mi75

almost ALL of the Curves around my area have shut down in the past year or so. i think the closest one would be about 20 minutes away! i agree with the no wiping down thing. gross.

another thing that i see people in my workplace do (all post surgery at least 1 year) is they buy the bottles of diet cola and diet sprite flavoring for that Soda Stream machine, and just mix the flavoring syrup with water- no carbonation or machine involved...i MAY try this down the road but i'm trying to just avoid ALL of my trigger foods including pop for as absolutely long as i can...

i had some this past weekend, will be 7wks out tomorrow. appears to be a slider for sure! going to have to be disciplined about going to the movies and portioning at home! tasted awesome though, and saw the surgeon last week and i specifically asked him about a few foods including popcorn. he said no problems, no restrictions, just try to watch portions...

i am excited to try all the new things, however i have not exercised, danced, etc in front of other people in about 20 years. literally. it will all be new, and that part is intimidating also, but i gotta start somewhere!

thanks everyone! i think my family has decided as a collective that the local "Y" is the best option for us. not so much a traditional 'gym' but still LOTS of workout options there, including weights, nautilus, classes, pool, etc. also options for my kiddos (swim lessons, swim club, volleyball for my tween, computer lab, etc). it's a bit more pricey than a typical gym but i feel like it has a lot more options there for ALL of us. we will be taking an 'official' tour later this week and having a trainer set up a little program for me. getting excited!

plant based proteins are an awesome option for after surgery! i like their chicken sandwich also

best of luck to you! i'm a sleever but one of my dearest friends had a mini about 13 years ago when it was brand new and has successfully kept off about 140 pounds since her surgery.

I'm 7 wks out and down 35 lbs total including pre-op. I had a major stall at week 3 and didn't lost anything for about 12 days and then took off again nicely. Saw my surgeon early last week for follow up and he was thrilled with my progress. Since i'm all cleared now for activity, he encouraged me to join a gym... I will likely lose a little slower but i'm super happy with results so far and feeling INCREDIBLE. i have more energy than i have in over a decade!

i had a TON of food funerals and in the process gained about 8 unneeded pounds. now 7 wks out from surgery i'm on a 'regular' diet and eating all foods. chinese is actually a GREAT option of you focus on lean meats and veg. My bariatric program also encourages ALL healthy foods in specific quantities, so the other day i had chinese green Beans with chicken and about 1 tbsp of brown rice. it was awesome!!

thanks everyone, all great suggestions. I am also looking at the Planet Fitness in my town and my 11 yr old asked why we couldn't consider the "Y"...so we are going to tour all three this coming week and decide.

my entire thing was uneventful also! surgery was textbook, pretty easy recovery and so far so good, 6 wks later. have not had one episode of nausea or vomiting, ever. i too mostly took pain meds just to sleep. honestly i had put off having surgery last year because i chickened out. if i had known it would be this easy, i would have done it then, hands down. i did a TON of research prior to my surgery, read thousands of threads on here. read 5 different books on sleeve that i downloaded to my Nook. talked to all sorts of patients. i feel like i went in VERY educated and prepared and nothing so far has been a surprise. i feel AWESOME and like a new woman and wouldn't change it for anything! good luck

i was off BCP for 5 wks prior to surgery and also for 5 wks post surgery and have been restarted on it for almost 2 full weeks and no issues. still losing steadily even after restarting it.

i have a total gym. it's a pretty good system BUT it uses your body weight for the resistance, and unfortunately, i cannot move 200 lbs...i had to do NO incline and few reps and i didn't see much difference... i too prefer the gym. i know that going to one is not an option for everyone. if i had to workout at home, i would definitely use one of the Beachbody programs. they are all VERY sound and really good for the money.

hey everyone, i saw the surgeon today and he says i am doing AWESOME!!! when i asked about working out, he said "join a gym tomorrow". there is a great gym in my town, about 4 miles from my house. they even have child care for my little one and classes for my tween to try, including a pool and swim lessons! i really like it there and took a tour of it last year when i was considering joining then. but......... this gym seems really full of REALLY thin and fit people. i'm still a VERY big person. i have issues about being around people socially simply due to my weight. i just feel like in public, everyone is noticing my weight. at a gym, well i think it would be worse. they open at like 4am so i have even thought of going there at 5 and working out when, hopefully, the attendance is minimal... HOW do i get over being a fat lady a a skinny gym?

