amylynns

@PinkPolkadot619 You look great!!!

I know what you mean!! There's one picture of me from back in 2010 when I was at my lowest (from when I had the lapband) at 178. I went to Vegas with my BFF and I felt AMAZING!!! I wore things I wouldn't have back at home and felt great! Until I saw pictures...there's one I like, but it's just a head shot. All the pics with body shots I still think I look huge. I'm not sure how we fix those filters, but I'd love to know how!! :-)

UGHHHHH, I hate pictures!!! I just logged in on my computer instead of my phone, and can see the pics better. All I see is chub!

So my honey said that shirt doesn't do me justice...I know it's really baggy so here's another pic with a small shirt. I don't like the front view with this one cuz my yoga pants are so big I have them pulled way up and you can see them in the pic, heehee.

Ok. I'm gonna see if I can post my day of surgery pics and today. Well, crap. He took the picture the wrong way, lol.

@dc0520-You look great!!!! I need to post some updated pics too! I can tell in my clothes and I measure myself, so I know I've lost inches. But in my head I'm still the size I was. Hopefully some pics will help me see the change. I haven't had anyone say anything to me about my loss yet. Well, a couple friends that knew I was having the surgery. I think sometimes with a fast weight loss people are afraid to say something for fear you're ill or something! :-)

@Beni--I will definitely try the tilapia in my non-stick pan w/ olive oil! That's a lot quicker!! Can't wait to hear how lunch goes! Small, small bites---chew, chew! I couldn't eat the whole piece when I first started solids either. But I don't like leftover fish. (gets too fishy for me) Luckily my 14yr old son LOVES fish and always offers to eat what I can't. I waste 1/2 my Breakfast every morning. I made 1 small egg with the thin sandwich rounds and can never eat it all. I'll hand some off to Zach before I even start eating it if he hasn't left for school yet, LOL. Remember that commercial when we (some of us)were young, "Mikey will eat it!" That's Zach. Haha. Except he's bone thin, with washboard abs, so he can "afford" to eat it! I have a bunch of little tupperware containers of leftovers too! But I do end up dumping a lot of it. (in the garbage) I always think it sounds good for later, but then it doesn't sound all that good later, hehee. Congrats on your new business venture Layknee!! I'll take a peek! But pretty sure I've been cut off from anymore jewelry buying, LOL!!

LOL-My BF isn't all that comforting. There was one time he was, I was shocked. I had kind of holed myself up in my room for a couple days bawling, and he finally got worried enough he broke down and comforted me. He's more of the "let's get done what needs to be done, and not cry about it" kind of guy. *sigh* Ooo, green olives sound good. I'm sure my son has eaten all of the ones I just bought though! He snags those as quick as he can, goofball.

So glad I came across this. I too thought I was nuts. Mine is hip pain though. Wakes me up several times during the night. And we recently bought a VERY expensive bed that I was loving because it relieves any pressure points. So I was sleeping pain free. Then I lose 43 pounds and I'm in more pain than I was when I was pregnant with bad hips. Not really sure how to relieve the pain. I'm typically a side sleeper but have had to keep going to my back because of the pain when I lay on my hips.

@Luna222--Yep, that's the right tilapia! :-) I add a can of cream of chicken or cream of "something" in with the chicken breasts if I do them in the crockpot. Makes them nice and moist. :-) Oh girl---that would make me crazy too if people were questioning what I'm eating, or implying I ate something wrong!! I haven't had that happen. I get, "You poor thing." But I don't want people to feel bad for me, this was my choice and like you said, it's like learning how to eat all over again. My PA kept saying to treat my pouch like a 6 month old baby. If you wouldn't feed it to a 6 month old, don't eat it. Thank goodness I'm finally past that stage! I had to go back to pureed for about a week and that was HORRID! But once they did the scope and upper GI and gave me the all clear that nothing was wrong, I was so happy when my NUT suggested I try the next stage. Tonight for dinner I had steamed carrots and thin salami wrapped around mozzarella cheese. (2 of these) No nausea, just full. :-)

What a great post!! Thank you! I've recently gone from pureed stage to "real food." Loving that I can eat more of a variety now!! These are all great ideas for us newbies! I can't eat some of it yet, but will definitely use these ideas soon!

