Caliblonde

Thank you!!!

My "real age" is 31.5 and I just turned 31. I figure that this must be improving since I had surgery...it was probably much higher a few months ago.

Weight Watchers at least 6 times Low Carb (similar to Adkins) 1 x Slim Fast 3x Lindora 1x Medically Supervised 2x LA Fitness Personal Trainer 1x 24 Hour Fitness 1x Appetite Suppressants 2x I think I lost less with the entire combination of these diets/plans than I have since surgery.

I'm a So. Cal Kaiser patient and I had my surgery through Pacific Bariatric in San Diego and the surgery part of things was a breeze. It was a bit far to drive, but Kaiser will reimburse you for travel, food, and hotel expenses for you and one companion. I remember feeling exactly the same way as you after I finished Options. I started a support group with some other gals in my Options class and we've kept it up for about 6 months now. It's been really helpful and nice to know that I'm not alone through this whole process. My process from the time I went to the first orientation until I had surgery was 17 months, 6 of those months were after completing the options classes. Good luck to you!

I went to my surgery support group that we have every other week with some ladies from my Options class. When my friend opened the door she looked at me and said "oh my gosh, where's the rest of you?!" Totally made my day!

Thanks for the encouragement. Adri, those eggs sound delicious. I've been searching for new and interesting ways to have eggs.

Hey May Sleevers! I was sleeved May 19th and am down 55 lbs since surgery and 95 pounds including my pre-op weight loss.

Thank you! The sleeve has been the best decision of my life!

Very cool!

I'm so excited, I got on the scale this morning and it said 349!!!! I weigh less than I did when I got married!!!!! I've stalled out a few times, but I try really hard not to stress about it because I know the weight is going to keep coming off. I focus on Protein and Water and fill in with good carbs and some veggies. My favorite meal these days is a scrambled egg with sauteed onions, mushrooms, and spinach with some seasonings - delicious! I also found out this week that I actually can exercise (haha). I've been avoiding it because exercise has always equaled pain in the past. But I've walked several miles in the past couple of days and I feel great!

If it continues I would ask for your labs to be drawn. I had a pretty severe potassium deficiency about a month after surgery, so that combined with the severe calorie restriction made me dizzy and exhausted as well.

I had diarrhea really bad after surgery, but they told me not to worry unless it was more than 5 times per day. Mine subsided as I started to add more things into my diet. Keep sipping!

Breakfast: 2 mini babybel cheeses Snack: Protein Bar Lunch: ?? Probably 1/2 cup of cottage cheese Snack: edamame Dinner: we're going to Claim Jumper with my in-laws tonight so I'll probably have Soup.

Welcome! I'm a fellow So Cal Kaiser patient and was sleeved in May. I'm extremely happy with my decision to get the sleeve. Feel free to msg. me if you want to chat!

Sooo yummy, and for me sooo dangerous! I was eating them too much and probably too many at a time....I think these need to be a once in a while snack not a staple snack.

I saw a recipe for pork rinds that is supposed to taste like the cinnamon twists from taco bell...put a little butter, splenda, and cinnamon on them. I looked great in theory, in reality...I gagged.

I bought a bag of Baken-ets pork skins today at the grocery store. I've never had them before and was expecting more flavor. I started looking around for ways to make them tastier on the web and found this recipe on the "low carb friends.com" forums. It looks interesting, I may just try it! Pork Rind French Toast 1/2 of a 3-oz. bag of unflavored pork rinds 2 eggs 1/4 cup heavy cream 3 packets Splenda 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon egg nog extract or vanilla extract Crumble pork rinds up until they resemble fine bread crumbs (use your food processor if you like — or put them in a Ziploc bag, air removed, and roll them with a rolling pin.) Set aside. Beat eggs well and then mix with remaining ingredients and beat again. Add crushed pork rinds to the egg/cream mixture and allow to sit for approximately 5 minutes. Mixture will thicken to a "gloppy" phase during this time - give it the full 5 minutes to rest. Meanwhile, heat skillet or griddle with a little bit of butter or oil, and when hot, fry pancake style until golden brown on both sides. Serve with low-carb maple syrup! This recipe is very low in carbs - according to the forum I read it only has 1 gram of net carbs.

HAHAHAHA! Wow, thanks for the awesome laugh! I had to do a bowel prep, 3 tablespoons of milk of magnesia the day before surgery. It wasn't too bad, since I was on all liquids there wasn't much there to begin with. After surgery they gave me something to "get things moving"....oh my god did it ever!!!!!! It was horrible and it kept going for days after I got home too. The gave me some stuff in the hospital to help with cleaning and protecting my very sore bum - the products are: 3M Cavilon Durable Barrier Cream and Cavilon No-Rinse Skin Cleanser. Both were incredibly helpful for me.

I tried a potato chip not too long ago and it did not taste good at all. Other things taste exactly the same as they did before surgery but I can't stand it now (i.e. bread).

Congratulations, I'm so happy for you! You look fantastic!!

Wow! Congratulations, you look amazing!

I had the same stall! I had surgery at 404 pounds, and stalled when I hit 366. I literally had 3 weeks of the same d*#! number on the scale every single day!!!!!!! I talked to my doctor and my surgeon about it and they both told me the same thing, when you lose a pound a day for 30+ days your body needs to take a breather to catch up. I'm at week 9 and my stall is now broken and I'm back to losing a pound a day again. Initially I was just pushing liquids and not worrying so much about my calorie intake. I was maybe getting 200 calories per day. Around 6 weeks out I started pushing my calories up, and was getting around 400 calories per day. Now, I'm around 500 - 600 calories per day.

My surgeon's office told me to take Flintstones Complete Multivitamins. I couldn't tolerate them after surgery, so I switched and am now taking Vitafusion Gummy Vitamins for adults from costco. They taste yummy and don't make me sick to my stomach. In addition, I'm taking Nature's Bounty B-12 5000mcg sublingual, NatureMade Chewable Vitamin C, and Walgreens Calcium +D chewable.

Keep in mind that post surgery you're not going to be able to eat very much, so when you're looking at the serving size and how many carbs are in one serving just remember that you're very likely not going to be eating anywhere close to a whole serving. That said, I love all the ideas for low carb alternative. For pizza maybe try the Thomas light multigrain english muffins (100 calories, 8 grams of Fiber, and 5 grams of Protein for one whole english muffin) or whole wheat bagel thins (100 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 6 grams of protein for each thin).

I thought I was going to have a hard time sleeping laying flat in my bed, but it ended up being fine. I just rolled sideways and pushed myself up to get out of bed. That said, after my gallbladder surgery 3 years ago I would have killed for a recliner to sleep in for about a week afterwards. I ended up buying a wedge to put under my pillow to keep myself propped up. I think you should do what you feel will make you most comfortable after surgery. Even if you don't use it for sleeping in, recliners usually sit higher and that might make it more comfortable during the day.