kayjunqueen

I'm analytical by nature, so during the run-up to my surgery last August, I devised this spreadsheet to help me with choosing the right Protein for me. At this link, you can see what I evaluated, how I rated it (ratings are at the bottom of the sheet), how each one adhered to the requirements of my hospital's program (The colored cells on the right), and my thoughts on each one. Everyone has different tastes, but this sheet helped me to keep track of what was good to me and what I wanted to stay away from. I hope some of you find this useful.
http://goo.gl/Vb3Me

I am flying in, tomorrow. Surgery will be in the afternoon with Dr. Garcia at florence. Nervous? Check. Excited? Check. Hungry? Check Check. lol

My surgery date is October 9th! Nervous but excited!

I assure you that you don't feel like you had a baby. Try a c-section where that scar is about 10 times bigger. Congrats on your stomach baby.
I was still achy there for up to a couple weeks. The knife pain was for about a week and a half. They told me that they had to cut through or move (can't remember which) you muscle wall there so it would be sore for the longest.

This is from a post I made a few weeks ago, it does not answer everything you asked about but it fall into the "tool" part (with an additional comment to follow):
"It was asked of me last weekend if I could clarify one thing about WLS, if I could make one notable point that has not been mentioned what it would be. So I thought, hmmmm….

We are constantly reminded that after WLS our stomachs have gone from being a sources of distress, these large cavernous things that CAUSED us to be overweight, FORCED us into eating poorly, etc. to valuable tools we use to lose weight. We have changed our stomachs to be sure. What, however did we change them to? VGS is generally a laparoscopic procedure that removed most of the body of the stomach. Starting generally below the pylorus, the suture/staple/cauterizing procedure extended along the length of the body of the stomach and removed the greater chamber, and may or may not have removed the fundus. So now what, what does that mean?

Now we have our tool. We eat less, we have to. The weight comes off. It may drop like a rock or progress slower. Different body types, health issues, meds, and still the foods we choose to consume will help determine this. So we have a tool for weight LOSS.

Then we maintain. Now we just eat less and it stays off, right? If you have been on the forum for even a little while you will see it is not always that easy. There are still many questions, lots of issues and answers still to be figured out, each in our own way and time. Many questions are about how to use the tool in maintenance.

BUT this post is not about maintenance; it is about the in-between, one of the less mentioned but in my opinion more profound things we do with this tool that affects our success. I define success not by an ideal size or shape but ability - ability to be a size that allows me to be active, and healthy, and off at least some medication, to name a few things. These are not the only goals I have, but they are the achievements I have that I now use to have a far superior lifestyle to the one I had before.

A big shift I have undergone is that I recognized that my tummy did something I did not expect. It provided a way to eat less and it has definite, defined physical ways it has assisted me, no doubt. Mentally it has assisted and even raised more questions! Beyond that, however, there is something more, and whether or not I embrace it I think is the true test of how successful this will be for me. I am talking about the “gap”. I have tried to find any reference to it in the articles and such that I spend a bit of time reading but so far I have not found that many.

The gap I refer to is that space that we never met successfully when we dieted. The ‘ –‘ in yo-yo. That point where the adulation of successful weight loss, and health and compliments began to lose momentum. It lagged with stress of home life, maybe. It was the burger and fries when, honestly, even if it had been a lackluster salad one could have ordered that instead, heck ordered TWO, whatever to be full – but did not. It is the sinking feeling one get when 50 lbs. of weight loss did not make the ailing marriage better, or the bills did not pay themselves. Maybe the issues that were under those layers were still there and still hurt. food was there, with food came feelings of comfort and simultaneous guilt, and a yo-yo began before the weight even crept back on.

Here is the “gap” the ‘ –‘ in yo-yo, and here is where our new friends, our new tummies, kick in. I think it is much underrated in the WLS journey. Our sleeves fill the “gap”. In between that space that we could not overcome, that ‘– ‘ in the yo-yo. We do not eat the burger and fries, we cannot overindulge by volume. We have a means to bridge that gap, if we want it. I think our longest terms of success can be affected by how we choose to take advantage of this bridge over the gap. Better habits, educating ourselves on food choices, understanding what got us here, learning to forgive and set vanity aside. Repairing the mental damage from being in the shells we were in, this is something our sleeves offer us that we did not have before. Much more important than just eating less and as vital as exercise - we have time. Time to recover before we even stumble, time to get equanimity from our minds and bodies at the same time we do not regress to bad habits and start that journey back up the scale.

