pumpkin07

SOmeone here recommended benefiber on a regular basis. I don't do it regularly though but when I start getting backed up. It is chewable pills that taste like orange sweethearts. If you don't like to drink stuff that works. I drank a little epsom salt with warm Water when I got backed up. It is so AWFUL and you want to puke. But it works like a charm. You gotta get unbacked up and then find a way to increase your Fiber. I'm almost a year out and things are slow but regular. Maybe 2 or 3 times a week. Kinda happens all in one day it seems. Sort of an issue of volume, you need volume in there to keep things moving. Fiber fiber fiber I can't wait for summer. I love watermelon.

Congrats! This surgery brings excitement to your wardrobe, but it can get pricey to fix. It can also bring confusion bc you no longer know how to shop for anything. For instance, I hadn't bought panties anywhere except Lane Bryant for years. And now nothing there fits me. I was so shocked when the smallest panty there was falling off of me. Wow. I went down at least a size in shoes, kind of a size and a half. Nothing I had pre surgery will work on my feet. My former favorite boots just slide all around now, and are no longer my favorites. After a while my feet are so tired in them. So I replaced them with some sexy taller heel boots. My lower body seems to have lost more than my upper body. Especially my feet though. This is the fun part, welcome.

MOST important, I mean MOST MOST MOST important I think is to check out your specific doctor on line here or on obesityhelp.com. Because there are doctors with great reputations and not great reputations. Going to a doctor with an EXCELLENT track record is more important than you know. There are great doctors with horrible office staff and horrible doctors with GREAT salespeople if you know what I mean. You can't tell over the phone and what is important is the doctor and the hospital you are going to and what their record is like. Also EXPERIENCE with THIS surgery is important, don't be someone's guinea pig or you risk your life, literally. But that said there is a very experienced surgeon around that has butchered many people and sent them home very sick.I do know someone that had a leak and I believe he ultimately died from this surgery and complications from this surgery. It was not just a leak, but it sounded a bit mishandled both during and after-the-fact and a bad subsequent surgery as well. He also said maybe he overdid it too soon after surgery. Too much, too soon. This can really domino into a disaster, so please don't take it lightly. This is apparently a great surgery for people that are truly overweight, and I have had a good experience since the surgery. But you are removing a great portion of your stomach, like 85%. There is no going backwards once you have lost the majority of this body part!!! It is very important to have the best medical care and to follow doctor's orders. The downside of going to Mexico, at least in my friend's case, was that once he was sent home here to Houston there were not many bariatric surgeons willing to handle his case. He didn't know what to do, and being so sick it is not a good time to be learning what to do. Sounded like he wound up with non-bariatric surgeons for his subsequent surgeries which caused further damage and ultimately may have contributed to his problem. Believe me, hind sight was 20/20 for him and his family. But that didn't help him, but it could help you by knowing. I liked having surgery where I live because I knew if something went wrong I would have a doctor HERE at home. And I live in Houston, so there are good doctors here. If I lived somewhere else without an excellent doctor I would travel to the closest excellent doctor. I am not saying it is bad to go to Mexico, but if it were me I'd check out Dr. Aceves because everyone always says he is wonderful. Sounds like he is super careful and skilled. But honestly, I would definitely stay in Houston and have surgery, bc so many good doctors here. Mexico is quite unsafe right now, and I know bc I traveled there a lot bc my husband is from Mexico. Neither of us go there anymore. Not everyone has a problem, but there again to me why take unnecessary risks? Some people do it to save the money, and I understand that concern. It is a big decision who to have surgery with. This is the kind of experience I understood more after the fact than before. So I thought I'd share because it might help just to know an opinion. Some people do not feel like I feel. A lot of people travel to Mexico for surgeries. But there are good doctors AND bad doctors in most places, including Mexico. But if you have a Mexican doctor and get butchered, what recourse do you really have? The laws there are different. In my friend's case the doctor appeared to just wash his hands of him and yet his medical practice just carries on like nothing happened.

I guess my thought is why do you work 65 hours a week? That is a lot. How could you get the time off for this surgery, because you will need time to rest. I wonder if it is your stress level that is throwing all of this off, bc you sound very dedicated to the process. Life is not work. But we all do this at times of our lives, just don't work yourself this hard your whole life, right? I hope you get your surgery! I don't quite understand the point of having to lose weight during the 6 mos though. How weird. I mean, if you could lose weight without the surgery and keep it off you would. They know the odds on that, so wow, kinda weird to me. I didn't have insurance for this, and my center of excellence wisked me through. How strange.

