lsereno

HI Irene, I am thinking of you. This community is here waiting for you. Take care of yourself. Remember my favorite saying: "Would I do/say/expect that of someone else? Then don't be so hard on me!" Love and well-wishes, Lynda

Wow Sara you are rockin that sleeve! Congrats on the weight loss and your 6 month surgiversary! Lynda

Hi Julia, Everyone picks their own way to update their status for these challenges. I check in every Friday (or as soon as I can after Friday if I'm traveling as I was this week). I weigh in each Friday and update my ticker then too. Lynda

Hi all, I'm a bit late updating because we were traveling over the weekend. I'm back to my lowest recorded weight: 138.3. Hope it stays down there next Friday. I have not been good this week. Extra drinks and Snacks and missed workouts. On the plus side, I had a great time visiting family! Lynda SW-139.3.....CW-138.3.....GW-135!!! Feb. 10: 139.3 Feb. 17: 138.3 Feb. 24: March 2: March 9: March 16: March 23: March 30: April 6: Easter:

Congrats Autumn Lily and Happy Sleeviversary! Lynda

My starting weight on my ticker is from when I started my pre-op diet. If you don't start there, I would start with the pre-op weight because the post-op gain is so temporary. It will be gone within a few more days. Lynda

Thanks Jackie - these are great tips. I'm about a month out further than you and I know what you mean about the honeymoon phase. I've got just a few pounds to goal, but my bad habits creeping back in are making them s-l-o-w to go. The problem with snacking is the more I do it, the more I want too. It's good to see you are maintaining at goal. I'm looking forward to joining you there soon! Lynda

I win! I gained 16 lbs Took about a week to clear out. I drank the recommended amount of fluids and walked a little every day. Not a super long way but I did walk around my block and walk around in the house. To get my fluids in I used a measuring cup as a pitcher and a medicine cup as my drinking glass. I sipped one ounce every 15 minutes while I was awake. I put lotion on too. My skin was so tight I felt like a sausage in a casing. Sorry you are suffering with this too. Lynda

I avoided potatoes, bread, noodles, and rice for the first few months. They made me feel sick. I can now eat toasted bread or the crust, 1/4-1/3 cup potato. I still have only eaten a couple of noodles or spoons of rice. I don't like them as much, so it's hard to make room for them :-) I stick with Protein first, which means early out that's all I ate. After I could eat a couple of ounces of protein at a time, as I could eat more I added a little fruit and vegetables or sometimes a couple of saltine crackers. Now I can have 3 oz. of protein, a little fruit or veg and a small amount of starch - usually crusty or toasted bread, potato or crackers. I agree with other posters that it's important to avoid starches this early out, both to break the bad eating habits and to get in more nutrients. Lynda

Hi Rev Me Up! Happy early sleeviversary! Thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm getting close to goal and I love to read how others are doing at maintaining. Your story is especially compelling to me because we are the same height and have the same goal weight. Congrats on successfully reaching goal and maintaining! I hope to join you at goal soon. Lynda

Agree that you need Protein drinks at this point or greek yogurt maybe. Don't make yourself miserable like this. My program (Kaiser Fremont) guidelines had us eat protein first and no more than you can tolerate. Eat three meals per day and have a Protein shake in the evening until you can get enough protein from food. I could eat about 1 oz. of soft protein, such as lunch meat, moist fish or chicken, when I was about three weeks out. Sometimes I had two Protein Drinks per day to get in enough. Lynda

At four weeks out, I ate around 600 calories a day and was walking three times per week for exercise. I was still pooped and needed naps and put off doing stuff that could be delayed. I didn't start exercising with weights till 6 weeks out and I didn't have all my energy till about 4 months out. A typical day: 575 calories, 67 grams Protein, 8 cups fluids 6:45 a.m. : 1 cup Water 7:30: 1 cup decaf coffee 8:00: 5 oz Chobani Yogurt Fat Free, didn't eat the fruit on bottom 9:30 1 cup water 12:15: 1 oz. 99% fat free ham, 2/3 light cheese stick 1:15: 2 cups Diet Lipton Green Tea with Citrus 4:00: 2 oz. chicken thigh with BBQ sauce and 1/4 C. watermelon 5:00: 2 cups Crystal Light Pink Lemonaide 7:30 1 cup soy milk with 1 scoop vanilla Protein Powder Lynda

My opinion: Call your doc if it feels like it is getting worse or you start running a temp. Otherwise, it probably is some soreness from the surgery. I had a pain there for weeks and also a pain in my left lower abdomen even though there wasn't an incision there. I think something got jiggled around and sore during surgery. I also had a couple of swollen areas on my tummy that slowly went down. I'm sure it was just the muscle or tissue under the skin that was a little irritated. Lynda

