Indymom

Indymom ~ 239 SW . . . . . 237 CW . . . . . 200 GW . . . LBS to GOAL: 37 September 5 ~ 239 lbs September 12 ~ 237 lbs (-2 lbs) I had hoped for more loss this week, but I'll just keep plugging away! I have my post-op surgeon appt Thursday so hopefully I'll be released for full exercise and can really start hitting it hard.

I had my surgery on a Wednesday and went back to work the following Tuesday. That first week back was tough but I got through it. Good luck for a quick recovery!

The lemon/egg ribbon soup sounds YUM!

That's awesome!

Congratulations! That has to be such a great feeling. I hope I'm there in about 6 months too!

That's fantastic! I would be interested to see a little bit of what you might eat in a normal day . . . my food plan doesn't necessarily restrict carbs (just suggests protein first, veggies second, carbs if there's room left and whole grains) and I feel like I will be more satisfied if I can have a bit of carbs with my protein/veggies.

I've been able to add in some more solids this month and I am eating more "normal" meals (albeit itty-bitty meals). I think I am starting to feel the normal hunger cycle (if I eat lunch at noon, by 5:30-ish I am feeling a bit of hunger). It's nothing that consumes me or makes me want to tear into a bag of chips or cookies, though. Just my body telling me it's time to "fuel up."

I think I've seen someone else post here about taking Zyrtec or Claritin or something, so I don't see why it would be an issue. Your post-op instructions might indicate if there are certain types of meds you couldn't take; I think mine just said don't take any large tablets (nothing larger than an aspirin) but capsules and small tablets OK.

My doc doesn't care if I drink all the way up to eating, but I don't drink for at least 30 mins after.

I can't wait that long between bites, but I'm still measuring my food and undereating my sleeve. I would rather measure for the rest of my life than take that long to eat! I don't wolf it down and I'm chewing very thoroughly, but 3 minutes? No way!

I went back after a total of 6 days (had surgery on the 10th, first day back in the office was the 16th). I also work a desk job and honestly I was getting to feel stir-crazy at home. I can't imagine taking 3-4 weeks off like some people do. That said, I tolerate surgery VERY well, and had no issues with keeping fluids or full liquids (yogurt, SF pudding, Protein Drinks, etc.) down after the first couple days on clears only. However, I did go ahead and fill out the required work paperwork for medical leave (disability and FMLA) on the offhand chance I would have had issues and needed longer time off. A lot of people have said they liked having extra time to adjust to taking all the vitamins/supplements, to managing their eating schedule, etc. but I was good to go quickly.

I was going to say Babybel cheese, also less than 100 cals and 6 grams of protein . . .

Interesting . . . I will check them out! Thanks for the suggestion.

I have to take my colitis pills 4 times daily, so I have a weekly organizer that has 4xday divided compartments (morn/noon/eve/bedtime). Each 4-compartment daily box removes from the base and I can carry it in my purse. It looks kinda like this:

I'm sorry some of you have regrets . . . hopefully your problems will resolve and you'll start to feel better soon. If you would have asked me this question 10 days post-op, I would have been on the fence . . . I was starting to get really tired of eating applesauce and sugar-free pudding, and the scheduling, Vitamins and such were starting to wear on me. However, at 4 weeks out (exactly one month out yesterday!) I am absolutely thrilled with my weight loss (25 lbs since day of surgery) and feel 125% better already.

Agree with Tiffy, you need to cross-check your food guidelines with the recipes. For example, in my full liquids phase there were certain fruits I couldn't have so I had to avoid certain smoothie recipes. Also my plan recommends avoiding peanut butter because of the high fat content, so even though a lot of people were adding a tbsp of peanut butter in their smoothies that wasn't something I was allowed to do.

Since we're talking chicken, I figured I'd post here - bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco this week. My daughter LOVES the legs so she had those for dinner one night and after I skinned it, I've been cutting up the white meat for chicken salad, diced some and seasoned with taco seasoning for one dinner and just diced up some more and sauteed with a drizzle of buffalo wing sauce and a bit of shredded cheese. YUM! It's really moist and there's a ton of meat on those things so I'll likely be able to eat off it for quite a while yet.

I wouldn't sweat a little vacation weight, sounds like you're energized to get it off quickly so no harm done! I'm going on a cruise in February and I'm sure it's going to be tough to stick to plan, so I'm not going to even stress about it.

Way to go! I can't wait to try on some of my old clothes too. You're doing awesome!!

Congrats! You are rocking that bikini . . . well done!

I met with my nutritionist yesterday and am down 25 lbs based upon their scale. I got 2 big thumbs up on my eating, protein and overall progress. I got "official" approval to move on to the next stage of foods and it's not nearly as restrictive as I thought, so I was thrilled to hear that. I feel like a real person again who gets to eat like "normal people"! Now, my first small NSV - I had time to kill after a doc's appointment today so I went to Kohl's to spend my Kohl's Cash and was perusing the women's clothing section. I'm not buying any clothes yet until my current clothes are falling off, but I wanted to see if I'd gone down any sizes. I was pre-surgery in a 24 pants and 3x shirts. I fit into 2 different pairs of size 20 pants and tried on a really cute 1x shirt! I had read about other people dropping sizes quickly and couldn't believe it, but holy crap, I guess it's true! I'm so thrilled and if I can drop another 25 lbs this month I might be in a 16 by the end of the month . . . that would be amazing.

I'm only a month out so I haven't had any hair loss yet, but I'm not too freaked out by the prospect of it happening (if it does). I have a TON of hair so I can probably afford to lose some. I'm not going to take biotin because I hear it promotes hair growth everywhere, and I already spend enough money on waxing at the salon!

That's so awesome! Well done, I bet you are feeling very confident. Good luck keeping the workouts exciting, I'm definitely worried about falling into a rut. I can't wait for my doc to release me for full exercise next week so I can decide what I want to do first!!

I was an emotional wreck for the first few weeks also, I had major crying jags and was really mean to my husband. It DOES get better, at 4 weeks out I feel like a million bucks! The Protein will DEFINITELY give you energy, between the protein and no longer eating total crap food, I feel like I could jump over a skyscraper!! Hang in there, I know it's rough but it will improve. Feel free to keep venting here, we all understand what you are going through.

I was pretty gassy pre-op because I ate such crap food but I have noticed a fair amount of gas post-op. It's pretty foul-smelling, too. I've wondered if the protein shakes have anything to do with it?