meggiep

Goal #1 - weigh less than my husband! He is currently at 208 as he gained 5 pounds on our Hawaiian vacay ;-P I am at 223......and working hard! He jokes about trying to get to Onederland and making a happy dance video about it on MY You Tube channel! Goal #2 Onederland Before my trip I had this fantasy of doing it by the end of summer- September 21st. We'll see.... Goal #3 170 My doctor's goal- which he actually changed from 160 recently- I am not sure why... Goal #4- seeing where I end up! The exciting thing is being confident I CAN do this, and can keep it off. I love my sleeve!!!

I am thinking we may be looking at September!

Wow! Red velvet sister I am so proud of you! Interestingly when was in Hawaii this past two weeks I really did feel like I looked almost normal! I liked the person I saw n the mirror, I felt pretty and I wore a sarong and a flower in my hair and just really felt good. I don't now why I am able to grasp this- maybe because I did not weigh for 10 years and so my time of knowing I had gotten to such a high weight was relatively short lived? I am still 60 pounds away from my goal but I feel like I look good! I so want that for you too! You need to tell yourself how great you look every single day.

Hayward or Vacaville for me please! I am home from Hawaii and would dearly love to meet up. Saturday August 27th would be best for me so my husband can come!

unjury chicken Soup is a huge help to me- you do need the hot Water to be 130 degrees or lower to avoid clumping but that is nice and warm. I add 12-16 ounces of water as it is a bit salty wit only 8 ounces but it is very comforting and is 21 grams of Protein in a serving. The extra water counts to your liquids so this helps too.There are tons of different dry powders too that you can mix in creative ways to help get more protein in. I still, eleven weeks out, set my phone timer to remind me to drink. It is so easy to fall behind otherwise. In doing that I am now able to drink three liters a day. I know everyone says it but it gets better and better! I have lost 55 pounds as of today and I feel fabulous.

My surgeon prescribes a twice daily medication to protect against gall stones that I am to take until the major weight loss period ends. I know it is a hazard after the surgery. I t sounds like that could be your problem! I would have it checked out asap.

From my post in the thread a ways down below this one: " Ok everyone here is what I came up with for the wonderful RIcotta Bake, so delish on purees or anytime I think! I could see adding a layer ofr ground turkey when I am on a fuller diet. Anyway, this nutritional info based on using full fat ricotta cheese, regular parmesan (I used shredded from Costco) a large egg, and low fat mozzarella cheese, as well as my particular fave vodka/marinara sauce for the topping . It is also based on dividing the complete dish into six servings, which is about perfect for my 1/4 cup ability here at three weeks. So if you want to eat more, multiply my totals x 6 and divide it into the number of servings you want it to be. Obviously if you use low fat cheese all the way around it will change. Like Eggface I prefer full fat for the most part though I don't mind low fat mozzarella I am all about the flavor! I use Spark People to feed the ingredients in and create the recipe and then got the nutritional data- easy! Hope this helps anyone obsessed with having the right thing to log every day like me! Serving = 1/6th pan Amount per serving Calories 160.7 Total fat 10.9 g Cholesterol 74.0 mg Sodium 335.8 mg Potassium 74.0 mg Total carbs 3.1 grams dietary Fiber 0.3 grams sugars 0.9 grams Protein 11.5 gram " Since them -I actually changed the recipe for me- half the parmesan, a 1/4 cup more mozzarella, and 4 ounces of ground beef under the tomato sauce now that I eat meat. It is still my favorite go to protein tasty meal.

Woo hoo! And you are more than half way there! Wondering- does your 60 include a pre-op diet? I only ask because I always include my two weeks and am wondering how four months will look for me! xoxo

Try setting a timer (your phone?) and every fifteen minutes drink just a few ounces- it can really work- I SZTILL do it- every 8 minutes now and manage 3 liters a day now. See if you can find a palatable Protein drink- maybe the

Are you sure it is hunger? I have not had hunger since the day of my surgery. Are you on acid inhibitors? Sometimes there is a pang from acid that can feel like hunger. Many VSG peeps lose their hunger since ghrelin is no longer produced- ad I feel for you who still have hunger! When I think I am hungry- usually from smelling something nummy (the apartment house down the street perpetually has barbecued burgers and steak cooking- I swear!) or seeing something- I stop and ask myself- are you truly hungry?The answer is always no- I do not get hungry and have to actually remember to eat. Check into the antiacid. Also- all of our sleeves are different in capacity depending on our surgeons. Mine is VERY conservative- uses a small bougie and stitches close to the guide. I am pressed to fit 1/4 cup. Honestly I am jealous if you can eat more! It is so restrictive to eat Protein and rarely have room for vegies and fruit. I just can;t fit much in and rarely go over 600-700 calories. Be glad you can fit a bit more, log your food to keep track, and rock those sleeves!

