1Day1Life4Now

lrobbins, you have done a great job and you deserve to be proud of your accomplishments. Good luck and thanks for the inspiration.

I work a lot of hours and when I get home I am exhausted. I pick up the ready made roasted chickens from the grocery store and use them to make multiple recipes including chicken salad, chicken casserole and just eating pieces of the chicken as is. I make a hamburger steak (a very small one) and eat it with green Beans. These aren't great recipes but they are legal, healthy and quick and get the job done.

Shea-Shea, congratulations. You deserve to be proud and happy. You have accomplished a wonderful milestone in your journey. Keep up the good work and spread your joy and happiness.

Hi Capricornsleever, Welcome to the boards. You will find many answers to your questions on this site. I guess I'd say to start at the beginning like the rest of us did. The first step is to make an appointment with a weight loss clinic and/or go to a seminar about WLS. Once you have completed the seminar you will complete paperwork and the staff at the clinic will guide you in all of the steps you will need to follow. Many of us on this site have been overweight or obese for many years so understand your feelings in that regard. We too hit the that final wall where we just couldn't take it any more and started researching the best way for us to change our weight and our lives. What kind of surgery are you looking at? There are many forums on this site that address each kind of surgery and there is a group for each that feels their surgery is the best. Of course there are certain surgeries that are better at addressing various health issues so please discuss these with the staff and your doctor when you go for your visit. We are all here to support and answer questions. I'm a fairly new sleever myself but I'll be happy to answer any question you have. Good luck and don't be a stranger.

I haven't been able to over eat since I got sleeved. If anything... I under eat.

I bought the gluten free rice crackers and they are pretty low in calories. It does help with getting the tunafish down. I don't think a few crackers are going to hurt you as long as you are not overdoing the carbs. good luck.

Keewee, I'm offering up prayers for you. May God see you through a successful and pain free surgery. He will heal you. Have patience and you will be both happy and successful.

I don't know....I still find it to be a magical balancing act. 2 1/2 months out I still struggle with this.

thank you for sharing. I've been looking for some books on WLS that deal with the psychological aspect of this process.

I'm a little over 2 months and I'm feeling normal.

Good luck to you. That 6 month pre op diet is long and difficult but you can do it. The more you lose pre-op the better your results.

Im not familiar with the band but from what I've read on here....most people have not waited that long and are doing great. Good luck to you.

Jim, keep those packs of tunafish and chicken in your backpack or lunchbag for emergencies. I keep them in my desk drawer. Not really what I want to eat but they are good for an emergency and keep me off the carbs.

I felt the same way. It is either the acid or you need to drink more. It will get better. Eat a popsicle that will help.

The bad feelings are only temporary.... you will be better week by week. Welcome to the ranks of the Sleeved.

Congratulations Rome and Patty. The land of Oz is an awesome place once you've been sleeved. All those emotions are normal and you will both do fine. I'm excited for you!! Good luck.

You can have a bad experience at just about any hospital. If the Hospital Administration does not know what the problems are, they can't fix them. You need to report any and all personnel who acted unprofessionally and treated you in a less than respectable manner. The Powers-that-be at the hospital need to know details about your stay. The oxygen issue is certainly a biggie and needs to be reported as does the thing with the boots on your legs. Its very serious since blood clots after surgery are truly a concern for patients. I had such a wonderful experience at my hospital and the staff was professional, caring, respectful and genuinely nice. You deserved to have that same experience so REPORT WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH. Wishing you luck.

It has been 4 months since I've had coffee. I thought I couldn't live without it every morning.... but now....I enjoy the smell but don't feel compelled to drink it. I have bad acid reflux and the thought of that pain is a turn off. I now reach for a Protein shake.

You know you have lost weight when: Your husband tells you that you've lost massive amounts of weight off your a$$. I've been married 35 years and I'm excited that he's still looking at my behind.

Try not to weigh every day. It will drive you crazy. If you stick to the shakes and a lowfat meal at night... the weight will come off but it has to balance the fluids... and that takes a few days. Try not to stress as that can make you retain those pounds and cause you to eat things you shouldn't. Just relax and do the plan and nature will take care of the rest. Good luck with your surgery and hope you have a quick and uneventful recovery.

Good luck KeeWee, You will do great with surgery. Your mind is in the right place and that is half the battle. Wishing you a quick recovery from surgery and a constant and positive weight loss.

Losing weight gives us more energy and makes us feel better about ourselves. Both the perfect ingredients for a better sex life. Keep up the good work and enjoy all those side effects.

I am losing weight and I am happy. The weight is not coming off as quickly as I had hoped but it is coming off and I am seeing results that have caught the eye of my co-workers, my friends, and my family. The problem is... when I look in the mirror I see food. My neck looks like a turkey neck to me. My arms are like Jello, I still have a beer belly, ham hock legs and cottage cheese thighs. I exercise for 30 minutes twice a day. At what point does my body quit resembling food and start to look more like defined muscles? I know, I have a lot more to lose so maybe I shouldn't expect visual changes so soon .... but the visual food thing is very powerful and disturbing to me.... and plays games with my mind. The angel on one shoulder is encouraging and tells me I now look great in that suit I haven't worn in 4 years. The angel on the other shoulder tells me I look like what I ate. I can hide from the scale but I can't hide from the mirrors. How do I get out of the visual food funk????

Kudos to you for that major weight loss. That is quite an accomplishment. I don't recall anyone on this forum judging anyone for what they have eaten or not eaten. I don't really believe there are any perfect people on this forum as we're all human and prone to make errors on a daily basis. Each one of us approaches our weight loss struggles in our own unique and individual ways. Most of the posts on here are just asking for support and clarification on diet delimmas. We can't fault people for that now can we? Some people can lose weight without ever weighing and counting or measuring and I'm happy for them but not all people can do it that way. Those of us that have to measure and count do so because that is what works for us. Many of us that had the Gastric Sleeve surgery didn't have problems losing weight in the past. Our problem was that we would gain as soon as we got off the diet which caused the yoyo problems of bad health. We're not dieting, we just changed our food lifestyle and this is our new normal. We too are using our expensive tool to keep us on track. Because we choose to do it differently does not make us wrong. In fact, the medical community encourages our methods over the one you have chosen. Either way, I wish you much luck and continued success.