tomi71

I was told not to lift anything greater than 20lbs until after my 1-month post-op check up. Then, take it slowly with anything that really uses ab muscles (had a hernia fixed along with the VGS.) I stuck with walking daily, adding more and more distance as I could handle. About month 3 I started with weights and and doing ab work. I incorporated running into my routine at about month 7.

I say go for it. Your daughter is in the right place should an emergency arise and I know that would give me peace of mind.

Whatever you do, don't give up. I've been hovering in the 190s for 6 months and let me tell you...it's frustrating as heck. However, this is where you stop worrying about the scale and concentrate on physical and mental fitness. Reevaluate what you are eating if need be but don't let that scale ruin your success. Sometimes are bodies are real a-aholes and if you're like me, mine never liked giving up too much weight. So even though I'm still focused on reaching that 140lb goal (I'm 5'3), I'm more focused on conditioning my muscles, heart, and lungs. Eventually the rest of that excess weight will go away because my metabolism is working better. It's important to condition your fast-twitch muscles because that's what keeps your body burning fat even when you aren't moving. I figure in another year I should be close to my goal. I try to keep in mind that my weight problems really started when I was about 10-11. I was 42 when I had surgery in July 2014 so I have 32 years of a non-existent metabolism/excess overweight to combat.

Not sure about Boss but yes, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is Netflix.

My surgeon actually offered to set up the consult but I already see a psychiatrist (yes, I am missing a full deck. Lololol) and he was the one who mentioned weight loss surgery as part of my treatment for my clinical depression and disorders. But it took him a while to recommend it. I had mentioned to him that I spoke to my primary care dr about my interest in WLS and he poopoo'd me!!! Said not a good way to go. When I told my pysch about it, he said he'd wish he'd had been there because he would've vetoed that dr. So I lucked out in that he (my psych) has enough info about me to readily write a recommendation as soon as the heart, sleep, endoscopy and blood tests were done and I had attended all of the required meetings. It made things much smoother. Also, if you can, I say continue to see the counseled who evaluated you....it's an immense help when it comes to handling the issues you may have with food or your changing body. I see mine once every two months for meds reups and psychotherapy/talk therapy. Has opened my eyes to a whole new world. The sleeve his but my compulsion to over eat is so a thing of the past thanks to talk therapy and meds for depression. Best of luck! Salud! You are taking a great first step in taking care of yourself! So important. ????????????

When summer rolls around in my neck of the woods, there are several seasonal foods in which I will always embibe....fresh white peaches, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, and of course my favs: fresh strawberries, fresh sweet Jersey corn, and tomatoes. To top the list is fresh seafood. I was sleeved last year in July and by late Sept I could tolerate mushies. So I had fresh grilled tuna (rare because it's delish and easier on my tummy), boiled shrimp, fresh flounder, seared fresh scallops and lobster. Also I did have two raw quahogs. ¡Que muy magnifico! They did okay. I chewed well, chewed slowly and even had some drawn butter. Only problem was a tiny bit filled me so much I could eat any of the low-carb veg. Now a year out I can eat about 6-8 ounces of food including the seafood and the non-starchy veggies like spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, collards and kale. And I do have the drawn butter. It's great because seafood is so full of good low-fat or healthy fat proteins. It really keeps me satiated for a long time as good proteins should. HW: 267 Day of Sleeve: 244 Current: 195 Goal: 140 I'm a slow loser. But that's ok. Slow and steady wins the race.

I've just got turned on to The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. That show has me and my husband howling. I'll watch it before work in the morning instead of the depressing news or while I'm doing time on the elliptical. Makes it go fast. I find I burn more calories too...probably from laughing so hard while holding on to the elliptical handles for dear life.

This makes me so happy! My husband just told me this and so now I am so ready to watch! Miss those two.

"....low-glycemic, high-fiber carbs (colored veggies, lower-sugar fruits, whole grains.)"----see! That's so key. I think you nailed it. I really believe (from the nutrition courses I have taken) that following a so-called low-carb plan isn't all it's cracked up to be for everyone. It's the kind of carbs one eats not simply "carbs." What's better for us? A nice juicy peach in season or a hunk of double chocolate cake? Both are carbs buy the peach won't come with regrets, lol, at least not for me anyways. But now I want cake. Lololol Seriously, though, we have to remember it's about quality.

Troll

Working out can begin with something like walking. That mile to class will be a great start but trust me when I tell you that working out will be such a great stress reliever in college. You will already take care of yourself by eating right and you're going to start to feel better. Add exercise and increase gradually and the next thing you'll know it will be like breathing. You'll start to see a lot of results and that's even more motivation.Congrats on your new path to health and good luck at college!! Work hard but don't forget to have lots of fun too!!! Before you know it you'll marching up to get your degree. ????

I've been a a stall for a while. I ended up making a spreadsheet that calculates my deficits and forecasts my weight loss based on inputs. I realize that seems like overkill since I track on MFP but I am a math person and I need to take things apart and put them back together in order to figure out what I need to change. I use BMR and it updates as my weight decreases so I know what I need to do. If your not into making a spreadsheet there's some really handy ones through google docs.

