Writergirl

All of your comments mean so much to me. If I have helped even one other person on this journey this post will be worth it. I couldn't even read it again for awhile! But when I did, I thought ,"geez, I sound like all I do is cry!" That couldn't be further from the truth! Having said that, many of your comments brought tears to my eyes.

You look stunning and your baby girl is beautiful! Everything you said is SO true, although I'm far from goal. This has been far more of a psychological process than I had anticipated.

Leann Leeann and Melixxa...It means so much to me that you took the time to read about my sister. I did write the obit, and it still didn't come close to capturing the intelligent,fun,strong, brave woman that she was. The time I spent with her in the end was amazing.

Thanks so much to those who leave comments. It's hard to throw it all out there, and nice to know it means something to others.

I've read that this is common with any wl surgery, and is the body's natural response to stress. You start losing about 3-5 months out. I took protein and vitamins faithfully, but about a month ago my hair started shedding like crazy. I'm not losing handfulls, but it's SO thin now. Wish I could make a wig from my hairbrush! It's not permanent, but I'm not sure how long it takes before it starts growing back. I may have to start wig shopping soon, but I'm not going to wear a rug on my head when it's 105 out. In the meantime, I use hair thickening shampoo, conditioner, and hair spray. It helps boost the appearance of volume a lot!

Wow! Such a dramatic difference already! Congrats!

I went through that same thought process early on. I only lose for about 2 wks out of each month for some reason. I started to feel like this was just the same old thing. But I don't anymore. What I now do when I'm stalled is look back at all of my daily totals on MyFitnessPal. I record everything in there, even down to 1 olive. When I'm stalled, I ask myself what I could have done better. If there's an answer, I do it. If I've done everything right (no junk, had protein, drank water, exercised, etc), then I just calmly say, "This is just part of the process!" I'm going to be accountable, but if I'm doing my best or close to it, I'm not going to let these stalls get me down. Congrats on the smaller sizes! You must be looking great!

Did you just have surgery? I seem to recall that I was told I could take the regular strength Tylenol caplets, broken in half, along with the Lortab and plenty of water. If in doubt you should call your doctor or pharmacist, though.

I was told I can also take Zantac and Malox (in addition to Prilosec.) They helped a lot! Liquid Malox brought instant relief!

When I had my pre-surgical endoscopy they discovered I had Barrett's. My bari sugeon did NOT want to sleeve me, but wanted to do the RNY. I called my gastroenterologist and we had a LONG talk. He told me that the issue with Barrett's isn't reflux, it's ACID, and he would be putting me on an acid reducer every day for the rest of my life. He said he would prefer I have NO surgery, but understood why it was necessary. He said he has many, many patients with severe complications from RNY, but NONE from the sleeve. He said that so many things would have to happen before my Barrett's turned to cancer, and we would be monitoring it closely, and he didn't think I should overly worry about it. I asked him point blank if I got cancer if the sleeve would preclude treatment, and he said no. After talking, I felt very comfortable about getting the sleeve. However, I hooked my bari surgeon and gastro up so they could talk it out. Afterwards, my bariatric surgeon agreed I could get the sleeve, but told me that if acid was a huge problem I'd have to revert to the RNY in a later surgery. Right after the surgery, I had a lot of acid. Now, I have days when it seems worse, but overall I'm feeling pretty good. I also had a hiatal hernia repair, and I think that took care of some of it. I know this is a really tough decision, and I think it depends a lot on how advanced your Barrett's is. But don't hesitate to seek a second opinion, and don't rush into this surgery if a little more time would improve the Barrett's. I'm supposed to have an endoscopy this summer to see how it looks 1 year out (from my last one--not surgery). I will add this... after having had one surgery, the thought of ever having to go through a second procedure makes me shudder. So, if there's a really huge possibility you might have to do that (have the sleeve then later the RNY), you might want to decide to go with the RNY right from the start. I love my sleeve, though, and so far, have no regrets.

I think if you don't tell the people you hang out with, they'll feel pretty betrayed and hurt when they do find out (and they eventually will). I told my family and close friends before surgery. Didn't want to tell a ton of people because I wasn't confident I'd actually go through with it, and I was also worried I'd fail, just like I failed at every other attempt. But now, it seems EVERYONE knows. I love when people know but they try not to let on that they know. I'm not hiding it. But when people ask how I'm doing, I Do lt them know the weight isn't "melting off" (the perception out there!) and that I've had to change every one of my bad habits, exercise, and make healthy choices to succeed. I've gotten nothing but respect and admiration from people. Not one single negative comment during the entire process! I hope you experience the same level of love, encouragement and support I did!

That was such a fantastic moment for me, too! Congatulations on your huge milestone!!!!! I can feel your happiness!

Go to Starbucks and order a quad espresso to go. Put 1/4 of the espresso, ice, regular chilled coffee (if desired), water, a shot of Torani chocolate syrup, and chocolate protein powder (I use GNC soy) in the bullet. Blend. This makes a fantastic homemade mocha frappachino with the Starbucks taste because it has their espresso in it! Refrigerate the rest for use the next few days. Also, to make it extra special, I'll sometimes add some Torani coconut syrup and top it with 2T of Reddi Whip whipped cream (only 15 calories extra!). The caffeine in this also gives me a nice little pick-me-up.