my final straw was a culmination of MANY factors. First off, i realized at 38 years old i was taking around 15 pills a day, all for ailments that were directly related to me being obese. no other reason, other than i was fat. enough. Next, i got to a point where i could not to anything i needed to at work or at home. i was doing enough at work to be productive, but not even close to the level i had when i was in shape. at home, i could only sit in a chair and watch my kids play. couldn't do anything with them, just watch. Next, i realized that i had a serious food addiction. i was eating more portions than my husband, i would wait until he went outdoors in the evenings to Water flowers and such, and then eat even more! Next, several doctors told me that i was killing myself and if i didn't take it seriously, i would not be here in 10 years. i had developed this cough that i just assumed was like an asthma type thing (self-diagnosing nurse). post op i found out it was a serious issue with my heart that would have eventually caused heart failure...it's totally gone now! Next, I realized that i wanted to LIVE, not just exist, but really enjoy my life. there are so many things my family and i want to do together and there wasn't a chance of ANY of it before surgery. Lastly, I realized one day that i needed to do this for ME. i had been so busy taking care of my kids, family, work, etc for so long I had completely lost sight of ME. now i make ME a priority every day with exercise, planning my eating, etc. I feel incredible. i'm only 6 wks out but have lost 35 lbs already.

I'm curious how much on average, everyone had lost around their 6 wk point? i KNOW i'm losing, and doing pretty good. I just want to get an idea of where i fall compared to others. Total so far I have lost 35, but that includes 15 pre-op so really only 20 lbs in 6 wks. Honestly, though it's WAY MORE than i could ever lose on my own without surgery. I may be the tortoise in this race, but i'll be a winner in the end!

had some honey nut cheerios and it was awesome. cereal NEVER filled me before surgery, now just a few spoons and i was great! LOVING this sleeve and the control it has given me.

i have had no problems with any food that i've tried. the only things i haven't had yet are tough meats (steak, roast) and 'raw' breads (untoasted, non-crunchy bread things) and no raw cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower,etc). everything sits great and no issues at all. i'm really watching my portions of everything i try. doing good, at 6 wks out down almost 40#...

YUM, that apple with blue cheese and walnut looks AWESOME!!! yesterday my snack was a Cookies and Cream Quest bar. i'm super pathetic this week and have yet to get to the grocery store so i've stood in the kitchen and 'snacked' on a cold slice of deli meat, a few peanuts, and a hunk of meatloaf straight from the fridge.... gotta get to the store tonight for baby bel, some laughing cow garlic/herbs, grapes, then to the farm stand for a honey rock melon, some green Beans, yellow beans, tomatoes, etc. can't wait!

i as told by my plastic surgeon that exercise WILL help with two factors: 1. you have a good amount of callogen in your skin which provides the elasticity (this is a genetic thing, can't alter it) 2. you haven't been too big for too long. exercising will stimulate the good callogen stores to retract and pull back. makes sense. good luck!

i am kind of shocked that any RN/LPN that is NOT an employee of the surgeon's office/group would get involved with surgical after care. you have now essentially transferred ALL liability of your outcomes to both yourself and this nurse.

i have seen patients experience outbreaks just before AND just after surgery. i see it more common after surgery and it could be from the stresses of surgery in general. you want to make sure that your immune system is at it's BEST when going in to surgery. ANY surgery is tough, just going under anesthesia, recovery, healing, etc. hang in there and contact your surgeon. they will give you the best guidance. i think you are wise to understand that you may need to move it for your own safety.

I would think that if that were in ANY way true,this would not be an FDA approved procedure, and there would be story after story, after story on here, in the news, etc of this happening... considering that probably a MILLION or so sleeves have been done around the world at this point, i'm leaning towards.....not true.

for the most part, i take my portion and eat VERY slowly. i generally talk a lot too, so i take a tiny bit, eat, swallow and continue talking for a while! it takes me about 1/4 of the time of everyone else, even with eating slowly. it doesn't bother me to sit among everyone and watch, and enjoy conversation with them! i will even ask about how things taste, what's in it, etc. in showing interest, i'm engaging them too, and putting recipe ideas in my mental bank! i make sure there is some option that I can enjoy, and i would even call ahead if it's at a restaurant. if you are going to somebody's home, a great way to tackle this is to TAKE a small platter of something that is on your plan phase and make it look like it's for 'everybody to enjoy'!!! my coworkers are the people i eat with the most, and they all know that i had surgery. i feel like they all watch me a little more closely to see if i'm 'cheating' but i believe that most of them have my best interest at heart. at a lunch i went to, i did something suggested above and just talked, laughed, and pushed food around and then when everyone was pretty much done, i just asked for a box. no prob!

here's my plan: get it done before the day is over! seriously- i don't plan. i DO try to make sure that i have some Protein available for after, but with my crazy days, sometimes it's at 9am, sometimes at 2pm, sometimes at 1030pm with the streetlights on!