OK, I'm in! I will use my weight from last Friday as my starting weight. I only have a few pounds to go because I'm almost at goal, but I need motivation to get there. And I'm gonna have to step something up- either eat less or exercise more because I have had a small gain the last two weeks. I don't have any mini-goals this time because it is just a few teeny pounds to GOAAAL! So I hope part of my Easter challenge will include getting to maintenance and staying about the same weight. Lynda SW-139.3.....CW-139.3.....GW-135!!! Feb. 17: Feb. 24: March 2: March 9: March 16: March 23: March 30: April 6: Easter:

5'6" Highest weight: 260 Start of pre-op diet, Feb. 15, 2011: 254 Day before surgery, May 16, 2011: 222 One month post op: 201.2 Three months post op: 180.7 Six months post op: 150.4 Nine months post op: 139 (4 lb.s from goal, 21.8 BMI) I worked out before surgery so I had muscle mass going in. As soon as I felt better and was cleared for exercise at 6 weeks, I started my routine again. Used to work out with a trainer 3 X per week and walk twice per week. Now I take two exercise classes and meet with trainer 1 x per week. Still walking 2x per week. I think I am going to have to add a little more exercise to get the last 4 lbs. off and stay at that weight. Maybe walk one more day and add a one more exercise class. Lynda

Hi all, I have a gain since check in last Friday. This morning I weighed in at 140.3. Hoping to shake the last 5 lbs. off during the Easter challenge. I am not updating my ticker because my official weigh in day is Friday. Lynda My Valentine's Goal also includes reaching the following goals: 144: This was my Christmas goal and I've lost 110 lbs. (32 pre-op and 78 post op). 9 lbs. to my final goal!!! 142: I've lost 80 lbs. post-op 140: Five lbs. to my final goal!!! 139: My number starts with 13. I haven't weighed this since the early-90s. 135: GOOOAAAL! Lynda Valentine's Day Goal: SW-144.2.............CW-140.3.............Goal-135 Dec. 25: 144.2 Dec. 30: 142.8 Jan. 6: 142.6 Jan. 13: 141.7 Jan. 20: 138.4 Jan. 27: 138.3 Feb. 3: 138.8 Feb. 10: 139.3 Valentine's Day: 140.3

I like the Body Pump classes at my gym. Great workout to music with weights that targets all the muscle groups. I also do a Cardio Scupt class that is half cardio, half weights, but if you are already getting plenty of cardio, I think the Body Pump class is a good choice. Lynda

Kaiser Fremont, where I had my surgery, uses a 40 bougie. As you can see from my stats, I have had good weight loss. Not sure where the sleeve will top out for food consumption. Right now, I eat a max of 3 oz. of firm Protein with about 1/2 cup of veggies and a bite or two of a starch. At Breakfast, I eat 1 cup of greek yogurt, a slice of toast, and a little fruit. I am hungrier lately, but I think it's due to some bad snack choices I've made in the last few weeks. I find eating empty carbs makes me hungrier. Lynda

Happy Surgiversary! Congrats on rocking the sleeve this year - you look fabulous! Lynda

I used a a clock with a second hand or a timer to measure time between bites and I read while I ate. At first I used a small demitasse spoon to make sure I didn't eat too much per bite. Now that I am a few months out, I eat at my own pace without an issue. Lynda

I have had to readjust my balance, gait, and posture. I'm naturally pretty uncoordinated so maybe it affected me more than others. The first few months when weight loss was fastest, I wobbled around like a drunk. I'm still learning to walk a little differently now that I'm not lugging around an extra 100+ lbs. I used to walk a little hunched over and I have to concentrate on standing straight, shoulders, hips. and knees aligned. And had to relearn how to sit and stand. I used to need to use something for support to get off the sofa or a chair instead of just leaning forward a bit and straightening my legs as I do now. It took a while to realize that I could bend over to do something on the ground like tie my shoe or pick something up instead of getting down on one knee. And it took a while to realize I could fit through a space. I would be standing there like I was blocked before realizing, "hey, I can fit through there now!" Haha. What great problems to have!! Lynda

My recommendation is to buy very little food because I bought a lot of stuff like sugar free Jello, sugar free pudding, cottage cheese, sugar free popsicles that I didn't like or couldn't tolerate post-op. If you have others in the house who will eat the stuff, I'd get it. Otherwise, try to buy just one of each thing that you can get from the store and then you can send someone to buy more if it turns out you like it and it sits well. My sleeve was very touchy at first and the one thing it tolerated well was the

Agree with others that you should check with your Dr. I belong to Kaiser Fremont Bariatric Program. We are allowed NSADs but if we take them we must also take Omeprazole. Ability to NSADs was one of my decided factors for VSG. I'm in my 50s and have a lot of joint issues, which have been diagnosed post-op as Rheumatoid Arthritis. Lynda

Congrats! Have a great time in New Orleans. I love traveling with less "baggage" to carry with me :-) I think it's a great idea to have mini-goals to celebrate. I've have had a ton of mini-goals along the way. It's something I learned from Weight Watchers and it really helps me stay motivated and celebrate the journey. Lynda

Congrats Julie! It is amazing to plug the numbers in and see a normal BMI pop up. You've made great progress in just a few months. And just 15 lobs. to goal. Woo-hoo! Lynda