I wonder, I thought the dizziness was a drop in blood pressure, but guess it could be either. It definitely happened to me more when I did not snack. Now that my caloric intake is up, I don't usually feel dizzy. I had that for the first few months after surgery, and you still haven't been out of surgery all that long even though you lost a huge amount of weight. I was told if it is blood pressure that you might increase your salt to pump up the pressure a bit. You can probably test either to see which it is for you - or up your calories and see if it goes away.

It is exciting to talk to people that live somewhere close to their goal, and are maintaining without a lot of thought to diet. That is why I had this surgery. I sit here now eating sunflower seeds with my coffee (???) but that is what I wanted this morning. I just don't want to LIVE on a diet, just with restriction. I love it! I am wearing this really cute denim outfit today and I'm having lunch with a friend that hasn't seen me in a while so she is going to FREAK OUT. She never knew me thin, because it has been 20 years since I was small and didn't know her yet. I can't remember if she knew I had WLS. I don't think so. We'll see. Yesterday I went to a food show from a vendor, and our old salesman from a few years ago saw me and he was just FLOORED. I saw him just speechless all day. He literally was shocked and couldn't find the words.. Another day our lawn man was so excited he was jumping up and down. It was so hilarious, he was so happy for me. Those kinds of reaction are so cute. There are so many people in this world who just want the very best for people, and I love those people. I'm that way - always happy for the happiness and good fortune of others. But there are those that are like, well, bc she had weight loss surgery...and she'll probably gain it back, etc. Negative Nincompoops.....I just don't discuss with them. And just an aside, I started taking all my Vitamins except calcium. I gotta change my viewpoint. I went to look for another calcium citrate that might not hurt (I use the petite ones and they hurt my stomach) and I couldn't find them. How tricky some are call CALTRATE so i thought that would mean calcium citrate but when you look at the label it is calcium carbonate. Oh I just realized why, that also ends in "ate". I thought they were trying to be tricky. I'll google it and find some samples. But nothing else I'm taking hurts so I will start again here. Here comes Spring soon...I have NO clothes. AGH. At least the jeans will carry over. My husband is not expecting to have to buy more clothes. That is the most expensive part of this whole process...I do well buying for the season, but the next season have to start again. I miss having those fallbacks in the closet. When I say I have nothing to wear, he doesn't understand I AM SERIOUS, I have NOTHING to wear. haha Ya'll have a good day. I'm happy for you!

I have found that we eat out 2-3 times a week . We both work, so as much as we try not to eat out it just happens. Now with no fast food type food, wow, the food bills are high. So I decided to tackle how to eat out for less today. Today I ordered a bunch of gift certs online for gifts only at restaurants who give you back 20% in a bonus gift card. They seem to only offer this special at Christmas time, and last year I did the same thing but didn't get enough and ran out by March and really missed that 20% discount card. I did it in an organized fashion figuring how many times during the next 12 mos we could eat at that restaurant. I did it for Pappas (usually seafood), Outback Steakhouse, and Carrabbas Italian. I couldn't order some restaurants bc they didn't have a special, shame on them (no Red Lobster, TX Land & Cattle, etc). But then sort of by accident I found a website called restaurant.com that had discounted gift certs for so many restaurants. A lot of them were independent ones that we go to anyway, and others were new. But I bought like $300 of gift certs that will give me like $750 of free food at these restaurants. I don't know if this works in every area, but the norm was to pay $10 for a $25 gift cert and agree to spend $35 on food. Or like at a steak rest get a $50 gift cert for like $20 and agree to spend $100, which we could do at a nice steak restaurant if we had the whole family. I actually spent $120 at my favorite Chinese Restaurant and got $300 of food credit. It says you can't use more than once a month, so heh, I bought one for each month. Felt like a safe bet considering we've been eating there since my oldest son was born. I could use suggestions too on how to order at restaurants so that the family food bill is not as much, and wonder if anyone has suggestions. Between the cost of groceries and restaurants I feel like we spend too much of our take home pay on food, and I want to cut it down. I've never been a coupon shopper in grocery stores, but if anyone knows a good and easy way to do this I'd like that too. Please share your ideas.

Congratulations! Your life has really changed so much in a short period of time...a baby is a blessing.

