’m so thrilled with it that I just had to share. Firstly, I must say that I’m not one for taking the time to concoct fancy Protein Shakes in the blender. If I can’t grab it and drink it on the go, forget it. So this morning, I opened up a Premier Protein shake (I can only stomach the chocolate flavor, the vanilla tastes like sewage). This time, I added a little bit of skim milk to it. I was amazed… I actually liked it! Not only that, but I could drink it down in a reasonable amount of time. It typically takes me over an hour to get down one 11 oz Premier Protein shake. With a little bit of milk added, I was able to get it down in half that time. Okay, this may not seem like a big deal but for me, this is HUGE!

Does anyone have any recommendations for water flavorings other than Crystal Light? I'm trying to stay away from aspartame but haven't been able to find a good alternative. Before I was sleeved I used to drink crystal light regularly and now I'm not drinking nearly as much as before. I think it is because plain water bores me. I need some taste!

Let it be known henceforth and forever that I will never weigh more than 200 pounds again. One'derland baby!

ooo that cucumber water sounds yummy. I'll try that this weekend. Thank you!

I was sleeved on March 7th and have lost 40 pounds so far. No one had noticed yet, or at least they hadn't said anything to me until yesterday. I decided to try on an old dress that I wore 8 years ago when I was a whole lot thinner. It fit so I wore it to church. You should have seen people's eye bug out when they saw me. Made my whole day!

You definitely want to pay attention to the protein content of whatever protein drink you choose. The nice thing about the premier protein shakes, they are 30g of protein per 11oz serving. That is the highest content I have found, aside from isopure which for me tastes like sewage. You'll need to just experiment and find one that works best that your tummy and taste buds will be able to handle. If you like fruity flavored protein, syntrax nectar is pretty good. It has 23g of protein per serving and is in powder form that you have to blend rather than grab-n-go gal.

I have a theory about stalls. I have no idea if this can be scientifically proven or not but it makes sense to me. When I was on my way up to the weight that ultimately got me to consider the sleeve, it wasn't a steady climb. I remember getting to a weight and staying there for a long time, a year or two. I remember being at the 215-217 weight for a significant period of time. I also remember when I was at the 201-203 weight. I even remember the clothes I was able to wear while at that weight. So, it seemed to make sense to me when I stalled at 216. Once I got past that and started to decline again, I figured that I would stall out again at the 202ish weight. Sure enough, that is where I am now. I figure I'll be at this weight for a while and then will start to lose again. The next stall should be at the 187-189ish weight. Anywho, just some rambling thoughts.

The only protein drink I can stomach is the chocolate flavored Premier Protein shake from Costco (the vanilla flavor makes me gag). I can't drink it straight either, I have to dilute it with milk. So here is what works for me, dump the 11oz premier protein shake into a 16oz glass and fill the rest up with skim milk. It is yummy and goes down easy. Give it a try!

I was able to put on a pair of panty hose this morning without breaking a sweat. Yippee!

I had the exact same thing happen to me with a group of friends that meet regularly. I almost didn't go just to avoid the food. But then I remembered that I made a promise to myself to say yes to any invitation I get post surgery, so I went. No longer am I going to miss out on life because of my weight. Here is the funny thing. I loaded up my plate with the soft foods that I was able to eat at the time. I started to shovel food into my mouth like I used to do before the surgery. It only took 2 bites, just 2 bites for the sleeve to slap me back to reality. The whole rest of the day was a piece of cake, no issues with food at all because the sleeve was in control. I don't know if this helps at all, but if your sleeve is anything like my sleeve, everything will be just fine.

MaryPrisonSkin - you have come to the right place. I would wager a guess that most of us on here are or were in the same place as you are now. I've lived my adult life on a rollercoaster, not the fun kind. Up and down the scale until finally I'd had enough. It was time to take control of my life and stop missing out. I swore to myself that along with the surgery, I was going to become a Yes woman, just like the movie with Jim Carey. Any time someone asks me to go do something, I'm going to say yes. No more letting my weight stop me from going out and living life. The sleeve enabled me to do that. I'm 40 pounds down since the surgery and can say with complete confidence that it was the best decision of my life. You can do this!

Same here! It is amazing how a little pasta can stop the scale from moving in the right direction. I have to stay away from it completely.