Ava324

Congrats! I haven't been able to wear my wedding rings for the last two months. I demonstrated to my husband that they were loose by shaking my hand...and they flew off. He banned me from wearing them until they were resized. Lol! I'll have them done once I'm at my goal. In their place, I wear the promise ring he gave me when I was 19 years old. It's a tiny bit loose now, and there's no way I could have squeezed this thing on 6 months ago.

Okay, so our apps aren't too different. I was like, dang, your Week 2 looks like my Week 3. Lol. The running portion of Week 3 for me will rotate between 90 seconds jog, 90 seconds walk, 3 min jog, 3 min walk. I'm nervous for that too, but I'm sure I'll be ready for it when I get there. Oh, and the New Orleans summer thunderstorms are forcing me to take things slow. Hopefully I can do Day 2 today! I may have to jog in the rain... I feel your pain, Kate. I haven't had the scale stall for a full three weeks yet, but I definitely know how deflating it can be. Especially when you're doing everything right. It's like, what more could I do?? In the first 3 months after surgery, I lost an average of 4 lbs a week. In the second 3 months, down to 3 lbs a week. Since hitting the 6 month mark, it's been 1.5 lbs a week. I really hope getting in to running will get some of that momentum back. I have a local support group meeting tonight and hope that will help my morale. I wish I could give you some suggestions, but I don't think I have things figured out either. There's so much conflicting information. I only get between 500-600 calories a day and 50-60 grams of Protein. IMO, that's too low, but my surgeon sternly wants me to go as low as I can. He said if it was possible to get 0 calories and 50 grams of protein, that's what he'd be recommending.. Of course I have friends and family (including two cousins who are dietitians) in my ear about how dangerous and counterproductive that is and lecturing me on the biology of "starvation mode". I've resigned to just obeying my surgeon until reaching my goal regardless. It's simpler.

You look incredible, and so very happy! Congrats.

My pre-op instructions definitely warned against "last suppering". I timed my surgery strategically so that I'd be pre-op limited during Thanksgiving and still not on "regular" foods for Christmas. I wanted to get used to fighting those temptations as early as I could, and the rules were law that I stuck to. It was liberating to know that I completely could not touch any Thanksgiving food. I embraced not having the choice. Same thing with bread, pasta, and rice. I personally won't ever have them again. It's a relief.

First day of personal training: I got so red faced, sweaty, and out of breath, that my trainer kept checking my heart rate to make sure I was okay. Today: He kept checking my heart rate because I was breezing through the cardio routine. He was super impressed with my progress and had to amp things up.

Week 2 is two minutes of jogging? Oooo. Yours is harder. I use "C25K Free" by Zen Labs, and it certainly looks like it goes on freely for the full 8 weeks. I'm going to be so bummed if in the middle it says I have to purchase and then it starts over or something. I had also downloaded another app that seemed so awesome. It was like the Nike run app that GPS mapped your distance and speed and figured out your calories burned. Nifty thing, but then it didn't have audio cues. I'm not going to watch my phone screen in hand to see when it's time to switch it up. Thursday was my first yoga class ever. I can't say that I liked it. I really liked how I felt after, but I found it intense during. I think I'm one of those people who is susceptible to hypnosis, and it really tripped me out in an out of body, disorienting, and nauseating way. At the end, we were supposed to completely relax laying on the floor, and the instructor talked us through feeling like we were melting into the floor. It felt like my body weighed a literal ton, and I wanted to puke. I'll have to start an inspirational running playlist too. Thanks for the ideas.

Thanks! Now I actually enjoy pictures being taken of me. ><

Thanks!! It's definitely the shortest it's ever been, and I'm so glad I went for it. Honestly, I cut it out of necessity. I have fine hair, and to me the hairloss was becoming too noticeable. The bob helped a lot.

