terry1118

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 1999. I also take Synthroid. I had no problems recovering - it was actually way easier and faster than I expected. My weight loss was better than I expected - at 7 months I lost 100lbs and by 10 months I had lost 115lbs. I don't expect to lose any more. I'm currently 118lbs and wearing a size 6. I feel amazing! :-)

I was never really interested in sushi. I liked California rolls but that was as adventurous as I got. Until I went to California two weeks ago... My son and his girl took me to their favorite sushi place and ordered twelve different kinds, along w/appetizers of soft-shell crab and calamari. I was leary but I tried almost all of it (I wouldn't try the one w/eel - it sort of creeped me out! Lol). Now I didn't eat a LOT but I tried a bite of almost everything - and it was delicious! I loved it. Especially the spicy ones. I am now officially a fan. We ate sushi three out of the six nights I was there. Also I was very surprised how good soft shelled crab was. :-) I wonder if there are any places that have good sushi in RI...

You will find someone who loves you for you. When the right one comes along it won't matter where you are in your journey. When it's right, it's right. Be patient. And in the meantime you'll get to figure out who you REALLY are inside! Many of us are hiding behind our weight. We find new confidence, self assurance, and self discovery! When you love yourself others see you differently and will love you too. Each pound lost allows a little more of that special person to shine through... :-)

And once a friend of mine got an injury from walking too much. Relatives moved in w/her temporarily and she started walking 5-6 miles per day just to escape the chaos. She got a stress fracture from w.alking

Maybe bone spurs? I have heel spurs and have to always wear shoes with proper support and cushioning. My podiatrist said to never, ever, ever go barefoot, even in the house. If I step down hard on my heal the spur injures the tendon. Then it takes a loooong time before I can walk without pain - last time the pain lasted two years! Avoidance is key. Good quality, well fitting shoes...

I don't see why anyone would get PO'd or annoyed by anything here. I try to follow up on things but sometimes I get busy and it could be days before I can check in again. There is often so much activity it's hard to follow it all. I don't get angry if someone says something I don't like or doesn't respond to my questions. Why would I be offended? We don't know each other and are not likely to ever meet. These forums are sometimes informative, sometimes interesting, and sometimes funny. It's nice to get advise, sympathy, encouragement, and share tips and/or recipes, but these things, while helpful, are not crucial to my success and well-being. It's not a substitute for real human interaction. And it's most definitely not a substitute for professional advice from my medical team. It's only an online forum after all. All that being said, I DO enjoy it and pop in when I can. :-)

I frequently eat shrimp cocktail as a meal. I love shrimp! :-)

The only regret I have ever had was waiting so long to do it. It is easily the second best best decision I have ever made in my life (the first is marrying my husband of 32yrs). :-)

Shopping! It used to reduce me to tears and always ended with me feeling miserable and depressed followed by binging on sweets. Now it's a pleasurable activity that makes me happy! I love to dress up!

Try Chike High Protein Coffee. It contains two real expresso shots so the flavor is good and it gets me going in the morning, while giving me 20gr of protein. I make it in the blender w/water and crushed ice. It tastes just like a Dunkin Donuts coffee coolatta! (Like a coffee frappe, for those who may not know what a coolatta is) Delicious! I was buying it from Amazon but my favorite nutrition store, Performance Nutrition, is ordering it for me now. I like to support local businesses. It comes in a canister or a box of individual envelopes. I bought a blender for the break room at work and take the envelopes on my long day when I work 10-11 hours. :-)

Foamies suck. They're caused by eating too much, eating too fast, eating foods too dry, or not chewing well enough. The food back up towards your esophagus and your body produces all that saliva to ease the irritation it causes (according to my team). It will happen again. I would go a couple months with no problem and out of the blue it would happen. Occasionally it happened with what I considered 'safe' foods. One week it happened every day, making me think I had a stricture. Just take it one day at a time. Eat slowly and learn to recognize your warning signs. If you do that you can minimize the sick feelings. For me, walking it off helped it pass more quickly. My doc suggests drinking a little Water w/meat tenderizer mixed in, though I haven't tried it. If the feeling doesn't pass within an hour I drink a little something quickly - that makes me puke and bring the whole mess up (losing my Protein for that meal). After that I can't eat or drink anything for a couple hours until my insides settle down. I'm a year out and it still happens - usually when I'm feeling normal and forget that I will always have a smaller capacity for food and need to limit food types. It's so worth it though!!!! I started at 233bs (sz22-24, 2X) and am now 118lbs (sz6, s/xs).

I had a similar experience with tuna about a month after my rny. I wasn't afraid of damage but being sick for 2-3 hours while at work was pretty bad. I'm a year out - tuna and chicken are still my kryptonite. They till make me sick every...darn...time!!!

