Coookies

Hi my stomach was the same way.. it's all of the swelling from the surgery and the bad news is that it can take up to 6 weeks to go down!!! Mine did... around the 6 to 7 week mark it finally went away... but the good news is that this is normal!!! You are doing great!!

Overall i'm happy with the positive replies on here... the last thing we need is judgmental people who are in denial on here... My viewpoint in life is that totally stopping something 100% that you are addicted to doesn't always work... cuz when you fall of the wagon, you fall hard... I think that moderation is the key to all addictions, whether its food, alcohol, etc.... And thanks to our sleeve we have the key to moderation.... Pair that with good to moderately good food choices and we are set... And like i said, and others have said, it's not the McDonald's chicken wrap that made you fat, its the Big Mac, the chicken sandwich, fries, coke and hot fudge sundae that did it.. or the huge bowls of Pasta.... or whatever your addiction was...
Peace! and a special shout out to all of the people who took this post as what it was meant to be, a way to share info on what we are eating, and some tips......... thanks Southernsleever, Supersweetums, and as always, Tiffykins!!!

So, yeah sometimes you will eat at McDonald's or whatever equilalent of McD's that you prefer... What to order?? OMG the choices!!! For me I have 3 standby choices...


6 piece nugget meal ... with Coke Zero... i eat 3 nuggets and exactly 6 fries... the rest of the nuggets become another meal and the rest of the fries go to my neighbor's pregnant dog, cuz let's face it, reheated fries are so very nasty and not worth the calories... and the dog, well she really appreciates my dieting efforts ... And YES i drink Coke Zero.. yes it is carbonated... no I haven't died from it yet.... i sip it slowly and burp when i need to very easy.... oh, and if i'm feeling virtuous, i will peel my nuggets halfway... Fillet o'fish... or whatever it is called.... ask for a fork when you order (and when they look at you funny, like you are insane, just smile nicely).... pull the fish piece off of the bun, and chuck it, or if you have a pregnant dog or any malnurished creature living near your home, save it....... eat the fish with the fork... and again 6 fries...... If the sandwich comes with cheese, eat it, cuz even the processed crap has 3 grams of Protein.... Snack wraps...... lovely creation... grilled chicken or beef are the best.. here we only have crispy chicken ones and beef patty ones, and they come wrapped with a slice of bacon.... i eat half of the tortilla or less, and all of the meat.... no fries with this bugger...
What do you eat out??

I'm 2 months, 3 weeks and 5 days post-op... I've been on normal foods for the past two months, but have been taking it easy with what i eat.... right now I can almost finish 1/2 cup of food.. less than 1/4 cup if it is only dense Protein...
ABOUT THIS POST: I didn't mean for it to sound like i'm eating this crap all the time... once every 2 or 3 weeks..
For example, i was visiting friends in Japan last week.. They have 2 little boys and on our way home from an overnight trip, the boys wanted McDonald's... Japan's McD's is different from Korea's so I chose the Fillet o'fish, or whatever it is called... My point is... when you are stuck with very limited food options, you have to know what you can/should eat... especially if you have kids or are around kids a lot.. And of course, this is not recommended for people who've just had the surgery recently....

LOL.. thanks!!! i just wanted to be honest.. we will be stuck outside or will just feel like eating there... its natural... its not like we can eat a couple of big macs anyway, so whats the big deal !!!
@LESLIE: LOL.. glad i'm not alone!!!
FYI everyone else:
I would love to order a grilled chicken anything, but I live in Korea... 7,000 miles from home, and the menu at McD's is laughably limited.. only crispy chicken, nuggets, or beef... and i'm not a big beef fan even though i'm from Texas and salad on the menu.... now I'm really laughing... the only salad on the menu here is a corn salad.. (a cup of corn with mayo mixed in... ugghhh.!!) this is a carb centric society that i'm living in... Fat free or sugar free anything... HAHAHAHA!!! even yogurt.... full fat and sugar or nothing... a bit limited!!
I'm sure once im back in the US i will be able to make healthier food choices... then again if i want to eat a chicken nugget i will... it wasn't eating 3 chicken nuggets that made my ass this big, it was eating 20 plus fries...
Oh, just want to say that even some of the long timers on here admit to eating crap... but they stress that it is okay, as long as it doesn't become an everyday occurrence and as long as you realize what you are taking in...

