KayleeC14

The way I determined my ideal weight was; I told myself that I want to be 200 pounds after this is all said and done. If I loose more than awesome but I didn't want to set a number so far out that it would put stress on me to which I would some how fail. Now my doctors want me to be at 150...if I get there then yes! that is awesome number but ideally for me to be happy to get down to 200 will be amazing. I have already lost 168 pounds to which I never thought I could ever have done.

I shave regularly, if I don't the hair grows back like a Chia Pet..lol Also what helps with the bumps is coochy cream from Pure Romance. Also side note on that stuff it works as good hair conditioner as well.

So, when we had our surgeries the portion that was taken out contained the hormone called Ghrelin. After time Ghrelin will come back, doctors have not figured out why right after surgery and the months following it stops. It comes back, so this Ghrelin is that gurgling sound you hear. So, basically when your stomach is empty this hormone takes action triggering your stomach to growl and to trigger you to eat. Soon as the stomach is stretched and full, the secretion of this hormone stops. This hormone is found in the same cells in your brain as leptin. The sleeve surgery cuts 60% of Ghrelin levels in the long term. The bypass however after stabilization patients will regain the Ghrelin levels they have lost. Thats because with the bypass you still technically have your stomach and with the sleeve you loose 85% of it. I work part time in a primary doctors office and my doc just told me all this when I asked. I am just a few days from being a year out and my tummy grumbles more than it did just after surgery. Which I ignore and drink my Water because I know my snack or meal time isn't that time.

I am a month away from being a year out and I go through days and weeks to which I do not want to eat anything because I am not hungry. Then I reach days and weeks where all I want is either junk food. I am still trying to find a middle.

When I started this journey I weighed in at 397. After pre-op diet I weighed in at 362 and today I am almost a year out and weigh 239. I have lost a total of 157 pounds, I am bound and determined to shed the 39 pounds that I have left to go to get to my overall goal of 200!

So back in the day when they first started doing the gastric weight loss surgeries they used to yank out the gallbladder when they did the surgery because it is a proven fact that with sudden weight loss the gallbladder will produce stones and sludge. Now days they do not because well insurances wont pay for the extra procedure while the surgeon is in there unless its a necessary procedure to remove it. I have learned all this because this summer I had to have surgery to have the gallbladder yanked out. Some bariatric doctors will prescribe Actigall to take to protect your gallbladder. My surgeon broke it down for me like this if you take the Actigall you have basically a 25-30% chance of not having the surgery to remove the gallbladder, if you choose not to take it the chances increase of having surgery to 50-60%. Now this drug is pretty pricing, the generic form was $50 even after insurance. I couldn't afford it and took the risk and knew that sooner or later I would be on the operating table again, just didn't think it would be super soon. I would talk to your surgeon and doctor and see if it is a possible choice to have it removed during surgery and also talk to your insurance company to make sure it is covered. If not, see if you can fight it and have it covered.

I was sleeved through Sparrow Weight Management with Dr. Mindy Lane as my surgeon. I will always give high recommendations to her. I love her, she is tough but she wants to make sure you are ready for this change. And also the program is great too. Her PA Amanda is awesome and also Dr. Obinwanne, he did my gull bladder surgery to remove it. The team is very awesome. I will be a year out of surgery in November and have zero regrets. The weight management part the team is very welcoming and will answer your questions and help you move along to go see the surgeons.

Can you give me some "experienced" advice ? I need good ideas for the puréed stage to make sure I'm getting in good Proteins and not too much salt or other bad stuff. Anything you could tell me would be appreciated. Good luck on your one year post op

I hardly ever use salt. You get enough sodium in foods regardless. During my puree stage, I liked mixing stuff up. I craved mexican food like crazy. So I had melba toast (which you can have because it dissolves. Anyways what I put on that was canned chicken, I got the reduced sodium put some taco seasoning on it which my own blend of cumin and garlic powder with red chili flakes. Then some low fat refried Beans. Put those in a bowl and sprinkle some low moisture and low fat shredded cheese on it in the microwave for a good couple minutes. Then I spread it on the cracker and a dab of low fat sour cream. That was my lunch every day at work. I ate a lot of can chicken, and egg salad as well. I made my egg salad with mashed avocado with tsp of low fat mayo with my hard boiled eggs smashed as well. I ate that on melba toast. You can get real creative! I love to cook and came up with many combinations to get me through my two weeks of puree food.

Breathe in...breathe out. We all go through this. I have recently went through this, and its hard to get back on track just remember you can do it. I got really, really stressed over logging food and stopped over the summer but still lost. What helped me get back on track was knowing my year post op is coming up real fast and I want to hit another goal before I see them. Good luck!

I have experienced this before on very random occasions, usually if I get that way I go grab a cheese stick and munch on it in case its because my blood sugar dropped for whatever reason. My issue I get now is at times I get like the "dumping" syndrome even though I have the sleeve to food but not to super sweet food. Last night when I was out to dinner with my boyfriend I had it right after I ate some chicken. I would consult with your doctor if you are truly worried about it. I will be when I have my appointment in November.

What I really loved to do when I was in the puree stage and because I love Mexican food was take low fat and low sodium refried Beans, canned chicken and taco seasoning and mix it up and heat it. Then I would put some low fat shredded cheese and low fat sour cream on it then put it on some melba toast. To me that was heaven at work. My mom made me some turkey in a crock pot and then made some mashed potatoes with Protein powder for my mock thanksgiving dinner because I couldn't eat solids for thanksgiving last year. It was pretty tasty alternative to the all liquids I was sucking down.

