Creekimp13

I walked about two miles the day of surgery...in the ward halls. Day two, I walked five miles...and at least five miles every day since. Am a bit of a FitBit addict. Just had my 3 month check and my doc told me to cut back on walking to 12,000 steps and to do more swimming. Walking is the bee's knees. You can start slow and work up very easily. You can do it anywhere. The health benefits are amazing.

Nice work! Lookin good!

Statistically, most people will regain no more than about 10-15% of what they lost. (Obviously there are exceptions) The typical, average experience for this surgery is to lose about 70% of your excess weight in 18 months, then regain about 12% of that in the next two years. Say you've got 100 pounds to lose. Most people will actually lose 60-70, and then regain about 12. That's an average experience. Lots of people do a LOT better than this:) And some do worse.

Go to urgent care in the morning, have labs done on your urine sample, and get started on antibiotics if necessary. Phone your surgeon.

These days? Breakfast: 1/2 caramel Premier Protien in my coffee. one cup regular, on cup decaf, whole wheat english muffin Snack: greek yogurt Lunch: Oatmeal with chopped dried cherries and pecans Snack: Apple slices and peanut butter Dinner: Steak salad...steak, egg, lowfat swiss, lettuce, avacado, cuke, onion, pepper Snack: frozen greek yogurt pop

This was around 4 weeks or so:

Not a bit:) Some outrageous number like 50% plus of the stomachs they remove for bariatric surgery show signs of chronic gastritis when they send them in to histology. They found chronic gastritis on my endoscopy, too. As long as you don't have helicobacter pylori...there shouldn't be any issue. My doc said I probably got it from taking a lot of ibuprofen. It did not affect my sleeve surgery. Had my endoscopy, and was sleeved 5 weeks later.

For anyone interested: https://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Flour-American-Crickets-Recipes/dp/B010VTRH5U/ref=sr_1_5_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1520042054&sr=8-5&keywords=cricket%2Bflour&th=1

Yep, cricket powder....ground dried crickets. LOL. Not for everyone, I realize:) My kiddo is a microbiologist trying to go to grad school for entomology...she put me up to it. It's not bad!

Two Premier Protein shakes is 60g of protein, and only 320 calories. There's protein in everything from whole wheat english muffins, to oatmeal, to baked potatoes, to beans...to the obvious things like chicken, turkey, tofu, pork, beef, etc. Lots of protein in mushrooms...and as i've recently learned....cricket powder! LOL:) It's a lot easier than it sounds. You'll get the hang of it.

Perfect labs. That was music to my ears. Perfect normal sugar. Perfect normal cholesterol. Perfect normal vitamin levels. Absolutely every value was in the normal range. When the hell has that ever happened before? It felt like a huge accomplishment. More good news. Next month I'll be weening off my omeprazole....which will leave me on exactly one Rx medication....thyroid. Perfect blood pressure, no meds. Doc thinks I'm going overboard on walking. LOL. I have a little back and hip pain (greatly improved, but still reminds me its there from time to time) that he thinks would benefit if I cut down to 12,000 steps a day. I might bump up my swimming...which he thought was a fair. I'm currently on a stall. Probably menstrual bloat. Doc is satisfied with my weight loss, thinks I'm doing great. Saw nutritionist, too...no major changes. She laughed at my new love of oatmeal. Best news of all: No more appointments...for three freakin months!!!! Whew! Man, that feels good. I feel like this year has been one constant doctor's appointment. Feels good to be free of the poking and prodding for a while:)

Xanax, generally. LOL:) Took lexapro for a few years and it helped incredibly. I don't take it anymore because just knowing that my anxiety is a chemical spill in my head...helps me rationalize it and cope with it. These days anxiety still can be sneaky....but I usually recognize when it's getting the better of me and have some coping mechanisms that help:) Whenever you want to feel pissed that the rest of the world lives with less anxiety than you....remember that anxiety is an evolutionary advantage to survival. Worriers are much less likely to die stupidly. (even if they do make themselves miserable worrying. LOL)

I didn't mind my endoscopy. They used propofol (milk of amnesia). I do have two vague memories of gagging on the scope and the nurses patting my back and telling me I was doing a good job...but other than that, just a sore throat for a couple of days. Woke up fast and went to lunch with my hubby. Thai food. Had no issues.

I did! It wasn't bad at all, but it was a little gritty. I made the chocolate banana shake, and it was delicious. There was a nutty mild flavor to the crickets that surprised me. I expected them to taste nasty bitter and strong. I could easily eat cricket powder in lots of things I make. Gonna try it in black bean brownies.

