M2G

@Susan, do you mind giving us more details. I don't need to know your weight, but for example, "In 8 weeks I gained ____ and then it took ____ weeks to lose ___, and now I eat this _____many calories per day to maintain what I've gained/lost, etc." (or are you still losing?) Just looking for more details please...

Hahaha. I think that is me also. I'm glad you asked about this because for the first time I'm really trying to have some "focus" in regards to my exercise. I was a Curves workout person for 9 years solid (went every week from 3-5x a week) and now have gotten into a "real" gym, taking real classes 1hr cardio/spin class 2x a week, 1hr cardio (only 20 mins) and the rest muscle/weight lifting (40 mins) 1x a week, and then I fill in the rest of my days with cardio on the treadmill. But I'm wondering what results I could get if I were to cut cardio and increase strength? But I know that cardio is good for eliminating the visceral fat which is the worst kind of fat. I had read something that basically said the BEST exercise is doing BOTH, cardio AND strength, but that if you had to choose only ONE option, then go for cardio. It's all confusing...just like eating and the right amt of calories, etc. Bah. So it's back to toiling and crumbs...

Thanks for the tip about them being on sale! I went and bought a pair of capri length, just black. I think the sale has wiped out some of their stock so there was limited options. I'm wearing them right now and really like them!

I will normally "abstain" from jumping into hot topics and I generally stay away from flames when I see them. However, can we all just agree that NONE of us are EXPERTS in any way shape or form? If there was ONE WAY in this world to diet and exercise wouldn't we all be skinny and beautiful?

Kathy, you are so funny! They are all GONE now, but yeah I held on to them because with every new "diet" that I tried before being sleeved, there was always that HOPE that I could lose weight, but the fear that it would come back. So I kept quite a bit. Now it is all new and it feels GREAT!

http://www.52fastdiet.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=246#faq1 This is a great link with FAQ's to this type of eating (see didn't use the D word there... ) because I hate that word too!

First of all, I would consult a dr. about your heartburn. Lots of VSGers have to use a PPI to reduce stomach acid (I don't so I'm not an expert by any means.) Secondly I do NOT think that going 'above' your protein goals is bad at all. Dense protein will help keep you feeling full longer. Basically you are getting 50g of protein before noon because of your shake/bar for breakfast. (Shake 30g bar 20g roughly) Calorically your shake/bar combo for breakfast is equal to about 360 calories. Do you eat REAL food the rest of the day? Just not at breakfast? If so, I think maybe you are probably ok for now, but I would suggest an either/or option. So for breakfast you can have either a shake OR a bar, but not both. I think a shake or a bar here and there is ok (actually my NUTs rules are NO shakes after 6 weeks post-op and no more than one bar per day, less than that is better.) but I still do have an occasional shake or bar. Finally, I think that 5 hours between meals is probably asking a bit too much. 3-4 is what my surgeon aims for. Since you are only 6 months out I think you are still in that mode of food being more of a chore than a joy. That is ok. Things take time to settle in and once you are further out, food may appeal to you much more than it does now. And glad your husband found a job, that is great news. I would highly suggest seeing a NUT now that you are 6 months. My surgeon now has a mandatory 6 month post-op class (when I was sleeved in 2010 it was just 1 week, 3 week, and 6 week classes that were mandatory.) So I think that would probably be worth the money spent to do a check-in.

See you KNEW there was a reason to keep them. I was such a good yo-yo dieter I had every size from 16-24 in my closet. It came in handy when I was sleeved because I could shop for smaller clothes right in my own home for quite a while. lol

If you are still losing I would personally wait. I'm getting closer to 3 years post-op and *just* last month consulted a PS. I'm not sure that I will actually do anything w/regards to plastics, but I at least wanted to know my options and cost... $$,$$$ Once you have quit losing and are quite stable for a while is when most will suggest seeing a PS.

Hey GT, thanks for keeping us on task by moving this thread. Love that!!! Hopefully everyone will move over here...

Actually finished the day at 944 calories, 62g carbs, and 78g protein. I also did an hour long spin class which my calorie count site awarded me -635 calories burned, just for the class alone, not counting calories burned for just existing. So I've said it before and I'll say it again, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WEIGHT LOSS MATH. Sigh. Good job on all you ladies who fasted today. Maybe at some point I will join ya!

Ah you jumped in FYE...lol Still sitting on the sidelines, not committing yet. BUT this link is awesome...thanks for sharing it. Oh and I did commit to tracking my cals this week. So far before dinner I've logged 744 cals, 50g carbs and 64g Protein. Not sure on dinner yet, it will likely be lean and green. (meat and salad.)

Same thing for me FYE!! Oh and from Centennial Colorado...

So I went to support last night and didn't get a chance to ask about this plan. There were a TON of newbies there who had LOTS of questions (not a bad thing) but just didn't get around to asking about this plan. I am thinking that what my NUT *might* say is that this is great as long as you continue with it. I had previously asked her about the 5DPT (5 day pouch test...google if you don't know what I'm talking about) and she said it's fine to use it but what is NOT fine is doing it for 5 days then resuming with your regular eating. So even though I didn't get to ask about this plan I'm sure it would fall under that category. I'm looking forward to hearing all about you guys trying this!!! Please keep posting and updating and maybe I will join you all at some point!

Many of us are in the exact same boat! You can come join us on this thread: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/28952-gonna-get-to-goal-wanna-join-me/

Well I don't have Old Navy but I do have Flexees exercise pants...they look like this: http://www.maidenform.com/shapewear/styles/leggings/flexees-fat-free-dressing-weekender-2140 And at first I didn't wear them. It basically took all my excess skin/fat and pushed it up! Well then I figured out how to combat that. By wearing a Flexees tank like this: http://www.maidenform.com/shapewear/brands/flexees/flexees-fat-free-dressing-tank-top-3266 And that helps smooth the lumps and bumps. The only thing I don't like about the leggings is I wish they were a tad longer (I'm 5'6") and I always feel like they are a bit on the short side. Other wise I really like them.

