LipstickLady

Oddly enough, all my favorite exercises are done barefoot. Yoga, pilates, martial arts and swimming. No wonder my feet are so ugly.

That sounds so naughty!

So this is YOUR sleeved stomach, one that is atypical because you already had a band and are now revising to a bypass? I have heard that people who are first banded and then sleeved have more "issues" than those who are first sleeved. I'm not sure your xray is a fair example of a stretched sleeve.

And can I say how nice it is to be able to disagree with someone without being called names!?!?! Oh, the adultness of it all. HA!

I honestly couldn't tell the ass end of my sonogram so yes, the pictures look different, but that could be an appendix and a spleen for all I know. I would assume a swollen stomach looks different or tighter than a relaxed stomach, but again, I am not a doctor. I can eat more now than I could at one day out. I can't eat more now than I could at 9 months out. And I drink Coke Zero. THROUGH A STRAW!!

That could be an XRay of a baby unicorn and I wouldn't know it. HA! I'm not arguing your expertise or my lack thereof. I will say that I would find the "proof" (for lack of better word) more "credible" (for lack of better word again -- too much caffeine this morning) if we were comparing a 1 year tummy to a 3 year tummy. There is so much swelling in a 1 day post op tummy, I don't think that's a fair comparison at all. Again, just my OPINION.

This was me in a nutshell. I am almost two years out and I still can only eat 1/4-1/2 cup in a sitting. It took me three months to get to solids and I foamed/slimed/vomited regularly for a little over a year if I ate one bite too many or a bite of the wrong thing. I still do from time to time, but I know that bread, rice, Pasta, ice cream, rich cream Soups, etc. are going to lead to bad consequences to I avoid them. I eat all day. Jerky, nuts, cheese, etc. I sit down for "real meals" but what I consume could fit in a baby food jar with leftovers. I have still not wrapped my mind around this being MY NORMAL but I've not wrapped my mind around fitting into size 8 skinny jeans either. Both happened.

This is what every surgeon I consulted with warned me of and I tend to believe it. I fooled/justified/soothed/celebrated/dieted/rewarded/entertained myself into 260+ pounds. I have no doubt I could do it again, 1/2 cup at a time.

I drink carbonation almost every day. Can't eat more than 1/4-1/2 cup. Now, if I wanted to, I could eat allllllll day long. I could eat chocolate and Cookies and pizza and candy and cupcakes and ice cream (actually, ice cream makes me vomit, but...). I could eat thousands and thousands of calories of pure crap every day and blow right back up to 260 pounds. That has nothing to do with stretching my sleeve, that has to do with grazing on crap all day and not following a sensible diet. It's my OPINION that some people "eat around" their sleeves and cheat themselves back to poor health.

If you aren't too much into "tough love" you may want to skip my next few paragraphs. First of all, you don't NEED food. You feel like you do, but that's just your fat brain trying to back control of your new body. Your liquid or pureed diet will give you all the nutrition you need and this is the time to maximize your weight loss while allowing your staple line to heal. Remind yourself that most of your stomach was just chopped off and STAPLED back together. That's serious business. You don't want to get any little food particles stuck in that staple line possibly causing an infection or abscess. There is no amount of food worth that. As far as chewing and spitting? I'd caution you against going down that road. That's just knocking on the door of an eating disorder. That's a really bad habit to get into. Your liquid/pureed stage only lasts a few weeks for most, a few months for some (me!) and surely you can get by without chewing for that long. It's hard, and it sucks, but if you take it day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, you can make it happen. Brush your teeth often. Nothing tastes good with a minty mouth. Rinse with Listerine, that stuffs nasty in your mouth for hours. Take a walk and get some fresh air. Paint your nails. You can't eat with wet polish. Call a friend, go to the mall, get out of the kitchen. You can do ANYTHING for a few weeks if you really want to.

I will be two years out in May and I have "feeding days" and "non feeding" days. On feeding days, I can eat 1/2 cup plus a bit -- about 3 oz of Protein plus some cheese. On non feeding days, I can' barely manage 1/4 cup or 2 oz of protein. There is no rhyme or reason to it, sometimes my tummy is accepting of food, sometimes it is not. I had a hard time slowing down, too. I learned to cut my food into teeny bits. TEENY TINY TEENY bits and eat one at a time. If it's spoonable, I used a baby spoon and now I can use a regular spoon but I put a baby spoon worth of food on it by habit. If I don't, I will hurl. I still can't drink fast, and I rarely manage plain Water, but I do sip sip sip all day via a straw. Sleeves don't stretch. You can expand them a bit with a lot of excessive over eating but if your doctor performed your procedure correctly, most of the fundus (the stretchy part) was cut out, leaving nothing behind that can stretch. Gas wont' do it, liquids won't do it, carbonation won't do it. You're fine. Relax. Trust your restriction and go by it. You are doing great.

Angel for me, too!

I'm a fan of Avon for affordable color and their skincare can't be beat. For more trendy color and glam sparkle, add in some Urban Decay.

Yep, you're right - it sure does. Fun fact: this isn't the business world, nor are you grading an English exam, so there's no need for ******-level judgement. It annoys me, too, however I suck at lots of things that the next bad speller could excel at - I'm not better than them just because I can string together a sentence. I don't think their opinion is invalid just because they can't articulate it. Correct. I am a business owner and I absolutely demand proper grammar and spelling from my team members on all business documents. I have to remind myself from time to time that this is an online forum comprised of people from all over the world, different socio/economic backgrounds, educational levels, and different levels of plain ol' just don't give a sh!t. That's what makes this place so much fun.

I just came in for the free Cookies. I heard you all had cookies.

You will!

You are correct. I do skip the posts that I am unable to read due to font, color or lack of spacing. I'm an old lady. If I can't read them, I can't answer them. It's my OPINION that this is a much different issue than someone who may not have the education to communicate with proper spelling or grammar or someone whose first language is not English. The bottom line? If I can read it and I have what I believe is a good answer, I will address it. I will not comment on one's lack of ability to communicate to my standards. If I can't read it, I won't respond. I hardly think MY answer will be the end all be all for anyone nor is my expertise/lack thereof a detrimental or instrumental to anyone's experience.

And I can't imagine ever being fat again. I am still FREAKING amazed at myself every single day. I can slip on a pair of size 8 skinny jeans and not have to suck it in. My tops are sized medium. I can shop in any store I want. I can run, I can jump, I can climb the stairs without panting for air. I never ever ever want to lose this feeling because I never want to go back to where I was. I can't wait for everyone to get here. It's a beautiful place to be.

Edamame is best served with Lemon Pepper seasoning. OH EM GEE!! I also love the butts and ends of cheese. Many markets sell them cheap in the deli section and you can get a variety of chunks cheaper than cheese sticks. I get tired of string cheese, so the variety is fabulous. My biggest vice is beef Jerky. I always have it. It's light, portable and pure Protein goodness.

Or "OH MY GAWD!! I am so hungry!! I'd like a cup of Soup please. No, just a cup is fine. No bread."

"I'm starving." Two bites. "I'm stuffed." People who don't know about my surgery probably think I'm insane.

Oh, that's a toughie. I'd ask HR how long it will be until the new company comes into effect. Most often, that renews at the beginning of the new year. January is a long way away. Most likely, you will have to jump through some hoops so add another 6 months on... How important is getting that weight off to you? That's something only you can decide. Good luck to you! What a dilemma!!

OK. You have a great day!

Absolutely! I was directing my comments to you as you were giving your opinion as fact.