Forsythia

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to planning meals. I usually stock up on yogurt, Protein shakes, and frozen atkins/lean cuisine/weight watchers meals for work (well, not right now since I left my job.. but when I do work.). For dinner.. well sometimes I just eat a couple slices of deli meat or left overs. I don't have a family to feed (I have a husband, but often he works a funky schedule so he is not always home for dinner) so I'm not so stressed about what to eat and when.

Do you have a smartphone? There is a free app for your phone (iphone or android). I always log via my phone and rarely log on via my actual computer. Makes logging so much easier - especially if you are at a restaurant or something. You can add me if you like - adiggs2777.

I fully admit to being a lazy slug if I give into my baser inclinations. And every once in awhile you are fully entitled to do so. But if you are just feeling sluggish and have no energy, you might need to re-evaluate your routine and or Protein intake. I'm allowed coffee, and the only way I am going to get in Protein powder is to put a scoop of vanilla body fortress in my morning coffee. shakes are tolerable at best. Gross at worst. I find it dissolves the best and doesn't clump up which some other brands do. Then I top the coffee off with a shot of sugar free caramel, vanilla or pumpkin spice syrup. This way I get my protein easy peasy. Reading your responses, I think that your daily routine is just what is causing your slugishness. Taking care of kids all day is not easy. Is there any way to dial back your hours, or start later so that you can get in some you time early in the morning? Some people feel better if they get up early and get in some treadmill or spin or whatever it is they like to do time.

Other than having to wait for six weeks to get back to lifting, I have had no issues with working out or drinking during said workouts post op. I always do about an hour of cardio and 45 minutes or so of weights. We're the same age, but keep in mind how long you have been overweight and genetics will also factor into the loose skin issue. I have loose skin on my sides by my boobs, my inner thighs and on my upper arms. There is some by my stomach but not as much as those other areas. But then again my stomach seems to be the last to go. So in the end I won't know how or if the skin is going to bounce back. I just make sure to moisturize every day and keep on working out.

I have a digital one by ozeri I got for under $20 on amazon. Holds up to 11 lbs. You can tare out the weight of plates or bowls.

JamieLogical fyi, the same thing happened to me. When I was 294, it took a lot of weight before I went from a 26 pant to 24. It took much less to go from a 20 to an 18. Sizes are funny.

Girl... liquid in, liquid out. Once you get on purees and then solids that will go away. You will probably experience constipation then!

Woot. Also, one of my first normal foods was a taco, and I'm not a Texan. Lol! Who doesn't like Mexican food? I'm sure when you go to the doc's you are going to rock the weight loss.

I can bet that the vast majority of people here will tell you to not back out of surgery. I think most all of us would have done this surgery sooner if given the chance. I have been fat my whole life. I let myself slide into diabetes and high blood pressure and was in denial about that for about four years after my diagnosis. Even when my home scale read ERROR (it maxed out at 335), I wasn't emotionally ready to do anything about my weight. It wasn't until 2013 that I decided to get my crap together and have the surgery (I had insurance requirements to deal with, so did not have my surgery until this past May). I'm 37. If I could have gotten in the head space to have this surgery when I was 32, I would have. So good on you to recognize and take care of you at such a young age.

If you live alone, get rid of the Snacks. Chuck em all. If you have kids or a spouse, have the snacks in a cabinet you cannot reach. Buy snacks you do not like. My husband is always buying snacks, but he gets stuff I don't like, and it goes in the super high cabinet my short butt cannot reach.

I've always been an exerciser. Exercise was never my issue. Eating was. I like hitting the weight room and swimming and even grudgingly doing the cardio. I do think it helps to be fit before hand. Because you are gonna lose muscle along with the fat - its just the nature of the beast at the beginning. So it helps to have more muscle around to help limit that loss. It also helps with a quicker recovery if you are in better condition. A better conditioned body will definitely bounce back quicker than one that is more out of shape. So every little bit helps, even if that is only 15 minutes on a treadmill every day.