Endoscopy was a piece of cake. Does make your throat hurt a bit! But you wake up and feel pretty normal within an hour. (I did, anywho) Funny I should remember this, but I had my endoscopy on October 31st. I remember it was Halloween. Surgery turned out to be December 5th. So...for me...about five weeks.

Sorry Alex. That wouldn't been fun to hear about.

I used to hate oatmeal. Like...sincerely, truly hate it. From it's slimy dischargey goo, to it's bug-like bits....oatmeal just sucked. I wouldn't touch it. Today, I love oatmeal. I'm not just saying that. I'm eating it right now for lunch. Steel cut oats with a little splenda, a few chopped dried cherries, almonds and pecans. often, I have it with fresh fruit. Bananas, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apples....it all works. I would rather eat this than most things in the world....and that baffles me. I thin it with a little premiere protein and have a yogurt chaser. Can easily upgrade it to a 20g protein meal this way. Yep, it's carb heavy. But they're low glycemic carbs that don't cause spikes and it boasts lots of fiber to support good gut bugs. And I love it. Did I mention I love it? Who knew I'd be an oatmeal eating fool? Yay Oatmeal! LOL

80 calories. 6 grams of protein. A sensible amount of naughty with some decent nutritional value. https://yasso.com/products/bars/chocolate-fudge/ Maybe for when the rest of the fam gets ice cream on a Friday night:) Sort of a special occasion treat that won't sabotage you. Or a household replacement for ice cream. Kids will love these things. They're delicious.

Yes, yes, you can! And lose weight. And feel terrific:)

Average progress has been studied. There's a ton of data out there, and you're significantly ahead of the curve. You're 5'6" tall. You have a normal BMI at 154 pounds. I know you prefer to weigh less, but we're talking about "excess weight". If on the day of surgery, you were 202, and at 154 you have a normal BMI....you have 48 pounds of "excess weight". The average weight loss in the first month after surgery is 18% of excess weight. Which, in your case would be about eight and a half pounds. You've lost 13. You are losing WAY more than average. Count your blessings. Sounds like you need to work on consistency and patience. Be patient. You said you regained weight in the past "out of frustration." Sounds to me like you regained the weight by getting impatient and going back to bad habits.

Wow, Handsome! Well done!

Made more sense for us to send hubby in for the big V. Now, he says if I get pregnant... "Lucy, you got some Splainin' to do!"

We will all have to diet. Forever. Sucks, but it's the truth.

I likely got mine from horse riding. Not the riding itself...the flying off and landing on my back like a dropped sack of flour when a horse refused a jump....that might have had something to do with it. Splat! Must have done that half a dozen times in the past decade. Knocked the wind out of me horribly...so painful.

So often we get the question here.. Am I losing enough weight? I don't think I'm losing fast enough. I'm six hours/days/weeks from surgery and I've lost only 2/12/40 pounds. What's WRONG with me? Am I FAILING? Never fear people. I just read this in an article in a health magazine: Weight Loss by Month Since weight loss is reported as a percentage, the number of pounds you shed per month depends on where you started. It also depends on the time since surgery. Findings in the October-December 2013 issue of the "Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons" suggested that people having sleeve gastrectomy lost more of their excess weight in the first few months after surgery. In this study of 100 patients, on average, subjects lost about 18 percent of their excess weight in the first month. Average weight loss by the end of 6 months was 50 percent of the excess body weight, and by the end of the first year, they had lost about 63 percent of their excess weight. Now, really pay attention to what this says... 18 percent in the first month. If you have 100 pounds of excess weight....you will lose on average...about 18 pounds that first month. Those of ya'll who have only 60 or so pounds to lose....can expect to lose around 11 pounds that big first month. And it all narrows from there. Typically, a little less loss each month. So please don't panic if you've got 85 pounds to lose....and you're not dropping 46 pounds a month like a Dr. Nowzaradan patient! If you've got 85 to lose....and you drop 15 pounds that first month? You're average. You're doing great! If you've got 50 pounds to lose (cause ya did well with your pre-op diet and you're kinda short)....and you only lose 9 pounds the first month? You're average! Good job! If you lose a little more or a little less than average? That's still OK!!!! Everyone's a little different and people's bodies love to stall and make them crazy:) Just wanted to provide a little perspective to those feeling discouraged because they haven't lost the massive amounts of weight you see on the TV shows and Youtube channels:) Stick to the program. Trust. Be Patient. You got this:)