Amanda 3.0

Hi all! I am just starting the search for Doctors and considering Sleeve, so would love to join a support group! I also live in McKinney.

I am sorry I missed this post until now. We would have loved to have met up with some people. When is your next gathering?

I "liked" your post because of the bravery, not because of the pain.
But, while it is obvious that your breakup is extremely painful for both of you, and he got very mean, I think you are so smart and kind to do this rather than to lead him on. Or, to stay in a relationship, "just because".
You, and hopefully he, will find soul mates in the very near future.

I finally put a photo of ME up as my Facebook profile picture. Oh, and I bought WHITE pants this weekend and they look good!

You are only three weeks out so I am worried by your post. As you know, we all have different recovery processes, what does your surgeon allow?
I was on full liquids for five weeks so I would be frightened to eat pizza at week three. Are you sure you are okay?
No one is perfect, that's for sure, but if you are addicted to eating (and only you can make that designation), perhaps you could go to individual counseling or attend a group meeting. This surgery is not fool-proof. Eat certain things and you can eat all day and actually gain weight. Eat certain things too soon and you can get hurt.
Head hunger is the worst thing ever. I still feel it almost seven months out but not as bad as before surgery.
I hope you are okay. Just try to stay within your surgeon's guidelines if you can, and if you can't, ask your surgeon's office for advice on what to do.

I finally put a photo of ME up as my Facebook profile picture. Oh, and I bought WHITE pants this weekend and they look good!

I know this is a brave move on my part but here goes.... The first pic is of me last spring in Brazil (far left) (234 lbs). I was there visiting for a wedding and this pic was taken by my brazilian family and I didnt know it would eventually end up on Facebook! I was so embarrassed by it. I got tagged in it and it went all over my page and everyone saw it before I could get it taken down. Anyways.....The second and third pics are of me at the beach last week (147 lbs). I have a funny tan line on my belly that we all thought was hilarious. I do think there is quite a bit of difference that nearly 90 pounds makes! I am no supermodel but I thought I looked decent in a bikini, my first one in 22 years! I wore five different ones, one for every day at the beach! I was only a little bit self conscious in them. A huge leap for me!  

The only pain I had was the incision pain, and it was about half the pain I felt after my c-section. I stayed 2 nights because I live far away from a hospital with bariatric care. I have a husband, but he had to leave each day for several hours and it left me alone with our lively 6 year old son. I stocked the kitchen with uncrustables (PBJ sandwiches for the freezer), lunchables, apple sauces, his favorite Soups, etc. I know it's junk but I had to make it through the week. When my close friends asked what they could do to help, I always replied "Spend time with Ben". They came over and talked to him and just hung out with him, tried to wear him out, etc. We made it through! Good luck to you!

STOP IT!!!! (slap slap slap) You ok now??
That said...you probably didn't damage anything as long as you chewed the life out of it. Just don't do it again.... Now go put your big boy pants on and behave...

My one word of advice would be to be aware that your stay may be longer than one night/day. That seems remarkably optimistic to me, particularly knowing how I was feeling the day following my surgery. The average length of stay at BIDMC is 3 days...and I was in a full week, due to increased inflammation (in my stomach) following surgery. Regarding energy, a week post-op, and I'm able to get up and walk a couple times throughout the day. I can't imagine having to care for small children, though....cooking, cleaning up after, and parenting would be exhausting. I hope you're able to keep your help around for as long as you need it, and that your recovery is a quick one!!

You are only three weeks out so I am worried by your post. As you know, we all have different recovery processes, what does your surgeon allow?
I was on full liquids for five weeks so I would be frightened to eat pizza at week three. Are you sure you are okay?
No one is perfect, that's for sure, but if you are addicted to eating (and only you can make that designation), perhaps you could go to individual counseling or attend a group meeting. This surgery is not fool-proof. Eat certain things and you can eat all day and actually gain weight. Eat certain things too soon and you can get hurt.
Head hunger is the worst thing ever. I still feel it almost seven months out but not as bad as before surgery.
I hope you are okay. Just try to stay within your surgeon's guidelines if you can, and if you can't, ask your surgeon's office for advice on what to do.

Ooh, that's a good idea; I'll ask my NP if I can take half in the morning and half later in the day. Thanks! And may I say congrats on your weight loss! You're almost there!

Anyone that is in the SW DFW area that would like to meet to have a support/story time, a few of us are meeting this Sunday at 5pm off I-30 in Grand Prairie. If you would like some info just let me know. See you there...

