Miss Mac

I am on here every day. My sleeve surgery was 10 1/2 months ago.

All of that works for me. I take the stool softeners every day. I take a magnesium supplement every day. I eat sugar free candy every day. (Read the Amazon reviews for Sugar free Haribo Gummy Bears. I bought some in bulk right after surgery. Within four hours they work as well as the liquid you have to drink to prep for a colonoscopy.) If you have people you don't like at work just put some in a candy jar on your desk. I also swear by the Smooth Move Tea. I bought several flavors to keep on hand, but the chocolate is my favorite because I can steep some in my hot chocolate at bedtime and add a little sugar free whip cream.

My BCBS Federal Employee covered everything except $250, which was billed after the fact.

From 9 Wide to 8 1/2 medium, and I still have 40 pounds to go. My shoes are sloppy, now.

Unjury powder tastes alright Isopure powder has more protein Synrax powder mixes better Celebrate tastes alright, mixes alright, but takes twice as much product for the same amount of protein as Unjury

White Castle used to be my vice. As for any fast food joint - I just pass them up. As far as I am concerned, they are McPoison's, Poison King, and Poison Bell.

Yes and Yes! I have been using this stuff since pre-op ten months ago. I bought the chocolate flavor. When things are moving slowly, I steep one in my bedtime hot chocolate. By morning - all clear.

I am beyond the period thing, but did alternate between diarrhea and constipation the first six weeks. At ten months out everything is a comfortable normal most days.

Sounds like "Cabin Fever" to me. Yeah, get out of the house and do something, even if it is window shopping at the mall to start getting an idea of what your new style will be when you get closer to goal. At about 30 - 40 pounds down, you will be ready for your first closet flush. My surgery was December 23, 2013. So what I did was start on-line clothes shopping on Black Friday. During the holidays every retailer had nearly everthing on sale. I took advantage of that and bought clothes in every size from 16 on down to 8s. I started out as a very round 22/24 and am in some14s and 12s now, but it varies with the manufacturer. Don't fret about missing your favorite foods. keeping in mind that soda pop, breads, Pasta, rice, you know - the starchy stuff, did you no favors. There is still A LOT that you will be able to eat. The first thing I bought when I was cleared for solid foods, was Wendy's chili on the way home from the doctor's office. My boyfriend is the cook around here and he cooks in the Mediterranean style since he is from Malta. When he makes meatballs, I eat a couple of meatballs with marinara sauce and a little mozzerella and parmesan. With that I will have a few green beens or a small salad. He cooks just a couple of raviolis for himself. If I want pizza out, I will have one slice, but not eat all of the crust. Might even have a small salad. At home, he has made eggplant lasagna, which I really enjoy. You just need to get creative. Looking for recipes with adjustments is a fun project; just do it right after you have eaten a high Protein meal. Also you can go to the website for The World According to Eggface. There are lots of recipes there for folks like us. Also look up Atkins recipes or anything paleo - they are both high protein compatible. I am ten months out and eat anything I want. The big difference is that what I want has changed, and my sleeve ( and a kitchen scale) helps me with portion control.

Most important item to take to the hospital is a chapstick. Your lips will be very dry. Now, foodwise......when I have to eat something that taste badly with Protein powder in it, I will switch it out for something spicey or that has a distict flavor of its own. For shakes, I will add vanilla extract and sweetener, chocolate syrup (sugar free) and sweetener, or maybe salsa. One of my favorite foods to hide protein in is chili. My Bariatric Advantage AE horse pill stink a** Vitamin is so huge that I have to crush it. It is supposed to have a berry flavor, but it is strong. I have added it to things like sugar free pistacio pudding, cinnamon applesauce, cranberry mixed with prune juice, ground beef with salsa or spaghetti sauce....just anything else with a strong flavor of its own.

You are just ten pounds above where I started. You did not say what your height was, but I am 5'4". What I did was reflect on what adult weight I was when I felt the healthiest, which was 135 pounds. That is do-able and not too extreme for my age (close to 63). It also still gives me a reasonable weight of 140 pounds, to allow for a little bounce back of five pounds. The surgeon approved 135 as a good expectation for my post-op results.

pot tay to - po tah to same difference I use both terms.

Agree with honeybunz that when you are still on liquids, it really woulnd't matter if you are sipping all day. What I would suggest is that you drink caloric liquids like your Protein shakes as your meals, and then sip on non-caloric beverages for the rest of the day. That could include Water, Crystal light, or anything sugar free like Ocean Spray's Cran-grape at 5 calories in one cup.

Happy birthday!

The idea of having to eat more to lose weight sounds contrary when you think of people who are literlly starving and are skeletal. But there is something to it. I have lost 65 pounds in ten months, but have been on a plateau for the last three months at 600-800 calories and under 30 carbs. When I had a visit with my primary physician about ten days ago, he suggested that I up my calories, eat more carbs, and make my bedtime cocoa with 2% milk instead of Water. He also said to push myself to increase my exercise. I have heard of that concept: eat more / exercise more and eat less / exercise less. Clearly, 600-800 calories was not supporting any consistant exercise and activity. The good news is that a couple of days ago, the scale started moving down again. Maybe it could be worth it for you to try the eat more but exercise more idea.

I was eating bacon at one month.

I get what I call my Tupperware burp. Also can get hiccups or sneezes or a bit of runny nose.

Isopure has excellent nutrients and electrolites in it. I blend mine with sugar free lemonade or sugar free cran-grape to help get it down.

I was allowed to do walking right away, light weights (5 pound hand weights) at one month, sit-ups and ab work at six weeks.

At ten months, my chronic inflammation is much less. Where I couldn't exercise more than five minutes, now I can do thirty minutes of strength training followed by ten minutes of cardio and a few minutes of balance training because of post-stroke issues with balance and perception. My knees were noticeably better with losing the first thirty pounds. With Degenerative Disc Disease,I have 17 ruptured discs in my spine with three repaired. I need a full lumbar fusion, but my spine doctor wants to put it off until I get to goal. He said that I would heal much easier without the extra 100 pounds I had a year ago. So far I have lost 65 of it. Although I do not have fibromialgia, my oldest daughter (age 38) has had it her entire adult life, and even had some issues in that respect in high school. So, I understand your agony. I take Lyrica for neuropathies. She said she tried it for the fibromialgia, but it did not help. She gets through the day with Aleve, and gets through the night with a sleep aid.

Stay positive and keep hanging out with us for support.

Here is a link to a thread about snarky comments. Don't worry about being nice to rude comments and backhanded compliments. http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/315739-snarky-comebacks-to-snarky-comments/page-2?hl=%2Bsnarky#entry3565323

1. Apple cider powdered mix 2. sugar free jam ( I put s/f apricot jam in yogurt to help me tolerate a med that I have to crush)

Never had that procedure, but I have had many other surgeries. If you do go, just be careful about people bumping into you. That would really hurt.

At the top of this page click on Resources - Information - Which surgery is right for me. Then at the bottom of the page you can click for extending to the rest of the article about the different kinds of surgery. As for me, I did not want a bypass because I did not want to re-route my plumbing. I did not want a band because I did not want a port on my abdomen. So I chose the sleeve and am happy with the result so far. At ten months out I have had no dumping, no more reflux and sleep a lot better. I think it awesome that you are doing your home work. I wish you good luck and good health.