December 2018 Sleevers!

[Frustr8 7,886]

Lolo were you in the Netherlands or Belgium? I married into a family with Dutch heritage, stroopwaffle is their food treat.

[Psyched 91]

Hey Everyone!

Just checking in. We are taking our sons to New Orleans tomorrow :-l It used to be one of my favorite places to visit. There is some great food in New Orleans!!! Looking forward to having a few days away with my husband and our boys (the younger one is pumped about the Lego Convention and the older one is just pumped for change of scenery), and I must admit.... having grilled or pan seared New Orleans cuisine for a few days is better than not having New Orleans cuisine at all. So... thankful for the little things.

What's everyone else up to? How are things coming? Highs? Lows? and inbetweens

[Sophie7713 3,284]

Oh psyched - How exciting! Have a fabulous time in the BIG EASY with you and yours... Enjoying a well deserved getaway after surgery!

Love the garden district (my background is design + architecture) and like you - there's nothing better than the local flavors and cuisine. Do take a few bites for me. :]

Still struggling with the Vitamin regime - needing to add to an already ridiculous amount of pills according to nutritionist today Iron + zinc/vitamin C tablet? I thought I was covered in 2 multi's per day (never took anything but a levothyroxine pill before) along with B12melt, B-1, Calcium. I really dislike this aspect and am still very confused.

What is your vitamin routine? Do they leave you queasy or nauseated?

Other than that - savoring our cooler climes given that we are hot 10 months out of the year or more with an increase of severe tropical storms and hurricanes come May. Oh boy.

[Psyched 91]

1 hour ago, Sophie7713 said:

Oh psyched - How exciting! Have a fabulous time in the BIG EASY with you and yours... Enjoying a well deserved getaway after surgery!

Love the garden district (my background is design + architecture) and like you - there's nothing better than the local flavors and cuisine. Do take a few bites for me. :]

Still struggling with the Vitamin regime - needing to add to an already ridiculous amount of pills according to nutritionist today Iron + zinc/vitamin C tablet? I thought I was covered in 2 multi's per day (never took anything but a levothyroxine pill before) along with B12melt, B-1, Calcium. I really dislike this aspect and am still very confused.

What is your Vitamin routine? Do they leave you queasy or nauseated?

Other than that - savoring our cooler climes given that we are hot 10 months out of the year or more with an increase of severe tropical storms and hurricanes come May. Oh boy.

I will absolutely take a few bites for you! 🙂 My husband and I love the garden district too. We always stay at one of the Hilton properties in the heart of everything, park our car and we don't get back in the car until it's time to return home! I LOVE walking everywhere.

Right now I have to take 1 multi and 3 calcium chews. I hate the multi, but I would hate what would happen if I didn't take them more, so I take them. They are huge, chalky, and gross but I manage to choke them down first thing in the morning. They don't make me nauseous though. Certain foods and my Protein Shakes make me nauseous.

I am not sure what my vitamin regimen will look like after my followup and labs, but hopefully it remains.

Enjoy that cooler weather!

[Ms. Stacy 6]

39 minutes ago, Psyched said:

I will absolutely take a few bites for you! 🙂 My husband and I love the garden district too. We always stay at one of the Hilton properties in the heart of everything, park our car and we don't get back in the car until it's time to return home! I LOVE walking everywhere.

Right now I have to take 1 multi and 3 calcium chews. I hate the multi, but I would hate what would happen if I didn't take them more, so I take them. They are huge, chalky, and gross but I manage to choke them down first thing in the morning. They don't make me nauseous though. Certain foods and my Protein Shakes make me nauseous.

I am not sure what my Vitamin regimen will look like after my followup and labs, but hopefully it remains.

Enjoy that cooler weather!