Gosh, I really feel your predicament because you are so young, and your parents should still be a huge part of your life. But unfortunately as many of us learn at some point in life, this is how lies go, they build. It takes more lies to cover the lie, etc. If you were 40 it would be different, but I'm assuming you are like 18 years old...right? So, I would disagree with some others and say I think your best choice would be to apologize and confess. If you man up and be honest with your dad saying something like "I decided to have surgery because _...._. I decided not to tell you because I was afraid you would (argue/make fun of me)...... But I respect you, and I do not want to continue to lie to you, so I decided to confide in you. I hope you will support me in this decision. And I'm sorry I was not honest about this. " I would maybe keep your mom out of it as much as possible, bc this really fuels a fire. Like if you say WE decided not to tell you, ugh, now he is mad at everyone. You could say "I asked them not to tell you". As a parent, honestly, I'd be horrified and furious if my kid's dad participated in WLS surgery for my child without my knowledge. Truly, I would be highly upset. But your situation is different because you were not raised by your dad. But you are in college still...so hard to see what his involvement will be. But I personally think your mom didn't make a great decision to put this on her insurance, but not make sure your dad at least knew about it. Parents are often wise, and can offer great advice for you. So when our kids make such huge life-long decisions, wow, without their parent's support that is such a big thing to us. Also, he will be upset bc EVERYONE hid this from him. And I think you and your mom made a mistake in not informing him because it does sound like he is a part of your life. It is hard for you to see, but as parents we often are the ones that pick up the pieces from the decisions our children make. So we really don't like after-the-fact surprises very much. But we are always able to forgive, especially if someone is honest at some point and accepts responsibility. In any event, congratulations on your weight loss! It is a shame this little lie has put a damper on your happiness. I've done stuff, hidden before, when I was younger. It is just not the right road to be on. Honesty is the best policy, particularly with parents. Unless we are old enough and have enough resources to pick up our own pieces. And even then, heh, parents like to be included because we love our kids - the jewels of our lives.

Well, I just don't believe everything I hear when it comes to medicine, including Vitamins. ESPECIALLY with my little bity tiny stomach that I want to protect from ulcers and so forth.. It isn't a mistrust of doctors exactly just an awareness that every action has a reaction and and an outcome, and we don't always know all of the outcomes for those actions today. Common sense goes a long way. How many examples do we need, you know. Lets see...the weight loss drug that caused heart valve problems, and so on. Like taking an antacid every single day...who knows what the outcome of that might be in years to come. You know who said that to me...my SURGEON. He believes in taking what you truly need, and that I do agree with him on and I will discuss it further with him after my blood is drawn up. That said, however, I will try harder to comprehend the reality of this intrinsic factor and so forth and find solutions I can live with healthily. But one burning question I have is if we can't absorb Vitamin B in our food b/c we have no intrinisic factor then how is it different with a pill? That makes no sense to me. I understand the sublingal under the tongue, but how would a pill be absorbed? Is it better to get a monthly shot, etc.? Is the shot painful? I hate things that taste bad. And as for calcium someone mentioned a cinnamon chewable. I forgot to write the name if anyone knows of it. I just hope it doen't hurt my stomach! I took a calcium today bc I felt bad that I'm being stubborn and it burned, even though I took it with food. That seems bad for my stomach. I hate drinking crap, so I hope I can find something easy. I like cinnamon. I'll google it. I love taking Vitamin D, and like I said I sometimes take my chewable multi. I hate it, but like that it is chewable because I heard unabsorbed vitamins again and again in your system can cause liver problems. Sometimes people do over do, your body has to be able to handle all this too. I know I just gotta try harder, I really do, but very worried about burning a hole in my sleeve. Of course I never took great care of myself, which is how I got here in the first place. I do realize that. I am stubborn, but I am aware that I am. I tend to learn things the hard way in life. I don't mean to, and I don't want to have my bones go to dust while I'm still kicking them. But wonder how effective these calcium chewables are. I did have a bone density test early on, and i was fine. My vitamin B's were all fine 4 mos ago. My calcium was low and my Iron and my vitamin D.