I agree that it depends on how far out you are. I think the 4 meatballs sounds like a lot, even for small ones. I remember I could eat 1 1/2 mini meatballs a couple of months out. Now I could maybe eat 3, at 5 months. But on the whole, I don't think you're eating that much. However... may I offer some unsolicited advice? Please don't be offended... this is just something to think about. I note that about 3/4 of your calories come from "sweets." I, too, have done Atkins products when I've been craving sweets. However, I think that at a certain point what you eat is going to be just as important as how much you eat. I personally have had to work on eliminating the regular sweets from my life. I cut out the Atkins breakfast products and "protein" bars because I worry that a year from now it will be a very easy slide from a sweet breakfast bar to a donut, from an Atkins bar to a candy bar. Snacks I've come to enjoy include hummus, peanut butter (in small amounts), fruit, and a little veggie dip with celery. Once a week I'll have an Atkins bar while watching a movie. I only mention this because I truly believe that, for me at least, changing the habits that got me into this place (and sweets for breakfast was a lifetime habit), is going to be essential to long-term success. Every day I work on changing my bad habits. Ok... I know this was a lot more than you asked for. (And I'm not perfect, by any means!) Just wanted to mention it in case you haven't thought in these terms!

That's great! At 5 months I TRY to stay at 800-900, but it's really easy for me to hit 1200 now. Unfortunately, I don't lose at 1200. Never have.

It just hit me today that I am no longer an emotional eater. Today, I learned that my sister and best friend in the world is going onto the heart transplant list--IF they consider her to be a good candidate for surviving it. She is beautiful--the picture of health and fitness--but chemo in her 20's destroyed her heart valves and she's been struggling with congestive heart failure. However, I realied this evening that for the first time in my life, I didn't even consider eating to ease my pain and worry. Amazing. What is different?? I got to my highest weight by eating every time I had an emotion, be it anger, sadness, or even excitement and happiness. I've worked on awareness of this for a few years now. When I would get upset about something, I would automatically walk to the pantry or fridge. But instead of just grabbing something, I would say, "If you eat this, you'll have two problems instead of one," and then I would force myself to just feel my feeling and walk away from the food. Last weekend my husband made me so mad, I got out my boxing exercise DVD at 1 a.m. and pictured his face every time I threw a punch! But tonight, I made the connection that even as mad as I was I didn't turn to food to feel better. I'm really thrilled about this. If I can stop eating for emotional reasons, I truly believe anyone can. It will take practice and a willingness to actually FEEL things rather than just drug yourself with food, but it can be done. Thanks for letting me share. Please pray for my sister. She's an amazing woman.

Thank you so much!

I'm constantly inspired by people on this board, and it means a lot to think that I might help someone else! Thanks for letting me know!

Congratulations on your amazing success!!

I gave a lot of thought as to what my "authentic" life is. Is it just eating? Or is it actually getting out there and living? I chose life. Also, I have Barrett's and my surgeon did NOT want to sleeve me. He wanted me to have a bypass. I finally got my gastro doc and surgeon to talk. My gastro really didn't want me to have the bypass. He said that the issue isn't reflux, it's ACID, and that I can control that with meds. He said he treats so many people with lifelong complications from the bypass, but none with complications from the sleeve. Since I was sleeved, I've had some acid, but no more than before. I'll know the "official" story when I go for a follow-up endoscopy with the gastro in August. I'd be interested in what your doctors recommend, if you wouldn't mind keeping me posted!

I still love sugar. I'm trying to be a "normal" person, so I have a treat or two a week. I don't keep sweets in the house, don't eat unplanned snacks (most of the time!), and really try not to eat sweets two days in a row. If I do, the cravings really begin. We usually do have Atkins bars in the house, and I will occasionally have one, but I've had to really limit those, too. I do eat 4 bariatric calcium chews a day, as prescribed by my nutritionist. It bothers me that I'm keeping the sweet tooth going with them, but hey, just following orders!!! I prayed that I would hate sweets after my surgery, but, alas, I still love them.

My hair is falling out at an incredible rate. I'm at 5 months, and I have faithfully taken protein and vitamins. It's looking really bad. I'm feelin pretty down about it. I really don't want to wear a wig in 97 degree weather.

Wow... I'm 4 1/2 months out and have lost 57 since the actual surgery (but 102, total). I set a goal of 10 pounds per month, and have met that except for this month. I hit the 100 pound mark and immediately stalled. But that's ok! Better than stalling at 99!! So I think you're doing REALLY well! To answer your question, I'm eating between 800 and 1300 calories a day. I hate that I can so easily consume 1300 calories, even when eating well. However, I found that when I ate about the same amount each day, I just stopped losing, even at 800. So now I do 800 about 3 days a week, around 1000 to 1100 3 days a week, and about 1300 one day (usually when we eat out and I'm getting more calorie-dense foods). I can eat half to one cup of food at a time now, depending on what it is. I'm now actively working on not eating until I'm full, because I don't want to ever eat more than this. It's hard. Really hard. I have bad joints and can't exercise much, but I try to swim every other day and I've just added a resistance band/stability ball routine on the other days. I wouldn't worry about where you are. Just ask yourself if you're doing your best, and if you are, then that's where you're supposed to be!

Hi, Steven! We are practically neighbors! I was sleeved by Dr. Halmi on 1/24/12. The whole experience there was fantastic! I know you're still going through a lot of changes now. It gets easier and more exciting as you go along. Sounds like you have a good attitude, and that's the most important factor in success!

I had no idea this could happen. I wonder if, with our limited capacity for stomach stretch, this could even happen more EASILY to us!! I just ate half a Weight Watchers 200 calorie breakfast, quit when I was full, and now all I can feel is my esophagus!!!