MINI-Me

Give yourself a little time. Eating will become easier. But, stay away from the high sugar, high calorie foods - or at least limit those things to occaisional. Try and find alternatives for that sweet tooth. Try tea with Spenda - really helps my sweet tooth.

I made a quick chicken salad with cut up chicken, fat free Miracle Whip, and some sweet relish. Keeps it moist and it had good flavor for "quickie" meal. (I do the same with tunafish.)

OK ... so we only have Diet Coke in the house (I had done that on purpose because I soooo prefer Diet Pepsi). I opened one, drank a few sips and ..... ehhh. The bubbles didn't seem to be a problem - though I did have a HUGE burp & I NEVER burp. Actually made me laugh. But, it didn't taste as good as I imagined. Now, I want to try Diet Pepsi to make sure! Yep! I am a certified addict. But, I think I'll wait another month or so ... mark it down, May 27th, I will have my next Diet Pepsi. No, make it a Pepsi Max - my FAVORITE! :thumbup:

Wow! Great progress!

Ouroborous - one option for your coffee (caffeine free, of course) is to add Swiss Miss Diet Hot Cocoa. It has a total of 4 carbs. It's already sweetened so you may not need to add the Splenda. I use the cocoa for a little treat in the evenings sometimes. In fact, now that I am thinking of it, I might have a cup tonight.

So, Pepsi Max and I were best friends pre-surgery. I weaned myself off and have done fairly well without my friendship. However, now that I have added in all other foods, I'm obesessing about Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max. I'd really like to try one, but don't want to hurt myself. (In fact, I'd like to try it and find that it isn't as good as I remember!) So ... my question is - when did you try your first one?

I think 5 days is reasonable. I started back after that at 1/2 days for a week & did fairly well. But, was very tired when I got home. Do you have the option for shorter days that first week back?

Great idea! I might just have to copy that one! Sounds like a good plan to me. I love your idea of play time - much for fun and motivating that way.

Welcome! Glad to have you part of us. I had my surgery in January & it has been a wild ride. As you noted, it takes some adjustment at first, but the benefits are so worthwhile. I feel energetic and starting to feel cute and maybe just a little, dare I say it? Sexy! I started in size 18 and XXL - I'm in 12's (some 10's) and Medium shirts in 12 weeks. Yahoo!!!!

Done! Just click below... http://verticalsleevetalk.com/fitness-exercise/5159-what-you-doing-get-moving-today.html

So, I will start. As I have posted in other spots, I am terribly out of shape. This is my first week of focused exercise. What does that mean to me right now? A minimum of 20 minutes a day for 3 days a week. I will add more as I am able, but this seems like enough of a challenge for me right now. How am I doing so far? Well, here's my week: Monday - 30 minutes on Wii Fit Plus, did a lot of the step aerobics. My calf muscles were really complaining the next day Tuesday - While waiting for a friend, walked around the mall (at a decent pace) for 30 minutes. Wednesday - Life got in the way & I didn't have a chance to exercise. Thursday - Plan on 20+ minutes of the Wii or Walk Off the Pounds tonight.

Due to another exercise thread, I am starting this thread for accountability. Sometimes just the act of writing something downs helps to make sure it gets done. I hope you will join me in this effort. Everyone's exercise plan is different, so don't feel pressure to go overboard or compare yourself to others. Feel free to jot down anything that will help you make your goals ... and post back regularly to tell yourself (and others) how you are doing.

I think a few regular posters are working on maintenace. To better help you, we need some more information ... How tall are you? How far out from surgery are you?

Absolutely. Should we start a thread(s) where we load our exercise?

Thanks for checking up. I did Wii Fit for over 30 minutes on Monday (man! were my calf muscles sore from the step aerobics) and 30 minutes of walking on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any real exercise in last night due to appointments, but I'm on track for tonight. (Tiff and I have communicating via text messages and keeping each other accountable. It's been good knowing I have to report in.) Yahoo!

Your thoughts seem very normal to me. We have to consider the risks and the benefits when deciding to have ANY procedure. It sounds like you know both and know that you need this to increase the quality of your life and that of your families. Your heart just needs to catch up a bit. So .... take a deep breath, reaffirm all the reasons you are doing this & push on to the new day. Come out here whenever you need a pep talk. This group is great!

So exciting. Your emotions (Nervous, happy, excited, anxious, apprehensive) seem right on track. You are going to do great!

You are doing great ... thanks for all the wonderful posts about your experiences and your thoughts/concerns. They really do help.

I've always had issues sleeping so really no difference for me. I was kinda hoping it would help me sleep - I thought maybe excess fat on my body was making me uncomfortable & waking me up. No such luck.

Normally with insurance, if you go to a non-participating hospital, the insurance pays 60% of their allowable for the service. You are responsible for the 40% plus anything between the allowable and the billed amount. It could be a lot or it could be a little. Once you get your new insurance, find out all you can about the policy and the allowances (the doctor should be able to give you the procedure code and the hospital should be able to give you codes for the operating room, hospital room, etc). Give those codes to your insurance company and they should be able to provide the allowances. Best of luck.

I think you either love it or call it Isopuke!

I have Patella Femoral Syndrome which basically means that my knee "pops" out of the naturally occuring crevice and causes pain - this happens especially with a downstep on the stairs. When it pops out, my hamstring pulls which causes my hips to pull which causes pain all the way up to my shoulder. So, I have to be really careful about exercise, or I end up on pain meds or clutching my heating pad as well. Before being diagnosed, I spent a couple thousand dollars on an eliptical machine that was supposed to be "knee friendly". Guess what, it's good for the knees for most things, but not my disease. So, my husband uses it. I've been trying to find low impact items such as walking on a flat surface or strength training that does not involve my knee. I also did the Wii Fit Plus last night. Since the step isn't that high, I was able to do the step routines without pain (at least not yet.) All that to say ... just keep looking for things that you can do that cause the least irritation. Hopefully, as you build back your strength, you will be able to do more.

I am so excited for you!!! This is such a life changing event - you are going to do awesome. Please post as soon as you are able & let us know how you are doing.

Congratulations and thanks for posting. It's always encouraging to see people make their goals (or surpass them)!

I second the idea of taking him to a seminar with you. They really lay it on the line that this is a disease & you are not taking "the easy way out". This is treatment - and it's not fullproof. You have to work and be committed to get results.