Tiffykins

Hey Carol, and congrats on getting your date ! ! !

I could of written that myself, seriously. My life revolved around food. In the morning, I woke up and was planning "hmmm, what can I eat today." But, the interest in food kind of went away for awhile. I know a lot of people enjoy social events after the sleeve, they just drink water/tea/juice while out, or they order Soup. It can still be a good time, you just won't be able to focus on food, it'll be more socializing, and gabbing. That is what I have found to be the most fun now when I am out socially. I don't have an emotional tie to food anymore. I simply eat to live, not live to eat. It was a weird adjustment, but I just kind of rolled with it. Distraction of some sort definitely helps. I came on here A LOT when I was newly post-op. I played a lot of online games, and wrote a bunch to distract me. You'll also love to clothes for gifts instead of foody gifts. I know it's a difficult concept to grasp until you're on the post-op side, but seriously you won't be truly hungry, and food will not be a primary focus.

Definitely got you in my thoughts, and prayers ! ! ! Make sure to update when you are able to do so.

Hi there, and welcome to VST. Congrats on the insurance giving you approval, and best wishes in finding a surgeon that has the experience, and bedside manner you are happy with. My suggestion on researching any surgeon is find one that has performed at least 300 sleeves, and one with low complication/leak stats. Low leak stats meaning around 1%. Find a good nutritionist, and if you have food issues, compulsive eating/emotional ties to food/a history of depression/anxiety, I highly recommend finding a therapist/psych that specializes in bariatric patients and their recovery. They operate on our stomachs, not our brains, and this journey is full of ups and downs. Grant it, the victories/successes outweigh the bad for most. If you have any questions, ask away. We'll all be here for you.

You rock ! ! ! I'm so petrified of triathalons or marathons. I can't wait to hear all the details.

Hi and welcome to VST. The recovery time varies by person, but it seems the general concensus seems to be by week 2 most are feeling much better.

It's just your body trying to recover, and figure out what the heck you've done to it. As for the "feeling stupid", I didn't really experience that issue. BUT, I did suffer with a lot of short term memory issues immediately post-op. It drove me crazy that I could not remember anything of importance. I would email John several times over a couple of days, and he would reply with "we already talked about this/that". It was pretty weird. It did resolve, but it was frustrating.

I confess my heart is breaking for the people of Haiti, but I am not ready to tell my loving husband "see ya in a bit" again. I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear from him.

I definitely sleep more peacefully after the weight loss. I hardly ever wake up in a different position than how I fell asleep. I'm a side sleeper always have been, but it's been cool because I can now sleep on my back comfortably.

I'll hang out in chat for a bit tonight to see if anyone is up. . . I can't promise I'll be in for a long time tonights. It's already 10 'til 11 here.

Well, I'm glad the colonoscopy showed no abnormalities. Keep us posted on what's going on.

I know there were a few members on here that had to switch their prescriptions temporarily from time released to regular, and adjust their dosages. I hope they chime in soon.

YAY YAY Madelyn, I was stalking the boards and your profile to see if you had updated. I'm really glad you are home and recovering. Take care of yourself, and rest when you can. Sip, sip, sip, walk, walk, and walk.

I am using a bare minerals face primer, and Avon Anew around my eyes. For my neck, I'm using Olay regenerist micro-sculpting moisturizer. Since my face has shrunk, my wrinkles on my forehead, and my crow's feet have become more noticeable. I've heard rave reviews, and my stylist suggested, Loreal De-Cease collagen filler, and I will picking some up this weekend to start using on my wrinkles. The Olay stuff definitely helps my neck skin. I don't have a severe turkey neck, but I have some wrinkles down there. It last about 8 hours or so. I use it twice a day, morning and night.

YAY that is such awesome news ! ! ! I bet you'll be feeling way better long before May.

myfitnesspal.com said 160-220 calories depending on amount of icing. 24-32 carbs.

I can run it through myfitnesspal but need to know what flavor, and did it have icing? If it was iced, was the yummy buttercream or the not-so-yummy whipped/fake icing?

I would of gotten the sleeve, and not had to deal with the stupid band. But, I can say I learned a lot with the band. I really wouldn't of changed a lot of what I did through my process. I use loads of lotions for my body, and moisturizer for my face. Really the only thing I wish I could of done was work out sooner. I just wasn't released for a long time post-op to do much of anything.

Thank you bunches. . .:confused1:

I'm kind of torn on the tummy tuck pre-baby. I have one friend that had one, had a baby and had zero issues regaining her pretty flat tummy. Then I have a cousin who had a TT around your age, and had 2 children between the ages of 25 and 29, and her tummy tuck is wrecked. They both delivered naturally. I am married, and have 1 child and believe me I don't love my little tummy roll, but I'll trade it over the excessive fat rolls, and back fat I had pre-op. I was more self-conscious about my huge roundness, and fat rolls that literally got in the way during sex. Now, it's completely different. I asked my husband, and he said " he doesn't worry about that stuff, it's more than the physical, it's just about us." I was more embarassed of how I looked being so fat. I was fat when I met my husband, and he loved me in my all my fat glory. He loves me the same in my size 10 with excess skin, and saggy boobs. If you get to the stage in a dating relationship where intimacy comes into play, I would say that man should love you for exactly who and how you are, and not that you may have a little tummy roll. All the recommendations I've seen regarding plastics is to wait at least 1 year after you reach your goal weight to have any plastic surgery. A lot of skin will reabsorb in that year after reaching goal especially if you're working out, toning, and getting in plenty of Water.

Excess or a little saggy skin is to be expected. Toning up before surgery may help, but the skin stretched and nothing is going to keep it from sagging initially. It's recommended to wait at least 1 year after reaching goal before doing any plastics. If you start gaining muscle mass you will lose/burn fat. The myth of muscle weighs more than is just false. A pound is a pound regardless of what we're weighing. Now, with that being said, muscle takes up less space, and is more dense than fat. Fat is bulky, and bulgy. You may not see a lot of scale movement if you are doing a lot of weight training, but you will see inches lost. If you bump up your cardio and burn fat, you should be able to get to your 10% goal.

I did not and have not ever relied on Protein drinks. I tried over 20 brands, flavors, and different types of protein (whey, soy, egg) and none of them really worked for me with the exception of one, and I rarely used it. I get in my minimum of 60gr of protein from food sources. As for counting calories, and carbs, I was strict with myself the first 4 months. Now, not so much as I am trying to maintain, and I can have a more balanced, varied diet. Vitamins are a required thing for life, but I just take 2 multi-vitamins daily with a sublingual B-12 once daily.

Hi Stacy, and welcome to VST. I can't help you with losing weight pre-op, but maybe others will chime in. I know some members had to do strict pre-op diets. All I had to do was high protein/low carb for a week prior to my revision. I didn't lose any weight pre-op.

Hi there and welcome to VST. Congrats on getting your date, and I'll keep you in my thoughts for your upcoming surgery. Keep us posted on your progress.