Congrats on completing Week 1!! It's nice having someone on the same schedule as me. What's the benefit for the full app? I really am enjoying it too, and I'm finding it hard to take it slow. I want to do it every day.. Especially since the scale has been stuck. I want to hit the 100lb lost mark sooo bad. I've been wavering 2 - 4 lbs above it for over a week. >< I did Day 1 of Week 2 yesterday. For my app, it increased the jogging interval to 1.5 mins and walking for 2 mins in between. I was nervous about the increase, but I managed better than I expected. My breathing and side stitch problems have eased up. I started early morning yoga twice a week at my gym and I think it's really helping. I try to breath deeply, slowly, and through my nose only. It also helps the time go faster too. Lol! What music do you listen to when you jog?

This is my first time posting pics, so I hope it works.. The first picture breaks my freaking heart. I'm so sad for myself... Hiding a double chin behind a kitten. I look unbearably miserable. But on a positive note, I have to give a big shout-out to my supportive hubby. He's dieted (larger portions lol) and exercised with me. I couldn't enjoy the success and attitude I've had without him by my side. He starts with a personal trainer of his own today, and I'm bursting with pride. He's lost 50+ lbs already, and we're both feeling great.

I have one for breakfast (ON Gold Standard), usually half a Quest bar an hour before going to the gym, and usually a half scoop shake (Syntrax Matrix) right after the gym. On non-gym days, just the morning shake. I'm 6 months post-op, and I'm planning to keep this same protein routine indefinitely. Not hard to do, since they're so delish.

I've heard over and over that because of the restriction, you're forced into good habits. You can't overeat. You have to eat slowly. Chew chew chew or spew spew spew. I'm 6 months out, and I'm genuinely a very good patient and follow the rules well. I measure out and log everything I eat, I weigh myself every morning, workout at the gym 5 days a week, and take my Vitamins religiously. I can count on one hand the times I really overate, ate too quickly, and/or didn't chew well enough. I remember each occasion vividly, because they hurt that badly. 10+ minutes of wave after wave of wracking pain that made me literally cry out. 6 months out, and I haven't thrown up once. Not one single time. In the throws of that pain, I sure as heck wanted to. But I can't?? I had a hiatal hernia repair at the same time as my sleeve. Could that have really made it permanently impossible for me to throw up when I make these mistakes? I've looked it up, and it's a common side affect from the surgery. Can't find stats on how long it lasts though... If I can't throw up, what does that mean? If I overeat, am I stretching out my stomach, where otherwise my restriction would reject the food?

I'm glad to hear chronic cases are uncommon! http://www.livestrong.com/article/197261-complications-of-hiatal-hernia-surgery/ It's only been 6 months, so hopefully it I'll be able to throw up down the line. At least I can burp, and it brings a little relief!! I read ER stories of people who couldn't burp or throw up. It's still training me, even if I'm not throwing up. That level of pain has only happened 5 times, and two of those times were from enthusiastically eating spinach and artichoke dip. Never. Ever. Touching. Again.

Without know what metabolic acidosis and alkalosis are...they sound awful. How do you avoid that?...

Same here! That first day I did it at 7:30, the sun was setting, and it was cooling down. I just couldn't believe how good it felt to jog. I had a "wind in your hair" moment, and it was awesome. I've lived like 4 houses down from the levee for years, and I seriously missed out. I could get used to jogging along to riverboat and batcher critter noises.

I'll have to amp the hydration up for sure. Summer in New Orleans is sweltering. I've heard hospitalization horror stories from people in my support group. My surgeon says to get at least 64oz of water a day, and I make sure to at least get 80oz. I think I'll treat myself to sugar free snoballs (extra hydration) on C25K days. Lol.

What's that mean? I figure you ate 11oz of cottage cheese. Lol. But is "the cottage cheese test" a thing? Is 11oz after 3 years good or bad? Congrats on losing 138! I'm sure you can get under 300 with that determination. I don't have a regular routine to speak of. I'm a bit ADD at the gym. A friend asked the other day "What do you do at the gym?" and I answered, "What don't I do?" I have a personal trainer and have tried so many different things, that it's really hard to pick stuff when I'm there on my own. I love the rowing machine, punching bag, straight leg dead lifts, free weight bicep curls, all the TRX stuff, back extensions (holding a kettlebell), and hanging leg raises. I've just started supplementing resistance workout with C25K and morning yoga. My amazing supportive husband, who has lost 50+ lbs of his own by dieting (albeit larger portions) and exercising with me, starts personal training as well on Friday. He'll share some of his exercises with me, and then I'll have even more to be unroutine with. Ha.