Hang in there! Seriously- I too had to stay in the hospital extra time because I could not get anything down. My first six days were h-e-double hockey sticks. I could not drink without pain and could not imagine how my life was going to be. On my fifth day it became easier to drink and the clouds parted and the sun came out. Gradually, making sure to get Protein and Water, I moved forward and now I can eat anything (just in tiny portions!) and I have lost 53 pounds. Remember you did this to save your life and don't pressure yourself to be where you are not. Hugs to you!

I finally got to my surgeon about this one and he disagrees. The fundus is removed and that is the location of the ghrelin production.

I don;t think your info about a chicken breast having 90 grams of protein is correct! Chicken has 5-6 grams per ounce. You would have to eat at least 15 ounces of chicken to get 90 grams- my stomach holds 1 1/2 to 2 ounces MAX and then I am stuffed. I eat three to four small meals- and you do need to make some room for vegies and fruit. Until I can eat more (I am 10 wees out) I cannot see being able to get all my protein from food. Since protein is such an important part of the chemical process- I still have two protein drinks a day- one chocolate mixed ith decaf and one Unjury chicken soup.

I think at one month you are still quite swollen and it should get better. I can only eat 1/4 cup maximum, that is my surgeon's plan. With a Protein drink in the morning, and 3-4 meals plus

Oh sweetie I am so glad you got all this dealt with! I think the B12 will really hlep with energy and the wellbutrin will help your depression. That one made me a bit too jumpy but they will find the right thing for you and things will get much better. Hooray! It must be a huge thing for your body to adjust to all that weight loss- huge! Just remember that MIchelle had a lot more to lose than you do! Think of it as a percentage of what she had to lose. Then do that percentage of yours! It would be about 30-32 pounds in the same amount of time. WHich would be awesome!

I am so sorry to hear this Michelle! I myself have bee depressed for a couple of weeks- and I already take an anti -depressant for life long depression- but this is a new feeling- and I too have had bouts of anger. My doctor mentions in his seminars that often people who have never been depressed before suffer from it as the fat cells do dump hormones as mentioned above. Short term use of an anti depressant is not unusual and is normal for losing weight at such a fast pace. Hope it works out for you!

32 bougie here and 1/4 cup is IT for me- almost 10 weeks out. No matter how I try- 1/4 cup is my world. ;-P My surgeon has had one fatality in his 11 years of doing bariatric surgery. An RNY patient was released from the hospital- went home and at pizza as soon as he got home. He did not die immediately but did die. WTF? To do that....unimaginable!

Use a timer to remind you to drink- I do and I am up to three liters a day now! Read this- it will explain stalls and make you feel much better! http://www.dsfacts.com/weight-loss-stall-or-plateau.html I post it so often it should be a sticky!

My doctor uses a 32 bougie- my sleeve is tiny- even if it triples in size I will only be able to eat 3/4 cup! I am actually amazed how little I can eat. O that part I am not worried about! EVen though right now he seems to be a little sadistic I know in the future I will be glad. As for the grehlin- I am going to ask my doc about that...

It seems like it also varies with the time of day...and from day to day! I can usually eat a 1/4 cup of cottage cheese with room to spare so I ate that today and then ONE ripe apricot- and was in terrible pain. It shocked me! I really try to avoid that feeling and it sneaks up and bites me when I least expect it. I know one thing- no way could I eat 1/4 cup of cottage cheese AND an egg- but my sleeve, Thumbelina, is very tiny and 1/4 cup is my world.

Am I correct that Plication the stomach remains intact, just folded? So you still have grehlin, the hunger hormone. SO hunger would, unfortunately , stay. I am one of the lucky ones with no hunger since surgery day- and I so appreciate it. I feel for all of you who still get hungry. xoxo

Thanks- it does help! And it makes a lot of sense too! I am going to see how that works for me- and no, I can't eat many fruits and veggies anyway- we are talking 4 green beans or 2 apricots from our tree. Always protein first and no room for much else! I can't even imagine fitting a half cup! xoxo

I use gummy multis and they go down fine. I just wish they didn't have 3 carbs each!

Consider yourself very lucky! Many of us are very carb sensitive- I followed a 1000 calorie diet for three months last year and lost NINE pounds total. I just do better low carb. To be able to do well just counting calories- well, your sleeve will do that with you very effectively! You should have great results. Kelly- I just found out that one of the people I have emulated on this journey, Juliarh , does not include fruits and veggies in her carb counting- that sounds like an ideal approach- and lo and behold that is what my RV triplet Kelly is doing instinctively! By the way- doesn't it just BITE that some of our Vitamins have carbs? My Calcium chews have TWELVE in three of them, and my gummie vitamins have SIX in two so that is 18 right there. Sigh.

I don;t think I ever realized that you don't count fruits and veggies! Since you are the person I want to emulate that is valuable to know ;-P WHat do you keep your carb count to for the the things you do count? I think in counting net carbs I sort of do the same, but not quite. Did you use Protein drinks during the main part of your weight loss? I have always wondered if you had access in Paraguay! One of my problems with only being able to get 1/4 cup in is that it is hard to get that balance of different foods plus get the Protein. How did you do that?