dramagirl28

Boy have I been excited for this day to come! Tomorrow is my one year surgiversary. I have lost a total of 115 lbs from my highest weight, and 95 lbs since the day of surgery. I went from a size 22 to a size 6 (actually I'm wearing size 4 pants right now, but they're cut pretty big). I don't exercise as much as I should, and I have the flab to prove it, but overall, I have to say, I look DAMN GOOD!! My self-esteem has improved by about a thousand times, and I finally look like the person I feel like inside. I don't count calories or carbs, but I don't eat fast food either. I try to eat like a "normal" person, cooking at home more, choosing light things when I feel like it, but not depriving myself of the good things in life. Life is good, y'all. Good luck to everyone out there.

I have made these before but I think I scrambled the egg instead of leaving the yolk in tact. When you bake them, is the yolk still runny? How well does that keep throughout the week and as you freeze them?

1. This procedure is relatively new so long-term data is hard to find, but check out the pinned topic "Weight Gained Since Being Sleeved." A lot of long-termers talk about their success on that thread. 2. I'm not super awesome about taking my Vitamins. I take them a couple times a week, when I remember. I spent a lot of money at first trying to find vitamins I liked. I bought a few different B Complex ones until I found ones that didn't smell horrible, and I had to buy different Calcium chews because I bought the wrong kind. I don't even notice it in my budget anymore. 3. I'm 10 months out. No psychological issues so far. Nothing but joy, really. I check myself out in the mirror, a lot. 4. I think I got lucky here too. I love shopping now, but my budget helps keep that in check. I enjoy cooking a lot more now, and making "normal" (protein-rich) recipes instead of the low-cal/low-fat/low-flavor crap I was cooking while dieting. I do drink, but no more often than before, and less volume because I get tipsy faster. Hope this helps.

Has anyone ever tried NoOodles? There's a Groupon for them and I'm curious about it. It's basically angel hair pasta made with yam flour and has zero calories and zero net carbs (and is gluten-free for those with allergies). I don't eat pasta anymore because boy-oh-boy does it expand in my stomach but every once in a blue moon it would be nice to have a bite. Just curious if anyone has tried it and can tell us what the taste and texture is like.

Great ideas everyone! I completely forgot about eggface bites! Those would be perfect. Apples and peanut butter also sounds yummy! Thanks so much for the suggestions.

I need some new ideas! I work evenings normally but for the summer I'm working day shifts. I'm not a morning person so I need breakfast ideas I can grab to take with me to work. I am only allowed to have "snack" items at my desk, so nothing requiring utensils. Besides protein bars or shakes, does anyone have any ideas for on-the-go breakfasts with a little bit of protein? I'm 10 months post-op.

It's worth every moment! Right when I woke up from surgery it hurt the worst. I was almost in a panic, but not really from the pain, just from being dopey and disoriented from the anesthesia. They get you on pain meds really quick and you're so out of it that's it's not really that bad. I didn't have a catheter so getting up to pee every 2 hours ALL NIGHT LONG really sucked, but the pain was just like abdominal soreness, like I had done too many sit-ups. I had a morphine drip the first day and the second day they gave me liquid vicodin every 4 hours (and boy did I watch the clock and hit that call button when it was time!). After I got home I continued with the liquid vicodin and even had to refill my prescription, but the pain was totally manageable. And yeah, I'm a giant wuss, too.

Everyone's said it already but bring your pillow! My hospital gave me all the pillows I wanted but the ride home would have been hell without my pillow wrapped around my belly. Chapstick was also a must, as was my cell phone and charger. I wish I would have brought my own towel. Other than that, I'd say pack light. I slept a lot so I didn't even touch my ipod or my book. Good luck!

Considering my meals consist of 6-8 bites of food and every bite matters, full to the rim for me means that if I take one more bite I will be uncomfortable, but I'm not yet uncomfortable. In other words, 6 bites = full, 7 bites = stuffed. Are you guys stopping sooner than that?

This is an interesting thread to read. Thanks for bringing it up. I must be overeating as well then. I use the deck of cards rule as well and almost never eat more than that, but even that much makes me feel full to the rim and even slightly uncomfortable at times, depending on how long I take to eat. I feel like I get "satisfied" after just two or three small bites, but then I'd need to have two or three more in an hour or two and I'm really trying not to graze. I hope more people chime in here. I'm just as confused as you are!

Go for it. Just be sure you're still sipping through it and not sucking it down too quickly. I've also found that I can't/shouldn't drink the last bit from the cup with a straw. When it starts to slurp I take in too much air and that makes me uncomfortable.