My thought was this. A salesman sells what he has in stock. He has skills as a surgeon to do other surgeries, not this one. It is anyone's nature to stick with what they are comfortable with, and to sell what they have. I could understand his opinion if he had some data, but why does he ignor long term data suggesting that with GB so many people are ill long term and also many regaining like crazy. I mean, why do doctors keep doing lap band when they break and slip and create scar tissue on your stomach? These are all questions I have for surgeons. I mean, no one would do a sleeve on a thin person, because they don't need it, right? But I'm the same age as you. I've been a guinea pig for WW, Optifast, etc. Where did that get me? They were happy to take my money even though long term the data that I would be successful on their program was not supportive. Bottom line is you have to look at this with a viewpoint of protecting yourself AND getting results. I am not super worried long term. But I was more worried long term when I was 70+ lbs heavier with developing....high lipids, Type II diabetes lurking around the corner, sleep apnea on the way, etc. I have none of those problems today. The only problem I have is well, just the worry that there will be long term complications. But being overweight also has long term complications. But so far, so good/great/terrific. Hang in there. Don't stress. The answers will come. My PCP told me I had made the biggest mistake. He explained the long term possible nutrient deficiencies of the sleeve with certain Vitamins. He said some people cannot STOP losing weight, which hasn't happened here and I really think he was speaking of a specific patient. So okay, he worried me. So I asked him what surgery he would have recommended? The lap band, which common sense ruled out for me for all the reasons mentioned above. I could understand his concern if he had a good alternative, but the LAP BAND? Please! Maybe you should look into the sleeve plication. I think it is reversible. That is an advantage if you are worried about long term. I mean if someone has an alternative, at least let it be something that makes sense. I would have considered plication.

Thanks. My cousin was just telling me the same thing about the B12 and Iron and also Vitamin D. I honestly need to stop being hard headed about this. I did take bloodwork a while back, and it showed slightly low levels in some areas. I started taking the Vitamins and then stopped. I called today and got appt to get my blood drawn. I just want to see where I am before I get back with it. I am the one that avoids all things unnatural. I am very mistrustful of today's scientific advice that later turns out to be awful for some other unforeseen reason. So it is just really hard to give into needing this. For instance, my thyroid was likely fried at a young age bc of exposure to chlorine. Who would know.....you try to get your kids to swim in clean Water only to have it zap their iodine. My aunt took pills throughout her 6 pregnancies for nausea that later caused her children to be infertile. You just never know, and I am so cautious. But obviously if the doctor did not give me the full story, I have to accept that and take what I need to take. I actually have no problem taking Vitamins B & D. I don't love taking the multi but it is a chewable and I live through it. The Calcium is hard bc it hurts my tummy which makes me suspicious. The iron tends to constipate me which I hate.

I think you could put yourself on a liquid diet. I did it for 2 weeks before surgery, and why should you not have to suffer this way? Just kidding. Actually I think the preop diet made me dehydrated. I would suggest doing it yourself, but not going so fanatical that you get weak or dehydrated before surgery. I think it did help in that it wasn't such a shock to not be able to eat after surgery bc I was already kind of use to it. Of course I still suffered, but mentally it helped me not to mention the extra boost of weight loss. Each doc does it different. Just make sure you have a good doctor so you don't get complications. Has he done at least 100 sleeves? Mine hadn't, but I didn't know to ask for that. I'm pretty sure mine has by now though.

