3 Months Post-Op And Halfway There

[Chimera 644]

Just had my 3 month surgiversary on Tuesday and this morning hit 50 lbs. down from Surgery day, and 94 lbs down total - which marks my half-way point to my goal weight of 130 This has happened faster than I thought it would and I am grateful that that I feel so much better.

I even took a change and ordered some pants that are large - rather than than 1X I had been wearing, as my pants have gotten so big that I have tripped over them (still wearing my giant 3X shirts though - I think it will take a long time until the big tummy is gone enough that I feel comfortable wearing tighter stuff on top.)

I have my 100 day post op appt next week and am pretty excited to go thanks to everyone on this board for sharing their ups and downs, it is great to know folks going through the same experiences.

[Sassygirl06 962]

that is so wonderful! keep up the good work!

[kimmy*custis 276]

Congrats Chimera, keep up the fantastic work!

[ISleevedIt 380]

Wow! Congrats!

[tamtamz 11]

That's great! Congrats on your success!

[Ready4success 380]

Wow, that is so good. What are you doing for exercise? We're very similiar in stats and I want to have the same success. I'm still pre-op, but I'm ready, lol. Thanks

[Chimera 644]

I am not doing much right now honestly - after surgery I was diagnosed with severe osteo arthritis in both knees, had a flare that was so bad I could not even walk, lower myself onto the toilet, etc. It was waaay worse than recovering from surgery. I am only now just feeling that they are stable enough to move around more - I like walking and doing my Wii fit, and vigorous weeding has been having me sweating lately. My goal is to start walking 30 minutes a day which I hope to achieve this fall - as long as my joints cooperate.

My advice would be to follow your Dr's recommendations as closely as you can - from your reading here I am sure that you may have surmised that immediately post op it is rough to get in all of the liquid, Protein and Vitamins they want us to - Protein chicken Soup saved me here when my regular beleoved Protein shake (Premier) made me wretch it tasted so bad.

Once you are eating - dense protein first - even things that have a lot of protein but are not as dense are sliders for me (like chili with no beans) - so I eat a lot of eggs, canadian bacon, ground turkey, chicken breasts - and I make different homemade salsas to jazz my Proteins up, just made a Tomato, red onion, avocado, and nectarine salsa with cilantro and lime - delish Do a lot of cheese and deli turkey as well. I do not do low fat cheese except for string cheese and babybels - to me it is carbs I need to really look out for - not fats. Head hunger will rear its ugly head so be mindful - it is easy to let not so great choices slip in if you are not mindful.One of my favorite things to keep in mind is a quote from The World According to Eggface's excellent blog - There is NO finish-line. Healthy food choices, move your body, work on the head. Rinse, lather, repeat. Forever.

I generally eat four times a day - 3 meals and a snack, and try to keep it to 600-800 cals a day, 80g protein, and under 40g carbs. I am a fan of the Primal eating philosophy, which is similar to Paleo but allows dairy - great website called Mark's Daily Apple with lots of great info. I also read the VSG maintenance club on the OH boards - it is important for me to know what lies ahead and read about people who are years out from surgery. My goals are to lose 10 lbs a month - and will hopefully be under 200 by the New Year - so far so good, I know it will get harder as the months go by, but I have already had so much more success and lost more than I ever have - and you feel different after surgery - it really is remarkable.

I hope to hit my goal sometime in 2013 - or 2014 - its taken decades to put on, so a couple of years is no biggy Best of luck - getting the surgery is just fantastic and I know you will do great!