Hi there! I'm almost 6 months out and we had about the same starting weight and I've lost 65lbs so far. I know some people consider this slow but I really don't. It sounds to me like you're doing great, eating right, exercising, and still losing. For me, it feels like I had surgery ages ago, and for the most part I feel normal. I tolerate most foods and and don't always make stellar choices with few ill effects, but for the most part I try to do what I'm supposed to do. This is a marathon, not a sprint. It isn't over until we get to goal or give up.

Your body is freaking out and will continue to do so for a long while, so the best advice is to do your thing and let your body do its thing. You'll meet up in the end. It was also helpful for me to record my weight on a weekly weigh-in day. Even though I got on the scale every day in the beginning, recording it once weekly helps you see that you are losing weight even when it feels like the scale isn't moving.

Everyone's suggestions are great. You just have to find something you can tolerate at this point. Keep trying til you find something that goes down easily, which may change from day-to-day. Right now your job is to recover. Don't worry about getting in ALL your fluids, just be sure you're always trying. It gets better.

This happens to me too. On the days I can eat a lot I get freaked out that I've somehow stretched my sleeve, but then the next day I'm full with two bites. It's really weird but I'm trying to just relax and go with it.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I got back on the scale today and dropped everything I gained and then some, so maybe it was just a fluke. I do think it was a good wake-up call though because I haven't been making great choices lately and I can't expect my sleeve to do all the work for me. I want to get to goal!

I am almost at the 6 month mark and have been weighing in weekly. I am proud to say that I have lost consistently every week, never stalling, never gaining, until today. I am trying not to beat myself up about it but it is a little disappointing, and totally my fault. It was my birthday last week and I've been eating a lot of sweets and I got really relaxed about eating carbs and such since it hadn't (yet) made a difference on the scale. It was only a gain of 0.4 but that is quite enough for me to get my butt back on the Protein train. I have to come to grips with the fact that the honeymoon is over and it's up to me now to get to where I want to be. I know lots of you have been through this and have come out of it successfully. Sharing this with you helps keep me honest.

1lb a week is a very healthy rate! It may even be to your benefit in terms of saggy skin in the long run. You'll have plenty of time to tone up your muscles! Keep it up!

I was able to find capsules on the internet. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm almost six months out and have recently started experimenting with both. Soda - I'm in the camp that doesn't believe carbonation can stretch your stomach, but that we shouldn't drink it because it's not nutritious, can trigger junk cravings, etc. I find that it doesn't bother me, but it does make me burp A LOT and makes that chest gurgling sound that's so embarrassing. Plus there's no way I could drink more than 2 or 3 ounces, so I'll sip on it once in a while if there's nothing else available or if I'm just craving a taste (which isn't often) but I mostly prefer non-carbonated drinks because they're easier to drink. Bars - **just my opinion** It was really important to me to learn how to get my Protein from real food. I stopped drinking shakes after a while and just tried to eat healthy and make time for my meals and learn how to plan ahead for them. Now that I'm able to eat pretty much anything I have started to try to eat balanced meals, including carbs. The only problem is now I'm not eating enough protein, so I started playing with protein bars. The point is, I personally think that bars should be an occasional supplement to whatever you're eating and I would recommend waiting on using them until you get then hang of your new "normal" diet.

You might want to try some other stores. They might have different cuts that fit your body shape better. For example, Old Navy has three or four different styles you could try. Otherwise you could buy a bigger "regular" size and just have it taken in. I wouldn't waste too much money on this while you're still shrinking though.

Definitely no caffeine (my doc said for six weeks). I started drinking decaf coffee at six weeks and it really hurt my stomach. Curiously, regular coffee does not, so I switched back, but can only handle 1 cup per day and often can't finish it. On the flip side, caffeine-free herbal tea sits great with me but black tea kills my stomach even now at 5+ months out. If you can't kick the caffeine habit, at least wait a couple months before you give it another try.

Your food intake sounds right on track to me. I had hunger pangs in the beginning too, and still do sometimes. I tried doubling my prilosec dosage for a while to twice a day and that seemed to help. I'm back to once a day now and only get hunger pangs when it makes sense to get them and it doesn't happen every day. I don't really know what it is medically except that your body is freaking out and doing all kinds of weird things. My suggestion (other than upping your dosage) would be to just sip on a protein shake when you're hungry and make sure you're not overfilling your sleeve. Don't worry about eating too much at this point. Just try to be comfortable and make good choices and be aware of your body. You'll get the hang of it eventually and your body will chill out and you'll feel normal again soon enough.

I'm trying to be better about taking my vitamins. I have a bottle of Nature Made B-Complex, but they taste and smell horrible and I dread even opening the bottle. Has anybody found one that's flavorless or in gummy form?