My day was moved up because of work commitments.....was Aug 13 now July 16......I feel like I'm going into panic mode! One day excited, next day terrified....mostly just tired of arguing with people who think the surgery is a dangerous cop-out to diet and exercise (not my family though)...starting pre-op diet Sunday, wish me luck :-)

I'm sorry if it came across that I was being judgemental: again, that was not my intent. I do know what a liquid diet is like: I've done my share. So I do know how hard it is. My point was that eating what you're not instructed to could mess things up for you in the long run. I AM being supportive, sometimes support comes in ways that we don't necessarily want to hear. Success at this is a very big deal. I am glad that you checked with your doc and nut and that they gave you great information. Good luck in your journey.

I didn't intend on that sounding harsh, and I'm sorry if it came across that way. Just wanted to point out the realities of the situation. I am also pre op, but for me, I am willing to do whatever it takes and follow the doctor's orders to the letter to do this right. Is it really worth the chance of having to miss out on surgery and have to do it again anyway? I am not trying to step on toes or make anyone mad, just trying to make a very important point.

My question is this: If you can't make the two week pre-op, are you really ready for the change of life that will come after surgery? Don't forget. That you will be on liquids for a while after surgery. And at that point if you cheat, it could be disasterous. The pre op diets are meant for a physical and a medical reason. Yes, but they also serve a higher purpose in helping us break the food addiction that got us all here in the first place.

I like the vanilla Muscle Milk Light, but it does have a sort of "super sweet" quality to it. The cartons that I get at costco (I am cheap) have 20g Protein. Out of the vanilla ready to drink products, it has been the best until I noticed yesterday that Premier Protein recently changed the formula on their ready to drink vanilla (which I previously hated). I bought and tried the new Premier vanilla and I think it is much better than the old formula, less gritty by far. So, if you tried that before and didn't like it, you might wish to try the new formula.
The manufacturers of Muscle Milk also make a powdered product under the brand "Cytosport". I buy this at costco (comes in large bags) and add it to coffee for 27 g of Protein. The Cytosport mixes very well with hot or warm coffee.< /p>

This is great, Amy. I would love to incorporate bean powder. Thank you for the idea. I am also a fan of oatmeal.< /p>
Earlier this week, I made a loaf of Tomato basil bread in my bread maker for my husband (I am not eating bread at this time, six months out), and I used low sodium V-8 instead of Water in the recipe, and he just loved it. Vegetable juice is a great substitution, and the low sodium V-8 is a great source of potassium.
Again, thanks!

You look lovely, and HAPPY. Congratulations!

Anyone else love crackers?
I haven't started back on bread (and don't plan to), except for a tiny crust crumb here and there, but I do love my crackers.
I am not going overboard, or bingeing on crackers, but I like to have a cracker at lunch time or in the afternoon. I usually have about 100 calories of cracker a day.
My absolute favorites are the Dr. Krackers.
I like the Wasa with some turkey and Laughing Cow.
I got some rosemary and sea salt crackers at costco.
I bought some spicy saltine-looking things that were made in the grocery deli, but they were oily so the husband ate them.
Just about anything whole grain with seeds.
I am on the search for cracker recipes to make at home in small batches.

I googled recipe for high Protein crackers and found this which might be helpful to you:
You can use any cracker recipe and replace up to 1/3rd of the flour called for with your choice of soy isolate, bean powder etc.
As an example a standard cracker recipe would use 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsps yeast and enough Water to make a dough suitable for rolling thin.
You could replace 2/3rd cup of the flour with soy isolate or any bean powder, cornmeal, oatmeal, amaranth etc.
Replace the Water with veggie juices also if you like.
Just get creative and go NUTS with experimenting! That's what makes baking fun<G>.
Oh, roll the dough thin! A Pasta roller is handy but a rolling pin works fine. To get an even roll wrap rubber bands around either end of the pin, when the band hits the work surface you're ready to cut crackers. A pizza wheel works quite well,as to ravioli wheels or any sharp kitchen knife. You can get round crackers by pressing a glass rim into the thin sheet of dough.
Bake at 350-500 until the cracker barely starts to brown. Cool on wire racks to insure crispness.

Only 16 more lbs to go and I will be at my goal weight! All smiles!

I am not really a big cracker fan, but one of my favorite Snacks pre-sleeve was "thin crisps" (triscuits, but thin). I would get the flavored ones and then I would dip them in cottage cheese. YUMMY! I don't like cottage cheese plain, and i don't like the flavored crackers alone... but together it was delicious!