Hi there...nice to find this post. I have been sort of in between losing and maintaining. All of a sudden around 150 I stopped losing easily. I still have some fat around my abdomen area that needs to go. I had planned to lose to 128 because that was in the normal range. But I was at 15-0-154 for a long time and now I'm 146-149. So it is slow. I just kind of went with it. I feel good for the most part. Just by days end sometimes I'm real tired, sometimes not. I have not exercised, just talked about it. I really am not sure I have the energy I need but I feel good most all the time.. I've taken this all rather slowly. I don't take as many Vitamins as most do, and I am concerned but then I am also concerned others are overdoing it on pills.. When I got this surgery I was told I might not need vitamins, and honestly that is one of the reasons I went with this surgery. Perhaps that wasn't great information. Since then I've been told of possible Vitamin deficiencies, but I guess I need it proved to me. I'm real leary of putting a lot of things into my body throgh pills. I do take a multi (okay, sometimes) and my thyroid medicine. I try to eat a varied diet, but I wanted to see for myself where I am at. I don't want to become ill bc I'm deficient, but I'm very hard headed when it comes to taking vitamins. I am thinking of going this week for bloodwork as my doctor has a special running on it. I haven't been to the doctor in a long time, and honestly probably won't go see him, just the blood work. I am not close to my doctors really. I eat a varied diet, and sometimes I feel satisfied after a meal, but generally speaking I don't get that satiated feeling as much as I'd like - the kind of full where you are full for a long time. A lot of times my meal feels like it doesn't immediately go all the way down to fill my sleeve. Usually it is when I'm not chewing enough OR I'm not relaxed. The worst if if a disagreement happens during dinner like bt my husband and son. My lil tummy tightens and I just don't digest as well. I love being relaxed when I eat with no worries. My husband will eat a huge huge meal and be satisfied almost all day. He is NOT a snacker and he doesn't have a weight issue. I eat the same meal but so small, and then in a couple hours I'm snacking. i enjoy snacking so much, but feel it is keeping me from my goal. There have been days, especially through holidays that are just one long snacking day. I love that! One day after Christmas we had all these Protein filled appetizers like a mexican shrimp cocktail and a cream cheese ball w ham, green onions, pecans. I would just gradually move back and forth throughout the day and I was sooooo food happy! But I want to lose at least 10 more lbs so I need to chill. It has been easier since the holidays, but damn if I don't need to make another shrimp cocktail bc I've been craving it. I just love Snacks. But snacks with protein are my favorite definitely. I'm not a very regimented person, and enjoyed the weight loss that came with very little effort on my part. I want that back! But I definitely have changed the way I eat quite a bit and quite naturally. I want real food, not junk. Okay sometimes junk too, but only for a snack. When it is mealtime I do not really want Pasta or chicken nuggets. I want a hot plate of well cooked lean food. I have no problem with carbs, I want the nutrients of good food so I tend to not eat a lot of carbs. If I want rice, I'll maybe have it more as a snack, if at all. I can eat a bite or two of bread/tortilla if it is good quality. Otherwise, I don't bother. I used to eat a lot of sandwiches, can't remember the last one. Except a hamburger, I reallllly enjoy that very occasionally but the way I eat it is actually still great bc hardly any bread gets eaten. I'll eat a french fry or two bc it takes too much room in my tummy. When I eat a burger I'm looking for good meat and a few bites of veggies. I love fresh veggies and cooked Beans the best. I love carrots and tomatoes I guess bc they are sweet. And crispy lettuce. But I am extremely picky about the quality and preparation of my food. I really want to enjoy every bite. I don't eat the nuts that many of you do, but am addicted to sunflower seeds. I eat a small pack a day, sometimes two, sometimes none for a few days. I think originally I needed the salt bc my BP was low and I would get dizzy. And I needed Fiber which I noticed the seeds kind of helped keep me regulated. I went with the craving, as I usually do. I didn't even know why I was craving it but figured it out later that I needed the salt and fiber. I really am in tune to my body in that way, it tells me what I need. Then I found a lower salt sunflower seed with fresher seeds and switched bc I didn't need the high salt anymore. The brand is Lance. I ONLY like them in the shell, bc it is like a mindless snacking process that lets me munch and not really get full and not really hurt myself. I tend to create a messy car if I eat them in there, you always see lil bowls of cups of seeds around me. haha I enjoy chips and snickers I guess - but get no satisfaction from that or very little. So things like that are more if I'm on my period and craving chocolate. But I think chocolate gives me reflux so I tend to avoid it. If I'm going to eat choclate, I want something good that I like not cheap chocolate. The chips, it varies, but not something I would go out and buy. I enjoy a big pot of pinto beans where I can get a small bowl a couple times a day. That is what I made for ths week. I have ham in there bc I had a big meaty bone leftover from the holidays. I think for the most part I am doing okay. I can eat a ding dong, but it is so rare you know. I enjoy my coffee in the morning so much, and just don't want to eat until 11:00 usually lunch. Then I snack a lot in the afternoon. Eat something at night that isn't huge. I definitely don't feel I have a big sleeve. There are times like this weekend we went for a steak. I wanted so much to eat a lot of it. But I had a very small dinner salad that I made at the salad bar. It had thousand island dresing and it was just a damn good salad. I ate all of it which was probably a half cup. We had ordered fried mushrooms, and I think I ate 2 of those with homemade ranch dressing. I wanted to eat 10. When my steak and potato came I ate probably 2 oz and one bite of potato. It was hilarious bc I went to dinner with my gastric bypass friend. We split the ribeye, which wound up being quite huge. We ordered an extra salad bar although between us we didn't eat a total of 1 salad, but felt it would be a kind gesture to add $2.50 for an extra salad.. Then my husband and 3 yo son, who had been to Chuck E. Cheeses pizza birthday party, showed up on their way home. He ordered a coke and finished our steak. We were there on a restaurant.com certificate. With our coupon for 4 adults the bill was $40 with a huge tip including the coupon. My friends daughter had her own ribeye on our bill, which she brought home leftovers, but our ribeye steak was shared by 3 people. I felt so bad about it, bc the restaurant obviously needed more business. But there was so much steak left it didn't make sense for my husband to order one as by the time he came we were done eating. Probably won't go back there for a while though. We did explain to waitress, who was fat, but not interested in conversing about WLS. I don't usually explain, but it was so obvious bc we were both just not able to eat and she kept questioning if we didn't like it, and it was actually the best steak I've had. But you know, if you look at how big that steak was, it probably doesn't need to be eaten by one person anyway. People are starving in parts of the world and here we have this huge steak and feel guilty we can't eat it. ha! BTW my gastric bypass friend can eat more than me, but not double what I eat. Maybe she can eat 50 percent more, at best. She has also stopped losing short of her goal although she may be at a stall. I have a feeling she'll be a regainer eventually, sadly sadly sadly. I think if you are not real motivated the sleeve is the better bang for the buck. She got the GB bc her insurance wouldn't cover the sleeve. She really trusts her doctor, who told her at her age (58) and weight (she was 310 that the GB was his recommendation for her. Of course, he said no reason to discuss sleeve since her plan would not cover it anyway. She looks good, and honestly she looked like she was heading for a heart attack so I'm grateful for the GB for her since that is all insurance would cover. But of course long term, ugh. I know she also does not take her vitamins regularly. Hard headed women we are. But with her surgery she knows she must, but doesn't. Sorry so long, guess I'm up early and bored.