Yep, you are right. It took me a LOOONG time to realize that this will always be my cross to bear (keeping the weight off) and that I will just never get to that place where I can kick back and eat whatever I want without gaining weight. Sigh. We are in this for the long haul!

I might have to give the 5:2 plan a try! I've not tracked my food in over a MONTH!!! Aaargh! I fell off the tracking wagon that I was on from Jan-May and now I just can't seem to climb back on. My weight is up (again) in my high range, whereas previously this year I had lost -9lbs just by tracking what I eat. I'm going to support group tonight and will ask the NUT that runs the program what she thinks about the 5:2 plan. I follow this blog and she has her own plan for those who suspect that sugar is a huge problem. I don't know how I feel about her plan. It seems like a great short-term solution but not for the long-haul. I would LOVE to see someone do a similar plan but actually eat REAL food not shakes. I did a no-sugar no-carb diet that was very strict and lost -17lbs (this is before being sleeved...like 2 years before I was sleeved) in 6 weeks. However, in 9 months time of eating "normally" again I regained +25lbs. Anyway, this is Holly's sugar detox program (she used to post on here but maybe not anymore? There is someone else here named Holly Rose who has lost a LOT of weight but not the same gal as this one:) http://www.300poundsdown.com/2013/05/my-sugar-detox-plan-and-beginner-program-for-weight-lossexercise.html Here is another post about the evils of sugar (and while I don't think that I fall into the category of people who need to treat sugar like a drug) I like what she wrote and have thought about doing her plan. It's basically like Slim-Fast (shakes all day then a meal for dinner). I'm just not sure that I can/want to be such a nazi about my food. http://www.300poundsdown.com/2013/06/sugar-addiction-detox-and-gaining-control-over-food.html But just throwing this out there for thoughts/ideas. I'm definitely still fighting this battle and just not sure that I will ever be DONE! Aargh!

Oooh, just found this: http://jenlarsen.net/2013/04/frequently-asked-questions/ On her site she basically says she was stupid and ill-informed about her procedure and that she enourages people to NOT do what she did (which was just put her signature on every piece of paper thrust at her without really understanding what she was getting into.)

I cut out carbonated drinks a month before surgery (surg. date 10-22-10) so come this Sept. it will be 3 years since I've had any sort of carbonated drinks (soda, beer, etc.) It's something I'm happy to live without. Now if I could only cut sugar out of my life the same way...

Haha, that is GREAT!!! Thanks for the laugh, and thanks for sharing.

Just had one for breakfast! LOL! I usually have Egg Beaters for breakfast but today hard-boiled sounded so good! I boil a few every week and keep them around as handy Snacks. My husband is sleeved also (I'm 2.5 years post-op he is 2 years) and we both eat them pretty often. I feel sorry for people who don't like eggs or who are allergic.

http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Here-Weight-Loss-Surgery-Transformed/dp/1580054463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370180029&sr=8-1&keywords=jen+larsen I bought it for my Nook and read the whole book in about 5 hours. (I think it's only 261 pages) but I wondered what anyone else thought about it. Here is what I thought. It was funny, entertaining and I could certainly relate to some of the things she discusses. (She had the DS in 2006, so diff. surgery than the VSG) But overall I could relate to some of her struggles. I did not hate myself BECAUSE I was fat (she did a fair amount of self-loathing due to her size) I just hated how the fat affected my life. So I felt right away that she had some definite emotional issues that I didn't feel I had -- at any weight. What I did not like was what a horrible WLS patient she was. The DS is a surgery that has the most malabsorption of all the WLS out there (more so than the RNY) so she drinks, smokes, eats crap, and still ends up losing 180lbs. She glosses over a regain at the end of the book (saying at her lowest she was 130lbs but now is around 168lbs) so she doesn't make it clear if the regain was intentional or just happened over time or what. The other thing that I was horrified to read was that she basically had NOT tried every diet under the sun. She just felt like "diets don't work" but sort of lied her way through the paperwork process with the surgeon about actually having tried other ways to lose weight. She also didn't do much research or become a self-advocate. She googled up a few things, went to a surgery seminar, and sort of started down the path without totally being committed to the process. So that was scary, but I think it's good that she wrote about it because I think a LOT of people are very much like her, just sign the papers without actually READING what they are signing up for, etc. At the end of her book, the takeaway is that she basically regrets spending time hating herself for being fat. She acknowledges that living life as a smaller person is way easier (like shopping etc.) than being obese, but that basically WLS did NOT, in fact, make her a happier person. She still had the same problems as when she was 318lbs. So I think that is an important message...WLS is not the magic wand to come and cure you of everything you have ever felt bad about. It won't magically fix every problem that you've ever had. And so from that standpoint, I thought this was a good book and a good message. Anyone else read this and want to comment?

Marketing geniuses!! It's scary how much we are influenced by words, ads and other visual cues. Thanks for sharing that...

Sorry that it has to go. It usually does. But as Laura pointed out you will be RID of that awful pain. My GB surgery (in 1999) was very easy, done laproscopically and once I was out of the anethesia fog and off the pain meds (percocet made me sick so I quickly went to Tylenol for pain) I felt much better. I think I had mine out on a Thurs. and was back at work on Mon? It's a fairly easy and quick surgery. I had mine at 8am and was home by noon. Good luck with everything, again, sorry it has to go.