Bluesea71

Good for you for planning ahead! I'm a planner too. Just look at the pic posted below. This is my freezer now 14 months out . It's hard to remember what I was having in the liquid stage. I ended up having the same soups I enjoyed pre-surgery and puréed down anything with chunks in them. The stage is so short-lived, so don't go too crazy planning. Your tastes may change too. Mine did. One thing I did make was individual size jello where I added unflavored protein. Note that unflavored protein DOES have a flavor to it though! I remember eating a lot of cottage cheese in the early stages. I guess I would have to look back at by early posts on BP to see what else I was eating!

I had a really easy recovery and by day 3 I felt back to "normal" and could have returned to my job easily.... But I sit for a living, so your job sounds much more physically demanding! The wild card thrown in was my surgeon found a hernia during surgery that needed to be repaired. I didn't experience any complications before surgery or after because of it.... But assume I got it because I frequently picked up heavy loads of stuff I shouldn't be carrying. I was extra careful about hauling anything for at least 6 months. I carried a rolling suitcase around with me instead of carrying heavy files. I still ask people to help me more with carrying things than I used to.

You can't heat up the protein powder. Assuming you're referring to the uninjury unflavored powder or something similar? It clumps up. I remember having issues with the chicken soup flavor too. It restricts how warm you can make the water and since I like my soups hot, I could never stomach the stuff. I still have 3 unopened containers in my pantry. I'm now 14 months post-op. I guess I should throw them away! I didn't note if you are pre-op. are you a big fan of chicken broth now? I never was and couldn't stomach the idea of it post-op either. If you can't tolerate it, know there's plenty of other alternatives. It really doesn't have that much protein in it.

It's become my new obsession. Good luck! That website really has the most before/after pics and they are from real people vs. ones hand selected from the surgeon, so you get a good idea of their work. People also post pictures through out their journey, so you get a good idea what the incisions and scars look like along the way too. I may have also mentioned before, you can post pics of yourself with questions and a plastic surgeon will give you feedback. For free on what procedures they would recommend!

I had a BMI under 40 but a diagnosis of PCOS alone qualified me for surgery.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried to drink a sip of soda post surgery? I am 14 months post WLS and it is SO uncomfortable to drink anything carbonated that it hasn't been difficult to wean myself off soda. I lived on diet Dr. Pepper and Coke Zero before and my new addiction is now vitamin water zero dragon fruit. My tastes have also changed. Soda just tastes like carbonation to me now. It doesn't have the same flavor.

Guess how I spent my Memorial day? Cooking and restocking my freezer with individual sized containers of some of my favorites. One of the secrets to my success - knowing I have something delicious to heat up for dinner keeps me from eating too much take-out or impulsively going through a drive-through! Those days are looooong gone! ????

Sending prayers your way. It makes me sad that it sometimes takes reading posts like yours to remind us that what we complain about on a daily basis really doesn't matter. Please take care of yourself and your family. ❤❤❤❤

Ouch. She's a CPA and took the time to answer your post. Is it necessary to blast people who are trying to be helpful?It seems like you are looking for a specific answer. I'm sure if you search long and hard enough you will find all sorts of people claiming and deducting things on their taxes that wouldn't fly if they were audited. In my opinion, the plastic surgery your are speaking of doesn't qualify as a deduction. How about you claim it on you taxes and report back to us if you got audited? I will probably pass as I've already been audited once in my lifetime by the IRS. I prefer to stay under the radar ????

I like your positive reframe of a smiling face! Don't let the picture fool you though. I can grab handfuls of skin and it looks like I could whelp a litter of puppies when I bend over!Then you found a great bathing suit! It looks great on you! Gasp! I didn't buy a bikini! It would never leave my drawer! ????????????

I like your positive reframe of a smiling face! ???? Don't let the picture fool you though. I can grab handfuls of skin and it looks like I could whelp a litter of puppies when I bend over!????

That's pretty impressive! Wish I could have this delivered weekly. (This counts as my 2nd response to your topics )[/quote What's your home address Alex? Just ignore those Internet safety rules in favor of some yummy food. It's totally safe to put your personal information on here. Nobody reads my boring posts anyway. ???? I opened my freezer this morning and I think I saw evidence of lipstick lady lurking around....

