Soon2BMiniMommy

LMAO!!!! Oh, that was funny.....heh heh....still wiping my eyes over here. Seriously, tho, Root...I am SO GRATEFUL you shared this! I have also always had the same problem, which of course has been compounded since the surgery. Thank you so much for this - I am going to buy some at lunch today!

Any food that is not 'dense' and is nutritionally void. For instance, I can eat a HUGE (well, in sleeve standards) bowl of potato chips, Cheetos, popcorn, even donuts, but only a very small amount of chicken breast. So slider foods have a VERY HIGH caloric value, which is worse because we can eat more than other foods, and they don't stay in your tummy very long, making you feel full and satisfied like 'real food'. Hence, the name slider....they go down way too easy, and go through the tummy way to easy. And, they're a very large danger to WLS patients because mentally we sometime still want to 'eat' or at least eat in quantity, and we can do that with slider foods, so it appeases the food addict in us. Many doctors/articles say its the number one reason WLS surgeries fail...we can 'eat through' our weight loss surgeries by eating and drinking sliders and gain our weight back. They are very dangerous...I know because I was stuck on them for quite some time and have not lost any weight in 6 months (especially Doritos and potato chips). Ugh. Don't ever start with them, stay as far away as you can, or you may be like me and figure out, "Hmmmm, I can still eat these like before, and look, I can eat MORE".

So that word above is supposed to be b.e.n.i.g.n. Why does VST block that out? Can't figure out which profane word it thinks it is??? Weird......

"What is it with women & pickles?' LMAO @ OTR.....heh heh... I don't know about you all, but I sure didn't get fat eating pickles! I know they're VERY high in sodium, but I think they are probably one of the most be***n foods we could eat. And vinegar is very good for us! I wouldn't feel guilty if I went on a pickle binge. I have had a horrible salty/crunchy craving for months and unfortunately, give in sometimes to THE Sour Cream and Onion mating call. *SIGH* I WISH my body would rather have pickles! Then I'd be safe!

I have no trouble with any bread, or tortillas, unfortunately. I also use the sandwich thins to make sandwiches, cut in half and save the other half for later. Great vehicle for meat and cheese and veggies You'll notice both the whole wheat and mutigrain ones are both high in fiber and protein....very good stuff!

Yah, gotta agree with thinoneday....I'm going on a five month stall...haven't lost anything since Feb 2. Have fallen off the wagon, got back on, fell back off, now back on again. Very, very hard mentally. Just hang in there....it will start coming off again. And don't drown your upset and frustration in a bag of Sour Cream n Onion chips, like I did ....multiple times. Like I said, I'm back on the wagon now, so we'll see......

Completely agree with Wheetsin As usual. I think she reads my mind sometimes.....

Yes, please start figuring out a way to take your Wellbutrin. Not to minimize what you are going through in any way, but everything will be terribly blown out of proportion since you stopped taking your anti-depressant so suddenly. One of the worst things to do is to stop taking anti-depressants cold turkey, or you will get 'rebound' depression and anxiety tenfold. It will take a couple of days for it to kick back in, but please start taking it again asap. As for everything else (except the husband issue) it WILL get better. And as you feel better, and stronger, and heal from this journey, you will mentally get stronger, and feel ten times better about yourself, and will be able to kick your cheating husband to the curb (If he truly is) and think "GOOD RIDDANCE". There are so many, many changes to go through, but you will eventually start to divest of those people and situations that harm you as you will start to value yourself more and have more self-confidence. Some are painful, and most are necessary. Just rest, take your pain pills, please take your Wellbutrin, sip, sip, walk, walk, sip then walk some more. This is just a temporary phase, you WILL get through it. You will look back in 6 months, even three months, and think "why was I so freaked out? All ended well!" I promise....you'll be okay. We all freak out, but we all recover and blossom and grow into who and what we are supposed to be. Hang in there, Sweets, and reach out to us if needed. And please, go take your Wellbutrin, right now :wub:

I'm a chef, too. Am cooking ALL the time.....Cook a big ole' pot of homemade Soup or a white bean chili, then puree it with some sour cream and cheese. That's what I did....made a couple of Soups, then pureed them and 'drank' it out of a cup. Even chicken noodle, black bean, hell, Campbell's Bean with Bacon was good pureed when you're desperate for some flavor Also did that with regular chili....just pureed the hell out of it. This is the worst stage...your body and mind just want to EAT because you know you can't. It's a real mental game....and a life-changer. I had a harder time than I thought I would for the first few weeks....I just wanted to EAT so bad. But, six weeks to a few months down the road, you'll look back and realize it wasn't hard...you just have to get over the mental hurdle that we can't turn to food anymore when we're bored, tired, etc.

