Tiffykins

Good luck chickee ! ! ! Sorry to hear you had a rough night, but glad you are feeling better now.

Do you like to dance? Do you enjoy walking? I do Hip Hop Abs, you can turn the music down if you do not like that kind of music, but believe it, these exercises tone up your stomach and thighs immensely. If you like walking, I'm making a trip to the post office this week, and I have one of the "walk away the pound" dvds that I used for a bit early on, but I am not a fan of walking anymore. I'll be more than happy to send it to you. Hip Hop Abs have a "beginner" person for you to follow until you can keep up with the full tempo. Some days I still keep up with beginner dancer. It doesn't feel like exercise.

Glad to hear you are home and recovering. Take care of yourself, and keep us posted on your progress ! ! !

I'm glad you're blogging over here. I've been on OH more recently, but I hate navigating through that board. Congrats on your great results ! ! !

Thanks for the tip Tracy. I'll have to do some major searching for bison around these parts. We're in seafood hell down here. I can find 1000's of fish, but finding bison maybe difficult.

Bernadette, they're the best ! ! ! I swear by these little bowls. I have some really old bowls that have measurements on the inside of them, but anything "red" stains them, and I have to scrub with baking soda. BLAH My husband uses those bowls for his lunches. Chili is just so comforting to me. The venison is so perfect because of high Protein and it being so lean. I'm going to be upset when we run out of venison.

Congrats on your amazing results this far. You've done amazing. I'm scale obsessed, and have been since coming home. My scale is my adulterous affair that my husband isn't intimidated by. It just works for me.

Hi Sandy and welcome, glad to have you here. Congrats on getting your date, and we'll be here for you.

Madelyn, I'll keep you in my thoughts for tomorrow. I can't wait to hear about your experience with Dr. Kim. Take care, and know we're all waiting for you on the loser's bench.

Hey Rachel, and welcome to VST. Congrats on getting your date, and just remember the pre-op/post-op diet are just temporary. You'll be able to eat meat and potatoes again. I promise:thumbup:. I think everyone wonders if they're making the right decision. I can tell you that this was the best decision I ever made in my life. Best wishes, and keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you Ada. I initially lost 23-25lbs with my band, then complications started, lost restriction, husband deployed, and I started gaining back my weight. I started off at 270 with the band, the day of my revision, I weighed in at 263. So, I technically only lost 7 pounds with the band. I've lost 114-115 with just the sleeve in about 6.5 months.

Great job Amy ! ! ! I am going to the post office on Friday this week. I found some shirts, and one or two sweaters that should work for you. They vary in sizes, and I'll get those protein samples out to you as well. My truck has been acting up so I haven't been out of the house much.

If I could do a cartwheel, I would do one for you ! ! ! I'm really proud of you Judy for hanging in there and not giving up.

Congrats Kai ! ! ! Keep us posted, and I'll be keeping you in my thoughts for a smooth surgery and uneventful recovery.

Welcome back ! ! ! Best wishes for your mom's recovery, and good luck on the car situation.

There are some amazing recipes on allrecipes.com for venison slow cooker. I would say that 3 out of 7 of our meals are made in the crock pot per week. I love to cook, but I like to "set it and forget it".

Yesterday was a great day until I decided to try a sliver of German Chocolate cake that I made the day before. When I say sliver, I mean thinner than my pinky finger in width. It was tiny, but 10 minutes after eating it, I knew I was in trouble. I felt horrible, lethargic, and I could not get comfortable. I literally felt the gas building in my intestines. I was absolutely miserable. I decided to crash early, but as soon as I laid down, I was back up and on the toilet. It wasn't pleasant to say the least. I went back to bed, but 10 minutes later I was back in the bathroom. I haven't had days like this since the post-op diet stage of full liquids. I did finally get to sleep, and slept really great. Least to say, I don't think cake will be on my treat list ever again. It's crazy because I've had a sliver of cheesecake, a few snickers miniatures, with zero ill effects. Maybe the cake was just too rich?

