rabrijumo

I had surgery sept 2012 starting at 448 present wt 242 I had some heart issues for almost a year during my rapid wt loss had to be off work on disability that was rough. Finally got it under control and went back to work august2013. I have become ABLE- I can chase my grandson, fit in most chairs, wipe my ass in any stall, enjoy cooking and eating, exercise ( I can swim laps for over an hour) walk a mile without debilitating pain and get in and out of a sofa with ease(I don't even think about it anymore- it used to worry me all the time once I sat down would I be able to get back up- can you say embarrassing). I can not wait for onederland my goal is first to be under 200 then hopefully goal wt 160.

Thanks all! I am glad I could inspire anyone. One tip I would say to everyone but especially those who have a lot to lose like I did- focus on the life style changes, making improvements to the non wt loss number issues! I could easily revert back to the bad habits of eating to comfort, over eating food and sweets especially if my wt loss stalls. Wt loss WILL STALL, it's the nature of the beast. So the nsv or non scale victories and changing life long habits are a much more emotionally satisfying focus and keeps you moving forward then scale obsession. Good luck all!

I prepped myself for years, got on three or four sites , asked a million questions, and started a group of over 50 people having their surgery sept 2012. we have stayed together on FB through the last years and its been invaluable. we are a private group so we can say or post anything openly and private. and boy do we! i had few complications immediately post op but i was weak and still very unable at over 400lbs. my heart condition atrial fib got increasingly worse til i was on disability for 7 months. finally got it under control in july but by that time i had lost my job, i freaked a bit and jumped at the first travel nursing offer and came to NH from DC since august. i have lost over 200 lbs , my dm type 2 has improved, bp better, arthritis not as great as i hoped, i still live with daily pain and have some difficulty with stairs. but i can chase my grandson, get up off the couch easily, fit in any chair , finally dont have that nagging worry in the back of my mind..... will i find a seat big enough, a bathroom stall accommodating to my size, and if i had to fly i would only be in my own seat not crushing some poor stranger who is hating me for my size. Many in my group have had worse complications- belly pain, gallbladder issues, and bowel problems. hang in there it does get better!

I am over a year out. had my surgery sept 2012. reduction from highest 448 to present 242. went from a 7xl to 1xl on top 2x on the bottom. I eat small portions , low carby for the most part, and no low fat foods _they almost always have high sugar or corn syrup to make them palatable ( why do you think with all the low fat Cookies etc america is getting fatter?). i do not concentrate on my wt but on living my life. exercising, moving around, working, chasing my grandson! i stall but since I do not constantly weigh myself i dont know it or stress about it. its not about the wt its about improving my comorbidities diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis in knees and back, and atrial fib. I am happy to be where i am but eager to get into onderland. my goals are two fold- under 200 and absolute goal wt of 160 but i would be happy at 175 i think. i can not get a tummy tuck or boob job yet but that day will come.

Thanks yes i started a group with a bunch of people who had their surgery in sept 2012, and most of them hit goal within the year. it has been a longer road for me but well worth it. congrats on the wt loss preop i did not do that well (i seemed to have my "last meal" over and over). i have alot of nice larger sized clothes i have grown out of that I could pass on to you if you like. I am 5' 7 1/2" but someone in my group is shorted and she gave me a lot of "shorter" size 18-22. let me know. i would love to "pay it forward" the generosity of the two women that sent them to me at no charge. to someone else in a similar situation. i must say its great fun to shop at walmart or a thrift store and actually find clothes that fit! cant wait for you to have the same feeling. feel free to email or message me here for support.

Hi all I had my surgery september2012 My start wt 448 Surgery wt 419 1 st year anniversary wt 279 Current wt 242 226lbs gone fitting in 1x on top 2x on the bottom (from7-8xl) My goals pre op were to be able to chase my grandson- check Walk up stairs without holding the rail- half a check can do a few up and check for down unless I am really tired. Be able to walk a mile- check! Did it easily when I had to get my car out of the shop. Surprised me that I was able to do it( glad my neighbors weren't home to give me a ride) Go on a mission trip to Africa - not yet but I think I am going to go google that right now! Maybe this summer. I am working full time nights, able to wear skinny jeans comfortably, buy stuff at a thrift store easily, and swim for over an hour and then do physical therapy in the alpine pool for another ten min. I have a tiny waist and can feel the bones in my shoulders and hips. In fact when I sit on the potty it hurts a bit cuz my poor butt has lost a lot of it insulation. I tolerate most food but small portions are key. Half a sandwich, 1/4 -1/2 of a restaurant portion entree, and stay away from loads of sugars (under 9 grams at any one time) which means I don't deny myself a special treat but I only have a tiny piece or one small candy. The holidays meant a load of cooking but for me at least not a load of eating. Side benefit saving money on food big time. All in all this journey has been what I had envisioned and I see my end goals coming up fast. Under 200 lbs and being ABLE!

