roundisashape

Absolutely! I was out of control and needed to do SOMETHING. I couldn't do it on my own for 36 years, so whether it works for me or not, I can't regret taking some step to try to live longer. I was surprised by how much it hurt! I honestly thought it was going to be a breeze - I mean, I'd had a tumor and an ovary removed through an open incision a few years ago and practically danced out of the hospital. Did NOT imagine that the one little tiny hole where my stomach came out of would hurt worse than all that, but it did! Please don't let that scare you off. A lot of people come out of this and have pretty much no pain at all.

Thanks!

One of the first things I had was Beans of the not-refried variety (lima beans, if I recall). Ground beef mixed with green beans is a favorite right now. I also wrapped chicken in foil and covered it in a marinade of citrus juices and spices, and cooked it in the oven. It's almost like boiling it in flavor, but it does stay pretty moist that way. At first, tuna salad went down well but chicken salad got stuck. Last week, tuna salad started coming back up but chicken salad goes down great. Who knows, right? But if the tuna doesn't work, chicken might. Ground turkey or pork with some shredded cabbage cooked in and a touch of soy sauce is pretty good, too. Like the guts of an egg roll. Good luck!

Congratulations! That's great progress!

@@IronDruggist, I hit that one this week - so cool! When a 5 year old crawls up in your lap and tells you you're getting smaller, so they fit better now!

Thanks! Sounds like I might check out the Nature Made next, then go from there . If only all these other Vitamins could be purchased in sample sizes like Protein powder...!

Mine does it to everyone - he said fluid can build up in there and it helps remove that. I understand some doctors leave them in a lot longer, and some don't use them at all, so I don't really know what the reasoning is

So easy to do - especially when you start feeling good and just forget for a minute that you had something done! I did it with a bite of donut at about 3 weeks. Just...forgot. My tummy made certain I wouldn't make that mistake again, at least not with the same food! For what it's worth, bananas were on my "safe" list during purees since they're mushy. Not sure where they fall on yours, but they're probably too soft to do any damage.

I woke up with one, and they took it out the day I went home. It freaked me out too, I worried a LOT about it. Turns out it wasn't such a big deal. I barely felt it when she removed it, but it LOOKED weird - like a magician pulling scarves out of their sleeves. The hardest part was trying to sit back up afterwards, because I couldn't lay down flat with any degree of comfort for like 3 weeks. Afterwards, they just closed up the hole with steri-strips. That scared me too, since for some reason I was expecting them to have to stitch or staple me up while I was awake, but it wasn't a big deal at all.

Not a chance! I was fat my whole life. By the time I was ready for surgery, I was at a point where being so fat for so long made it nearly impossible to exercise and I was always hungry. There needed to be some sort of intervention!

For what?

I took a week off, then worked from home for a week. No lie, the week I went back SUCKED. I was still guarding a lot when I drove, and by about 3:00 I felt like I got run over by a nap truck - I'd go home after work and pretty much immediately fall asleep. Greek yogurt, well mixed tuna / chicken salads, Protein shakes, little containers of refried Beans and soups or whatever that I mashed up at home were all handy. If you have a refrigerator accessible at work, one of the things I liked to do during purees was freeze my mush into ice cube trays. Each cube is about an ounce, so I'd pack up a whole bunch of 2 ounce food cubes into individual sandwich bags, then pack them all in a bigger zipper bag and stick them in the freezer at work. Then I could just pick out what I wanted and didn't have to worry too much if I had an extra late night or whatever.

During purees, I was a fan of chicken and tuna salad mixed REALLY well (just meat, mayo, spices - no veggies). About 1/2 can of Underwood chicken spread hit the spot during that stage too. Don't judge, lol - as I saw someone else mention on here, you'll eat things during this stage you'll probably never touch again. About a quarter cup or so of fork mashed canned corned beef hash went down well too, and felt more like food than the other stuff on the list. Refried Beans with a little pureed salsa also felt like real food, and they're high in Protein. The other thing I liked was pureed Hormel white chicken chili. Since it purees up a little thicker than plain soup, it feels a little more substantial in your mouth. If your soft stage is distinct from your puree stage, that's a little easier. I'm on soft stuff now and it opens up new choices. Moist meats, cooked veggies and fruits, beans, etc. The last couple of days I've been eating ground beef cooked with canned green beans.

Hi! Congratulations on the success you've had - it looks like you've done a great job! So I'm a natural born slob. Easily distracted, hate to clean, tend to let things pile up if I'm not diligent about it. I'm on an online motivation forum for THAT too, and one of their favorite sayings is, "motivation follows action". Maybe if you sign up for one or two sessions with a trainer where you've paid for it and committed to being there, you'll go...then feel more motivated to go again on your own once you get over the hump and get moving again. You can do it!

I don't know that anyone out there would have the willpower or ability - even sleeved - to sustain such a low calorie diet for that long. If I were, I would still be afraid of what comes after. One of the best things we can do for ourselves during the losing process is to learn and establish new habits that will keep us from ever regaining the weight, and it doesn't seem like there would be much room in such a restrictive plan to do that. Good luck with your decision!

@@Jacqbult, not just you - I hit the dreaded 3 week stall, then dropped another 7 pounds really fast, and I've been sitting at the same weight for a little over a week now. Fits and spurts, but when it moves at least it's going in the right direction! I don't weigh every day, but despite knowing better I still weigh more often than I should. Trying to look at it this way - there's no way on earth that I WON'T eventually lose weight when I only take in 600-800 calories / day.

I just think it's a shame that they knew she wasn't ready before surgery, and gave it to her anyway. Dangerous and irresponsible, honestly - you can do a lot of damage to yourself not following at least some of the basic rules. That, and I have no idea how she was ABLE to sabotage herself that early out. I still love food as much as I always did, but one bite too many and it comes back out whether I want it to or not.

Try a Tums or Rolaids - I'm on a PPI but occasionally have some breakthrough acid. Didn't know what it was at first, and thought I was hungry. Now if I'm hungry and don't think I should be (it hasn't been long enough or whatever), I take one of those first and see if it makes the hungry feelings go away before I eat again.

That's fantastic!!! Be careful, I tripped over the hem of my pants and almost face planted the other day

I haven't been to Mexico, but I've done a fair amount of work travel. Hopefully now that I'm losing weight it won't be something I'll need to do anymore, but I found it helpful to ask to board early. I've never had an issue at the gate just asking if I can board early due to a medical condition (obesity is a medical condition). Then when they call people with little kids and disabilities, you can get on the plane and it'll give you a minute to get situated and ask for a seatbelt extender if you need it before the plane gets packed. Good luck to you!

I average anywhere from 600 - 800 calories per day, depending on whether I have any oatmeal or fruit - sometimes I track that many but leave remnants on the plate so it's probably not that much. Also average about 40 carbs total, but not sure how many are offset. I'll be 6 weeks on Tuesday, and last time I checked, I was down 34 pounds .