Miss Mac

It was about four months before I coud tolerate raw veggies. I agree with lipsticklady that lettuce is a useless filler. What I do now is make my salad from diced grilled chicken, chopped tomatos and cukes, a few garbanzo or black Beans, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I make up a batch of this stuff and eat on it for three or four days. About a cup fills me up for a while. I don't do well with vinegar-based dressings (gag factor), so I take lite ranch and put a couple tablespoons into 1/2 cup salsa and use that for my dressing all week. It taste similar to the Paul Newman Southwestern dressing that I used to get at McDonalds. It is a specialty conract and not available in stores, but I don't want to lurk around McDonalds just for that.

I agree that no one know what normal looks like anymore. You could ask the next nosy person: "Compared to who?"

Here is why: I had a stroke and mine spine was collapsing under my weight. As soon as I lost that first thirty pounds, my joints and back felt better enough that I could exercise and move around the house more.

I am sure Steve Harvey would agree. In his opinion there is someone for everyone.

That is pretty much the basics. I packed way too much stuff and just mostly laid there and watched TV or slept. Wear the loosest clothes you have, because your belly will be tender.

I see that you posted from the new singles forum, so maybe you will find your love connection there. I met my fellow on-line and we have been together nearly nine years. At the time, he was 54 and I was 53.

I heard this from the pulpit a long time ago. "You don't have to lie, but you don't have to tell everything you know. When my gentleman and I met nine years ago, he was (as still is) very tall and lean and a smoker. I was pretty short (5'2") and nearly as round as I was tall and a non-smoker. In all this nine years, he has not asked me to change anything about myself, and I have not asked him to change. He makes me comfortable and he makes me laugh. The subject of my weight never came up until I decided I wanted bariatric surgery. Personally, if he is bringing up his weight in every conversation, he is clearly insecure about himself. If you don't think he will corrupt you into poor food choices, I would just try to get to know him better. I would not tell him just yet unless he specifically asks you why you eat so little. Then you can tell him that since he asked, here is the plain unvarnished truth. You will know when it is time, because the conversation will just segway nicely into it. I would not just blurt it out.

Well, my right knee is seven years old, and my left knee is four years old, and my hips, shoulders, elbows, and wrists are 63 years old. They don't mind at all. The most kickback I get from strength training days is that my inner thighs object strongly to squats.

I have a 22 pound kettlebell left in the house from when my hubbyman's son lived here. I could not lift it pre-op and I can't lift it now at 15 months post-op. However, I have 1lb, 2lb, 5lb and 10lb handweights which I use varying according to the exercise or how my energy level is on any given strength training day. I use one of the 10 pound weights as a kettle bell and just grab it in the middle with both hands. My doctors instructions post-op was to lift nothing more than five pounds. I was three months out before I was allowed to go to the 10 pound weights. I also have one pound ankle weights I wear when walking, one pound wrist weights, and one pound weighted gloves for my chair-boxing DVD. On a tired day I have gone through the kettle bell motions with the wrist weights and boxing gloves on and gone through the kettlebell motions with those.

I am 15 months out from a sleeve. My pain was not bad at all. At the hospital I was on morphine for a day and hydrocodone the second day. I took hydrocodone for two days when I got home and did not need any more after that. I slept in my lift recliner for two nights so as to not pull inside stitches. Of the 12 surgeries I have had, this was absolutely the easiest recovery of all. Many folks have issues with shoulder pain because the surgeons inflate our bellies with CO2 so that they can work better with their surgical tools. I was so concerned about his that I asked my surgeon if there was anything he could do to prevent it. He said he would extract as much of the gas as possible. As a result, I had no (as in zero zip nada) shoulder pain at all. It is surely worth asking about. I was already retired when I got my sleeve, so I did not have to worry about work or childcare. There are many folks on here who can advise you about how to handle those challenges. I was nauseous until I got on soft foods, but I took my Omeprozole as prescribed and did not have any issue with vomiting. It took about six weeks to get noticeable energy back. I could swallow Water ok, but only about an ounce at a time, about every ten minutes. The shakes took longer.

Protein, protein, protein. Carbs seriously slow my roll. I got to the point at about where you are at, that it would be ok to put crackers in my chili, or eat my tuna salad on a piece of toast, or have just that sample bite of cake at the grocery store bakery. Here is what happens to me: starches and sweets make me hungry for more starches and sweets. This past Sunday, I decided to stopped drinking beverages that I was putting sweetener in and stop putting sweetener in everything I make (chili, tuna salad, deviled eggs, yogurt and berries, etc. Frankly, I was putting it in everything to not feel so deprived of sweets. Since I eliminated 30+ sweetener packets a day, the scale has started moving again. I bought some gherkin pickles and eat one with an ounce of cheese for snack. That vinegary taste kills the desire for anything else for quite a while. Plus, I am brushing my teeth after every meal and snack to get the food taste out of my mouth. I was eating nuts for snack, but one ounce quickly becomes a cup with mindless eating. Also, I have gone back to weighing, measuring, and logging everything to regain portion control. I have upped my Water to 100 ounces. I have increased my exercise. If I can give one word of advice, it is this scientific concept of research: You cannot control that which you do not measure. What I had to do was get rough on myself to regain my power over the beast. I did not like working up a sweat when I exercise, either, but I have come to realize that sweat is fat crying.

I had been on a diet since 1978, and gained an additional fifty pounds. I wish I had had my surgery before I had a stroke. When people tell you that you can just do it with diet and exercise, ask them to tell you everything they know about bariatric surgery, what is a sleeve, how a bypass is done, and how lapbands work. Chances are the naysayers have no clue (like myself) that bands have ports. When I was referred to the bariatric center, I did not even know that the sleeve existed. Here is the thing about stalls: stalls are like lovers - your first will probably not be your last. But all of the discomfort and inconvenience has been worth it. It beats another stroke. I wish you good luck and good health.

