M2G

Not a single one of those is a small victory...they are wonderful and such great feeling! Congrats on -70lbs WOO HOO!

That's fantastic! Congrats on doing so well! You look like the younger brother of your "before" picture.

I was a regular exerciser before being sleeved, and was told by my surgeon to wait 6 weeks before strength/weight training. However, walking was not only encouraged but expected. So I was up walking within 3 hours of surgery, and for those 6 weeks that I couldn't do my regular exercise I walked a lot on my treadmill. When I went back to exercising, I pulled a muscle and had to wait one more week for it to heal. So, definitely take things slow!

Woo hoo! Sounds like a great start.

PlannerGirl, Here is another link from the same site that I linked earlier. Just scroll down and it gives an overview of each day and there is a link for each day that says read more. Hope that helps, I wouldn't be buying anything special from a website, just following the plan if I were to do it. Just my 2 cents. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html

Just having people who know *exactly* what we are going through is priceless. I have found that most people who know about my surgery are supportive but they dont' care about all the little details the way that we all do here. Good luck to those on the 5 day test...I'll be checking in on you ladies this week!

Mine has only done it occassionally (like the califlower...it made my tummy gurgle and talk a LOT for about 20 mintues right after eating) and it happened more when I was first out in the first couple of weeks. But it doesn't happen all the time. Do you remember if your tummy was talkative before surgery? I would be like you and wonder if it will last forever or if it will eventually quiet down? I think it might be a good question for the surgeon at some future follow up appt.

And judging by how fast you are going...that will be SOON! I would send you some clothes but it sounds like you would be out of them while they are getting shipped!

Thanks Losing.it, Diva and Sarah! Losing it, you are already on your way to losing and haven't even been sleeved yet!!! HURRAH!!!

That was a great pic BTW!

WOW! That is an incredible loss! Congrats, you look beautiful before and after!

Amazing!!! You are truly rocking that sleeve! Loved the slide show and you are just melting away! Your green T-shirt made me laugh.

Your daughter sounds like a wonderful support person for you.....kudos to her! And that is great that you told MIL, sorry it got ugly and you were emotional. I would remain calm and definitely not let her rattle you. You know how she feels, and she knows you are going forward with it. I hope your hubby is more supportive now. And good luck with your upcoming surgery!!!

Kassie, Welcome! My husband and I both had asked our primary care dr. about WLS several times over the years and he would always tell us to "try South Beach" or another round of "WW" or one time gave us a brochure about a dr. who did liquid diets, etc. So when the time came and I was ready to pursue surgery, I had already picked my surgeon, met with a nutritionist (at the surgeon's office), gone to the WLS seminar, and set up an appt. with the surgeon. At that time, my insurance did require me to have written acknowledgement/approval from my PCP. I really like my PCP so I wasn't too keen on finding a new one that would recommend WLS. So I gathered up my courage, made an appointment with him and SURPRISE. He was awesomely supportive. I took him 12 years of dieting history (he has been my PCP for about 8 of those 12 years, so he definitely knew what I had tried in the past), he sat and listened to my story and how I was ready to change my life and we had a really good chat. I'm glad I didn't have to switch drs. and (this is just my personal opinion) that while he may not reccommend WLS to his patients, when he sees THEM make the decision, he is supportive (like in the end he will never have to say that it was HIS idea...KWIM?) About your parents. Here is what I personally did. I made all the arrangements, and was down to one month left to go (I had a insurance-required 6 month wait time) and I basically told my parents "this is what I'm doing with my life". My mom was scared that I was having elective surgery, while my dad was glad that I was doing something to ensure a healthy future. My mom eventually came around, felt much better after I was "ok" and out of surgery, but still makes comments like "Oh I could NEVER not eat and drink at the same time", etc. like what I'm doing is physically impossible. They are divorced and live about 4 hours away from me, so I could have probably hid this from them as well, but there is no need. I'm an adult, I didn't ask them for money to $$$pay$$$ for this, or ask that they do anything other than be supportive of my decision. And in that regard neither one of them has let me down. You gotta do what you gotta do, and everything from parents, to unsupportive drs. and the naysayers...bah, at the end of the day this is YOUR life that you are living and you need to live it the way you want to.

Oooooh, I need to do that too! I'm putting it off for now because I can usually find something to wear and make it look decent. Thanks to yo-yo dieting I have everything from 14-24 in my closet. Yikes! I do have about 2 pairs of jeans in size 12 from YEARS ago, I kept them thinking "oh someday I will fit back into these" lol. I probably won't even like those jeans when I'm a 12 but whatever, they are taking up space in my closet. I'm also a teensy bit sad about the clothes that are now too big on me (just a teensy bit....okay now I'm over it) I don't spend enough on my clothing to warrent having a tailor fix them, and I do love to shop, so when I'm at goal I plan to do lots of shopping as well. Such fun things to look forward to! For now I'm happy that I can shop in my own closet.