I have not been here in quite a while the name changed and I had a hard time finding it but I DID! My start wt 448 Surgery wt 419 1 st year anniversary wt 279 Current wt 242 226lbs gone fitting in 1x on top 2x on the bottom (from7-8xl) My goals pre op were to be able to chase my grandson- check Walk up stairs without holding the rail- half a check can do a few up and check for down unless I am really tired. Be able to walk a mile- check! Did it easily when I had to get my car out of the shop. Surprised me that I was able to do it( glad my neighbors weren't home to give me a ride) Go on a mission trip to Africa - not yet but I think I am going to go google that right now! Maybe this summer. I am working full time nights, able to wear skinny jeans comfortably, buy stuff at a thrift store easily, and swim for over an hour and then do physical therapy in the alpine pool for another ten min. I have a tiny waist and can feel the bones in my shoulders and hips. In fact when I sit on the potty it hurts a bit cuz my poor butt has lost a lot of it insulation. I tolerate most food but small portions are key. Half a sandwich, 1/4 -1/2 of a restaurant portion entree, and stay away from loads of sugars (under 9 grams at any one time) which means I don't deny myself a special treat but I only have a tiny piece or one small candy. The holidays meant a load of cooking but for me at least not a load of eating. Side benefit saving money on food big time. All in all this journey has been what I had envisioned and I see my end goals coming up fast. Under 200 lbs and being ABLE!

Hi all those having their surgery in September 2012. I am set for the 25 th I have done about half my pre op requirements Psychiatric evaluation - check EGD / colonoscopy - check sleep study- check Cardiology clearence- check GI consult- check Pre op education program - 1 class to go Final doctor appointment Final two dietician meetings Official insurance clearence Chest X-ray EKG Blood work ** these must be done within 30 days of surgery** Appointment with IVC filter doctor IVC filter placed 3 days before surgery Pick up incentive spirometer and surgery bag

Yikes no posts in M arch at all. O response to my attempts to contact Jessica sigh

roxyraquel hope you contacted goddessblaze and gave her your fb name so you can join us. message me the info or post here and i will check back if you want.

Congrats on your success though I am not sure how to convert stones to lbs lol . I would suggest consulting your doc about the blood sugar. Seems to me you need more protein to stabilize the sugar . Also keep a food diary for a week or so and note when the episodes occur it might help to pinpoint the cause and help you prevent future episodes. Good luck!

Please remember scales lie they fluctuate focus on following your doc instructions getting into the rhythm of your new life. Get a pair of pants that you grew out of and try them on, keep trying them on til they fit and you get to small for them etc. for enter to not scale watch and work on getting that protein in. Take it from me I let that go because I didn't like the taste of the drinks or the texture and got very weak and depressed. NOw that i found isopure I am feeling way better and five months postoperative I have lost over 100lbs.

Kisersassy and juditha thanks for responding to my depressed post! I appreciate the encouragement. I focused on getting my protein in finally found a protein drink I can tolerate isopure. It's amazing how much better I feel mentally and physically now that I get over 40 grams in per day. I went to the doctors Monday and finally got weighed I have eliminated 108 lbs since my preop diet in July. I can buy a scale now as I am under 350 yeah! Although not focussing on the scale is probably better for me as it used to trigger binge eating when the normal fluctuations of the scale showed a gain or no loss. I want to invite you all to join us on Facebook it's a great group and completely private. We share our deepest fears and pics and thoughts. Please let goddess blaze know here and she can send to an invite or something to get you in.

Ok I have been MIA for a while and I am not doing well. I was put on disability at work because my heart problem caused me to call out way to much. Since I have been Home I Barely get out of bed. My nausea is horrible I can not take any protein drinks. I try and get up but after 5-10 min I feel dizzy, nauseous and shaky. My sleep pattern is screwed I read all night try to stay up all day to get back to normal schedule then pass out in the early afternoon keep trying to stay awake FAIL and read all night. My family is worried about me I am worried about me. I am monitoring my blood sugar it's not to bad and i cover with minimal insulin when needed. I eat protein veggies and fruit. Been watching a lot of cooking shows and making some great recipes low carb delish but it takes a lot out of me to be up long enough to cook. I try to exercise but again FAIL. maybe once a month I do my stationary bike. I have no scale to weigh myself so I can not quantify my wt loss although I look and feel like I have lost some. I am losing a lot of hair but it was so thick pre surgery it's not noticeably thin. My legs thighs mostly are very lumpy and I have recently started having severe nose bleeds. I feel like of all of us I am the most pathetic and unsuccessful. Everyone looks so good and I know I was the biggest and have the most to lose but WHEN OH WHEN AM I GOING TO BE MORE ABLE? AM I GOING TO DIE? Sent from my iPad using RNYTalk