Sophie and Psyched: I like New Orleans as well. Be safe and have a great time Sophie! So my vitamin regimen is 2 Bariatric Advantage Multivitamin chews, 2 30mg Bariatric Advantage Iron chews (they both taste like starbursts. I like them) and 2 calcium chews also by Bariatric Advantage. I tried the Celebrate 45mg Complete Vitamin but it tasted like a flintstone vitamin and it didn’t do well on my stomach. So my nutritionist said it was ok for me to get my Vitamins like I take them now.

[SteveT74 360]

On 1/29/2019 at 12:08 AM, Lolo 2020 said:

205?! Woo woo Steve ! Ur on ur way ! I am stuck at 206.4 since Friday , despite spinning and eating perfect all weekend - 5 days in a row of spinning, weights and riding plus 10k steps ! I think my body just holds on to the weight with Water and then lets go 3-4lbs . That’s prob what happened to u -

ao I landed in Phoenix and am off to La . Had a yogurt on the plane and some Soup when I arrived . Just too hard to deal with real food ..I brought a blender ball shaker and some drinks so I’ll just mix some Protein Drinks .. just seems easier when I travel !

Hey Lolo, just checking in to see how things are going? Did you have a good trip? I am still plugging away with my sleeve version of Keto and working out like a crazy man. I am getting close to wonderland, so now I expect a long stall. No way I can just drop straight under 200....

[Lolo 2020 236]

All good and traveling a lot . Tough to manage things , but doing my best . Cheated with 2 glasses of wine last week when in LA .. I’m stuck at 201 .. in the same boat , losing a lb a week or thereabouts .. kinda slow , but better than the alternative ...

[SteveT74 360]

48 minutes ago, Lolo 2020 said:

All good and traveling a lot . Tough to manage things , but doing my best . Cheated with 2 glasses of wine last week when in LA .. I’m stuck at 201 .. in the same boat , losing a lb a week or thereabouts .. kinda slow , but better than the alternative ...

As long as it's going down... I got used to it going the other way for so long. For January, I lost around 3.8 pounds per week on average, but it mostly came off in quick spurts over the course of 2 or 3 days followed by one week gaps (mini-stalls) in between. I just want to get to Onederland by 2/11 (my birthday). Sort of a birthday present to myself. That should be doable--it's only two pounds.

[Lolo 2020 236]

I’m in the same boat. Am planning on hitting wonderland by 2/15 too. Definitely has slowed down, but what can you do, even if you do just a pound a week, it is going in the right direction. I have started to eat more as well. So that’s a disappointment.. but so it goes. I just get busy with work and travel. I am getting in my steps, but i think you have to really eat no carb and 600 calories to keep up that same pace. Not sure i am up for that..

[SteveT74 360]

15 hours ago, Lolo 2020 said:

I’m in the same boat. Am planning on hitting wonderland by 2/15 too. Definitely has slowed down, but what can you do, even if you do just a pound a week, it is going in the right direction. I have started to eat more as well. So that’s a disappointment.. but so it goes. I just get busy with work and travel. I am getting in my steps, but i think you have to really eat no carb and 600 calories to keep up that same pace. Not sure i am up for that..

We are almost 2 months post-op and we both started with relatively low BMI's in the 34-35 range. I think it's normal for things to slow down a little when you start getting into month 3 post-op. You're still going to lose a nice chunk of weight at this point each month, but maybe not 20 pounds a month. Even if you lost 5 pounds a month on average for the rest of the year, you'd end the year at 150. Some months you may lose closer to 10 pounds, other months you may lose closer to 2 or nothing at all (it pretty normal). Still, this isn't a sprint to your weight loss goal. All the pre-op education says it's a 12 month to 18 month loss period. So, that's what we both can expect. I am not sure what your goal/target weight is, but at 5'9" and 150--that's pretty freakin' good and would beat your goal weight (which I think you're going to do).