Well, NtvTxn, (native Texan?? lol, just a guess, like trying to figure out what those personalized liscense plates mean!) I am not sure. My tummy only talks to me occasionally, and I cannot pinpoint a particular certain cause. It happened more when I was first out of surgery and still only doing very limited foods, etc. It hasn't happened to me in a while, but OMG that califlower really made it talk. Does it happen for you with certain foods (other than the cold milk?) I too, wonder if it will always do that here and there. I figure a normal tummy can rumble, roar and talk, so I guess our little mini-tummies can do the same. I does feel odd when it happens though, doesn't it?

LOL, I'm sure I would just follow an eggface recipe...she is a culinary genius! I will have to keep you all posted if I end up getting one and trying out Protein ice cream.

Well, I'm a little over 10 weeks out and I made this the other day: http://www.examiner.com/low-carb-in-national/cauliflower-pizza-crust-worth-its-wow-gold It is pizza crust made from steamed "riced" califlower (you rice it in your food processor...basically means cut into little rice sized pieces). It came out beautiful and I had one slice (I cut my pizza into 8 slices) so it was very small. It smelled good, tasted good, but aftewards my tummy kept gurgling and talking. It didn't hurt, and I didn't feel bad, it was just odd. Like my tummy wasn't sure what to do with all that califlower. My hubby is getting sleeved but hasn't had the op yet, and he tried and it and really liked it. My 10 year old dd ate a slice and liked it too. My 8 year old dd wouldn't touch it when she found out what it was made of. lol. It had eggs, cheese, and a small amount of turkey pepperoni on it, but I certainly would not count it as a protein-dense meal. But when you are healed more and past the mushie stage, you might try this to quiet those cravings. 12 days is really early and you are still healing. The tiny califlower bits could get stuck in your staple line, so at this point it really isn't worth risking anything during the healing process. Eventually you can have pizza, just not right now.

Ugh! I was cleared for exercise at 6 weeks and went back to my beloved Curves and pulled a stomach muscle that hurt on and off for a full week. After it healed I went back again, but with slightly less vigor. lol Good luck, hope the pain lessens by tomorrow.

I think the 5 day pouch test is a great idea. http://www.5daypouchtest.com/ The last time I stalled out for 10 days I broke it by doing a day of liquids. It broke my stall and reminded me that the "hunger" I was experiencing was truly head-hunger. Good luck Coops, we'll all be here cheering you on!

I agree that the surgeon's guidelines, etc. are just that. You will eventually get to under 200, on your timetable (and you are close!) I think your weight loss is terrific and as everyone else said, people lose at different rates. My surgeon tells me (I'm sure he says it to all his patients) I expect great things from you. lol. So I like that rather than the approach that you need to be xxx wieght by xxx date. Personally I would like to lose as much as possible during my first year as I keep hearing that is the time to strike when the Iron is hot (so to speak). I can eat more than 2oz per meal as well, and I'm only 2+ months out. I think if it is dense Protein, then the 2oz applies to me easily. Soft foods like yogurt, I can eat 4-5oz at one time. I keep track of my daily intake and I space my meals/liquids out nicely.

I had surgery at 7:30 Fri am and was discharged by 10am Sat. am. So just slightly over 24 hours, but I had no complications or other concerns.

LOL Irene! My claim to fame... :thanks: <BR><BR>SFO, my DH is snipped (hence me not being on any type of BC at all) so maybe that has something to do with it. I too, hear that women are more fertile post-op, :preggers: losing weight, etc. so I'm glad we have been done for years.

Has anyone tried making Protein ice cream (from eggface?) Protein powder and make a WLS friendly type of ice cream then that would be awesome. My birthday is this month and I am thinking of asking for an ice cream maker, but I wondered if anyone else had tried this and what they thought of the final product?

Like everyone said, keeping up with the fluids is so important during this healing time, more so than anything else, so that is great that you have that tackled. I felt the same way, I could actually care less about eating. That is not to say that I don't enjoy eating, but with the ghrelin gone, I honestly *feel* like I could go all day and eat nothing. I don't of course, but I do not have that constant hunger. For me though, that is such a great feeling. It has given me control over food, which is such an incredible feeling. My specific plan called for liquids for 10 days, then mushies (there was only 5 things on my list ) for 2 full weeks after the 10 days, and then finally I graduated to soft food and finally at 6 weeks post-op moved on to most everything. I was happy that I didn't have hunger because it made the plan much easier to follow. Oh and I loved Jello pre-surgery and to this day I don't think I can eat it. I had bought some of the pre-packaged single serving size jello cups (sugar-free) and they all ended up in the trash after sugery. The only way I could tolerate them was to mix them in my blender with my Protein shake. But even then I just wasn't a big fan, and they finally passed their expiration date. lol.