I buy the frozen filets. They're in a bag, and then in individual sealed bags inside. So you can make just one at a time. You can thaw one out ahead of time, or I just put it in a bowl of warm Water and it defrosts in a few minutes. I get just plain filets, no "sauce" or anything. Tilapia is a nice, mild fish. I just spray it with olive oil (using a pampered chef oil spritzer ) and then put either a lemon pepper seasoning or an "every day" Mrs. Dash's seasoning. I bake it at about 350 for a good 20-25 minutes. I like it really done, LOL. If I do chicken breasts, I get the boneless, skinless breasts from the meat counter at the store and then bake it slowly, or put it in the crock pot. Then it's nice and tender. I usually season it with garlic salt/pepper. I have gotten emotional a lot too! It has been better since I've been able to eat a little more variety though. But I kept thinking, "Am I EVER going to be able to eat without getting sick?" And for me, once I'm sick, I really, really don't want to eat anything else or drink....so then I get behind on my fluids---can't take my Vitamins because I haven't eaten, etc. So just a downhill spiral. I know the roller coaster of emotions you're feeling. I feel like I don't even know myself. I don't recognize this shrinking body, it's like it's happening too quickly, even though that's what I hoped and dreamed of happening!? I hope in time our emotions calm down!

@emsgirl114--Your childhood sounds very interesting!! I love the family atmosphere I'm picturing. I'm so glad your mom ended up being a great support for you!! It really helps to have someone helping you during the rough days!! My mom called or stopped every day I was home to see if I needed anything, or just to hug me.

I never have heard what the reason behind the "no straw" is?? I love drinking Water from my water bottle with the straw, it just seems to be easier to drink. I've had such a hard time getting my liquids in. I've been dehydrated and needed IV fluids twice now, and I fear I'm getting that way again now... But I haven't used a straw. :-)

I have to take it for life. I also have Barrett's Esophagus, and even after RNY in October, I have some reflux. I had another scope done a few weeks ago to check things (all ok) and then also had an upper GI with a small bowel follow through last week. (all ok) He did say I have a small hiatal hernia, which is probably causing the reflux. What I don't understand is why I have the hernia still. I had one before surgery, but I would have thought that would have been repaired while doing the RNY. A question I have for the surgeon at my next check up!

Good for you! I too struggled with telling my parents. I told them 3 days before my surgery! My mom totally understood, her and her whole side of the family is overweight. But even though my Dad has had up and down times with his weight, he's more of the mind set, "Just be active and eat less." Yeah....cuz I haven't tried that!! I actually emailed my parents and told them. I was really chicken! And I told my Dad, even though I didn't expect him to accept it, I wanted NO judemental comments from him at all. Much to my surprise, I got just the opposite from him. He texted me the morning of surgery, called to check on me and even came on his own to the hospital to see me. If you knew our past relationship, this was a BIG thing for him to do and it meant the world to him. The couple weeks after surgery when I was so sick and regretting having the surgery, I was afraid to even utter those words to my parents for fear they'd say, "I told you so..." But nope, all I got was support. It really made getting through that stage a lot easier!! Good luck with your surgery!! It sounds like you for sure have your Dad in your corner!

I am SO worried as well!!! I hope she's able to respond to you to let us know she's ok. I've been thinking about her a lot.

@Beni--Awesome post Beni with lots of good info. for those coming up on that stage!! Sorry you had to take a step back--I did the same thing and it really did help. So this Thursday is week 7, when you'll try some chunky food again? I think I started with wheat crackers w/ hummus. I could eat 2 crackers. It's so hard to fine "that point" right before it's one bite too much! (know what I mean?) The other thing I've been able to eat well is Arnold's Sandwich Thins with a fried egg (w/olive oil spritz) and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I can eat 1/2- 3/4 of it. My son usually offers to eat what I can't. :-) Last night I had the most delicious meal and ate the whole thing with no nausea. I was so excited. I had tilapia (3oz), steamed broccoli (about 1/8 cup) and a tiny baked potato (no skin) with about a 1/2 TBS of sour cream. I think that's the most I've eaten in one sitting so far.

I did puree my food for a good 2 weeks, but meat of any sort started making me really nauseated around 4 1/2 weeks out. The pureed food looked horrible, but tasted "alright." I was getting so sick of it that even thinking about pureed food made me sick to my stomach. My NUT told me to go ahead and try the next stage and I've been 95% great with it!! SO glad no more pureed!! I still do best with tilapia or chicken breast. And thank goodness, because those are 2 of my favorite things to eat!

Definitely!!!! We went to Texas Roadhouse for a birthday dinner Sunday night and that's all I wanted, was a nice green salad w/ chicken. UGH. I ordered a chicken breast, steamed veggies w/ no butter and a sweet potato, no butter. My intention was to pack up 3/4 of it right away in a to go box. Thought I'd try just 1/2 of a roll with their cinnamon butter. Well, before my meal even got there, I was sick. Started sweating and felt like I was either going to pass out or puke all over. I fanned myself with a menu and took some deep breaths. Helped a little bit, but needless to say, my meal went un-touched. I tried taking a small bit of the chicken, but the nausea was just horrid. I couldn't even stomach the thought of packing it up and taking it home! :-( Not a good evening out for me!