NikkiDoc

I was at a CVS and the automatic doors got stuck half open/half closed. I was able to fit through to get in. I would not have been able to even a year ago. I had gotten down to 141 pounds for a long time then became an alcoholic and gained back 40 pounds. 1 year ago I went to rehab and have been sober since. I have lost 52 pounds so am down to 135.4 pounds. My lowest since the WLS. My surgeon's goal weight was 135. I want to be at 125 I think.

For my 53rd birthday my husband bought me a boudoir session through Susan Page Studios as a reward for losing so much weight. I am looking for a tasteful set of bra and panties in black or maybe a pretty dark blue for the shoot. The problem is the loose skin left in the pubic area. I am currently a 36D or 36DD bra and roughly a size 10 pant. I carried all of my weight in my belly. I am 146 pounds and 5'4" so still have a bit of a stomach roll. They suggest no thongs and something more like cheekies, lacies, hipsters or boy shorts. The shoot is July 22nd so I have a little time. I will bring 5-6 outfits and shoot in 3-4 outfits. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy a tasteful bra/panty set that provides a little extra coverage in the nether regions but is still a little sexy. I wouldn't mind a bra that provides a little lift. At this age and with the weight loss the girls can use a little help. Has anyone else done one of the boudoir sessions? If so, did you have fun?

That is great.

I am 3 years out. Right after surgery I lost weight for the first 3 weeks and then had an almost 4 week stall. Yes it was frustrating but expected. During that stall I dropped 2 sizes. When I did break the stall I lost 4.5 pounds overnight. Just stick with the program and it will work, I promise. For me hopping on the scale during the stall wasn't stressful so I did it everyday. For others you may want to move to weighing yourself once a week on the same day or only weigh in at follow-up visits or once a month. Everyones approach to the scale is different. During your stall you need to look for NSVs. When I moved to maintenance I personally need to weigh every day. It keeps me honest in my eating choices.

BCBS varies on requirements. Each BCBS is essentially a franchise. Many employer plans are also not fully insured but self insured and BCBS only acts as an Administrative Services Only (ASO) provider. In the case of ASO the employer can decide if they want to cover WLS and some of the terms to get it approved. I was covered through Horizon BCBS out of NJ through my husbands employer. It is a self funded plan not insurance. I had a 6 month monitored diet and I HAD to meet with the doctor/NP or dietician in my PCP practice at least once a month or I would start over. I did not have to show any weight loss I just needed to have documentation of a medically monitored diet. I did lose weight during that 6 months. That sucks that they did not tell your surgeon's office about the 12 months requirement. It does sound like a soft requirement that can be waived at their discretion where mine was a hard requirement that I HAS to do.

I have only had the sleeve but I had to sign something that gave him permission to switch from laprascopic to open if he HAD to. Without the permission up front they would need to abort the surgery, wait until I was recovered from the anesthesia, ask if I was willing to go open and reschedule for later. I recently read about somebody on one of my FB groups that was going in for a revision and she had so much scar tissue that the doctor couldn't do the revision so he closed her up. I don't remember if she was having an RNY revised or going from lap or sleeve to RNY. Therefore I don't think the consent form is that unusual. Better than waking up with no revision and having to reschedule at a later date.

My surgeon recommended avoiding watching too much TV during recovery since there are so many commercials for food. It can trigger head hunger. Early after surgery I found that I either had head hunger or much more likely I was dehydrated if I felt hungry. I had to play with the temp of the drink to make sure I was getting enough water. The first couple of weeks I drank much more water if it was hot or warm. Even now at almost 3 years out there are times that I get hungry and I know I should not be based on when and what I last ate. That generally means that I need more water. Sometimes it means that I drove past the local pizza joint/steak restaurant/Burger King and I get head hunger since it smelled good. If it is head hunger and I ignore it or try to focus on something else the hunger goes away quickly. It never hurts to sip some more water. I always have water with me-always. I prefer the flavored water like Mio or Crystal Light. Be careful some of the Crystal Light have caffeine. I personally never ate mashed potatoes, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, toast or anything that is very high in simple carbs but relatively low in protein during my pureed or soft phases. My personal history is that simple carbs don't stick with my at all and I get hungry quickly after eating them. They spiked my blood sugar. YMMV. I found that for the couple of weeks I was on full liquid/pureed/soft that I really had enough choices that were higher in protein to not eat simple carbs. For the first few months after the sleeve the majority of my protein came from protein shakes. I normally had 2 per day- breakfast and one snack. My lunch and dinner were more normal foods but still very high in protein and non-starchy vegetables. I still very rarely will have white potatoes, bread, pasta, oatmeal, corn, etc.. and if I do it is only about 2 bites just for the taste. About the only crackers I eat in moderation is Triscuits since they are about as whole grain as you can find. Even then I only have a few and only every couple of months. I am actually back to one shake a day right now for lunch. I had gotten stuck at 154-156 for about 18 months. (100 pounds down from my highest weight so not unhappy with how I looked/felt) I decided I really wanted to get to my goal weight of 135. I am now at 147.8 as of this morning. I have lost 7 pounds in just over a month. Welcome to the losers bench.

I ate sushi at about that stage. I tended towards the sashimi but I would have a little bit of the rice with no problem. I still have sushi and some sashimi and am 3 years out. I have an odd preference and like the fish off the top of a nigiri over sashimi. Sashimi tends to be cut thicker and I prefer the thinner cut fish. If I get a roll with the rice I get one small one not one of the big specialty rolls. If I get a bigger specialty roll I eat a few slices and then deconstruct a few slices and only eat the fish/eel/avocado and leave the rice. One of my favorite things is Outback has the seared ahi tuna- technically not sushi but pretty darn close.

I liked Premier before surgery. I much prefer Matrix or Nectars once I had surgery. I mostly used Matrix Vanilla and would add sugar free Torani syrup such as caramel, gingerbread, brown sugar/cinnamon. Or I would thaw no sugar added frozen mangos or peaches and add that to the shake. That seemed to minimize any chalky flavor. My co-worker used to get the Matrix Orange Cream and would mix it with a little OJ and milk for that Creamsicle taste. For grab and go Muscle Milk or Rocket Fuel is normally available at convenience stores. All protein shakes seem to be better if really cold.

What about nectar Natural by Syntrax? I have had Nectar but not the Nectar Natural. It isn't as thick as some Protein shakes. Lots of flavors available I would assume that pretty much all low calorie Protein Shakes are going to have artificial sweeteners which is what I assume you mean as crap. Nectar Naturals apparently contains nothing artificial. It looks like it uses Stevia. It is more expensive apparently. For the Nectar you should be able to get samples of different flavors. I also see Grab N Go variety packs that have 8 flavors. Since you have the Crohn's you could just tell people that your doctor recommended these shakes for a number of days which is the truth. People will probably assume that it is due to the Crohn's. Or if you don't mind not being truthful tell them you had a Crohn's flare is the shakes were recommended by your doctor as treatment.

Food poisoning isn't that quick. Yes Sheetz is a gas station but don't be thinking Turkey Hill. These are nice and clean. The food is made fresh, not pre-packaged. It is more like a glorified deli, convenience store that happens to have gas than a gas station. They have touch screen ordering and you fully customize your drink or sandwich. You go and pay while they make your food fresh. They are really busy so food does not tend to sit for ages. Their bathrooms are nice, clean and high end. I would not associate Sheetz with food poisoning. In my area we only have a few Sheetz. We have WaWa instead. They are pretty much a similar model. Both WaWa and Sheetz are way more upscale than you would picture when you say gas station. I think both of them are a step up from Royal Farms. Therefore I am not thinking food poisoning.

I only wore mine the first 2 days at the hospital. I did not go home with them. My husband had back surgery a few months before me. He only had the compression things for the 4 days at the hospital. He was walking quite a bit less than I was at discharge and didn't need them. He came home with a walker. I was walking 1 mile the first couple of days and was quickly up to 2 miles.

With my plan it was clear liquids 1 week, full liquids week 2, purees including eggs, chicken, tuna, soup, refried beans week 3, soft foods week 4 and regular food as tolerated after that.

I like Matrix Peanut Butter Cookie flavor. I would buy it on line. You can add PB2 to any vanilla shake you like. Many people like Premier which you can get at costco, Sams Club or Walmart. I preferred the Matrix brand or Nectars. For premade Muscle Milk or Rocket Fuel are okay. I get them already cold at the local convenience store.

I don't really use recipes much but I make a turkey chili in the crock pot that is pretty good. I use turkey tenders, tomato sauce, canned diced tomatoes, canned green chilis, canned pinto Beans, canned corn. (I should skip the corn) I saute onions, zucchini, red peppers and carrots. For seasoning I put in chipotle powder, paprika, garlic salt, onion powder and a McCormicks gluten free chili mix. I throw everything in the crock pot until the turkey is cooked. Take out the turkey, dice and throw it all back together. I think McCormick does a low sodium chili seasoning if you want to cut down on the salt.