JamieLogical

Congratulations! Keep up the good work.

I hope you love your new stomach as much as I love mine!

Ha! I had to work pretty hard at it, but I'm finally up over 1000 calories most days now. I wanted to do more intense workouts and there was no way I was going to be able to pull that off without getting in more calories.

Awesome! It's great to have as much support as possible.

What are you eating. Is it anytime you eat or only when you eat certain things? Where specifically on your body does it hurt and what kind of pain is it?

I hear you on the not trusting yourself! I carefully weight out 13 grams of kashi go lean Cereal into a small plastic container and I bring that with me to work to mix in with my yogurt. I know if I kept the whole bag here at work and just "eyeballed" how much to add to the yogurt, it would slowly creep up to an unreasonable amount! Edit: Of course I only do that on my workout days. No cereal/granola on my rest days!

@@marbelvsg You should read this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory Even the Mayo Clinic says that caffeine does not cause dehydration and caffeinated fluids can contribute to your daily Fluid intake: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/caffeinated-drinks/faq-20057965

I wasn't allowed coffee until 30 days post op and then I had to make sure to mix it with a fair amount of cream to tone it down a bit.

Congrats! I hope it's smooth sailing for you from here on out. Just hang in there if/when things get a little rough!

That seems a bit harsh. Some people are very successful with the band.

How much are you getting? I am getting just about 100 grams a day. I had to add in some carbs when I started doing Couch to 5k, so I put some granola in my afternoon greek yogurt now, since that's the last thing I eat before my workouts. Seems to have helped a little, but I avoid carbs the rest of the time.

I think with your level of activity, if anything, you aren't getting ENOUGH calories. I just recently got up over 1000 calories a day now that I am doing cardio and ST 5-6 times a week and I still feel like it's too low. If I were doing crossfit and marathon training, you can bet I would need far more than that!

Sorry. Pretty hard for me to sympathize with you there! I lost 0.6 pounds last week and 1 pound the week before that. At least the scale is still moving.... occasionally. Just calculated it and over the last month I'm averaging 0.18 per day. My "crawl" is half as fast as yours.... or is it twice as slow? I see what you mean but consider this. You had your surgery two months before I did. Not counting the 10 pounds I lost on preop liquids which was Water weight anyway, I've lost 37.6% of my excess body fat. Looking at your numbers, it looks like you've lost about 45%. I know you're kinda bummed about being a slow loser and I admire your post I've seen around about accepting that about yourself and making the most of your journey. But when you look at how many pounds people have lost alone, it's easy to lose sight of the overall picture. I know you know the saying, the more you have to lose, the faster you lose. I had a lot more than you to lose and now I'm closer to where you started and it's slowing down. So maybe instead of looking at being a slow loser because the pounds aren't adding up, we should start looking at where our percentage of excess body fat is compared to where we started. LOL look at it this way, would you rather be a slow loser with only 34 pounds to go or a faster loser like me with 90 pounds to go? Sorry my post came across as "kind of bummed." I was trying to be humorous. I really am pretty accepting of my slow loss. I do get frustrated by it from time to time, depending on my mood and what other factors are going on, but for the most part, I'm very happy with my loss so far and the fact that I AM still losing. Definitely beats the alternative!

I'm not eating any veggies. I was never a big fan before, so I don't miss them and I supplement to high heaven to make up for the lack of them. But there is simply NO WAY I could have room for them and still get my 100 grams of Protein in. As it is, I am already eating 6 times a day to get in all my protein. If I were to try to make room for veggies in there, I would definitely miss out on some protein.

Congrats on reaching Onederland! What are you up to now protein-wise? My nutritionist wants me to aim for 100 grams and I get that or maybe a bit more most days.

Sounds like you and I are right on the same pace. I have lost 46.8 pounds since being sleeved on Sept. 1. Hang in there! What else can we do except keep pushing forward?

Many doctors require a liquid diet that includes Protein drinks for 1-2 weeks pre-op, then a clear liquid diet for 1-2 days pre-op.

I'm 6 months post-op, but I still have things I am looking forward to. The main one right now is being able to ride all the roller coasters when I go on vacation at the end of this month. My family went to Dollywood last spring for vacation and I couldn't fit on most of the coasters and my husband didn't want to go on them alone, so he missed out on them. This year I will be able to fit in all the seats and I can't wait to ride them all and give my husband a chance to enjoy them as well!

Welcome! Sounds like you are taking the decision of which surgery will be best for you very seriously. I definitely recommend you do extensive research and get answers to all your questions from your surgical team before deciding.

You mentioned that you just started exercising 2 weeks ago? Here is a great article that might help you understand why the scale hasn't started moving down yet: http://www.sparkpeople.com/blog/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan

Congrats! Hang in there. You might have some rough days ahead, but it will be well worth it in the long run.

Will be thinking of you today, Cassie!

Glad we can help. I like that people on this site have been through these things and "keep it real" when talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think it's interested that, despite the complications and tough recovery from TT, everyone here who has had one is thankful they did it! You might have some rough weeks ahead, but in the long run, I think you will be very happy with your results. Sort of the same way WLS is so rough in the beginning, but worth it in the long run.

Technically speaking, you will have foreign objects inside you forever with sleeve as well. You will get hundreds of tiny staples that stay inside you. Here are my reasons for choosing sleeve over band: - I was terrified of erosion or slippage - I didn't want the hassle and ongoing doctors visits for fills/unfills - I didn't want a port poking out beneath my skin like a bone once I lost weight - I was concerned about having the band and port inside me for decades (I'm only 35) - I was concerned about going back to my old eating habits if I ever had the band removed - I liked the idea of my stomach no longer producing ghrelin As for your mother's concern about stretching, it is not nearly as much of an issue with sleeve as with RNY. With sleeve, the stretchy part of your stomach (the fundus) is removed. Here's a good article about stretching of the sleeve: http://tinyurl.com/qxchkcv In the end, you should definitely discuss the options with your surgeon and choose what is best for YOU and your specific needs.

You should call your insurance company. Some policies will cover post-op complications and others will not.