Since you are pre-op, it might be wise to not divorce your scale if your requirements are like mine were when I started this a year or so ago. Prior to surgery I had to lose 25 lbs as required by my insurer. It took me a year to do that and as much as I hated that scale I weighed in weekly because it kept my butt on track. After surgery last July, I was hot and heavy with my scale because for the first time in my life it gave me nothing but good news. However, a year out after surgery, it's safe to say the honeymoon is over and my relationship with my scale has soured since my loss has slowed (as expected.) So now I weigh once a month or so. Otherwise one would go crazy. Don't let the scale be the sole predictor of your success. Use it as one of many tools in your arsenal but don't let it get you down. That's my two cents anyway. ???? congrats on your journey and salud!

I hear you. You should Celebrate the fact that you know your limitations and have the mindset to stay healthy. I lucked out in the sleep meds dept in that I don't feel compelled to abuse but I can most definitely relate how easy it is to trade one addiction for another. I was scared that that's exactly what would happen after surgery....trading my food issues for drugs or some other unhealthy habit. I hope you find some relief. Sleep is so important in our journey. I wish you sweet dreams and good health! ☺️ I hear you. You should celebrate the fact that you know your limitations and have the mindset to stay healthy. I lucked out in the sleep meds dept in that I don't feel compelled to abuse but I can most definitely relate how easy it is to trade one addiction for another. I was scared that that's exactly what would happen after surgery....trading my food issues for drugs or some other unhealthy habit. I hope you find some relief. Sleep is so important in our journey. I wish you sweet dreams and good health! ☺️

You are definitely not alone! Forgiving oneself can sometimes be the hardest task. Like many who struggle with weight and food and body image, we were taught that if we were thin we'd be worthy. And that's so untrue. Even if someone is 1,000lbs, they are worthy of self-love and respect.

It's nice to see such positive comments and to see we are all human. One thing this experience has taught me is that freaking out over a backslide is more detrimental to my health than the actual backslide. I am a highly anxious person and will lose sleep over a single pound.

Slow loser here. I lost rapidly the first 6 months...about 70. Then a pound here and there. Now I am up a few pounds (some water eight, some muscle, some from maybe too much carb.) I am at about 1200 a day and work out 4 - 5 days. I figure it took me 30+ years to get to the point where I needed surgery. It's going to take time to undo it all. Sigh. ????

I can relate. I have those dreams too but since my surgery they've become far and few between! My doctor said those were probably anxiety attacks. I tend to believe it. I also got sleep paralysis which was scary as f&!?k. Suffered my entire life until recently.

Stay away from the scale for a while. I just divorced mine. It's such a toxic relationship. I have hovered between 191 and 200 for the past 5 months. I've do a grand total of 75lbs and have about 45-50 more to go. It's disheartening when your body won't cooperate but I am learning that the body scale is not always the best gauge of success. That said, I've reset my goals. I'd like to get down to a size 7-8 pants and keep my blood pressure good. So if that means I lose another 50 than so be it. I won't know until I get to my goal size.

Pretzels. Those darn pretzels. Oh and sugar-free Jell-O if I don't count it as straight hydration.

A year out and can't do raw salads. As a matter of fact, I can barely do raw veggies. I can do spinach, tomatoes, & cukes raw but that's about it. Anything else uncooked pi$$e$ off my sleeve. This includes fruits like grapes and apples, sadly. As an alternative I'll roast my veggies and mix up to make what I call a roasted vegetable salad. It can be a mix of any veg that can stand up to heat, a bit of olive oil or non-stick spray, herbs and a grind of sea salt. I mostly stick with lower-carb veggies like green beans, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, onions, peppers or whatever the farmer's market had or what I have in my veggie patch. Since its summer I'll throw sweet corn into the mix...about 1/8 of a whole ear. I'll also top off with crumbled bacon that's been de-greased. Yumm. I make it for whole family and can get in about 1/4 cup after I eat the pure protein.

LOVED the X-Files. Couldn't get enough. I also need to mention True Detective and American Horror Story.

It's ok. You are human. Look at it this way---you've lost the weight before so you know you can do it. Don't spend time beating yourself up. Instead, spend that time evaluating whats caused you to go back down that road, then begin on a new road by building yourself up and taking time to get healthy again. Maybe talking to someone who is neutral can help. It definitely helps me. Also you should be proud that you are putting your health and well-being first. It took me a long time to see that taking care of oneself is priority #1 if you want to be happy and healthy. I've felt like a failure most of my life but that's because I was too busy trying to live up to the expectations of some very toxic folk. As a result I became toxic. I had the sleeve and doing so has helped further my process of "detoxing", lol. You are not a failure. Failure occurs when you simply give up. It doesn't sound like you're waving a white flag.

The Killing was great. It was about a detective in Seattle who had trouble balancing her job with family life. It's dark and addictive.

OITNB, Mad Men, Arrested Development and the best show in history Breaking Bad (re-watching for 4th time ????.) I also have Amazon Prime and really enjoy Downton Abby, The Amerikans and Broad City and Keeping Up Appearances, to name a few. On Hulu I got hooked to My 600 lb Life.