I'm bumping this up...can't believe no one has responded yet....there are so many supportive people on here, we need to get you some!!!

I have a three year old, and my hubby came with me cause my mother watched our little boy, but honestly, I would have been just FINE without him. He didn't stay overnight with me, and my girlfriend was there with him, but I was SO relieved when they finally left. I wanted to be alone with just my nurses, to be able to doze off in my morphine-induced state. Was in no condition to 'talk' or converse, and I was so taken care of. I think it's better if he stays home with your kids, so your children feel confident and secure with Daddy while Mmmy is in the hospital, and he can come and see you the next day! I will say, I was glad he was there through the pre-op process, as that is nerve-wracking because you're nervous, etc, and he may want to stay just till you're out to make sure you're fine, but then you will just sleep and sleep that first day, anyway.

I would LOVE your chart....maybe it will help me mentally with my stall Please email to me? I'll PM you

Oh, sassy....I wish I can have your luck. I have been stalled since Feb 2 of this year, and cannot break it. That's four months and I've never heard of a stall even close to that until yours. Your post has given me some hope, but I still feel like a loser since I'm now stalled the longest I've seen I haven't even been posting or reading on here like I used to....all the weight loss success stories hurt. I used to be so active here, but feel as if I've lost so much, EXCEPT weight.....*sigh* Hopefully mine will break, too. Can't even imagine that dramatic of a loss at this point! What a miracle that would be....and get my mind right, again, too.

I always order from the senior menu if they have one...I just tell them I had stomach surgery, then they're okay with it. Some hesitate at first, but when I tell them that, they don't question it. Or I order a la carte, or appetizers. Or split with my three-year old, or beg off my hubby's plate...or a combo of any of those! There's lots of ways to do it...kind of fun to be creative to see how many different ways you can order smaller portions, pay less money. then again. Sometimes I go all out, get a regular meal, and it feeds me for a couple more lunches!!

Oh my gosh! How perfect! I LOVE your boards....I also have a little boy, so I am repinning from you like mad, lol!!

Oh my gosh! Mine was over 15 minutes! It didn't go down at all....they waited and waited....checked again in 5 minutes, it was still sitting in my esophagus, stuck, and wouldn't release into my tummy. They checked again at 10 minutes and it was still there! I was starting to get really worried....they told me to walk around the radiology dept a bit, so we did. Checked again at 15 minutes and SOME had gone down, but not all. LIke you, I worried and worried about it for days, even tho my doc said it's okay, it's just really swollen and it will loosen up. I was worried after I got discharged, kinda afraid to drink or anything as I pictured everything stuck, but needless to say, everything turned out just fine! In fact, I'm one of the ones now that can eat anything, AND in large quantities (well, large for us, anyway!) You'll be just fine!!

I am so scared to do this.....I have not met one challenge yet...mainly because I hit a nightmare stall from hell for 8 weeks!! That's right, 8 weeks!! I did the Easter challenge and did not lose ONE FREAKING POUND from February 4 till Easter...that was so depressing. I also didn't meet my overall goal of getting down to 235 by March 31 from my original surgery goals. I don't know if I'm in the right mind frame to do this...and I really, really need to make whatever I set for myself this time, or I really will be crushed and discouraged! Ugh.....okay, enough whining...here goes!!! My body HAS to start losing eventually, right??? You know what's really depressing? I don't even need to change the numbers on my short term ticker from the Easter goal since February!! Lmao....another ugh.....it'll be nice to change the background, tho! SW 249.6 CW 249.6 GW 230 Let's do this!!!

Funny how everyone is so very different. I have been able to eat pasta/rice just fine since the beginning (I am almost six months out). Too easy, in fact.....never had an issue! Then again, there is absolutely nothing my sleeve won't tolerate...and I had a 32fr bougie! Still trying to decide if this is a bad or a good thing!!

Time of the month, Sweets....it makes a lot of us put on and hold on to Water weight before our cycles, and during, sometimes, too. I can easily gain 3 lbs the week before, then my body flushes it all the week I have my period. I agree 100% that there is physically no possible way to gain 10 lbs of FAT in one week after this surgery. I am guessing a moody, picky scale, water weight, and like rootman said, solid waste retention, maybe, too....or all combined! I'll bet you'll be on here in a week saying that 10 is gone, plus two more!!

