catwoman7

it does take your mind forever to catch up with it. I find myself looking in dressing room mirrors when trying on clothes, lamenting on how "fat" my stomach and butt are. I am now exactly 6 lbs overweight. Eighteen months ago, I weighed almost 400 lbs. Really??!!!???

I use a sugar/Splenda blend, and not much of it at a pop, but then, I'm not as carb/sugar sensitive as some people.

pre-surgery, smoothies were my go-to breakfast. Now I don't have them much anymore (I usually have Greek yogurt with a few fresh berries on top), but when I make them, I use unsweetened almond or cashew milk (instead of my former juice or regular milk), skip the yogurt, use a scoop or two of fruit- or vanilla-flavored Protein powder for the protein (if you use fruit-flavored powder, it can easily replace some of the fruit), and then *some* (not a lot) frozen fruit. for example, peach-flavored Protein Powder, half a frozen banana, a handful of frozen berries....

some may be that it takes your brain awhile to catch up to your weight loss. And some may be that at 4'11", 170 is still technically obese. I looked good at 170, but I'm way taller than you. You'll probably continue to lose weight and will feel really differently once you start hitting 140-ish and lower. Hang in there!!!

I had that on the side of my left breast. A sharp pain - just as you described. And not constant - I'd get this stabbing pain for just a few seconds or a minute or two several times a day. I thought it might be hormonal (I'm post-menopausal, but who knows) due to the "hormone dump" many people experience after surgery. I asked the PA at my surgeon's office, and he just sort of shrugged it off. It went away after about two weeks.

p.s. you get used to the Vitamins really quickly. I take about 15 tablets a day, but it's completely second nature now. I take a handful in the morning, a much smaller handful around dinner time. I work in one other calcium dosage sometime during the day, and Iron before I go to bed. I had RNY, though. Vitamins differ a bit depending on your surgery (VSG requires fewer, DS requires more). It's really not bad once you get into the swing. I really don't think much about it anymore. The only thing I have to remember to do is get my extra calcium dosage in there somewhere.

insurance generally doesn't cover Vitamins (although some policies cover them if they're prescription - mine did when I had to take prescription Vitamin D pre-surgery because my levels were abysmal). I've never looked into my HSA/FSA covering them, but I'll look into that as one of the above posters mentioned it. I would assume IV Iron would be covered since a doctor's doing it - but it may depend on your policy.

yes, I have days when I feel I could eat everything in sight. I just have to fight it - and I'll tell you, some days it can be a huge challenge. But we'll probably have to deal with this the rest of our lives, unfortunately. I have thin (as in never been obese) friends who say they fight it all the time, too. :-(

online I participate regularly on this one and OH. I've logged into Thinner Times a couple of times, but that's it - so not a regular participant on that one. I go to local support groups occasionally. Early out I used them to get information; now I use them mostly because they keep me focused on my weight loss. I login at least once a day - and usually two or three times.

as James said, liquids pass right through. But just remember to sip, not chug (you'll be able to drink normally when you're out a few weeks). I was always afraid I was drinking too fast, but my dietitian said my pouch would let me know if that was the case. But do just sip - you're probably worrying too much about the timing. You'll be OK if you just sip sip sip all day...

I'm six lbs away and feel pretty "bony" - but I'll keep going as long as my body wants to keep going (I will not take drastic measures, though, as it'll just come back on if I do that). My surgeon said often people who have been super morbidly obese (like I was - over 300 lbs) have pretty dense bones, so that could account for some of the excess. Plus there's the extra skin - although from what I understand, that often weighs much less than what people would think - 5 lbs or so (although it depends on how much you have) a friend of mine who has a BMI of 27 (a bit higher than mine - but she's never had weight loss surgery) asked her doctor if she should lose weight. He said with older patients (she's 60), a BMI in the 23-27 range seems to be optimal, so he told her not to worry about it. I'm *almost* that age, so... I did check one BMI site that also gave percentiles. My percentile, even though I'm slightly overweight, is 44%. Meaning 56% of Americans have a higher BMI than I do. I don't know how reliable this site is, but given the huge percentage of overweight and obese people in the US, I wasn't all that surprised.