Overall i'm happy with the positive replies on here... the last thing we need is judgmental people who are in denial on here... My viewpoint in life is that totally stopping something 100% that you are addicted to doesn't always work... cuz when you fall of the wagon, you fall hard... I think that moderation is the key to all addictions, whether its food, alcohol, etc.... And thanks to our sleeve we have the key to moderation.... Pair that with good to moderately good food choices and we are set... And like i said, and others have said, it's not the McDonald's chicken wrap that made you fat, its the Big Mac, the chicken sandwich, fries, coke and hot fudge sundae that did it.. or the huge bowls of Pasta.... or whatever your addiction was...
Peace! and a special shout out to all of the people who took this post as what it was meant to be, a way to share info on what we are eating, and some tips......... thanks Southernsleever, Supersweetums, and as always, Tiffykins!!!

Can you imagine what the benefit would be to healthcare costs alone if they did this surgery earlier? Astronomical....I believe in the future there will be a move to do this sooner than later. But more than that. The benefit to diabetics who lose their limbs because their diabetes is so out of control or lose their sight. Or the patient with hypertension or cardiac disease. What if this surgery done sooner prevents that? Isn't that worth a chance to have this surgery. And whether ppl realize it or not. Low BMI patients can be just as sick as higher BMI patients. We all should of course do all the research and know all the possible complications....then make our own choice.....what is best for us....only we can know that....and shouldn't fear being called names.

From reading her previous posts she was a revision patient. Lost some wgt with band for a year and I believe had complications which lead to revision. Then lost the remainder with her sleeve.....but all that is just from reading her previous post. Second hand info. The poor OP has not even chimed back in.....guess all back and forth ran her off. I do apologize if you (the OP) didn't feel supported. That should b our main goal here.....

I wonder if anyone who is criticizing knows anything about this op other than the amount of weight she wanted to lose. Perhaps she is a revision or had commorbidities or like all of us has tried everything else. When I began this process I was not that overweight either but it was continuing to go up not down and I was borderline prediabetic. I watched diabetes ravage my mil until it killed her and it is doing the same thing to my dad. I wasn't going to sit around and wait for that to happen to me. Double masectomies are not considered preventative medicine either.generally but Jolie just reduced her risk of breast cancer by 80%! Kudos to this op for taking control of her health and her life.

^^^^^WOW,,,,kinda judgmental. It's awesome the op has reached their goal. Maybe if some of us had gotten this surgery earlier we wouldn't be in the shape we are in now....we are all here for the same reason, right? Support.....

I agree with taking it slow.. I know you get frustrated and want to rip your hair out (which i advise against cuz its gonna fall out anyway.... LOL).. Let the weight loss happen naturally, plus the faster you lose, the more saggy your skin will look... I just started losing a lot quicker and my skin is looking so bad i'm afraid to look in the mirror.. Losing slowly allows your skin to regain its elasticity.. Just my thoughts...
fyi: About your calories.. are you writing every single little thing down??? drinks, additives, Condiments even??? Cuz once i started doing that (about 2 months ago) i realized how skewed my daily totally were in comparison with what i thought they were... Also, 20 grams of carbs... total or net carbs??? cuz if you are going with net carbs, then your real carb intake is much higher than you think...

Overall i'm happy with the positive replies on here... the last thing we need is judgmental people who are in denial on here... My viewpoint in life is that totally stopping something 100% that you are addicted to doesn't always work... cuz when you fall of the wagon, you fall hard... I think that moderation is the key to all addictions, whether its food, alcohol, etc.... And thanks to our sleeve we have the key to moderation.... Pair that with good to moderately good food choices and we are set... And like i said, and others have said, it's not the McDonald's chicken wrap that made you fat, its the Big Mac, the chicken sandwich, fries, coke and hot fudge sundae that did it.. or the huge bowls of Pasta.... or whatever your addiction was...
Peace! and a special shout out to all of the people who took this post as what it was meant to be, a way to share info on what we are eating, and some tips......... thanks Southernsleever, Supersweetums, and as always, Tiffykins!!!