I have lost a lot from the top down. First my face slimmed down, and I do have a bit of a turkey neck (I'm 37, so I hope that bounces back. I moisturize the hell out of it). Also my fingers lost a bunch of weight (and I've never had fat fingers - I only ever wore a size 7 ring). After that I lost a lot in my sides, boobs, upper arms and thighs (lots of that drapey skin in those areas). My stomach and ass are finally going. My stomach/hips/butt are where all my weight resides. Because of this top down loss, I am a Misses XL or a plus size 1x on top and an 18 on the bottom. Down from a 22/24 on top and 26/28 on the bottom. I'm also in this weird nebulous hell area where I can get some clothes in regular stores and some not. Like, if I can find an 18 in a regular store I'm super happy because I hate going into the plus department for pants because they are cut so matronly. I'm 5 months out on the 5th. Down over 100 lbs from my all time high which was 335.

I picked other as my selection. I like my hospital - it is consistently ranked as the best in Chicago. And I like to keep all my medical stuff within said hospital. So I looked up on their website who their surgeons were and went to a seminar. At the time Dr. Hungness was conducting the seminar, so he is the surgeon I went with. Funny enough, it did not even occur to me to shop around for a surgeon because of the excellence of my hospital. My NP had suggested I look into surgery, but that was a couple years before I actually thought about doing it seriously. And she did not push either Dr. Hungness or Dr. Nagle (in fact she did not even mention their names).

I chose my surgeon based on my hospital. Since I like Northwestern Memorial Hospital and all of their practices here in Chicago, I picked one of the two bariatric surgeons at the hospital. The hospital is also a Bariatric Center of Excellence, so that helped. Cost was not a consideration for me since my insurance covered my procedure save for a small out of pocket maximum I had to meet. So if you have an existing PCP attached to a hospital you like, look into their program.

Once you are approved for a general diet you should be able to have a salad. However some sleevers have issues with lettuce sticking. So try it if you are on a general diet.

The baby food fruit was fine - I liked the squeezy pouches. The meat was gross. DON'T BUY ANY BABY FOOD MEAT! Even if you doctor it up and season it, its gross gross gross. I ended up eating a lot of cheese and yogurt.

Haters gonna hate. But really the psych should have told you he felt you needed more sessions with him before approval, rather than straight denying you. Lots of people at my surgeon didn't get approved after their first interview with the psych. They don't get denied. The psych just tells them to make another appointment because there are issues that need to be worked. Seems really shitty, IMHO.

I get hungry. I get thirsty. But honestly in a lot of people pre-sleeve the thirst mechanism is so weak people mistake it for hunger and eat. Often when I feel hungry I have a drink and realize I was thirsty. (Honestly I am not sure where I picked that nugget up from but it seems to work for me). I was only on liquids for two days in the hospital. I was put in purees for a week once I got home. Then soft solids for a month, then normal diet. The post op diet varies from surgeon to surgeon. I'm told to limit Pasta rice and bread but I can still eat them. A lot of people limit carbs because they are empty calories or they are sensitive to them. I had alcohol last weekend. I'm almost 5 months out. Sweets taste the exactly same to me. I don't dump.

I went to a party last night. I drank all the booze. To be fair I was never really a giant booze hound before my sleeve. But I had like five or six drinks last night. Oops. I don't feel like I had any issues with any of them, either. My sleeve likes every damn thing. And I don't feel hung over this morning. I do need to get back on the good girl wagon and not do that again for awhile. I'm almost 5 months post op, btw.

I went to a party last night. I swear I drank all the booze. I know for sure I had two hard ciders and three mixed drinks over the course of 5 hours. Just pace yourself and have water after you finish a drink so as to not get dehydrated. Eating before is a good idea too, so you don't get too drunk. And don't feel bad if you have a drink or five, just remember to get back on the good habit train the next day.

I've been drinking coffee since I was cleared for a general diet (at one month out) with no ill effects. I stick a scoop of Protein powder in it to get in a quick 30 grams. But coffee just might be one of those things that bothers you. My body's reaction to caffeine is an odd one though - It does not ramp me up. I do not get withdrawal from it if I quit, and I can quit cold turkey. I could drink it right before going to bed!

I have thin fine curly hair. Have I lost hair? Sure, I lose hair every day. Have I lost an abnormal amount since my surgery in May? No, I have not. If you are going to lose hair you are going to lose hair. If don't, you don't. There is no way to predict if you are going to lose it or not. Your personal genetic make up and your body's reaction to anesthesia and loss of Protein is key. But if you do lose hair, you are by no means going to lose all your hair. Ultimately you need to weigh whether or not the benefits of the surgery outweigh the risks for you. And if the hair loss freaks you out that much you might need to consider other options.

Ha that is freaky. I found little dissolvable suture material sticking up out of my incisions.