1lb of lean ground venison 1 can of tomato sauce 1 can of tomato paste 1 can of Light or Dark Kidney Beans (drained/rinsed) 1 medium yellow onion chopped coarsely chili powder (to your specific taste) I use about 1/3 cup ground red pepper (to your specific taste) We like it hot in our house. Worchestershire Sauce (just a couple of splashes, but some don't like it) Ground White Pepper (to taste) Ground Black Pepper (to taste) Heat 2 tbsp of extra light virgin olive oil in skillet, once hot, throw in onions (I add minced garlic as well), sweat the onions until soft. Add ground venison, brown thoroughly, drain and rinse all drippings. I take an extra step and use papertowels to get rid of excess drippings. Throw meat, and all above ingredients in crock pot minus the beans. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours, decrease heat to LOW add beans, and cook for additional 2-3 hours.

I think I've seen a low acid OJ in stores. I don't drink it because I'm allergic to citrus. I get itchy and hives so avoid it.

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/protein-drinks-powders/1325-places-get-liquid-protein-samples.html Bodybuilding.com :: Your Shopping Cart There's a couple of links for you to check, and maybe order some sample packs. The only one I liked was the 2nd link I posted. The extreme milk chocolate was the only flavor I tried, and loved it. There is a 16 flavor pack for $18.99 of the Optimum whey.

I was a pure volume eater before surgery. Meaning, I would eat 3 large pieces of pizza, and would be full but I would go back for more. The sleeve has changed my outlook and relationship with food. I no longer need or want to eat huge amounts of food. I still love food, I love to eat, I just make better choices. To answer your specific questions: How does your body/stomach react? Early on, you can only take small sips of Fluid because the stomach is swollen, and irritated. As the weeks progress, you can consume more fluid in shorter amount of time. In the beginning, the fluid going in, kind of feels weird, I burped a lot after each sip and that lasted a couple of weeks. But, it dissipated as time moved forward. How do you feel? When you overeat, you know it. There is discomfort, you may overprodcue saliva, and that's pretty gross. Vomitting as I knew it before surgery is not the same anymore, and hasn't happened to me in months. But, I have had one bite too many, it kind of creeps back up the esophagus, and I spit it out. There is no wretching, gagging, or trying to get something up. Is it painful if you eat too much? I would have to say it can be painful depending on your pain tolerance. It does cause discomfort which can be relieved by walking around, or burping sometimes. Do you feel like throwing up? It's not the same as needing to vomit. But, it can happen if you are not aware of what you are putting in your mouth. What is it that stops you from bringing that fork up to your mouth? The feeling of being satisfied when I eat small portions. There isn't any room in my stomach for any additional food. Overeating constantly can cause issues such as esophageal dilation, and excessive vomiting which can lead to other health problems. I had already had figured out the learning curve with eating because I had the band first then revised to the sleeve. Eating slow, chewing well, enjoying your food, and measuring your portions early out until you can "eyeball" stuff is a great way to keep yourself in check with portion size. I used the little 1 ounce measurement cups that comes with children's OTC medication.

Now, this is my non-medical professional opinion. But, sleep, and being well-rested is essential for healing. Your body stresses when you don't get enough sleep. If Benadryl works for you, I would take it. Sleep is a necessary evil especially early out in the recovery process. Your body is going through enough right now, and it's needs to rest to recharge. I know that I did take some Tylenol PM when John first came home because he boogared up my sleep schedule trying to transition from Afghanistan to US time.

It is a major decision, and I hope you are able to get as much information as possible from many of the members here that have traveled abroad. I understand cost being a concern. If my insurance would not have paid for my revision, I would of been looking at Mexico myself. I have high standards, and there are certain criteria that had to be met before I would consider one facility/surgeon over another. Cost would be a factor for me as well, but more so, experience and the facility/aftercare would weigh more heavily on my decision process. Best wishes.