Yep, honey.....SO normal. We all went through that and had to 'mourn' our food and the way we used to eat. Mine hit a lot harder than I thought it would. I was REALLY surprised with how bad it messed with me, actually....thought I was prepared and ready. But, no, took about three months for it to go away, still there a little bit, but not NEAR what it was in the beginning. And it wasn't that strong for three months, it slowly diminishes. It will get better, Sweets, for sure. eh first couple months are pretty rough with all the physical healing we need to do, and also the emotional upheaval and mourning we need to go through! It's quite a life-changer, but you will come out on the other side so happy you did this!

I think we need to separate what people use Protein shakes for. Body builders use them for a specific reason - to GAIN muscle, mainly (among other reasons, but this is the main one). So for them, their optimal protein intake is around their crazy workouts (all respect intended, they kick a$$). For us, we ingest protein in order to not LOSE muscle and have our bodies break down because protein is so important and it's hard for us to get it all in other ways/foods. For this reason, I think it makes absolute sense to drink a Protein Drink before bed so your body can heal and repair and work on what it needs to since it's sort of deficient during the day. Eating before bed is horrible if your carb loading, or grazing, or eating fat-laden foods, or using it as a comfort habit (like I used to). Yes, eating a bunch of food and calories right before you go to sleep is bad as your digestion and metabolic system slows WAYYYY down, effectively storing all those calories and food as fat since we're not burning it for energy. But, a protein drink? All 200 and some calories of it? I think that is perfectly fine and I highly doubt you would lose any less, or even gain, from that. Especially since it IS liquid and the body doesn't need to do a lot to break it down. Your body simply absorbs the protein and then goes from there. Both my surgeon and my NUT have advised protein at night...not necessarily right before I lay my head down, but an hour or so before...and I've been just fine!!

Wow, that same here happened here to our Targets! They all remodeled and brought in groceries, and they cut out a BUNCH of other stuff to make room. I can't find anything anymore that they used to have!! They used to have lots of purses, wallets, etc.....most of that is gone. And the plus sizes.....fuhgeddiboutit.....all GONE! I completely agree with Whoozis above.....ALL of their collection can fit in my trunk! Very disappointing there lately.

Nope, shouldn't at all. These two vitamins are often low, and are easy to correct. Just start taking some B complex and D vitamins. There is no reason this should stall your surgery at all. Very common to have low vitamin levels, especially if you are overweight, like we all are!!

I hope you mean 258? And yes, completely normal! You just had pretty major surgery, and will have a lot of swelling and fluid retention. Once your body 'feels' better and more stable, it will start to flush out the excess fluid it wants to hold onto for protection. Give it at least a week.....

I agree with the others, change to 5-6 meals a day. I really, really think 3 smalls meals a day is NOT enough for most of us. We eat so little, we need to eat more often. My advice is to eat to feel satisfied. Don't try to deprive yourself, mentally or physically, and that is what your Dr/NUT's advice is doing. It's making you feel deprived, mentally and physically. Or course, make good choices, whatever that means for you - cheeses, meats, veggies, even fruit, nuts, whatever you can tolerate! My hunger did not totally go away, either, and it's as much a mental thing with me that I NEED to be able to eat if I want to. It may just be a couple of triscuits and a babybel cheese, but dammit, if I wanna eat, I will. Now, I won't eat TWENTY times a day, and I won't eat chocolate cake and pizza (at least not every time ) but I'll be damned if I will deprive myself on yet ANOTHER diet. I've done that my whole life and that's not why I had this surgery. It's taken me some time to relearn my new body/tummy. Like when I'm really hungry. Some days I am starving, some days not. I just follow my body's natural rhythyms (not my mind's!) and feed it when it wants food. That is very hard to do in the beginning because we feel mentally deprived of food and are somewhat in mourning and really want to eat just because we CAN'T, but that will get better and you will learn your body's way of needing nourishment. I* went through a tough couple of months as my whole being had to shift and learn to live in a different world than what I was used to. Really, though, eat more than three times a day. It's gotta say something that probably 99% of us here eat more often than that and almost all of our doctor's and NUT's have said the same thing. (disclaimer, you should always follow your surgeon's advice first and foremost, I'm not a doctor!) Good luck, Sweets... :wub: