WorkinOnMe

@@Jazzcat What a great attiitude! And you seem to be off to an awesome start too. Take it easy the next few days ... continue to follow your plan and get your fluids, but also give your body time to regain strength after your surgery. By day 5 I felt great & was wanting to get out in the real world (as opposed to my neighborhood). Look forward to hearing more about your journey as you continue!

See you on the losers bench!!! Best of luck in the coming days.

There is a chance of dumping with any WLS surgery. Look a what it is and what causes it: Dumping syndrome is a condition that can develop after surgery to remove all or part of your stomach or after surgery to bypass your stomach to help you lose weight. Also called rapid gastric emptying, dumping syndrome occurs when food, especially sugar, moves from your stomach into your small bowel too quickly. Most people with dumping syndrome develop signs and symptoms, such as abdominal cramps and diarrhea, 10 to 30 minutes after eating. Other people have symptoms one to three hours after eating, and still others have both early and late symptoms. Generally, you can help prevent dumping syndrome by changing your diet after surgery. Changes might include eating smaller meals and limiting high-sugar foods. In more-serious cases of dumping syndrome, you may need medications or surgery. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dumping-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20028034 Really, this means that depending on the person, anyone can suffer from dumping symptoms. I am a sleever and don't typically have this issue. I have eaten Cookies, brownies, ice cream ... pretty much anything. However, all I have is one or two BITES and that satisfies my craving. This is not enough to trigger dumping for me. When I ate a few bites of Pasta though ... watch out! 15 minutes after eating I was running for the bathroom. That was my only incident. On the other hand, my boss is 7 years out from his RNY and still has dumping when he eats too much sugar.

Yes! ^^ THIS!!! I really couldn't have said it any better, so just copying it here for you to read again!! Do whatever it takes to motivate yourself ... get a buddy to go with you so you commit to it and can't back out. (this was great for me at first!) No matter what, this is *YOUR* journey and you need to do what you need to do. Don't worry about what others may think, they aren't you. Best of luck!

Welcome @@bdfletch!!! This is a great place to seek information, support from others, or to just plain b*tch when you are having a bad day. Hope your journey continues to be a good one & look forward to hearing more from you.

I honestly cannot relate to what you are feeling. I don't say that to be mean, but just to preface my post so that you know this is only my 2 cents and not from personal experience. It sounds like you have some unresolved issues from PRE-surgery that have never been dealt with. You say you didn't love yourself, but I have to wonder if it was simply the weight/physical aspect you didn't "love" or if there was more to it. I am not a therapist, but it sure sounds to me like you should see one. They are trained to help you delve into the root of the problem and help you sort it all out. I hope that in time you are able to love yourself, not just your body, and that you find some peace and comfort. Much love hun!

Exactly what @@Daisee68 said!! It isn't that you are doing something wrong, or that you need to do something more. Give your body time to adjust to the changes and reset itself. You are doing everything you are supposed to so take a deep breath and keep on keeping on!

YES a million times over to the "start living" part!!!! I was sleeved May 2105 (almost 1 year!) and did my first 5K in August 2015. I do this really pathetic half walk/half job thing that I call "wogging". I just did a race last week and did my first sub 13 minute mile pace for the whole race. Super proud ... but I did question if it was my bat wings that gave me that extra "speed" during the race. My husband assures me that this wasn't the case and even told me it was a good thing I got new sports bras or the flapping and swaying of the girls might have been enough resistance to slow me down. I also went to our local running store and was fitted for a great pair of running shoes. They are expensive, but sooooo worth it! In another couple of weeks I will begin training for walking a marathon in September. I highly suggest that you look into a training program. There are a bunch out there if you look, but they are super helpful. And speaking of training ... do you think you might get your ass cheeks to teach mine how to clap?? I could use the extra encouragement on my runs and I think a cheering section just might do the trick! Best of luck! Keep us posted on your progress, I'd love to follow you throughout the training.

OOhhhhhh ... if only I could drink ONE bloody mary anymore. {SIGH} Why can't you? Too heavy on my tummy. After about 3 sips I feel like a rock has hit the bottom of my of my stomach and it just sits there. Not quite as enjoyable as they used to be.

I have an apron that has become more noticeable (at least to me) in recent months. I wear a bodysuit like this: http://www.target.com/p/maidenform-self-expressions-women-s-suddenly-skinny-body-shaper/-/A-14387016#prodSlot=_1_26 Love that they snap between the legs & they stay in place all day. I have a black and a nude and a white tank that doesnt snap, but sits low past my hips.

OOhhhhhh ... if only I could drink ONE bloody mary anymore. {SIGH}

** DELETED MULTI POST ** My apologies ... not sure why the computer went on the fritz like that and kept posting over and over!

Totally different experiences for me than those above. Aside from one "friend" who had RNY a few years ago and was not overly successful in her journey, NONE of my family, friends, or co-workers have treated me any differently. Am I different? Yes, a bit. I am more confident & stand up for myself more than I ever did. But my morals & values have not changed, so I firmly believe that at the core I am the same person deep down. I would say the only real differences I see are in how strangers treat me ... they are more openly friendly and seem to notice me more than when I was a "fat kid". I guess that doesn't really bother me though. They aren't the people I choose to have in my day to day life so I don't pay much attention to strangers responses.

