Fluffnomore

Six weeks. Four weeks if I wanted to ride a recumbent bike or do very light aerobic exercise. Six for weights, etc.

Misty, I know you have a lot on your plate. Just wanted to commiserate. Chicago here; kids were off an extra two days. Delightful 14 year old daughter came charging down the steps inside the house yesterday, stepped down wrong and broke her foot. ARGH. In the meantime my husband has been trying to get here from the east coast and decided to drive instead of wait until they could get him on another flight. 800 miles, in this weather, through NC, Kentucky, INDIANA and IL. Didn't believe Indiana was shut down yesterday. Sigh. Will be so happy when they're out of my hair again in a couple of days.

That's why we're recommending you measure right now. Try two ounces, if that works well, go for four. Don't go over four for a while. My best example is the bariatric pudding/shakes. I like them better as puddings (and at the point you are it was nice to have something different.) I could just about finish 4 ounces of pudding. 1/2 cup. So that's what I did. Then one day I realized that my construct around finishing food was all wrong. Just because it's there and measured, doesn't mean I have to eat it. So I experiment a little. I leave a little on my plate. I mean, if I'm hungry I eat it. But I don't keep eating it. 11 weeks out this is still the hardest thing for me to work on. Unfortunately for me, I don't have Gomekast's restriction, so there is no way to know right now if you will. Therefore, measuring is king. I will sometimes eat my 2 or 3 ounces, wait 20 minutes. If I am still unsatisfied, I will go measure out another ounce or 2. It works better than starting with 4 or 5 ounces.

Nicely done!

My pattern is wake up, pee, weigh, record. And then forget about it. When I want to look at weight I basically pull the big chart out and I compare week to week and month to month. Some days I don't even remember what the weight was that morning.

By a week out I could drink much more easily than I thought I would. Even now at almost 11 weeks out I feel like my restriction is "less" than what others report. I say "less" because who knows? Believe me, it is there. I finally figured out that if I could eat 4-6 ounces comfortably that was really okay. We are not talking about 2 cups, after all... Count yourself lucky. Continue to measure things. If you have hunger, ask your doctor about a PPI (proton pump inhibitor) to attack the acid buildup. Your stomach is still creating acid for a large stomach. Good luck.

This is completely unscientific but I am convinced that because I was training with a program that focused on weights prior to surgery that I had some nice lean muscle mass going in, that it helped me recover from the surgery quickly. And now I am wearing clothing that I previously wore when I was 15-20 pounds lighter. So building muscle will add to your leanness, too. But like Butter, I do both.

No, chewing doesn't really substitute for pureeing. The blender cuts the fibers in the food much better/more thoroughly than our teeth do.

It is continually fascinating to me that the things we think will make us feel happy and complete, often don't. If I figure it out, I'll write a book. Thanks for the posts, Jane.

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss. I'm sure there are a million reasons you are dizzy and lightheaded. You might be dehydrated so push the fluids, maybe get yourself a Protein shake too. I'm guessing that you have 1,000 things to attend to today, but maybe check in with your doctor when you can. Again, so so sorry.

Do you know where you're going to be going so that you can check a menu out online ahead of time?

Hi Stacy! I see we both used Dr. Tiesenga. Hope you get home today! Stay warm.

The bra is the most important thing for me. I started CrossFit in August. I had old yoga pants and exercise capris, and plenty of tshirts, but I wouldn't have made it through much without a good bra. One of the best parts about having the surgery is that I had to replace the pants last week: XXL to L! Yay! My observation with swimming (since I took that up again recently) is that I had to think through everything I would need and make sure I had it ready to go, all the time. That meant for me that I needed to purchase some new stuff, and every time I got to the pool and noticed something that I'd be more comfortable "if I just had it" I got it. Everything from a new suit to ear plugs. To extra goggles when the first pair leaked. A lap counter. Now that bag is packed and ready and my excuses are gone. Well, except for today. It's -10 here, more like -40 with wind chill. I'm going to stay home today unless I can get to the gym later. Or the kids drive me nuts.

You probably have a t-shirt. That will work. Go to Target or Lane Bryant and buy a pair of yoga pants or capris. Make sure your shoes and bra are supportive. It may seem silly to say, but you will feel better if you have specific clothes for your workout (although there's no need to go crazy with this.) No need to fit in. If you go in with an open mind and attitude, you will find people who are willing to help. January is a tough time at the gym but you have been going and you are going to try something new. Good luck! About 90% of this is showing up, over and over.

One of my good friends had a sleeve about 4 months before me and when she was about at your point she said to me, 'The biggest problem with this that I didn't expect is that I have to FEEL my feelings." I think it's an adjustment that many of us go through. I know I was short and snappish for a while around 2-3 weeks out and the other theory is that you have both the after-effects of surgery to deal with, and that for whatever reason, losing weight unleashes a hormonal flood that really makes us emotional. So yes, it's perfectly normal and if you ride it out a little longer it should mostly go away. But we all have to figure out how to deal with anger and sadness without the old fallback.

I was at a family wedding 4-5 weeks out. Most didn't know. When we were out, I ordered 2 scrambled eggs for breakfast, sometimes a sausage patty, and ate slowly (I never refused toast or potatoes, just didn't eat them.) For lunch or dinner on the road, I ordered chili or meatloaf. At fancy dinners I ordered fish. As it happened most of the dinners were pre-ordered for us and all had soft foods. There was only one dinner where someone noticed something "wrong" with my plate and I just waved my hand in the general direction of my stomach and mumbled something about sticking to bland food tonight. There were no follow up questions. I also had Protein shakes in my hotel room just in case.

I feel like I can eat a lot more than most people report. Then again, I'm still losing weight and I'm not eating more than 1100 calories on my biggest days. I'll mention it to the doctor but so far I'm not freaked out. I can easily eat 4 oz of dense Protein, just as a reference.

I know this is wrong but I take them all together because otherwise I won't take them. I need to have some blood work drawn this month and I will report back.

The alka seltzer is a fizzy thing; I wouldn't. I have taken Nyquil.

You are going to be fine. Just breathe and don't forget to ask for painkillers and anti-nausea meds if, and maybe even before you need them.

I wish that were the case here. Fortunately the fried calamari I've had has been lightly breaded/lightly fried. Love the spice with it though. And it is dense and fills me up forever.

This has nothing to do with the OP but I will say that one of my favorite go-tos right now is calamari with (US) cocktail sauce.

Ahhh, I see. Our cocktail sauce usually uses horseradish.

A marie-rose sauce? Must google.

I do the chewables from Costco. They look more like candies than pills (I don't know if I'm describing it correctly.) And a couple of them sort of feels like candy. Sort of.