ok i have a horrible problem. thought i had food poisening last week but last night symptoms returned: shakes , fever, vomiting , horrible gas, and constant nausea. i tried a syntrax matrix shake made with milk(didnt have any lactaid or even 2% in the house so used whole milk) tasted great went down fine. 2 hours later shaking, vomiting etc all night felt horrible everytime i got up to pee vomting dry heaving for 2 min awful! every moring at work i am nauseated, vomited this am(and by vomit i mean the motion there is nothing in there so its saliva and what little water i get in) i try to eat my cream of wheat or banana but its hard due to the nausea. I have to force myself to eat. I am so miserable i really need to figure out what is causing this. any ideas?

called the docs office they are getting back to me hope we can figure it out!

ok i have a horrible problem. thought i had food poisening last week but last night symptoms returned: shakes , fever, vomiting , horrible gas, and constant nausea. i tried a syntrax matrix shake made with milk(didnt have any lactaid or even 2% in the house so used whole milk) tasted great went down fine. 2 hours later shaking, vomiting etc all night felt horrible everytime i got up to pee vomting dry heaving for 2 min awful! every moring at work i am nauseated, vomited this am(and by vomit i mean the motion there is nothing in there so its saliva and what little water i get in) i try to eat my cream of wheat or banana but its hard due to the nausea. I have to force myself to eat. I am so miserable i really need to figure out what is causing this. any ideas?

Jessuniquiladybug how are you doing now? I have been thinking a lot about you. Hoping things have stabilized and you are over your buyers remorse. you had such high hopes and expectations for the surgery and your path was not smooth. Please let me know. I am ok had food poisoning last week was really bad almost recovered now, down 69 lbs since my last weigh in 2 wks ago( I hardly ever weigh myself can't get into the crazy obsessed scale thing) . Sent from my iPad using RNYTalk

Get a shaker don't use the magic bullet type thing.

I make a beautiful moist turkey on my big green egg ceramic grill. Rub the skin and then go u der the skin and rub the meat with a mixture of spices like Basel minced garlic sea salt onion powder with olive oil. Then take sliced onion chunks and chucks of green apples and tuck inside cavity and in every bend plus under then skin. Cook all day long and low . Turkey like many dishes on thanksgiving can be low carb and small portions make it bariatric. I make a cauliflower broccoli casserole use a recipe I found on a low carb sight just avoid the ones that add bread crumbs etc, sautéed spinach with minced almonds great low carb food. For dessert a splenda pumpkin pie with crushed almond as the crust. A few things to avoid so you don't make yourself sick are the sugery pies like pecan made with corn syrup nonononononono choc ie etc also remember 50% of the enjoyment of potato is the toppings make it with cauliflower and you get a taste without dumping tip for cauliflower dry it after cooking and blend with food processor reheat then add butter and sour cream. Remember also the main change is .................. STUFFING YOURSELF IS NOT AN OPTION ! Enjoy family and food but keep using your small plate and put your fork down between bites. Happy thanksgiving all.

Hello sept members how is everyone doing?

Ok I am a nurse and my doc wanted me to lose 35-40 lbs pre op but. Went crazy at first and gained wt so he made me do 2 weeks of optifast. I actually chose to do an extra week so I could achieve the wt loss. I purchased the choc ready to use, chicken soup and tomatoe soup plus the bars choc, berry and choc peanut butter. I also interjected unjury protein powder to the evening shake to help the taste( I had one shipment of optifast shakes fall through so I was short a weeks worth). I also decided to google liver shrinking diet and it was basically low carb meat and veggies for carbs kinda like our post op diet really. So encorporated my first weekend 2 meat and veggie meals with shakes for breakfast and lunch. My final week was pure optifast and achieved the 30 lb wt loss and the liver shrinking. I think the extended time you are on the optifast is a bit excessive but each doctor has their own requirements. So many people do not even do any optifast. It's up to you to decide whats right for you.

Good luck and remember SIP SIP SIP WALK WALK WALK

I recommend you check out theworldaccordingtoeggface she has tons of delish recipes for the stages of our diet. You can use the search button for puréed recipes or and meat that appeals to you.

Thanks Jess glad you are feeling better to. I am lucky the surgery itself has been great but my poor physical condition is my challenge now. Just got to stick it out and get down a bit more so I can exercise.