It is my Bariatric dream to have Alex respond to one of my posts. It's been a year now and no success. I'm kinda jealous. ????Oh wait, he's "liked" a few of my posts. But I want words.....

1) Congrats! 2) Okay... So can we have a coming to Jesus talk about you talking about losing any more weight?!?? ????

Hello my lovely BP community. I'm nearing my 1 year WLS anniversary date this month. At 5'7", I was 241 pounds at my all time high and 226 the day of surgery. I weighed 150.5 this morning. My surgeon's goal for me was 160 and my personal goal was between 140-150 pounds. I would be okay staying where I am but am shooing for 145 at this point and building more muscle mass. So here are my questions - and please, can I kindly request that this post be focused on the questions I ask. I know posts about procedures in Mexico can sometime generate a heated discussion on Mexico vs. USA. The purpose of this post is to EDUCATE myself so I can make an informed decision. I have decided to wait until next summer 2016 to have any plastic surgery done. I will need the time to save up the money, but more importantly, I want to see how much my skin will adjust on its own. Luckily I have very little loose skin except on my abdomen and am considering a tummy tuck. I have read reviews from people on this site who have had surgery in Mexico and have had a wonderful experience. Many of these people I have grown to "know" over the past year on this site and value their options and know they have done their research. I'm hoping you can share what you know with me. Why did you choose the doctor you did? At this point, the cost is the only reason I would consider having surgery in Mexico. I simply am not in a financial place to pay for it right now otherwise. That factor alone is enough for husband's eyes to bug out. He's convinced I will get butchered. When I argue that there are top surgeon's in Mexico, he questions why they would chose to stay in a country and get paid very little when they could get paid 10 times as much in the states. I argue that it's very egocentric to assume that everyone wants to live and work in the United States... But then again we travel to Mexico frequently and the quality of life isn't exactly a cup of tea there. Regardless, I have a license to practice in the state I live in and know what a pain it would be if I even moved to a different state. It's even more complicated for professionals to practice in other countries. A medical license in Mexico wouldn't be honored here and visa versa. I am open to the idea of having surgery in Mexico. We travel there a lot on vacation but I have to admit I hear the word Tijuana and I get a tad freaked out. I went to college in Southern California and crossing the border on foot to party was common practice. I'm still haunted my the 3-4 year olds wandering the streets at 3am selling "chicklets" gum for money. the area was filled with bars and strip clubs. The area was not nice by any means. Now granted this was back in the early 90's. There could have been a lot of development by now and since this was right by the border, not the "best" part of town. Could you describe where these clinics are? I travel abroad a lot, consider myself street smart and love different cultures. I've never had something so vulnerable as surgery done before in another country. Anything you could share about your surgeon and experience would be helpful. I'm also anal about surgery scars looking nice. Anyone willing to post a pic of their TT scar? Thanks in advance!

And you're still trying to lose weight?!??? You're going to be shopping in the baby section soon!

I just saw this post tonight. Maybe they can share their experience. Just remember there are plenty of people on here who have successfully lost a lot of weight and got to goal. You need to stay focused on your goal and not give up! Cowgirl Jane is one I can think of who I believe started over 300 pounds and is now at goal weight. Maybe look her up? http://BariatricPal.com/index.php?/topic/341070-2-Years-after-Sleeve-surgery---I-have-stopped-losing/page__view__findpost__p__3842422

Are you familiar with the realself.com website? You will have to create an account to view the pictures, but it a great way to see people's before/after pics and people blog about their experience. It was after viewing that website that I decided to put off plastics until I was at my ultimate goal weight. I was able to see people at my height/weight and I realized I wouldn't be happy with the after results. It's also a great way to research different surgeons and read reviews on them.

Cool tool. I personally think the results make a person look heavier than in reality though. At least it did with me and every family member I plugged in to compare! My daughter and I are the same height and look about the same size. We wear the same size clothes even though she weighs 132 and I weigh between 150-152. I don't think this tool does a good job distinguishing between muscle and fat weight! It can result in a huge difference in your total body mass size!

I was thinking in the shower today (I tend to do a lot of my deep thinking there lol).... What does a tummy tuck feel like long term? I will frequently try to hold my stomach in but after awhile the tension becomes too much and poof, back out she goes! Once you recover from surgery, does it feel any different?