Staggering it is probably a good idea at the beginning. Yesterday, Day 2, was harder. I did it at 5pm, instead of 7:30, and it was much hotter out. I think that was a large contributing factor. Also I got side stitches pretty bad. I looked up the various causes, and I think it was definitely from shallow and irregular breathing. Try as I might, I can't seem to slow or even out my breathing. I'm going to try Day 3 on Friday night or Saturday morning. Hopefully the break makes a difference? I have every intention of becoming an exercise nut. I woke up at 5:20am this morning for my first yoga class at the gym and was at work for 8. Resistance work out this afternoon, personal training session tomorrow, and depending on my energy, C25K that same night. Feeling great!

I did Day 1 last night too! I'm going to do Day 2 today. Kudos on the first step, Kate!

I haven't had a continuous period like that, but I have been getting it twice a month like clockwork. My surgeon's office said the first 6 months toootally wack out your hormones, so any sort of weirdness is normal. My weirdness has persisted past 6 months, and my gyno thinks it's because I restarted BC. I got off of it a month before surgery and two months after because of the increased blood clot risk. Still haven't normalized, and if it continues, she'll want me to switch to another level. Your hormones really change dramatically..

The second ingredient after Water is "Complete Protein Matrix". This contains "Proprietary Blend Of Collagen Protein Isolate, Whey Protein Isolate, Casein Protein Isolate". Collegen protein is listed first. This is where most of the protein is coming from. Collegen protein is not bioavailable. It's like drinking water. It could have .01G of whey, and they can still put it on the label. Ugh! Here's some hard science behind it: "The PDCAAS score is used by the World Health Organization (and now the US FDA) to rate the bioavailability and amino acid content of protein sources. The PDCAAS score for collagen protein bioavailability is .08 vs. 1 for whey (on a scale of 0 -1, although occasionally the numbers will be multiplied by 100 and a 0-100 scale utilized )." Enjoy the Syntrax nectar. That's the good stuff!!

Progress! I'm genuinely amazed at how far I've come. When we first did a core day in personal training, I couldn't do a single hanging leg raise. He wanted me to do flutter kicks, and I couldn't even get my legs off the ground. Now I can do 30 hanging leg raises in succession. I can do flutter kicks for a minute at a time. It's not the biggest accomplishment, but I'm quite proud! I was Personal Training Client of The Month in May.

Last week I went for a 6 mile brisk walk with a friend, could've gone on forever and was totally inspired. I work out 5 times a week, including with a personal trainer, and thought I'd be pretty fit for a jog. I tried for the first time Saturday (hadn't jogged in a decade), and I have to confess I was so surprised. I kept thinking, "How on earth can people do this?!!" More specifically, how can you breath?? I literally could not breath. After very short distances, I'd have to go back to walking, and I was breathing so hard my throat made awful noises. I can still be proud of my 3 mile walk with random bursts of jogging, but g'aw dayum, I can't believe how hard it was. I live right on the Mississippi River, and all the other levee joggers made it look so easy. I'm downloading two C25K apps now, and I'll see which one I like better. Hopefully it's just a matter of getting used to it and the app will be a huge help.

Yaz made me crazy, and it gave me a bad case of erythema nodosum on one of my shins. Even after getting off Yaz, it took literal years for it to completely fade away. Lo Lostrin treated me very well. No more perpetual psycho PMS and I was very very regular. The hormone levels are super low though, so you have to religiously take the pill at the same time every day to avoid pregnancy. I was off the pill a month before surgery and about 2+ months after. I'm in my 4th pack of Lo Loestrin after restarting, and I'm still having a lot of break through bleeding. I'm going to give it a little more time. Hopefully I don't have to switch!

I don't look at fat much at all. Stick with sugar free.