I hated the medifast pre-op and will not try it again. Please give your body some time. I know it' shard. I stalled at day 9 for 4 weeks and 3 days and started to loose again after that. It's a rough hall and once it's moving again, you will feel so much better, try measurments and see ifyour losing inches while in thsi stall. It's really ormal and some people ahve 3 day stalls and other have up to 6 weeks. Just keep doing as your doctor said on the diet and check with your Nut to see if it's all going ok..if so...then your just in a stall.
also try on a pair of pants from pre surgeryand see how it feels in them..are they HUGE?
Good luck..it's so very hard dealign with a stall but know this ...as your body converts fat to muscle and has to ragain back the Water needed for that process, if you not gaining weight, your losing inches.
Gayle

Go out and buy yourself a couple of pieces of clothes that fit you perfectly. Even if you are not at goal or are just part of the way there. It is a feel good thing to do. I know we walk around in our "fat" clothes because there is no doubt that we are going to lose more weight and eventually just have to buy more, but here is the thing, sometimes you just need to hear that you are doing a great job. People will notice even if you are wearing your loose baggy clothes but it is so much more apparent when you dress in stuff that actually fits. Remember a couple of days ago I broke down and had no choice but to buy some pants? Well this week I have been wearing them and you know what, I can't tell you how many people asked if I was losing weight, or said how great I looked, or came up to me and sincerely asked me how I was doing it and if I had tips for them. It made me feel great to be noticed for my hard work, I know this is easy for some, but for some it is still hard work even with our wonderful tool the sleeve. What made me feel even better was telling an aquaintance at work who is obese how I truly lost the weight. She asked me a million questions about my research on the different procedures out there and how and when I realized I had to do this. So a my little piece of advise is as you lose weight, buy yourself something to wear that fits and looks good. Go to a thrift store, go to the sales racks or where ever. It will make you feel good and you just might help someone along the way too.

Oh noooo!!! I will NOT let you do that to yourself!!! Girlie, turn that frown Upside DOWN!! You have accomplished so much, and the only feeling you should have is to feel elation!

That said, I totally get what you're saying about the whole graze eating. Hey, no ones perfect - least of all me. But, here's what sets all of us apart from the obese world... we have chosen to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! food is addicting. I'm addicted to food. I have to remind myself of this every single morning when I wake up. I literally have to let the first thought in my mind be "I will not eat bad today". That is the promise I make for myself that day. Sometimes I break that promise, but I don't do it on purpose! I just have to forgive myself and make that next meal a good one.

I really have never been able to do the 5 day pouch test. The only time I'm ever able to stick to liquids only is when I'm getting cut open and my surgeon threatens my life with it... LOL So what I do is kinda turn it into a game. I've always liked the Slim Fast diet - for years! That was how I lost my first 50 Lbs and kept it off.

Well what I'll do is Protein dense (Isopure or powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury chicken Soup) Clear Liquids up until dinner time. Then for dinner I'll have lean Protein and some delicious green veggie as my side dish. Then day 2-3 I'll do the Atkins shakes and again, lean protein and green veggies for dinner. Days 4 and 5 I pretty much reintroduce solids back in during the day and maybe substitute one meal with a Protein shake, and dinner being lean (say it with me folks!! LOL) protein and green veggies.

I know that's not for everyone but I'm just offering an alternative to the common 5 day pouch test. Here's the ONE thing I believe gets me through it though... I fire up that food logger and make sure I'm adding everything! Those two things combined and I'm always back on track and losing weight again.

Good luck to you! You're only a few pounds away from your desired goal... you WILL be there PDQ I know it!!

Xoxo

LOL.. thanks!!! i just wanted to be honest.. we will be stuck outside or will just feel like eating there... its natural... its not like we can eat a couple of big macs anyway, so whats the big deal !!!
@LESLIE: LOL.. glad i'm not alone!!!
FYI everyone else:
I would love to order a grilled chicken anything, but I live in Korea... 7,000 miles from home, and the menu at McD's is laughably limited.. only crispy chicken, nuggets, or beef... and i'm not a big beef fan even though i'm from Texas and salad on the menu.... now I'm really laughing... the only salad on the menu here is a corn salad.. (a cup of corn with mayo mixed in... ugghhh.!!) this is a carb centric society that i'm living in... Fat free or sugar free anything... HAHAHAHA!!! even yogurt.... full fat and sugar or nothing... a bit limited!!
I'm sure once im back in the US i will be able to make healthier food choices... then again if i want to eat a chicken nugget i will... it wasn't eating 3 chicken nuggets that made my ass this big, it was eating 20 plus fries...
Oh, just want to say that even some of the long timers on here admit to eating crap... but they stress that it is okay, as long as it doesn't become an everyday occurrence and as long as you realize what you are taking in...

