SKCUNNINGHAM

Eat by the clock. Get up, drink something, eat Breakfast (protein). If you need to, eat a bite of something (Protein or veggie) mid morning. Eat lunch (protein). If you need to, eat a bite of something (protein or veggie) mid to late afternoon. Eat dinner (protein). Allow yourself one SF snack after dinner. Hunger to me is an empty feeling. I need to put a little protein in my system every 4 hours. Anything else my stomach tells me is either acid or head hunger. I treat the acid with OTC meds and GASX strips. The head hunger I tell to go away - it ruled me for most of my life and its "reign of terror" is over.

I a firm believer that God doesn't make mistakes - but I also believe he/she has a sense of humor. Sometimes it seems when you have a plan all laid out, here comes the cosmic "joke" to see how good you are coping with unplanned events. Best of luck on your pregnancy and birth of your child. Maybe your pregnancy can be an opportunity to eat really healthy and have a net loss of weight. I have had heavy girlfriends to have done that - delivered healthy babies, and ended up being 30 pounds lighter after birth than at conception. And, you will have your very own exercise program for after you are sleeved - chasing a baby / toddler around. My thoughts are with you. Sharon

I would be happy to participate. Send me a personal email with the questionairre and where you would like me to email the results to. I am OK with sharing demographic info also. I would like a copy of your completed paper - I am intersted in seeing your results and conclusions.

Not only is it fun to need smaller size underwear, the style options in smaller sizes are so varied. I have been buying a couple of pairs in a few styles as I have been shrinking - to see what style I like. It has been so many years since I was concerned wtih that kind of thing! BTW - no thongs for me - on my feet or elsewhere. :-)

In the past, after significant weight loss, my prescription for my glasses has changed enough to require new glasses. Apparently, my astigmatism changes when my weight drops as does my far-sightedness and near-sightedness. (I have one eye of each kind - nothing to do with age).

WOW! Congratulations! This is wonderful accomplishment - I am happy for you.

Congratulations! You have done an outstanding job transforming yourself. Enjoy the new year and the new you!

I would be interested in the virtual support group. And, I have Skype and a camera.

I am still losing hair at 10 months, but it is also growing back. I have been taking Biotin since about 1 month out.

Plan your wardrobe based on what you need for the lifestyle you live. You can build a wardrobe that can give you many different looks based on some key separates in basic colors that can mix and match. Then you can supplement the looks with different accessories to completely change the look of the outfits. There are books that walk you through how to build a wardrobe based on a few key pieces. Before you can build one though, you need to figure out what you need - how many looks and how dressy you need them to be. This will determine the number of pieces you need. Once you know this, you can start finding the pieces you need and buy them inexpensively. Good Luck Sharon

I was where you are now one year ago. I had just had a wonderful Christmas with family, and knew I would be facing surgery soon. I wondered if I would be around to see another Christmas - I was scared to undergo surgery and thought I would die young (relatively) if I didn't have it. Fast forward to now. I have been sleeved 10 months and am within 10 pounds of goal. I have lost a small person's worth of weight. I am SO MUCH healthier and feell SO MUCH better. And, I really enjoy being this size! Life is much better at a 10 - 12 petite than a 24W. Try to focus on the end goal. Don't let anything you can think or worry about keep you from focusing on your end goal. Anything you have to do, eat, not eat, start doing, stop doing or change is worth reaching your end goal. I wish you the best of luck on your journey.

Isopure PLUS is 15 grams of Protein in 8 oz of liquid. I liked both the grape and punch flavors. It is different than the ISOPURE you can find in the stores. I ordered it online from Amazon.com. The flavors taste like crystal lite - not bad at all. Try not to use the protein shots. The protein is not high quality and not as good for you as whey isolate Proteins. Also, your body can't absorb 46 grams of protein at once - only 20-30. If you have to use them, use half at once. I also use the nectar powdered protein. I like the vanilla, chocolate truffle and fuzzy navel.

Cludgie - I am so happy for you! Congratulations! What a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays and to start the new year.

I ate tuna made into tuna salad (with lite miracle whip and a trace of dill relish) and chicken minced really fine and made into chicken salad the same way.

Sasicas - my thoughts and prayers are with you. I pray that you manage to stay out of the hospital, the scope finds the problem and that you are healed without further surgery.

Good lighting and pretty lingerie will help you feel prettier. If a guy is really attracted to you, he will want you - wrinkled skin and all. If he is turned off by that - see that as a sign that he isn't worth going out with (much less get intimate with). Have you talked to any professional about improving your self image / self confidence? That could help you. Good luck - you have done wonderful with your sleeve. Now you need to have a little fun!

