jess9395

I've lost myself (or my 13 year old son or my daughter). I weigh 135 and have lost 136.

I think it is important for people to hear all size and experiences before they make the choice to proceed, so thanks for sharing and I AM sorry you are struggling. BUT just as you don't want people who have had an easy time to paint the picture as ALWAYS being sunshine and light, please be careful with your own phrasing. You say people WILL experience X or Y in your initial post. It might be more credible and thus more powerful if you said "you might" or "I did." When people post things as absolutes whether sunshine or darkness it can make people close their eyes because very little in life is certain. I do feel your message needs to be heard so I am just trying to help truly!

I always get street type tacos and eat the insides

In Cheescake factory's defense, at least out here they list nutritional facts there on the menu and have a whole healthy section. I ate there recently and split a seared tuna and kale salad with my 16 year old daughter. My worst? Probably when I would go through a fast food drive through and order 2-3 sandwiches (chicken sandwich, bacon cheeseburger, whatever), fries, another side (jalapeño poppers, onion rings) and maybe a dessert. And two drinks so the cashier would at least think I was taking it home and sharing it wish someone! Nope I'd eat it all in the car, throw away the evidence and then have dinner later with the family. Yikes!

I mix it with syntrax matrix PB Cookie! It's wonderful. Also with the chocolate and the mint chip one. I also mix in SF Torani syrups, fresh fruit, blend in in shakes into oatmeal and use it in salad dressings. Try mixing plain FAGE with the Starbuck Via instant pouches. They are strong so I use anywhere from a third to a quarter packet to every 4 ounces of yogurt. Ok I am totally having that for Breakfast tomorrow!!! Thank you! Never thought of that one!

Yes on the pineapple for swelling!!! If you don't want the sugar you can take Bromelain supplements which is the same. I did that and arnica, turmeric and tart cherry supplements and the swelling wasn't nearly as bad as I thought!

I never had any problems with cherries and ate a half cup of them today! Now apples on the other hand... Ouch! We are all different!

Different plans and surgeons and nutritionists recommend different things. Mine is fine with healthy planned snacks. I can't eat much at a time even now 17 months out and could never meet my nutritional needs and protein goals in three meals. I eat 4-6 small "meals" a day.

That looks great! Thanks for sharing!!

I was outpatient too. And as I said pain wasn't nearly as bad as I expected--the exhaustion was worse. And my drains hurt coming out, but not too bad--I had them only 5 days and they stopped draining entirely so I got to have them out!! Overall it was TOTALLY worth it!

Wow! I vote for Alabama, LOl. Mine was 23K for tummy tuck, arm lift and breast lift with implants (about 2k less with no implants). Honestly for me the pain wasn't that bad! I was off narcotics by day 3. It was worse than WLS but not nearly as bad as I anticipated. It sure hurt! But was over quickly and only maybe a 7/10--nice thing about having it all done simultaneously is I was so out of it the pain was less I think. And the tummy pain distracted me from the arm and boob pain, LOL!

Some peoples love it. I was underwhelmed, tried maple vanilla and chocolAte

Omg Tang!!! Loved that growing up! May have to search out the sugar free tang myself!

LOL next time read the labels. Same amount of protein--23g and yes matrix has more sugar--a whopping 3G. The basic difference is the type of Protein.

THIS a thousand times! Pick a doctor you trust and then trust them. Truth is no one knows the "right" diet for sure bc we can't experiment on humans like we do on rats and randomly assign them to treatment and control groups. So each doctor looks at the research and takes an educated guess on what will work for their patients. And some give different guidelines to different patients depending on BMI, history, gender, age etc. Pick a doctor you trust and trust the doctor you picked.

I drink then workout while drinking more and then do a protein shake after. My doctor consider a protein shake drinking so I don't have to wait.

All good advice and I would add that I honestly don't believe MOST people here lost 100lbs in 6 months. Sure some did. But I lost 135 in 18 months and my doctor said that was super fast so take that with a grain of salt. 80lbs in 6 months is amazing!

You will hear mixed things. In a nutshell, they are operating on your stomach, not your brain. If your binges are responses to emotional triggers and stressors, surgery isn't going to fix that. That said, for many people the surgery causes a reduction in the amount of ghrelin produced by removing the part of the stomach that manufactures it. If your binges are solely biochemical, and you are one of the ones who experiences that, it may stop your binges. My training is in psychology. I believe that our coping mechanisms are both biological and behavioral in nature. That is, how a person handles stress is a combination of their specific body chemistry--their biological predispositions--AND their experiences and behaviors. Nature PLUS nurture. So someone with a biological predisposition to overeat (too much ghrelin or other hunger regulating hormones) may turn to food to relieve stress at first because of a biological component. But it's what happens in your life (lots of issues/stressors?) and the reinforcement you get from the overeating that strengthens the behavior as a coping mechanism--you feel good when you overeat so you relieve the stress, so now you are eating for both biological AND emotional/psychological reasons. Make sense? So you can remove the biological drive but the emotional drive is still there. So no one can predict for you. Therapy surrounding food issues is HUGELY beneficial in figuring out which it is for you and how to replace bingeing with a better coping mechanism if they have become a way to cope with an emotional/psychological stressor. I binge ate before surgery for years. It was both for me. Years of therapy helped me beat the emotional part of it but the biological part remained. And after 40 my body wanted to hold onto every pound. For me the surgery was the last part of the puzzle and I haven't had any twinge of an impulse to binge since. I am only just more than 1.5 years out though so that could change. And every now and then I get angry or frustrated and want a cookie but I clearly recognize that it's an anger cookie not a hunger cookie and can make a decision based on THAT. Sometimes I have it (and only one! Who knew that was possible?) and sometimes I don't. I am happily maintaining at 135 (136lbs lost) and a size 4. I run to relieve stress these days

Wow! Sure hoping it doesn't take me that long to get back to it! I've already got four fall races scheduled ????????

I will fess up--I bought THREE bikinis to wear this summer after my plastics--and I'm frustrated as heck that every time I make it to the beach it's WAY too cold to wear one! Ditto the pool party I went to. Sigh. Maybe someday. I keep bugging my husband for some tropical vacation for our 20th anniversary coming up in sept but he's not biting!

I will reply more later when j have the time but it's totally do able! There are a few of us on the boards who run. I did my first marathon six weeks ago, 18 months post sleeve. Nutrition is something to pay attention to but can totally be done!

I am in CA so our prices are high--all three together were $23K. I could look up the individual arm lift, breast lift/augment (I know the implants were $1800) and tummy tuck prices when I am home. It was a lot to get done at once! Tough recovery but I only have to do it once instead of several and that fits my personality and lifestyle better. Many surgeons won't do all that at once in the states and my surgeon specifically said he could because he didn't have to do any lipo to go with it which makes the surgery longer and more risky.

Yeah my body fat was at 18% pre plastics not sure if that's changed--I have become a marathon runner and practice yoga 3-4x a week. I went from 271 to 135 so lost 136lbs. Pain--well hard to say because in addition to the boobs I had a tummy tuck and arm lift at the same time and overall recovery and pain was much worse that WLS! If I had and only one procedure would have probably been better!!!

I just had a lift and Implants four weeks ago. I was 18 months out and had been stable at goal for six months. I didn't have enough fat left for a fat transfer.

Nectar is whey isolate. matrix is a whey and Caesin blend. The whey isolate is more bio available the Caesin is longer lasting and keeps you full longer. I get mine on amazon or at Vitamin shoppe.