So, I'm placing a claim right here and now that I have made my Labor Day Goal. The Dr.s office yesterday weighed me in at 175 Lbs. exactly, right before my surgery. Which my Labor Day Goal was 179 Lbs.

I'm not changing my tickers though either way....

However, today I weighed in at 186.4 Lbs... I'm sure from IV's and 4 Lbs of boobs. Those 4 Lbs are danged worth it tho, and don't regret a single oz.

Either way I couldn't be happier than I am right now... until maybe once the rest of my surgeries are completed.

YAYYYY!!!!

Thanks for the cheers!! And I don't think it'll be long till you get there too!!

Nice boobies! I want a pair! Your waist looks so much slimmer now with all those boobs. Did you just get implants or implants with lift? I'm looking at lift/implants. Which Surgeon did you end up seeing? Sorry for all the questions! I'm very excited for you to be completing the last phase of your weight loss and total body transformation!!

You need to stop taking laxatives!! That is probably a BIG source of your problem!!
People THINK that just because they simply aren't going that they are constipated. That is NOT TRUE!! Have you thought about how much food you eat and what you are eating? If your primary source of food intake is Protein, you will have nothing to poop out. Our bodies use it all up for energy. And, what small amounts of other stuff we do eat, doesn't leave much to come out.
I use to be a HUGE pooper. I would go 2-4 times a day! Without fail. I MIGHT go once a week now or once every 10 days! That doesn't mean I am constipated because when I go, I go. I don't sit there and feel like I have to and don't or strain or bleed or feel horrible, I go!!
That is what Constipation is. The need to go, but can't. It is a HORRIBLE feeling. Bloating, bleeding (sometimes), uncomfortable straining, it feels like it is right there but won't come out. Not simply not going for a few days.
When you take laxatives that are not necessary, you are really doing damage to your system by forcing your body to do something it doesn't need to. Then it won't do it on its own.
Be careful with laxatives!!
Kelly

First of all, make sure you are drinking 60-80 ounces of Fluid each day. Water is the first thing you need to be regular.
Second - you need to make sure you are getting Fiber. Fiber comes from veggies and fruits and, for me, benefiber packets. You can take up to three a day, and the disolve into Water with no problems. The other thing I do to keep things moving is to use Miralax. I add a capful of Miralax into my diet almost every day. Either in my Breakfast smoothie or in my water that I drink. If I skip the miralax for a couple of days, my system blocks up. Also - the more you exercise, the more likely you are to stay regular. If you are doing all of this and still stay constipated, go see your doc, something may be wrong.
You are driving yourself crazy weighing multiple times per day and it is serving NO PURPOSE. Don't weigh more than once per day. Your weight fluctuates throughout the day for a variety of reasons. The only reason you want to weigh each day is to be accountable for monitoring your weight. After you weigh first thing in the morning, HIDE YOUR scale so you won't be tempted to torment yourself with it during the day.
I hope you get better soon!

Hello everyone,

Lets please keep to the topic at hand, which is always been quite the debate around here over time. Everyone's journey's are their own and as long as you're making it work and you're losing weight that is all that really matters.

Remember to remain respectful in your replies at all times, which all of us agreed to do when we signed up here. It would be a shame for me to have to close this thread for a simple derailment, this is really good information.

If you have any concerns at all, please feel free to contact me or an Admin for assistance.

If you're eating Protein first, there really isn't a lot of room for carbs.
The carbs I eat are from Greek Yogurt, veggies, some fruit. Sometimes I eat cheese and have crackers too, but they are high Fiber mulitgrain.
So, I don't really count my carbs but I don't eat bread, potatoes, rice, etc and this is the way I have been eating since I got sleeved. I have been maintaining at goal for a year and a half.

I listened to a great lecture about biology and calorie vs carb counting. We are eating the way our ancestors did, the way our bodies know how to work. If you are eating low carb it's probably meat (that you have killed) and veggies you have found with the occasional fruit in the summer when you use more energy. When you eat low cal you have settled down in order to process those grains. The humans as a whole haven't been settled down for long. Okay okay, this is getting wordy. Look at what happened to the Native peoples when they were shipped in flour and grains. They became fat and riddled with disease. By keeping carbs under 30g you are going to have rapid weight loss, 50-100 some weight loss, 100-200 maintain, and 200+ gain. That is just a frame of reference and I've found it to be true.