Nice!!! Good for you. I found that since lettuce is mostly Water I can eat almost double what I can of "solid" foods. I too like the crunch ... really missed that part at the beginning! Now however, lettuce has recently begun to irritate my tummy and make me very gassy so I tend to save it for when I really want to crunch something. Enjoy it!

I guess I view it like @@VSGAnn2014 said ... this is a community and as with any community you are going to encounter the good, the bad, and the ugly. I tend to see any snarky replies as part of the community as a whole ... kind of like my neighborhood. There are those I like & socialize with (the ones I friend on here & might seek out their posts to see what's up), those I am cordial & polite to and would engage in a conversation if I happen to see them (the ones I respond to or comment on posts), and then the ones that I don't particularly care for and avoid at all costs (the posters I ignore or scroll right on by). It doesn't mean I am going to sell my house and move out because some of them are a few french fries short of a Happy Meal! On the contrary .... sometimes I can learn valuable lessons from those poor unfortunate souls, like how I do not want to be/act/sound/etc. and sometimes I just gotta ask myself "Is is gonna matter in 10 years!?!?"

I agree with the others ... find a replacement outlet for the emotions. Just following my surgery I went through a pretty rough patch with family illness and a (separate) death in the family. My normal go-to would have been food. However, someone here recommended that I find some other way to ease the emotion and I started to walk more and more. It was a GREAT outlet for me! I would put in my earphones and just go until I either physically couldn't (shorter distances closer to my surgery) or else I felt the weight start to lift off of me. Ultimately, the fear of weight gain or even making myself sick from eating too much after my new sleeve was enough to help me to re-focus on something other than food. Best of luck to you!

WOOHOO!!! Hope you have a fab-u-lous time ... and would love to see prom pictures!

I guess this is a combination of a fitness post & a NSV. Did a 5K on Sunday, well, my version of "wogging" .... a combination of fast walking and slow jogging. Managed to not only PR with a time of just under 40 minutes, but it was also my very first sub 13minute mile pace!!!! Ok, ok, not MUCH under a 13mm, but it started with a 12 and that is all that matters, right!?!?! Yay me!

Madness and carnage are a part of my every day life as a middle school teacher, I just hide it all REALLY well. You don't want to meet my psychotic alter ego ... it isn't pretty. Then again, who says the sane one is?!?!?

Specs: 42 yo female (41 at WLS) HW pre-op - 305lbs 5'5" Size 26/28 Previous spinal injury limiting mobility & exercise Diabetic, HBP, High Cholesterol, sleep apnea WLS (VSG) - 5/11/15 In less than (almost!) one year: CW - 173lbs Size 12 Off all prescription medications, fasting glucose approx. 105-110 daily "WOG" (walk/jog combination) 3-4 times per week Completed more than 10 5K races since 8/15 About to begin training to walk a marathon in Sept. Post-op recovery was less than 2 weeks. Only regret is that I didn't do this sooner!!!

Based on your topic I was willing to jump on board and give my own experiences... basically I agree with everyone else. Your journey is YOURS. Try not to compare to others, as everyone is different. Also, I too was going to tell you about the 3 week stall (and 6 week, and 12 week if you are like me). You are losing, and that is a huge positive to look at. Pretty consistent with what everyone else is saying. However, what I really want to comment on now is your above post. Please remember that *YOU* initiated the discussion by posting to an open forum. That means you wanted people to respond to you. You don't get to choose what those responses have to say. You don't have to agree with them, but you did solicit them. If you don't want to hear what people have to say then perhaps you should stick to reading the boards to garner your information and refrain from asking questions of which you might not like the responses. Just my 2 cents.

Do some quick research ... there are a ton of post-bariatric menus/plans on the internet that will help you get started. I agree though, all this information came from my NUT and I used the internet menus to just change it up when I was looking for new ideas.

I am a middle school teacher. I took 2 weeks off (total, counting surgical/hospital days). At the end of week 1 I was fine and ready to return to work, but I wasn't allowed to alter my scheduled days. I would have been able to return fully at this point, but the extra week was a nice bonus.

I agree ... my numbers weren't so low. I'd need to pull a medical degree out of a hat before I would even consider telling you where you should be. That needs to come from your doc/NUT. However, I would be quite comfortable saying that you might want to reach out to one of them and have a conversation about this.

Let me start by saying all my exercise was doctor approved. Check with your surgical team before trying anything. As for me ... I started walking a few hours after surgery. Short little treks at first, then once I was cleared by my nursing staff I began what I lovingly referred to as the "Elliott 500" ... laps around the surgical floor at all hours of the day and night. I had a loony-toons roommate so in an attempt to maintain my sanity for the 3 days/nights in the hospital I preferred to walk, and walk, and walk. Post-op I was walking 1/4 mile at the end of my first week and slowly built it up from there. I wasn't allowed to get into the pool until my incisions were fully healed, but then I started to do pool walking and some light laps. At 3 months post-op I was allowed to return to the gym for light lifting/toning. Havent stuck with that as much as I should, but fully unlimited now if I choose to do strength training. I also "wog" (a pretty pathetic combination of walking and jogging) regularly now. I participate in at least 1 5K race per month, with some longer distances thrown in. I am preparing to begin training for walking a marathon in September. Again, you should really run everything by your own Doc, but this gives you an idea of my plan. Good luck!