JFGI. Sorry, I couldn't resist saying that . The internet makes a wealth of information available to us with a click of a button. You will find arguments on both sides and each of us has to decide how much calculated risk we want to take. My bariatric program is ultra conservative. No coffee. No alcohol. Ever. For the rest of my life. Well guess what? I made a decision that I still wanted to enjoy a morning cup of coffee. Coffee didn't even appeal to me the first few months post surgery. I still find myself pouring a cup most mornings and only drinking half of it now 14 months post-op. I agree that the acidity is probably not good for me, so I don't entertain the idea of drinking more than one cup a day. What it does to my bowels is havoc alone, but that's a whole different topic of conversation ????. I think we all have to find a balance with what works for us - weighing the pros and the cons.

And what are some of these yummy meals? That's an awesome idea!!!! Are you banded, sleeved or bypassed -- just out of curiosity? I was sleeved April 2014 and now maintaining at 150ish (although I may still try to push myself to my stretch goal of 145!) I love Pioneer Woman and often tweek her recipes to double the Protein. Yesterday I made skillet chicken lasagna but I doubled the chicken, added an extra clove of garlic and put 1.5 teaspoons of red pepper flakes in it as I found the original recipe a tad bland. It's easy to make and delish! I stayed away from carbs early on but started eating a small portion of Pasta once I hit my goal weight at 10 months out. Another staple I make is Pioneer Woman Hamburger Soup. The first time I made it, it turned out really bland. The next time I tweaked the seasonings until it had more flavor to it. It's loaded with meat and vegetables and reheats nicely. Both recipes can be found by googling Pioneer Woman and then the recipe name. Super easy to make. I store them in the ziplock 1 cup plastic containers which stack nicely in the freezer.

http://www.hefty.co/love-your-body/

I can't view your stats from my phone - what was your beginning weight, current weight and goal weight? I can only share my own experience now 14 months post-op. I started this journey at 5'7", 241 pounds and was 226 the day of surgery. My surgeon predicted I would be 160 by a year out. That's a loss of 66 pounds post WLS. The first 6 months I lost the majority of my weight. I recorded everything in a journal, so exactly 6 months later I weighed 171. That's a loss of 55 pounds. Looking through my journal it took me another 3 months to lose another 10 pounds to get down to 160. Another 2 months after that to drop down to 150. My body has decided it wants to now stay between 150-153 for now. The closer you get to goal, the slower the weight comes off. Most surgeons predict that most WLS patients will lose 65% of their excess weight. For example, if you are 100 pounds over weight, that means you will lose 65 pounds of it. Only you can decide if you want to fall into that statistic or be one of the people who loses 100% of their weight. I frequent these boards everyday and from what I can tell, those who have a lot of weight to lose rarely do it within one year. 14-18 months seems to be more realistic. I was a low BMI to begin with, so reaching it within a year made it a tad simpler. Please don't compare your progress to anyone else. Your journey is your own. The last 6 months were torture for me as I didn't feel like I wasn't losing at all. Then one day I woke up and I was at goal. Just keep doing what you're doing and you will be too. I think the hardest part is that it is really easy to get off track the farther out from surgery you get. I recently attended my one year follow up class at my weight loss center. There were about 40 people there. Only myself and one other person raised their hand when asked who was at goal or near goal. Many people started at higher a BMI and were chugging along happily. Others had completely fallen off and eaten around there sleeve. 65 people were signed up for the class and only 40 showed up. I'm hoping the other 15 didn't fall off the program completely. There is no expiration to the sleeve but the journey changes as you get further out from surgery. Now at 14 months I sill have awesome restriction but I could eat around it if I'm not careful. The early months is so important to adapt and make new, healthier lifestyle choices. You're doing great. Come to BP and read the topics often. It's one thing I do of many that helps keep me on track. ❤❤❤

Planning ahead so I don't make trips to get take-out after a long day at work. I always have individual sized portions of my favorites ready for me at home in my freezer. Now that I'm at maintenance, I've branched out a bit and eat some carbs, but not many. I love Pioneer Woman and tweek many of her recipes by doubling up the protein in them.