Karma110

I orginally had my surgery in 2007. Naturally I immediately began to lose weight. A former soccer player, I had always loved to excercise, but pre-surgery it never seemed to matter what I did, the weight would never come off. So post surgery while the pounds were dropping off, I starting walking daily. Then jogging, then jogging. A year later I was running every day and was a whole different person. A year after that I was getting married, to a man who had custody of his two sons. Between the wedding plans and then the new family resposibilities, I slowly fell out of my work out routine. I still eat very little, but now that I'm so busy what little I eat isn't very healthy. And with a job that keeps me basically sedentary and I life too packed to work out, I have slowly gained it ALL BACK and then some. I know that I need to start exercising again, and MAKE the time, but even more importantly I am realizing what a terrible eater I still am! I never learned to make smart food choices and just relied on the band and the excercise to make the pounds come off regardless of what I ate. And now I run the risk of passing these habits on to my two precious stepsons that I am primarily responnsible for, which horrifies me. I don't want them to go through what I have. Does anyone have suggestions on web sites or books where I could learn more about smarter food choices and cooking easy, healthy stuff for a family? I know there are tons out there but there are so many that I can't tell which ones are worth reading and I get overw

Thanks for the tips Tami, it seems silly but when you are overwhelmed you don't know where to start! And I am going to check out the Weight Watchers site right now Indio girl. I tried it years ago and remember liking it but don't really remember much since it's been so long. Thanks!

Most importantly, do something about it now! I had the same thing happened, made all the wrong choices, and have gained it all back PLUS extra weight. I started out doing everything I was told and little by little started breaking rules, missing follow ups, skipping the gym... So the fact that you holding yourself accountable now is such an important step! I wish I'd stopped myself sooner, now I am at the bottom of a VERY steep hill that I need to start climbing. Keep your head up though, if you did it once, you can do it again. I am in the process of trying to reteach myself about healthy eating habits and following the rules, so my thoughts are with you! It's also really good to know I'm not alone.

After several months of LOTS of cardio workouts, I decided that strength training was LONG overdue. I know that you get sore afterwards, I was an athlete in high school and still remember what the first few weeks of conditioning felt like, but I swear it felt like something was TEARING in my stomach close to my port the next day. I imagine that it's because there's something in there now, literally poking at a very sore muscle, but now I'm worried. It got me thinking - SHOULD we be doing lots of crunches? I mean, if you build those muscles up, where's the port going to go? Would it make it more noticable? I know exactly how retarded that sounds, lol, especially coming from a girl who spent over a year researching this surgery before deciding. And it still amazes me the things I never thought of! ANYWAY, is it okay to do crunches?

Thanks! It's been a few weeks and after few days everything felt fine again, but it really worried me so I just hadn't tried again. But maybe I just need to ease into it a little slower for my own peace of mind! Phenominal weight loss by the way!

Tea Tree Oil is also REALLY good for your hair! My boyfriend was at the grocery store when I read the earlier post so I called him and made him pick up some of the Acne Free and I swear it already looks better!

Yep, but what better motivation to exercise than to see the weight falling off! That's why I'm so excited to have this done. I've always excercized and excercized and then plateued... And who wants to work out and NOT lose weight? So yeah, sometimes it sucks to have to push yourself to do something BEFORE getting to see the results. I also firmly believe that the gym and dieting should have instant results. You know, as long as I do what I'm supposed to I should magically be in shape, lol!

I have an extremely strict surgeon from the looks of it, but yeah, it seems that from what I've read, most people with the lower BMIs don't have to go through this. But my uncles are all doctors so I do what I'm told, lol. And I suppose it doesn't hurt to go ahead and get used to the regimen since i'll be eating similar things post op too.

Wow I went the wrong way! I've been guzzling Kelloggs K20 Protein water, which is fine, tastes just like Crystal light, but only has 5 grams of protein... Glad I read this!!!

I thought I was going crazy! I've always had great skin, even used to do make-up shows for Estee Lauder, and for the last week I've looked like a typical teenager! I figured it was just stress, but it never occured to me it could be about the multivitamins, etc. I'm two days pre-op and have been more freaked out about my skin than my surgery, lol! Always good to know you're not alone!

Definitely! I think entirely too many people miss out on so much waiting for things to be "good" instead of getting out there and making the best of what you''ve gt right then! As for the Whey Stack, it really is good, and they'll send you samples for about 2 each if you want to try them out first. I was really impressed with them AND you can use paypal.

Thanks! I'm starting to get pretty edgy about it, but mostly because I feel like I have a million things to do and, thanks to the pre-op diet, very little energy to do it with!

My doctor has me on full liquids for another two weeks after surgery, and said that once I switch to solids to be very careful with nuts like almonds, and tougher meats like pork. But for the most part, I think it's just really important to chew everything very thoroughly. I'm getting banded the 30th, when is yours?

How about Tomato soup? Add a little margarine, a little fat-free sour cream, garlic powder, and italian seasoning and it's actually really good!

And boy will they try! Ever notice it's always the skinniest ones that try the hardest! I didn't tell anyone until I was sure I was going to do it, and was surprised at my own conviction. It actually made me MORE sure of my decision when I had to "defend" it to others. Weird, huh?

From other threads I've read, it seems like there is a lot of variation between how long it takes before cravings come back. I get banded on Frday and if I survive the pre-op diet, lol, I'll be thrilled if I don't have cravings for even just a DAY!

I totally feel your pain!!! My surgery is on Friday and my doctor required a 10 day pre-op diet, which means that I was on Day 2 on Thanksgiving!!! It seems like all doctors are different though. Are you supposed to just do clear liquids or can you have full liquids. Mine was 6 days full liquids and 4 days of clear... I'm at a loss myself on the clear liquids, but if you can have full liquids let me know and I'll give you some suggestions!

A friend of mine who had Gastric Bypass a couple years ago recommended Champion Pure Whey Stack and I LOVE it. I wasn't too crazy about the Strawberry, and haven't tried the Vanilla (too boring!) but the rest have been really good - Especially the Banana Scream and Cocoa Mochacinno. You can get them at Vitalady.com - Protein Supplements, Vitamins & Minerals, and Safe Snacks!, which actually has a lot of good recommendations and stuff. The couple who run it had gastric bypass and have compiled good tasting stuff and tips for others who have similar surgeries. Check it out!

I pretty much did the same thing. First of all, I know just how hard it is to lose weight and don't want others who are trying to look at me and think that I lost if just by diet and excercise and wonder why THEY can't. Second, I work in a position at a company where everyoe's going to see me and everyone was going to know. Not to mention all the work I had to miss for various appointments, everyone wanting to know why I was turning down cake and only drinking Crystal Lite, etc. It was a little tough - especially since a lot of my coworkers have only known me for six months and tried to give me the "I just don't think you've tried hard enough" speech, lol. But all in all, it actually helped. I'm getting banded Friday and there's no way I could have survived the pre-op diet this well without the people I'm always around knowing! On the other hand, the constant questions can be frustrating, which is why I started blogging, etc on my Myspace page.