I had a good time! Did not have a car charger but made sure my phone was fully charged every night. I felt completely safe the whole time. This trip was a great ego and confidence booster! :-)

I had a ball! It went by way too fast! My biggest fear was driving to and from the airport multiple times alone but I managed the first time and felt comfortable after that. :-)

I had a great time with my son and his girl. We went to Laguna twice - what a beautiful place! Dana Point, the pier in Oceanside, the beach walk in San Clemente - all beautiful! David had duty every morning and his girl slept late so I walked the beach by myself. We went out to eat every night and I ate a lot of great sushi and delicious Mexican food - and by 'a lot' I mean variety, not quantity. I even tried soft-shell crab for the first time. I stocked my little fridge w/Greek yogurt, Atkins Protein shakes, humus, and sf Popsicles for Breakfast and lunch. I carried Quest bars in my bag for a snack, if needed (I found a nutrition store 1/2 mile from my hotel that carried them). I went to Starbucks every day for my iced green tea and drank it in the sunshine from a park overlooking the beach. We went to a luxury movie theater where I drank a little wine while watching the movie (very little - I'm a major lightweight w/alcohol now!). I enjoyed myself, tried new foods, and still lost weight! I'm down 3lbs! Now I'm only 3 pounds away from my goal weight of 115. :-)

You can't go wrong w/fish! Have a great time! :-)

I have no problems with eating out. I just came back from a week long vacation in California. For dinner I ate Mexican food and I ate lots of sushi. I stayed at a hotel that provided a fridge in the room and I bought Greek yogurt and ready to drink protein shakes for my breakfast and lunch. On my plane I had protein bars in my purse and I ate nuts. I drank lots of water and iced green tea from Starbucks. It was a fun vacation where food was not the biggest part of my fun. I enjoyed visiting my son, meeting and getting to know his girl, walking on beaches and beach trails, and seeing the sights. My life has been very different since food has been lower on my list of priorities. And I lost two pounds. :-)

You can get some great ideas. :-)

Well it wasn't exactly warm for the first few days I was there. Nights about 45° and days 58-60°. After that it got into the high sixties and you still needed a jacket at night. Then suddenly, on Tuesday the temp shot up to 97° and Yesterday it was 90°. A lot of good that did me - Tuesday I had to take my son's girl to San Diego Airport, and Wednesday morning I was back at the airport for my flight home. But the strong Santa Anna winds damaged the radar that services our airport and the flights were grounded for hours. When we finally took off at 5pm the winds forced us to use a runway that took us over the city skyline and the mountains behind it so we couldn't carry a full load of fuel if we wanted to clear it. That meant an unscheduled stop in Indiana for fuel to make it to our next stop in Maryland. Maryland was having bad weather and grounding flights but our late takeoff meant the storms were over by our arrival there. I landed in Providence at 3:30am and had to wake my husband to come and get me. I got home at 5am this morning and slept till noon! Longest day ever! Hats off to the flight crew for trying to make the best of a bad situation. The Captain invited us into the cockpit one by one to take pictures, answer questions, and explain how everything works. When we finally took off all the alcohol was free - a glass of wine helped me sleep through the longest leg of our long flight. The attendants did the best they could to ease tensions, and meet everyone's needs. So glad to be home but it's not exactly warm here! Lol And I got a tattoo Monday night. My first one! My son paid for it for Mother's Day. It hurt but my Marine son was watching so I took it like a Marine mom should! :-)

I'm going to Cali in six days to visit my son at Camp Pendleton, who is recovering from an injury. He shattered his leg in a training exercise last October and had two surgeries, plates and screws. His ankle is frozen from months of being immobilized and he needs physical therapy to get motion and strength back. His doc says he should be back to normal by the end of the year. He asked us to come visit him and meet his girl. My hubby can't go because he just started a new job so I'll be going by myself. The only time I ever left New England was when we went to his graduation at Parris Island a few years ago. And I've NEVER been away from my husband in all our 35 years together! I'm excited and scared at the same time. So in a way this is also an NSV because I would never have considered a trip like this when I was heavy. It's warm in Cali which is something I've always hated as a big person. I'm actually looking forward to being warm - I haven't been warm in months, it seems. I also would never have the confidence to go anywhere alone. I feel up to the challenge of getting my rental car in San Diego and driving to San Clemente (I'm a little afraid of California highways, probably from watching too much TV). I'll be staying alone at my hotel and spending some of my time there alone while my son has duties (even injured marines have work to do). I picked a hotel walking distance to the beach (another thing I never would have done) and it's close to a pedestrian walkway that follows the beaches (I plan to walk it every day!). I'm going to a little exploring on my own. My son, his girl, and I will be going to Laguna Beach, Oceanside, and San Diego to do different things. My son will be taking us to a shooting range (a marine's idea of a good time, LOL) and I just might get my first tattoo there. I've been buying lots of clothes for my trip (sz8!) which has been fun. My hotel room has a fridge so I can buy Protein shakes, yogurt, and other pouch-friendly foods. The hotel has free hot Breakfast every day, also. I think I've planned for everything. It should be fun! I'm ready to go! :-)

I'm headed to California for a little vacation in a couple hours. (YAY!) I'm thinking I may get a tattoo while I'm there as a souvenir of my first EVER vacation alone. :-)

Sweets were always my weakness. Dumping is a strong deterrent that was very appealing to me when making my decision about WLS. Now that I'm almost a year out I still don't know if I dump because I never dared to try anything not recommended by my nut. I found that after a few months w/o sugar that I don't crave it anymore. I'm afraid that eating something w/sugar, no matter how small, will trigger those old insatiable cravings. Because of that, and because of how good I feel w/o it, I have no problem with the idea of staying away from sugar forever. It's my personal choice because I know my own weaknesses. Some people do okay with a little something here and there. It's a personal decision, but why play w/fire? :-)

I can't wait to be warm! Loll

A question for the Southern Cali people - how's the weather? Is it warm? T-shirts and jeans warm? Sundresses, Shorts and tank tops warm? Bathing suit on the beach warm? I'm only bringing a carry-on so I don't want to bring unnecessary clothing... :-)

I noticed the swim-shirt trend while shopping a few weeks ago. Lands End has swim shirts that look pretty nice. Seems like a good option when snorkeling, for cool-weather swimming, or for sun protection at the beach (I get a terrible itchy rash from sun exposure that can last two weeks).