As for eating more, I told you a while ago that was I was eating well above 600 calories. Once your sleeve heals up, you should be able to eat more than 600 calories. That's not a sustainable amount of sustenance, especially if you're exercising. I wouldn't worry too much about the calories. Instead, focus on eating high quality whole foods (regardless of what type of diet your following). Nothing that's processed! Keep logging your food/caloric intake in MyFitnessPal or equivalent app so you can track your macros. Calories and caloric deficits do matter somewhat, but other factors such as insulin spikes and inflammation play a bigger part in causing obesity. I am doing well with sticking to a very low carb (less than 20net carbs a day) diet,, but that may not be for you or others. Even if you cut your net carbs to less than 100 a day (or 50 if possible), that's going to make a big difference. You probably won't get the benefits of ketosis, but it would be low enough carb intake that your body will start using glyconeogenesis to convert Protein into glycogen (which is inefficient and burns 20% more calories than breaking carbs to glycogen).

[Lolo 2020 236]

So I started doing green smoothies in the am with unflavored Protein Powder - am again going to try to do just one smoothie a day and regular food otherwise . Did U have any luck with the intermittent fasting ? I do feel like I am grazing from 4-9 pm and that worries me - I need to eat real food and real meals and eliminate this tendancy to snack which is what got me in trouble in the first place

Edited February 5, 2019 by Lolo 2020

[SteveT74 360]

38 minutes ago, Lolo 2020 said:

So I started doing green smoothies in the am with unflavored Protein powder - am again going to try to do just one smoothie a day and regular food otherwise . Did U have any luck with the intermittent fasting ? I do feel like I am grazing from 4-9 pm and that worries me - I need to eat real food and real meals and eliminate this tendancy to snack which is what got me in trouble in the first place

I did a 16 hour fast one day, but I won't be doing it again for a while. I just don't think it's a good idea this soon after surgery, but there are some elements that part of intermittent fasting (used on non-fasting days) that can be applied to help us (since I have issues with snacking as well). What I have been doing is eating a light Breakfast after I get back from the gym (around 7:30-8am), then having a satisfying lunch (around 1:30-2pm) and filling dinner (after 7pm). Each meal is spaced by at least five hours (no snacking between meals). These "rules" have helped me cut down on snacking.

Nevertheless, there are times when I do still feel hunger at night. When I feel those pangs, I try to drink a lot of Water. If that doesn't make it the hunger pangs go away after 20 minutes, I'll have a snack. I have been enjoying these Cello Parmesan Crisps. They are crunch chips made purely out of parmesan cheese (pure Protein, with not much fat and 0 carbs). They taste great, are filling and help don't hurt my macros. I even crush them with a rolling pin and use them as as substitute for bread crumbs in recipes. I have also been eating baked asparagus and brussel sprouts a lot--which are really tasty with a little extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. I always have left overs to snack on. Almonds are also good snack food, but you can't go too crazy. I limit myself to 8 almonds and count them out and close the jar.

As for breakfast, I haven't been doing smoothies. I have never big on "drinking" my meals if I could avoid it. I have been making myself omelettes, one large egg and 5 tablespoons of egg whites, with fresh baby spinach and 1 ounce of goat cheese. Very yummy, rich, filled with protein and good fats, satisfying and only 215 calories.

Edited February 5, 2019 by SteveT74

[Lolo 2020 236]

Omg u r being very disciplined ! I start the day good but seem to graze the night away . Trying to get to onederland !

[Lolo 2020 236]

So I tried to be very measured today with real food . Had whey Protein in my green smoothie , then tuna salad at lunch and mid afternoon . Made a real dinner of salmon and steamed broccoli but could not believe how little of it I could eat . Will see if it holds me so I don’t graze the rest of the night 🤞

[irish_sleever 50]

Hey Everyone, Looks like were all doing great so far anyways. I just got told by the surgical team ive reached 58% loss of excess weight which has me totally psyched as im only 8 weeks down Nearly out of the obese category for BMI and ive dropped 6 pant sizes. This really has been best decision ive ever made so happy

Have a ways to go still but losing consistently every week so that keeps me motivated. Still struggling to find the right portion size no matter how small i go i feel like im always one mouthful over haha, One of these days ill make a plate of food that is just right