You can boil anything like veg, chicken, etc and make a soup. I bought one of those Cuisinart wand things. Just cook what you want, add enough liquid, and puree it with a wand that has a mixer blad on the end of it. Clean up is a snap. You can make a lot of meals for your family, if you have one, and just puree it in food processor. You can always add chicken broth to get a Protein liquid. Be creative. To me the problem with the Protein shakes is they are sweet. And whey protein has a taste of its own, and texture of its own to me. But you gotta choke em down sometimes. But try to eat other things that are more like real food that are not sweet and that will help. Boil chicken, throw in some veggies, etc. and puree. Carrot soup, there are just so many pureed soups you could make. You can even take the broth and at a certain point in your diet make a little soup with egg and pureed chicken. To me that is the easy part. Just hard to not eat real food. After a while I ate cottage cheese slowly. I think that was my first solid food. I had trouble eating tuna salad at that point, but egg salad was easier. It will just be llil bites here and there. But you can sip, and then nibble your way through this process.

It is tough, but they gotta eat. Maybe he is a pizza addict too. I didn't ask people to not eat in front of me and I still had to cook. I mean, people gotta eat. I know they don't have to eat your very favorite food in front of you. I like all food, so found it hard to avoid. I tried to eat a couple thinks too dense too soon and about choked myself to death. I learned my lesson and was thankful I didn't hurt my lil sleeve. Protect her, you do not need to go back in hospital. But maybe the way you did it just lets you know you will not have to be separated from pizza forever. I always kind of liked thin pizza,. Now I realllllly like my pizza very thin and crispy. I'll even toast it in the oven more after it arrives. But I just have a slice. If I want another slice later I can, but for some reason it never tastes the same the second time around. Pizza is good fresh. My problem is to convince my double stuffed pepperoni pizza kid that thin crust is better. Bc I'm tired of ordering 2 pizzas for 3 people. If I could convince him to like thin we could order half pepperoni and half canadian bacon, hamburger, and mushroom which is my favorite. Since my surgery my husband finds he now likes the thin pizza better. BC if he doesn't we might have to order 3 pizzas. Kinda dumb when I only eat a slice. What kind do you like, just curious. Heavy breads will be hard to eat, period.

I am so happy for you. I know you are proud. Keep it up! You've lost a lot in a short amount of time.