We have time to make time – days and months and years to in turn create space to enjoy those days and months and years. If we did not gain a day from this, we gain quality. You know the sayings about rather have quality of years over a lot of years? We get an opportunity for both!!! From VGS and the bridge it gave over the “gap”."
Now, as far as everyone struggling years later, that is falling back into habits, and eating foods that they ate before. No one wants to hear this but you are undergoing a permanent, life altering event. To enjoy a long-term success, you will need to permanently alter your choices of foods, exercise as you can, get control of emotional triggers and I would seriously recommend reading “The Power of Habit” by Dughil.
If you are asking why incorporate this, and make the struggle easier, and yet still struggle – but say struggle at 250 lbs rather than 400, or 180 rather than 250. Well, that is your answer.

Thanks to 5:2 and upping exercise, I am losing weight again (slowly). I initially started doing 5:2 because my weight had bounced back up to the low 160s, and I easily got back to my goal range of under 158, but had been stuck there awhile.
I can't believe it - I finally broke the 155# barrier and now weight 154 - several days in a row...haha. Anyway, my starting weight before the 2 week preop diet was 308 - so that is half!
My lifetime high weight (that was ever recorded anyway) was 332, but that was several years before my surgery so i don't count that.
Wow. Just wow.
As you know, I am getting ready for plastics and I would say 6 months ago I had a certain...loathing for that extra skin. this morning I was looking at it in the mirror thinking... not bad considering it used to hold the weight of TWO women not just one. I am excited about looking better, and getting rid of that low belly, but, not bad all in all.
This morning doing my Julian Michaels DVD (dusted her off the shelf) - I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes from her - paraphrased
"Transformation is not a future state, it is a current activity"
That is just so true.

I went, got there, and backed out. DONT... I have spent the last 16 months just trying to BACK to surgery. Stay focused.
My date is October 9.

This is a life long struggle and you will highs and lows with the foods that you are eating. I just finished one of those lows but here's the deal..........YOU CAN'T EAT THE TRIGGER FOODS EVER! I am not yelling that at you but nicely emphasizing that to you. You have to constantly look at new recipes and change up your foods. The mundane day in and day out same old foods will just bring you way down. This is a struggle that I am trying very hard to change. This new life requires really does require a lifestyle change and it does take making yourself do it to succeed. If you have a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods around you I would suggest that you check them out. They have all kinds of foods that fit into our diet and are fun to experiment with. Treat yourself to something special that is just for you and not for the rest of the family. Today for lunch I made a caprese salad, cheese cubes W/olives and a fruit medley of pineapple, strawberries, and blueberries. That sounds like a ton of food but it was actually very small portions but it looked and tasted awesome and no bad carbs! Carbs are addictive and kill your weight loss. If you aren't getting exercise then try taking a walk or a bike ride this will lift your spirits! I am so glad that you reached out for our help that alone means you are trying! Good luck to you and please keep talking with us!
Just read your previous post and I truly understand where you are right now. It's tough and it sucks really sucks! You were correct to reach out and I hope what I said you don't take the wrong way. It was heartfelt and sincere. Hang in there!

Get a personal trainer who is willing to kick your ass to make you do right. I'm saying this in my most compassionate voice - I'm not trying to be rude or mean. If you want to get the weight off you need to make the right choices and put in the work. Of course, I can say that because I'm pre-op. I may face the same struggle. Just do the right thing for yourself!!!!! The REAL right thing!!!

I am back at work after a very interesting weekend. I'm now 6 days post-op and feeling a lot better than I thought I would.
I know the following post is going to sound like a plug for the Ready 4A Change people, but I can assure you I am writing this on my own free will and am very satisfied with my surgery so far. I just wish I could have found more information about the Ready 4A Change group before I traveled down there so hopefully this post will help others with the same decision.
Feel free to send me an email with any questions you have!
alma - patient coordinator: She talked with me on the phone and through emails several times pre-op. She was amazing, and took care of everything. The only issue I had on the trip was not having a hotel reservation set up on the final night of my stay, and a quick phone call to Alma fixed my problem in less than 5 minutes. Thank you for everything Alma!
Eduardo Ahumada-Garza M.D. - Anesthesiologist: Funny guy! He talked with me quite a bit before putting me under telling me about the process and what to expect post-op. I had a short, but great, experience with him and definitely felt secure in his hands.
Dr. Miguel Zapata – Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgeon: Great surgeon, he told me what to expect as well as taking time to check up with me post-op. I had researched the surgery a bunch beforehand but he was sure to ask me if I had any questions.
Dietitian (who's name escapes me right now): She visited me the day after the surgery and gave me a load of information about my new stomach. She was very helpful and answered all of my questions. Thank you!
CIMA (the hospital): WOW - immaculate! It looks like this place is cleaned 24/7 because it was very beautiful. My room felt more like a hospital suite than a hospital room that I'm used to in the USA. It had 2 TVs, a futon (for my support person), and an extremely large bathroom. Definitely the best hospital I've ever had care in! About half of the nurses spoke English and they were all great at helping me and checking up on me.