My nutritionist and surgeon's PA told me the reason for the no drinking after eating is that it washes the food out of your stomach into the intestions (where the nutrients are absorbed). BUT, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register you are full, once you start putting food in your stomach. If you drink while you are eating, the food will be washed out of your stomach prior to you feeling full, and you will want more food. So the no drinking rule is to help you lose the most weight, by controlling the amount you need to eat to feel satisfied. I drink up to the point I start eating. I have always broken that rule - and in fact my NUT told me I could do it with no problems

Foxbins advice is right on point. The only other thing you might try is a GASX dissolving strip when you are experiencing the issue. I use them off and on. Your symptoms sound like acid to me. Although since you are female and have lost a bunch of weight, you are a prime candidate for gallbladder problems. I think if it was gallbladder, you would get a more severe signal. When my gallbladder issues arose after rapid weight loss - it wasn't churning, it was definate pain. Hope you get it resolved - you are doing great with your sleeve - <5 pounds to go! YEA for you!

I guess my shape stayed basically the same. I am a short (5'4") broad shouldered, small breasted (at my highest weight, I barely fit a D - now I barely fit a C) woman with a relatively thick waist, small hipps, and and the FLATTEST butt around. Other than my droopy skin on my thighs (which kind of look like they are melting) I have nice muscles in my thighs and calves. When I stand with my legs together, I have the triangle opening at the top of my thighs and then two diamond openings lower down. Take that same shape and spread 100 pounds of fat over it, and that is what I was before. I am hoping the skin on my thighs responds to exercise - in a year - if the skin hasn't snapped back, it may get snipped - I don't like the wicked witch melting look. OregonDaisy is right - exercise with weights throughout to minimize droopy skin - I didn't do this and wish I had. Not only do you lose the fat pad in your "lady area", but you will no longer have the issue of having to move a belly out of the way to find the promised land. :-) Much more fun!

I am so proud of you! You are a wise woman! That is a great attitude to have. Don't let others pull you down with their bad attitudes. I love taking the easy way - automatic washers and dryers for my clothes, refrigerators and freezers for food storage, buying soap rather than making ot over the fire, and all the wonderful ways we have of communicating with each other rather than writing letters with fountain pen. I tried all of the "hard ways" to lose weight before - and they didn't work. That is a great answer - not only are you a wise woman, but witty, too! I may steal that when people tell me I am too thin! Good luck with the rest of your journey - you are bound to be successfull with your attitude.

I did this too! My husband said he thought I might need an intervention:-) I talked about this at support group in December, and a bunch of the WLS patients there did the same thing after surgery. If not the food network, they were buying cookbooks or reading recipes online - doing something to scratch the itch to interact with food in some way.

I found out in October of 2009 my insurance was going to include bariatric surgery coverage in January of 2010. I called the insurer the first week of January to find out the requirements. I found Doctor Nick (as an approved center of excellence) and attended his informational seminar in January. He does all 3 surgeries, so I found out about all of them. I liked the sleeve the best. Then, life interfered. My company was sold right before I went to the informational seminar, but the buying company also covered WLS, and Dr. Nick was still approved as a center of excellence. I started going to the required 6 month dietician visits. Then, the buying company had a lay-off which affected me. I went back to another division of my original company (same insurance I started with) and continued meeting the requirements for WLS. Then, the new business I was working for (a joint venture of two companies) sold out to one of the partners - and my insurance changed again (4th one in 8 months). I kept attending the dietician visits throughout because I didn't want to have a break in attendence. Dr. Nick was still a Center of Excellence provider with the 4th insurance provider. His employee that worked with me was wonderful about keeping track of what all of my different insurance providers required. And, with the delay, my final insurance had changed there coverage to include the sleeve - so it worked out the way I wanted it to. I got my approval (with one denial before the approval - they decided they wanted 5 years of weight history) on December 29th of 2010. I scheduled my appointment with Dr. Nick to schedule surgery in mid January and had surgery for February 22, 2011. The 12 months of time allowed me to research quite a bit. I'm glad it took that long, or I wouldn't have been able to have the sleeve covered.

The hunger I felt early on was really acid. When I felt hunger, I would take a GASX strip, let it dissolve, and drink either warm tea or broth. I also took Famotadine (Pepcid) morning and evening and Prilosec before bed. Now at 10 months out, I only take Pepcid in the am and occasional prilosec at night if I've eaten spicy food. The hint about drinking all your fluids to keep from feeling hungry is a good one. Warm stuff worked better for me than cold. Your stomach (sleeved or not) takes 20 minutes to register to your brain you are full. Spread out your eating over 20 minutes - I don't care if it is 4 bites of plain yogurt. I support your desire to work with a professional on your emotional issues with eating. If you can't find a shrink, look for a counselor or a hypnotist. I have had great results working with one to get control of my addictions to food. Like someone else on this forum says, "they operated on our stomachs, not our brains". There is also a shrink that works with the support group I go to. I am going to schedule an appointment with him to work with me one on one. Even though I have lost most of the weight I intend to lose, now comes the part that makes me nervous - keeping it off. This is where I have failed before. That is why I am really focusing on working on my brain to fix the problems there. Good luck.

MeginNOLA - that is great for you. I agreee with your theory that our sleeves get more tolerant - mine did too about the same time from surgery. There are still things I don't do well with (too much raw salad or celery, or meat cooked dry, or too spicy foods, or bread) but I no longer worry if I am at a business function of not being able to find something that my sleeve tolerates well.

Congratulations! That is outstanding. What a wonderful Christmas gift. Good Luck on the rest of your sleeve journey.