You know I went back to work about 8 days after my sleeve and I sat and cried all day. It was so stupid I was there, but I think I needed to get out of the house. I was so sad I could not eat, and I didn't feel well. I had 2 c sections and it was NOTHING like recovering from this surgery bc your stomach is so tender. Just take it day by day and try to distract yourself, get fresh air and sunshine. My husband still remembers me crying. I think I was afraid I could never eat again and here I am 11 months out and I can eat anything, just limited. You will lose the weight and you will feel better. I heard this can be sort of a hormone let down kinda thing. Had that after my first kid too, all in one night. I don't think it will last more than a day, honestly and then sporatic mini meltdowns. I thought I made the biggest dumbest mistake of my life when I was at the point you are at right now. But it does get better and better and better. If you have to go in the hospital, that will just help you even more, so don't stress, just rest. A lot of people tend to contract a virus like this after surgery. I guess immune system is down or whatever, who knows. I didn't had that but I still cried and cried for myself. Really felt sorry for me. I just sipped my chicken broth, ate my lil cottage cheese and Jello, and got through it. I choked down a Protein drink every day, that was the worst bc they aren't my favorite but I came to appreciate their ability to help me regain my strength. The first 2 weeks are tough for many of us, but you are doing great!

I already passed on my weight problem to my oldest son bc when he was little I was single and he ate what I ate which was not good. He is a carb freak. So I figure the sleeve (or something similar, if needed) could be a blessing for him at some point in his life and I am thankful he will have such an option rather than living half a life in agony over weight issues. I think his tummy must be a bit stretched out already, we'll see. I never discuss surgery for him, he mentioned it once. But right now he is a preteen and he is starting to shed the weight with growth and exercise. But his eating is horrible. He is pretty headstrong so I try to limit what is at home, but it is just tough nevertheless. If you buy waffles SWOOSH they are all gone, Cereal of any kind GONE, candy, etc. He has very lil self control, unfortunately, when it comes to food. A a darn big capacity. He is overweight, probably obese. But not morbidly obese. We've been to nutritionist but so far he isn't willing to change much. I have a little guy, 3, that doesn't have the problems yet. So me having control helps him have control. Plus he is a saver of stuff including sweets whereas the older bro finds them and eats them. It works out. haha I don't worry a ton about it bc having this surgery was not the end of my world. There are worse health conditions that have no solution.

Sounds normal, right? I could have written many of those same things. But here I am 11 mos out and I feel pretty normal. It is scarey, I was so scared. But it is a day by day thing and as you can see it gets better and better, and all the while you are losing weight - which is secondary to your health though I agree. 48 oz of Water is probably good and I had about the same caloric intake for a while. Try sipping real broth bc it will be a nice contrast to the sweetness of the Protein shakes. It is a process, like most things. And an important one. Yeah you!

I think it is funny someone 'cheated' and ate roasted caulifower. heehee I had to do 13 days of liquid pre op and agh it was hard. I had a pizza blow out party one day w coworker but other than that I either stuck to the diet or cheated only by eating Protein. A few days before I was extra good just in case, pretty sure that pizza was long gone. I just had to eat it one more time though. hahaha Don't do it! I didn't even tell my husband about that day for like 6 months. haha By then it was funny, but he was mad I didn't invite him.

Over time I am coming to appreciate that my doctor is good and my decision was good. I was scared and regretful afterward b/c I don't think I realized what I'd done. Scared bc I had a friend whose surgery went very wrong. I was self pay and rushed through the process. Not good. I was worried about long term health implications, anorexia, malnutrition, so many things, etc. But I'm fine 11 mos out and actually starting to have confidence this might be a good solution for those of us that can't seem to lose weight and/or keep it off without the use of a tool. I don't know of any better solution. And if there was a better solution, I'm sure Oprah would have done it with all her monies. I know she is against weight loss surgery but I think for spiritual reasons. I personally think this was a physical problem at the point I was at. So to each their own. It has to be in your own time, for your own reason. And the best thing is to have a good/great doctor and to follow the regiman not to rush things. You need to rest, so try not to plan a lot. Some days good, some days not so good at first. Now all days pretty good!!!