Oh I have PB2 the only issue is I hate peanut butter...lol with a passion

Oh I have PB2 the only issue is I hate peanut butter...lol with a passion

Stalls and I have a long standing relationship of hate. I think everybody hates stalls but they come and go which is very normal. During this time your body is rearranging things and sometimes you lose inches rather than fat. I would just keep all the good work you are doing it shall pass soon enough. On Oct. 20th I will be a month away from being a year out and I have hit yet another stall. It drives me insane every time. Good luck!

When it comes down to the time of the month I am a rule breaker...I have a bottle of Midol by my side. If I am out of Midol its Pamprin. I get really, really bad cramps from my PCOS and horrible back pain from the period of death so the Midol helps a lot to which Tylenol doesn't help one bit.

I am the queen of boob rash, sadly I am the carrier of the dreaded yeast bacteria. I have several documents of breakouts while on this journey. I have to eat yogurt daily and use nystatin powder likes its my best friend. I am hoping next year after I hit my overall goal I can get the surgery to get rid of the baggy skin so it will help with not having the breakouts. But overall, even with that surgery I will most likely get yeast infections even still. Damn genetics!

I might be the weird one out...but I am completely honest with telling men who I go on dates with that I have chose this option. Majority of the dates I have been on the guys where really nice and sweet about it, I have only been on one date that ended sour because he ran his mouth about his own agenda about WLS which was very negative (cocktail was in his lap by the end of the date). I am now dating somebody who is in awe over what I have done and still striving to do, and is a totally awesome support as well. And I have even inspired him as well.

Well it all depends on the lab they send it out. Usually it takes up to a week to get results back because the tests they send go out and see what grows basically. Why would you have to go into your OB twice with them doing the smear on Friday and going back in on Tuesday? Most times they send all the lab results to your PCP then your PCP can send over the info to the insurance company. In most cases, from knowledge and experience, most OB's don't have you come in to go over results unless its something to be concerned with majorly. Sometimes they just give you a call and tell you everything is fine or you need to go on an antibiotic to cure an infection, something like that.

Where I work, I sit at a desk all day and find myself snacking when bored. To which at home I do not. Its weird, anyways usually I keep cheeses in the fridge at work and also some crackers to go with. This helps me ease that snacking behavior and then I drink a lot of Water. Problem with my office they LOVE their animal crackers, Peanut Butter filled crackers, and candy. I have fallen victim many times to snacking on the "free" food here. It's hard, I get it. I wouldn't get too mad at yourself days like this happen. I snacked on some pickles and cheese a few minutes ago to get rid of that snacking craving I had. I eat pickles on occasion because I reduced salt in my diet. To which I hate a lot of salt on food now.Anyways, Good luck and don't get too frustrated.

Oh goodness, I have so many stories. I am very public about my journey to everybody including Facebook, so it has been bound to happen to which I get some public questions and comments from others. Normally I always answer back to the question "Can you believe you were that fat" is Yes, I know I was that fat before and I can believe it. I don't mind the attention even if I do not seek it out (which I don't). It is sometimes satisfactory to know that people are noticing all the hard work you are doing.

So as a single 24 year old, dating is entirely new for me because I was with somebody for a significant amount of time over the summer I became single. I decided to go online to a dating website. I am far from shy about my weight loss. I put it right in the "about me" on my profile. I see it as apart of me that I want to tell, because it is a HUGE accomplishment. I have kissed a lot of toads from going on dates but I have never ever had a negative remark about the decision I made to loose weight and how I did it. Dating is fun, I think, even if its just making new guy friends. Right now I found a really awesome guy from one of the sites and I think it might stick.

My favorite thing to eat is a small corn tortilla that is baked, low sodium black Beans, home made pico de gallo and some shredded chicken. I normally eat something similar to this every week. Sometimes I change it up and make it a Breakfast with replacing the chicken with scrambled egg whites.

So I might be the odd one out, but I have hit my first goal and initial goal when I began was 250 and I am now 249 as of this morning. I am "5,7" and broad shouldered and full chest. So, I am right now the sizes I am currently in are 16/18/20 lol I say all three of those sizes because it depends on the brand and style. I am a defiantly a size 18 in pants. Yes, I want to loose fifty more pounds but I don't have a set size I want to get down too. I have never been a small girl so to think of an ideal size I am completely lost.

I am ten months out and I eat carbs. There are days where my diet has more carbs than Protein but I do not see a difference on the scale. You need carbs in your diet to help survive and have a healthy brain. I do limit my carb intake on process foods. I try not to eat a lot of processed foods. I love to cook! Like last night I made homemade polenta with shredded chicken with homemade marina sauce. Everybody's diet on here is different even though we had the same surgery. Its all how we changed our diet to make ourselves healthy.

Insurances put a lot of requirements on weight loss surgery because it is a lot of money to dish out to cover it. So gaining will reflect negatively for the insurance company because your asking basically for them to cover a weight loss surgery, and gaining is telling them in their own opinion that you are not ready. Your surgeon will possibly deny you because gaining makes the surgery way risky because of your liver. Your liver must shrink to make sure that when they move it, it will not bleed. If it bleeds it complicates the surgery by a ton. They would have to actually open you up to do the surgery. I would write a letter or get in touch with your insurance agency and tell they your predicament you are in with being off such medicine and talk with your primary care physician about a most effective way to loose weight and being off the med you were on. Hopefully you can get this all fixed up so you can get the surgery. Insurances are a real pain sometimes. Best of luck! I am cheering you on, you can do this!