Goody for you. You may be in some discomfort now, but you will feel better soon. I am 15 months out and feel soooooo much better. I wish I could have done this sooner. Congratulations.

Did you already have an ultrasound of your liver and they found something curious worth investigating?

When I feel hungry and it is not time to eat yet, I wait untiI have sipped a 10 oz bottle of Water. Usually the urge goes away. Another option is sugar-free popsicles. My vice has been artificial sweeteners, which I realize now are teasing Miss Tummy for the taste of something sweet. I stopped sweeteners on Sunday and the scale (which has been stuck for six months) has started moving again. Stalls are quite common around the third week post-up. It is like your body is pausing to regroup. In the meantime, eat your Protein first - all of it, before eating other foods. This will help you feel full, and the feeling lasts longer than if you eat something starchy. Starches make you hungry for more starches.

I had no restrictions on red stuff. My post-op diet progressed quickly, too. My surgeon developed the bariatric program at both The Cleveland Clinic and the Loyola University Medical Center (where I got sleeved). This doctor also teaches bariatric medicine, bariatric surgery, and robotic surgery at Loyola. The plan he gave me was: Full liquids as soon as I got home. Purees started at week two (including pureed banana) At three weeks I started soft foods. This is when I had my first intact banana, but could only eat two bites to feel full. At the end of the month (4 1/2 weeks), I started whole cooked foods as tolerated. At three months, I could eat raw veggies, but did not tolerate them, so I waited unti six months.

Since you seem to like the flavor of peanuts, you can mix some Peanut Butter and cream cheese and chocolate whey Protein (add cinnamon if you like it) and roll it into "meatballs". It has some fat and calories, but I can only eat one at a time - and they are filling.

The trick to eating correctly at work is Planning. Invest in an insulated lunch bag so you can take small portions of ok foods from home, like boiled eggs, cheese, an ounce of nuts, and yogurts. Sliced cucumbers and tomatos have become my desperation friends. Instead of eating my tuna salad as a sandwich, I now use thick slices of cucumbers as crackers. I have lately discovered that if I eat a gherkin, my taste buds don't ask for anything else for a while. No kidding: if you are hungry and it is not time to be hungry, drink some non-caloric beverage or a Protein shake. Someone said on the forum the other day that if we are between meals, hunger is not an emergency. I printed that out and taped it to my desk in my home office.

My demise is in Pilates. It just looks like stretchy stuff, but it really kicks me in the butt. I am exhausted when I am done, but feel better emotionally that I accomplished 20 minutes on my elliptical and 30 minutes of Pilates........wait for it..........before breakfast! Pre-op, I avoided exercise like the plague, but now that I am more flexible and have more energy, it has become the start of my day. Twice a week I get out my 5 and 10 pound weights and do some strength training. I do body weight exercises every day (push-ups from the third step of the stairway, lunges, squats, and leg lifts). I have not tried yoga yet, but I do have a DVD for it. I guess it's time to break it open and give it a go - I have been ignoring it. You have encouraged me to try.

Here is a weight-loss tip I found on the internet. I have tried it for a few days and it has really helped discourage the "sweet" monkey on my back. If I eat, and then brush right away, the food flavors don't linger in my mouth, teasing me to go eat more. Plus, because of the minty flavor of the toothpaste, I am drinking more Water. Tea is one thing that taste real bad after brushing, so this trick eliminates the artificial sweeteners I was putting in the tea. Because I am no longer consuming thirty sweetener packets a day (my main vice - I was putting that stuff in everything), my body doesn't crave sweetness anymore. It has been a very helpful chain reaction. Here is the link: http://www.lifescript.com/diet-fitness/tips/y/

I had to wait six months for cruciferous veggies and salad greens.

You are only the second person I have read on this site in fifteen months that has not had to do the pre-op liquid liver-shrinking diet at least to some extent. It is rare. Count your blessings. I agree that for practice you could replace one meal with a Protein shake.

I could not lift anything more than five pounds post-op. At six weeks I was allowed to start increasing and get some strength training. Those little incisions on your belly ae decieving. To get to your stomach, the doctor had to fish his way between muscles and your other innards, then move your liver out of the way. Watch a Youtube video of your procedure, to remind yourself how insulted your insides are going to feel for a while. Your energy will be low for weeks, and it will be easy to over-do. You need to concentrate on hydration and Protein. Really, he can't think you are going to the gym on a pureed diet. Wait until you can tolerate solid food without throwing up.

My sleeve saved my life. My hugh 53" belly and extra 100 pounds was the equivalent of wearing a pony for a belt.

My biggest problem in that area has been portion distortion. When I quit weighing and measuring what I know my capacity to be, it was easy to push my sleeve into accepting more by grazing. I was fooling myself into thinking that my snack was just two tablespoons of Peanut Butter. It measure out to be 1/2 cup, plus I was eating 1/2 cup of artificial whip cream (corn syrup and chemicals) with it. That's a big diffence in calories, carbs and fat. Earlier today I posted a link to an article suggesting that brushing your teeth right after you eat will help slay a sweet tooth. I have been doing this for a few days and it works. And...the scale is moving again after a six month stall. Don't let yourself become part of the couch. Your daughter can take walks with you or even work out with a DVD with you. I know my Richard Simmons Sweating to the Oldies set is kinda corny, but I got it out the other and decided to go with the flow. It was actually fun. The other think I found out about exercise is that if I change the TV channel and put on music instead, I diddly bop while doing my housework. My other thought was: Who is bringing your temptations home to tease you? Control starts at the grocery store. If you make this one change, it would help: Don't buy any groceries made in a factory.