M2G

Looking wonderful! You lost more than almost 100lbs, you lost about 10 years somewhere along the way too! CONGRATS on your success!!!

Please call your dr. asap....you are having many, many issues and you need to figure out what is going on.

I don't seem to have a problem with chicken, but I usually dip it in something (BBQ sauce, ranch, etc.) I think it was Tiffany that said she lubes her meat well, and that has been really good advice. Usually my go-to order for a restaurant is a chicken sandwich and I ignore the bun, and take 1/2 of the chicken breast home or share it.

That is great that you have not allowed any "treats" since surgery. I know for me I have had small treats (and enjoyed them too!). My bday was in Jan. and I had a small piece of cake and loved it. Same for at Christmas, sampled my favorite pie, etc. You are right about it being a slippery slope, but this is not sitting in your kitchen eating cake when no one else is around just to eat cake. This is a very special event and I think you should enjoy a few bites of cake with your daughter. Then make your very next meal a sleeve-worthy meal.

Welcome! I, too, thought about the lap-band. Then my husband decided he wanted WLS also and begged me to research the sleeve. I am SO happy that I didn't get the band. I just can't imagine being 90 years old and having a plastic device inside of me. The more I read about the down side to the band, (the PB'ing, getting stuck, sliming) the more I knew that it wasn't someting I was willing to live with in order to lose the weight. So now I've been sleeved 3 months, hubby is getting sleeved soon and I love my sleeve. I have not once had sliming or vomiting (even while in the hospital!) There are no fills/unfills, the first 3 weeks are the hardest (food-choice wise and just healing in general) but after 6 weeks your food choices increase and you can start having more variety. Keep reading, keep researching, and only you can make the decision about what is right for you, but I'm so happy with my sleeve, can't imagine doing any other type of WLS surgery from what is available today.

Call your insurance and find out specifically what is expected of you. My insurance guidelines were approval based on a BMI of >35 WITH a co-morbidity, or a BMI >40 (no co-morb required). AND MY WEIGHT AT THE LAST 6 MONTH VISIT WAS USED TO DETERMINE ELIGIBILITY. Your insurance may take the weight recorded at your first visit. So it's imperative you call and talk specifically to the person who will be making the decision (like a Nurse Case Manager, or someone similar will probably make the decision.) I did all of my 6 month evaluations with my surgeon's in-house NUT (nutritionist) and she did not have me do any type of pre-op diet. Instead we spent the 6 visits talking about life AFTER surgery, what to expect, food options and choices, etc. My weight remained almost identical each month. I used the 6 months to start taking vitamins, focus on less carbs, increase my water intake, experiment with food, and practice eating and not drinking at the same time, etc. If my BMI had slipped below 40 at my last visit, then I would have been disqualified. Lucky for me my BMI hovered around 44 the whole time (and I have no co-morbidities), so I really wasn't at "risk" of going too low. Plus my surgeon didn't make me do any type of Pre-Op diet, just clear liquids 24 hours before surgery. Find out all of the details before you make your decision!

Morning Star Veggie Patties (original is what I like). They are 80 calories and 10 grams of Protein per patty. I can usually eat about 1 and 3/4 in one sitting so it's almost 20 grams of protein. http://www.morningstarfarms.com/products_veggie-sausage-patties.aspx

Find a good Protein bar. The RTD shakes won't go thru airport security (unless they are under 3oz I believe) so the ziplocks with the Protein powder is probably a good option. I think most aiports have deli places where you can grab a yogurt or even a hard boiled egg. Have fun on your trip!

LOL, here I was thinking "this is in the 'powder Room' someone is going to say they are getting hit on by men and they miss the "insulation" that our fat can sometimes provide." Scareing the men away... :scared: I feel for you. We are getting a cold snap here in CO that is much lower than normal. Tomorrow's high is going to be -8, it's like we are living in Minnesota or the North Pole or something. :laugh: I will never trade being cold for being fat again! Congrats on your loss, woo hoo!