I used Biotene a lot after surgery, too. I'm not sure about breath mints right away - but check with your surgeon's office - they may be fine. I use them now (several months out), but the sugar free kind. The sugar alcohols in sugar free products bother some people's digestive systems, though (not mine - but a lot of people), so start slow just in case (like - one tiny mint...)

I still enjoy food!! The first few weeks are admittedly a bit rough, and most people lose their sense of hunger the first few months, but at some point, you feel normal and your hunger comes back. I enjoy food just as much as I did before - I just eat a lot less of it!

actually, I would keep the thing. I love looking at awful pictures of me from before, and comparing them to the new 200 lbs lighter me. I show some awful ones when I'm talking to pre-op classes. People gasp. People say they'd never know it was the same person. I love it - it reminds me of how very far I've come. I hated those pictures before - but now, even though they're still awful, I love having them as a reminder and as a comparison.

we were told not to use gummies for some reason.

it depends on your program - they're all different. Grits are pretty high in carbs, so I don't think my program would have approved - at least not that early out

Quest are actually a Protein blend, not 100% whey protein isolate. I drink Quest sometimes *now* at 16 months out because I'm getting most if not all of my protein from food (I drink shakes more as a convenience now). But we were told early out when you're relying on shakes to meet your protein needs to stick to 100% whey protein isolate. Samples - I don't really know of any free ones - usually you pay a couple of bucks for an individual packet, but it's way cheaper to pay $2 for sample than pay $30 for a big tub of it only to find out later you hate it. I'd definitely invest in a bunch of samples. And don't forgot a lot of people's tastes change after surgery - so try the samples *after* your surgery Calcium - I use a variety: Upcal D (a powder you mix into food or thick beverages (it doesn't dissolve very well, so thin, watery drinks don't work as well. I usually mix it into my morning yogurt)), Bariatric Advantage chews, occasionally Calcet Creamy Bites (they're wonderful but 40 calories each - yikes!). Sometimes I'll also make a double Protein shake and drop a couple of calcium tablets in it. If it's somewhat acidic (like the fruity Syntrax ones), the tablets will eventually dissolve.

I like Syntrax and Unjury products

I just use Centrums - or the generic equivalent

Believe it. I had a stall weeks 2 and 3 post-op. Almost everyone has their first one some time in first 4-6 weeks. In fact, we call it "the three week stall", because it often happens the third week, but not always. Just keep sticking to your program and it will break. Once mine broke, I dropped like 6-8 lbs in just a couple of days

I had my surgery one day before Daisee68 (I also had RNY), have/had pretty much the exact same stats, and I did pretty much the same thing all the way down the line. It works!

I've only had pizza three times since I had surgery 16 months ago. First time would have been about six months out. That time and the following time I scraped the toppings off and ate those. The last time i had it (about a month ago), I ate one piece with the crust - but it was a super thin crust.

I quit smoking over 20 years ago. It was a bear, but I did it. I was on some usegroup forum of other quitters, a support system not that much different than Bariatric Pal, which is probably no longer in existence but I'm sure there are others now. I'd logon every night and stay on for sometimes hours. It was great to have so many people to relate to. I chewed a lot of gum and "smoked" a lot of straws. "Smoking" a straw at list somewhat mimicked holding and inhaling a cigarette, which kind of helped until I got over the some of the more intense cravings you have the first few days and weeks. I'd say if I can do it, anyone can do it - but I know people don't want to hear that! So good luck to you. Millions of people have quit smoking, so you're in good company!!

I now speak to the pre-op classes at my clinic. I make sure to tell them that they're all going to lose at different rates, and they're going to see people who have dropped 30 lbs that first month, or 100 lbs in the first three months, and think that's the norm. It's not. It's certainly possible to lose that much, but that's at the very high end of the range. I've been hanging out on WLS boards for at least a couple of years, and my take-away is that an "average" range for the first month is 15-25 lbs (a few lose more, a few lose less), and beyond that, 8-12 lbs a month is common (until you get several months out, when it drops even further). So a lot of people are exactly where they should be, but these see these "super losers" and freak out. You're totally normal!! I think bariatric clinics should be more upfront about that so people don't have unrealistic expectations.

it took me 10 years (and until I was in my 50's) to make the decision to go through with it. You may be back - or not. But good luck to you whatever you ultimately decide to do.