I agree your body settles in where it is comfortable for the most part, unless you do not work on staying healthy. Tiffy's sleeve is smaller bc she had complications from a band and had to have a second surgery, right Tiff? But most people don't seem to have this issue of maintaining. I totally panicked about it when I saw her weight plummeting and I was really worried I would not be able to stop losing weight. I'm 5'1" and I teeter totter bt 146-149 at 11 months out. My goal was 128 bc that is what my doctor recommended for my height. But I wear an 8P or 10P (mostly 8P) and I'm happy with that. I'm still a lil chunky but I didn't lose my breasts toooo much at this size so I'm curvy but not obese ( I wear a C/D still, where I was an F or so). Like you, my husband likes me at this weight and is reluctant for me to lose much more. But he can see now I'm maintaining. I'm 47 years old, so I was afraid if I lost down to 100 lbs I'd start looking sickly, although in high school I was mostly 102 lbs and looked good and thought I was fat (!??). I had at 34 boughie, and that was the biggest my doctor would use bc he says 32 or 34 tend to produce the most satisfaction in patients weight loss. In hind sight, okay Dr. Scarborough, you were totally right on. I am satisfied that I can maintain, but also pretty sure I will lose another 10 lbs slowly and stop. I probably need to change my goal bc I think my goal is more like 136-138 now. Over Christmas I ate so much, so often kind of grazing, so many parties and things - and I gained like 2 lbs which will probably come off this week. So if your body wants to be a lil smaller than 180 maybe just try to lose it slowly and see where you end up. Tiffy has proved you can control it, but keep in mind it just may have be a little bit harder for her bc of her super lil' sleeve. I'm sure you look great.

By 3 to 4 mos you should lose half of your excess weight. Almost everyone does. Your body seems to go into shock and tries to hold onto weight, but then suddenly you'll drop a bunch. I am maintaining now I guess after 11 mos, every once in a while I'll lose a few lbs but I'm fairly satisfied with the remainder of my weight coming off during the next year (I'm almost 11 mos out). I am not dieting or exercising but now I am finally walking. I notice when I walk a lot it helps. But I didn't do that and still lost weight, but necessarily every day or every week. But you'll be surprised how it comes off. Don't be discouraged!! Don't worry about the money. You will save that 10k back on food/drink eventually. What I spend has totally changed over time, even if I eat at home or eat at a nice restaurant or eat junk food. For instance if I go to Taco Bell (rare) I spend $1.06 on a crunchy taco compared to $6 a year ago. If I go to a steak restaurant I generally share with my son who is 3 something decent and save about $15-$25 per meal. I don't buy drinks out hardly at all and my mainstay is Iced Tea and Koolaid made very weak for like 15 cents a glass which is generally once a day. I bought a few cups that I like and tend to bring drinks with me. I even stopped buying drinks from restaurants now bc I usually can't drink them anyway and take them to go and I can easily bring that from home. I use the little pouches and pour into 20 oz of Water but I don't pour it all bc I don't like a strong sugar taste. I drink coffee from home, I hate Starbucks now. I go to Whataburger and get the Jr Burger meal and split with my 3 yo son, etc. You will see even your family grocery bill will go way down bc you will use less food. I used to eat out a lot spontaneously and now it just isn't as tempting bc I get full fast so sort of the wasted restaurant bills are gone. If we do go out I usually bring leftovers and my older son eats them and that saves me money and cooking. I am a sunflower seed freak (Lance brand has lower salt and better nuts) and I usually eat a package a day which is like 50 cents and adds some good things to my diet especially Fiber. We eat a lot of eggs and Beans, and that is cheap. I prefer my own salsa, so that is cheaper. I don't buy nearly as many prepared items bc they tend to satisfy me less than just eating simple leaner foods. I think I save gosh, probably $75-200 a week on food / restaurants to be honest bc I used to go out more. I also try more new recipes now which is something I never did before. I take the time to find restaurant coupons on restaurant.com or buy gift cards where you get 20% back - so that is a savings and something I never had the control to focus on bc I was so focused on eating eating eating. So when we do go out I have more control and don't tend to overspend. The sleeve sort of GRADUALLY reigned me in and changed my habits and I definitely run a more economical budget. Clothing bills honestly are about the same bc now, 11 mos out, bc I can go to Kohl's and buy cute things for cheap with coupons, etc. And my size isn't changing much now. Even if you need a nice outfit once you are smaller you can spend less. But I confess I buy more belts and jewelry/accessories now that I'm smaller. But even that is slowly down as I've built up some basics that I wear again and again. At first after surgery it is expensive bc you are buying lots of supplements (look for sales and order samples first which I did not do) and you will have to replace all underwear, shoes, clothes, bras, lingerie, etc. My friend shops Goodwill bc she is still losing. I wasted money initially on supplements and shakes that I later gave away. I tried so many things that I didn't like. That is what I'd do differently - I didn't know you could get samples and I just tried a lot of stuff that I didn't like over time trying to get my Protein in. The important thing is to lose the weight and listen to everyone's advice here. But after a while you'll see there is a cost savings having this sleeve. I could write for hours if I thought about all the ways I save money not eating empty calories, etc.