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Okay, Irene I don't know how you can change the color of the font, I'm sure it is something easy, but I can't figure it out. So I made what I wanted to "highlight' bigger. I think a LOT of NUTs are used to dealing with patients who have WLS and still have their full hunger. Everything is geared towards keeping you "full" or "satisfied" so you are less tempted to eat something off plan. But with most (I say most because I see some sleevers who still have hunger) sleevers, we don't have the hunger issue. If I eat 2oz of Protein, take a few sips of Water and it goes "through" my system quicker, well, so what. Because it's not like I'm hungry the minute it isn't sitting in my stomach. I'm never hungry, so it truly makes no difference to me. It will be interesting to see what happens to the NUTs and the literature, once the sleeve gains more popularity and has 10 years of data on a large portion of patients, to back it up.

Jody someone here has scanned their surgeon's notebook and offered to email it to anyone who would like it. It might give you some more clear direction. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/13062-gastric-sleevebypass-booklet/

These kind of "syrups" are more like "flavoring" than actual syrup (they are clear and the consistency of Water, or extract flavoring. Actually that is a good way to describe them, they are like extracts, that you can add to anything to give it flavor and sweetness. (Except they are in big bottles and you use more of them that you would if it were just an extract.) Frankly I'm not shocked that Hershey's SF (I'm assuming that is what you are talking about) syrup is nasty. When manufacturer's take out anything (fat, sugar, salt) they have to add more of something else to mask the "missing" flavor. Look in the coffee section of your grocery store and you might find the Torani or Davinci SF syrups.

I have tried them all, (and I usually buy according to what is on sale) but my all time fav has to be the Fage. LOVE IT. I've even tried the Kroger brand, blech, totally disgusting and not worthy of me even adding my SF syrup to. I already have one kiddo liking the Fage, just need to work on kiddo #2 (aka the picky sister). It's going to be a crazy yogurt bill around here on grocery day once hubby gets sleeved in March!

Hope you are in recovery and doing well. Walk, sip, walk sip! Welcome to the losers bench!

Hey Vickie, I see your ticker has moved since you posted this. (If I am reading that right!) Woo hoo! Does your surgeon have a NUT that you can contact? Maybe email everything to him/her and have a professional look at what is going in. I personally think that -20lbs is awesome, and I know how hard it is to do, but you cannot compare yourself to others on here. It is one of the worst ways to sabatoge yourself by saying "look how far XYZ is and yet I'm HERE." DON'T do it!!! How do YOU feel? Are your clothes looser? It sounds like you are focusing on all the right things, and sometimes that is the hardest part to keep doing the same thing every day and KNOW that you are doing everything "by the book" yet not get that reward on the scale. That is why those NSV's are SO important. The scale doesn't tell the whole story. I think it might be premature to call your sleeve (or yourself for that matter) a failure. Really. Hang in there Vicki! We are all here for you!

Congrats on the loss...woo hoo!!! Put me in the "Sheila's Rule" camp...lol. The last time I was with so many Sheila's was when I worked at Target in college, we had 5 Sheila's at my store! :shocked:

Welcome! I hope your 3 months FLY by! I had to do 6 months and while it seemed to take forever, I used the time to make some changes to my lifestyle that are now habits (dropping diet soda, and taking my Vitamins are just 2 examples!) Congrats on moving forward and downward (on the scale that is!)

I would also wait to see what effect pregnancy has on your body. We poor women go through SO much to give birth.

Fingers crossed for you!

Welcome! You will definitely find lots of support, advice and cheerleaders here! Best support group you will ever find!

Welcome! It is such a long hard road getting to the place where we decide we want surgery. Then there is another long road of tests, evaluations, dr. visits, nutritionist visits, etc. to actually HAVE the surgery (longer if you have insurance for sure!) Then the weight loss road is of course a long one and then there is maintenance for life. It's almost like 4 different journies we take. Congrats on have 2 under your belt and working on #3, may you have continued success now that you have a powerful tool in your corner!!!

I don't think it is just Yoplait, I know A LOT of yogurts use that. It is hard to find yogurt made with plain old sugar anymore. I think Moutain High is a brand that comes to mind that doesn't use the junk sweetners.

Cost Plus (World Market) used to sell Torani for CHEAP! Like $5 for a big bottle. I went in the other day and saw they are now $6.99, d*mmit! OH well, I still use them. I put them in my yogurt and decaf coffee mostly. Torani is made wtih Splenda.

Sorry to be dense, what are JoJo's??? I kept re-reading that to see if I could get a clue. lol. I think the fried stuff is always bad. Sorry your evening was ruined. And I agree about the portion sizes being way out of control. No wonder America has an obesity problem when restaurant food portions are gigantic and everyone thinks of them as "normal".